Where has my little Tommy gone?

Indoor playground time at the McWane Center

Tommy has turned into such a big boy, and I'm not sure when it happened. My cute little baby has disappeared, and an independent little man has taken his place. I love this new Tommy, but I have to admit I miss my baby. I miss him falling asleep in my lap, I miss his cute little "uh-oh" when something fell, I miss being able to put him in adorable little one piece outfits. Here are some of the new Tommyisms:

He has to walk to and from the car by himself (holding my hand) and won't let me carry him. He also has to climb into the carseat by himself, but he does let me buckle him.

He says "Thanks" instead of his cute little "tank-q."

He has to wear rugged little boy clothes because he climbs and digs and gets really messy at daycare.

At bedtime he has to sit in the chair, and he tells me to sit on the "ground" while he reads me a book. Then he gets down and crawls into bed by himself. He does let me cover him with a blanket and give him a kiss at least.

He sings me songs. If I try to start singing, he often says "No Mommy" and then sings it himself. Sometimes he lets me sing along, or help him remember the words if he forgets. He does let me sing Old McDonald, although he tells me which animal to use.

This new (improved?) Tommy is a lot of fun. He loves to play outside, and watching him in the sprinkler always makes me laugh. His favorite food is "peanut butter candy" (Reese's cups). He still loves Mickey Mouse, although Jake and the Pirates is giving Mickey a run for his money these days. He knows lots of colors, tons of animals, basic shapes, all his letters, and can count to 12 (and to 20 if you don't need the numbers in order). He knows that TOMMY spells his name. He knows what Mommy and Daddy's real names are. He loves to swing, especially when we push him high. His favorite activity in the truck on the way to work is spotting the tractors (lots of construction going on). He says "I love you" a lot now, although sometimes he's talking about swinging, or Cheezits, or tractors, or whatever has his attention at the moment. Most of the time he says it to us, and it's usually followed by a big hug and sloppy kiss.

He does not want to be potty trained, but we've got plenty of time for that later.

So, my baby Tommy is gone. This new little boy Tommy is a lot of fun, and can be quite sweet when he wants to. I'll enjoy this new phase as long as I can, because I know that before too long he'll be moving on to a new one.

Enjoying some down time with Hank and the froggie boots

April 27, 2011

One week ago, 236 people lost their lives. One week ago, I watched on my TV as a several large tornadoes moved through my state. One week ago, I hovered in my closet with my husband, son, 2 cats, and dog as we listened to our radio and prayed that the tornadoes wouldn't come our way. One week ago, I lost a friend as the tornado swept her house off it's foundation and dropped it 100 yards away, killing her and her dog, and leaving her husband in critical condition. One week ago, life in Alabama changed.

April 26, 2011 was a Tuesday.
That night I watched the weather reports and planned for the next day. There were some storms coming through overnight, but probably not severe. There was a big storm coming through the next afternoon, with possible tornadoes after lunch. We went to bed.

April 27, 2011 was a Wednesday.
I woke up to thunder and lightening. While I was in the shower the power blinked 4 times, so I knew the storm must be powerful, since we very rarely lose power. I turned on the TV while I got dressed, and saw that a line of storms had passed through the state, with high winds and some possible tornadoes. The storm passed, the rain stopped, and I got ready for work. I decided to take the dog to work, since he needed a bath, and that way he'd be with me if the weather got bad. I kissed Sam goodbye and Tommy, Hank, and I headed out.

My day changed as I pulled up to daycare. One of the workers headed out to the truck and told me that their power was out, and they were closed. Apparently the morning storm had knocked trees down all over the area, and power was out to much of the city. As I was reforming my game plan, my cell phone rang. It was one of my employees letting me know that her parents' house in north Alabama had tornado damage and she'd be gone for a few days helping them out. She assured me that they were fine but their house was heavily damaged. Little did I know that was just the beginning.

I pulled into work expecting the generator to be running, but we hadn't lost power. I lugged Tommy and Hank into the clinic, put Hank in a cage, and tried to figure out what to do with Tommy. I figured I could do a few things, then head home since I didn't think we had much to do. Little did I know that enough cases had already come in to keep me busy for two and a half hours. Poor Tommy did his best to behave, and my staff did their best to entertain him, but there's only so much iPhone and markers and goldfish crackers can do when he's used to running around with his friends. I finally finished my cases and turned the clinic over to the other vet working that day. I was going to head to my grandparents' house, but they didn't have power either. So I loaded everyone back in the truck and headed back home. I reminded the employees to watch the weather and close early if needed. I didn't want anyone driving home in bad weather.

Tommy and I enjoyed the warm, although slightly windy, weather by playing on his new swingset. Sam's job sent the employees home at noon due to the incoming storms, and we all had lunch together - quite an unusual occurrence in the middle of the week. Tommy went down for a nap and we watched the weather and cleared out some room on the closet floor in case we needed to head in there. After Tommy woke up he wanted to go back outside, but since the sky was dark and I didn't know how far away the lightening was, we found things inside to keep him busy. And we continued to watch the weather.

Cullman tornado

Around 3pm the storms were starting to get close to Birmingham. We first watched coverage of a tornado in Cullman, AL, where some friends of ours live. After texting them and finding out that they were ok, we relaxed. We figured that was the big one. We were wrong.

 Sometime around 5pm a tornado headed to Tuscaloosa. It looked massive. We watched in shock as it was spotted by a tower camera, spinning and whipping debris around. It looked like something out of a movie, something computer generated. I couldn't believe it was real. We watched in horror as it moved across the radar through Tuscaloosa and into Birmingham. It stayed north of my family, but seemed headed for Sam's mom's house. We called her and she assured us she was in her safe place. Somehow it lifted and skipped over her area. We ate dinner. I bathed Tommy. We went back to watching the TV.

They were tracking 2 storms to the southwest of us, both had tornado signatures. At 6:45 it was time for us to take cover. We packed into the closet and tried to hear the weather on my shower radio over Tommy playing with his Easter basket that we had stashed in the closet a few days before. As one and then a second storm passed us by without much but a little hard rain, we felt safe, and so we came out to get Tommy ready for bed. We checked the weather and were assured that our area was done with storms for the day. We went to bed.

April 29, 2011 was a Thursday.
I'm off on Thursdays, so Tommy and I planned to just stay home and have a quiet day. Sam checked in with work, and since they were open, he went on in. I turned on the news in one room while Tommy watched Disney Channel in the other room. I logged into Facebook to see how all my friends were doing. Reports of damage and lives lost began to come in. One or two here, three or four there, then a dozen, then 2 dozen, then 60, 70, the numbers kept rising. I had already called into work to make sure there wasn't any damage there, and all employees were accounted for. Several were without power, but everyone was ok. Then I got a text from Shelly, an employee who is also off on Thursdays. She lived only a few miles from the tornado's path. She and her husband had driven over to a neighborhood where some friends live right after the storms, and she saw that our friend Jennifer's house wasn't there anymore. Jennifer used to work with us, and she still used us as her dog's vet. Cell coverage was spotty there, and she didn't have power, so she asked if I could find out if Jennifer and her husband Garrett had gone to one of their family's houses to ride out the storm. So I began my search for Jennifer.

I started with her Facebook page. She had posted about watching the Cullman tornado on TV. Then, about 6pm, there was a post from her brother asking why she wasn't answering her cell. I started to get worried. I checked her husband's page, no posts. I checked her brother's page - he reposted a Bible verse she had posted on Good Friday, and said how grateful he was for her faith. I really got worried. I started hunting down their relatives and I found a post on Garrett's dad's page where someone had posted a prayer request because they had been in their house when the tornado hit, and Garrett was in the hospital and they didn't know where Jennifer was. Now I panicked. I started calling our friends to let them know what was going on. I emailed her brother, letting him know who I was, and asking if they knew anything. He informed me that they were still looking for her. Later that day I got a message from his wife that they had been informed that Jennifer had most likely been killed in the storm. I stayed up late that night, I couldn't stop watching the news. I just couldn't comprehend what had happened all over our state.

April 29th was a Friday.
I went back to work. Daycare had power again, and Tommy was glad to get back to his friends. I got to work and told my employees about Jennifer. We were just waiting for confirmation from her family. I went to check my Facebook messages - the clinic's internet was down. I went to check on my phone, my phone went dead. I started to get frustrated. On a day when I really needed the internet, I was without it. For several hours. Then I realized that there were people not too far away without power, without homes, without family. I went back to doing my job. The phone company fixed our internet. Jennifer's family told me they had confirmation. The news sites told me that over a hundred people had died, hundreds of thousands were without power, thousands were without homes. I picked my son up at daycare that night and gave him a huge hug. I went home and reset my phone. I sat at my computer watching TV and trying to figure out what I could do to help.

April 30th was a Saturday.
Sam was called down to Tuscaloosa to help in the morgue. His mom came down and watched Tommy while I was at work that morning. When I came home we ate lunch together and talked about what had happened. When Tommy went down for his nap she headed home and I made a game plan. That afternoon Tommy and I headed to Walmart and picked up some items the storm shelters said they were needing. It seemed lots of people in our area had done the same, since flashlights, batteries, diapers, and formula were mostly wiped out. We found a few bag fulls of things to donate and headed home. When Sam got home that evening we were very glad to see him. It felt wonderful to be together. Both Sam and I had a new sense of gratitude for what God has given us. We watched TV and saw how the people of Alabama were helping each other.

May 1st was a Sunday.
We went to church and prayed for the storm survivors. I found out that one of the families was going down to one of the hardest hit areas that afternoon, and we loaded our donations into their trunk. That afternoon I talked to one of my employees and we decided to organize a pet food and supply donation drive at work. I watched on Facebook as people from all over the state, and all over the country, donated money, supplies, and time to help the people of Alabama, and the other states affected, recover from this tragedy.

Today is Wednesday. As of tonight the death toll stands at 236, with 30 people unaccounted for. Jennifer's husband is still in the hospital, but his body is starting to heal. Jennifer is in Heaven, and her family left behind will be slower to heal. People from all over are bringing in truckloads of supplies. People are sacrificing their time to hand out meals, clear trees and debris, wash clothes, and whatever else is needed. People are being reunited with their pets who went missing that day. Sam's uncle is getting back a page from a family photo album that blew away when their trailer (which was not at their house) was destroyed by a tornado. That page was found in Georgia. Through social networking people have found people, pets, and belongings that might otherwise have been missing for who knows how long. Through this tragedy God is bringing families and communities close together than they ever have been.

Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow I am taking a truckload of pet food and supplies to a mobile shelter to help hand them out to families who need them. Tomorrow I will help treat pets with injuries in an area where the vet clinics aren't functional yet. Tomorrow I will kiss my husband and my son and thank God that he spared us, and that I have another day with them. Tomorrow life goes on, even though it will never be the same.

What would I do if disaster hit?

For the last week I've been glued to the television and internet as I followed the situation in Japan. Much like I was glued to coverage of Katrina a few years ago, I couldn't get enough news stories and videos to quench my thirst for information. The shear size of the tragedy, and the impact it is having on the people who live over there, just baffles my mind. I just can't wrap my head around what they must be going through.

What's different this time around is how I'm viewing the tragedy. Katrina hit while I was in vet school. Sam and I were already married, but we were still somewhat independent. It was just me and Sam (plus the pets). What's different about how I'm looking at the Japan events is that now I'm a mom. I think about the parents who did what they could to gather up their kids in the few minutes they had to escape. I wonder how many of the people who were lost were rushing home to get their families to safety. It breaks my heart to think of the ones who didn't make it. Of the families who aren't whole anymore. The parents without children, the children without parents.

I live with a level of fear in my life now. Ever since my son was born, I've always had a nagging fear in the back of my mind. What if he gets hurt at daycare? What if I get in an accident and leave Sam and Tommy alone? What if Sam and Tommy are in an accident and leave me alone? I don't allow these thoughts to rule my life - I'd be a basket case if I did. But they're always there, somewhere, in the dark places of my brain. I find I'm constantly watching the weather during storm seasons now. Tornadoes have always frightened me. We didn't see them much where I grew up. But now I'm glued to severe weather coverage. Ready at a moment's notice to leave work and drive the 3 minutes to daycare to whisk him to the safety of my grandparents' basement if it's necessary. Ready to pull him from his bed in the middle of the night and head to the safety of our closet with no windows. Willing to be late to work if the weather reporters on the local news say "if you don't need to be on the roads stay home for a little while." Things I never did before I was a mom. Things I thought were overkill before Tommy was the main focus of my life.

Luckily I don't live in an area where a hurricane or tsunami could reach us with that kind of force. Earthquakes are quite small scale here, and don't tend to cause much damage. Tornadoes are a threat, but even those don't happen too often, and we usually have a few hours of warning before the conditions are ripe for a twister. Still, I wonder what I would do if I ever found myself in a situation like the one these Japanese parents found themselves in almost a week ago. I just hope that God would give me the strength and wisdom to do what was best for my family, and that He'd give me the peace to deal with the consequences. In the meantime, I'll continue to pray for all the people impacted by the events in Japan. They may be a world away, but a mother's love is the same here as it is there.

A woman holds her child at a shelter after being evacuated from an area near the Fukushima nuclear power plant 
Photo: AP   Link to original article 

Animal time

Well, I started this blog to talk about my life as a wife, mom, and vet. So I guess it's about time to talk about the work part of my life. I've been working at animal hospitals for about almost 14 years. I started out working kennels and worked my way up to a technician assistant, finally going to vet school and graduating in 2006. I've always loved animals, and I really enjoy working with them and their owners in order to keep them as healthy and happy as possible.

Spring is coming (or may already be here for those of us in the south), and with it comes flea, tick, and mosquito season. I cannot stress enough the need for proper parasite prevention in our pets.

Heartworms are worms that live in the blood vessels between the heart and the lungs. In advanced cases the worms can actually plug the vessels and decrease or stop blood flow. Even in mild cases they cause damage to the vessel walls. Heartworms are spread by mosquitoes, so even pets who never leave their house or yard are at risk. Heartworms are easy to prevent with monthly medication. Treatment costs around $500, but prevention only costs about $10-12 a month. In warmer states (like mine), we often have days when the temperature rises above 60 degrees even in winter. Because of this I recommend using heartworm prevention every month, just in case the mosquitoes don't know it's supposed to be winter.

Fleas and ticks are just plain nasty! Ticks crawl up blades of grass and just wait for someone to come by so they can hitch a ride. Then they move up the leg and find a nice warm spot to dig in and feed. Many ticks can carry diseases, like lyme and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Fleas like to set up shop inside our homes. The adult flea spends all of its time on your dog or cat. The females lay eggs, which immediately fall off and land wherever your pet is standing/sitting. Then the larvae hatches from the eggs, and they crawl around in whatever carpet, bedding, etc the eggs landed on. Soon these larvae form cocoons where they develop into an adult flea. This part of the life cycle can last for months. They don't hatch out until the conditions are right - temperature, carbon dioxide, and movement are all triggers for them. They are also protected from pesticides while in the cocoon. This long life cycle means that you should never wait until you start seeing fleas to start using flea prevention. Once you're seeing the adults, they've already started laying eggs. Once fleas set up house in your house, it can take 3 months or more to kill all of them, since you have to wait for all the cocoons to hatch before you can get them all. Again, if you live in the south you should probably use flea and tick prevention all year round. If you live somewhere where there is snow on the ground all year, you may be able to get away without using it during the winter. Just remember, it's still warm in your house. If you haven't killed all the fleas that live there, they'll just keep multiplying all winter long.

So, to sum up, please remember to treat your cats and dogs with flea, tick, and heartworm prevention. It's much easier (and cheaper) to prevent these things than to treat your animals once they've been infested/infected. Always buy your prevention from your veterinarian. We keep up to date on the newest research and best products for our areas of the country. Sometimes prevention you can buy at other stores can cause skin irritation or even seizures. When you buy medication over the internet you can't always be sure that it was stored and shipped at the proper temperatures. Because of this many companies won't stand behind their product unless it was sold by a veterinarian.

Keep your pets pest free!

What a month

The last month has been a busy, and stressful, month. I'm just now getting back to normal. Let me fill you in.

Christmas was fun, but busy. I was able to get all the gifts wrapped and sent to the appropriate parties with a day to spare (thank you Amazon.com). I worked Christmas Eve morning. That evening we headed to my grandparents' house for dinner and gifts. We didn't leave for Sam's mom's house until 9:30 - over an hour past Tommy's normal bedtime. Christmas morning was nice and quiet - and we had snow! After lunch we headed back home to relax. Due to the snow on Christmas and the day after, we stayed at home all weekend and just enjoyed some time together. Tommy played in the snow for a few minutes, but then he was ready to go back inside.

The Thursday after Christmas Tommy woke me up by throwing up in his crib. He had hot dogs and milk all over his bed - not a pretty site. Thank goodness it was my off day, and we stayed home all day. By evening he was back to normal and was cleared to return to daycare the next day. That was also the day that I learned my grandmother was in the hospital. She had been in ICU for 2 days, but she was feeling better. They weren't sure what was wrong, but she was hoping to go home soon.

Over New Year's I caught Tommy's stomach bug. I spent the whole weekend in bed and didn't get to eat much at all. It amazed me how much longer it took me to get better than it did Tommy. What he took 12 hours to clear took me 4 days. Guess I'm not as young as I used to be!

After New Year's my grandmother was still in the hospital. My dad and brother drove from NY to Cape Cod to visit her. She was in good spirits during their visit, but the doctors said her kidneys and heart were both failing. Two days after their visit her heart gave out while she was sleeping and my Nana was taken up to Heaven.

The services were planned for Monday and Tuesday of the next week. Because Birmingham was expecting a snow/ice storm on Sunday and Monday, I had to fly out Saturday afternoon. Sam and Tommy stayed behind and wound up riding the storm out at Sam's mom's house. School and work were both closed Monday and Tuesday. I enjoyed seeing my family. We hadn't all been together since my brother's wedding in 2006. It was a sad time, but at the same time it was a joyful time. We spent the days remembering happier times with Nana and knowing she was happy and no longer sick. We went through all the family albums and put together a bunch of pictures from her life to share with those who came to pay their respects.

My Nana was a great woman with a big heart and a wonderful sense of humor. The world is a bit sadder place now that she's gone, but I know I'll see her again some day and that helps ease the pain of losing her somewhat.

I almost had to stay in New England longer than I planned. My flight out of Boston was rescheduled and then canceled due to a big storm that was coming in on Wednesday. I wound up driving to Rochester with my parents and then catching a plane out of Buffalo instead of Boston. It was a good decision, because Boston got around 15 inches of snow that day and I wouldn't have been able to leave until Thursday if I'd stayed there. I was able to get back to Sam and Tommy on time - boy was I glad to see them! This was the first time Tommy and I had been apart overnight, and 4 days was quite a long time away for me. It was nice to get home and get back to normal - well almost. The week before I left town my back was really itchy on one side. Right before I left town I started to get some bumps that I thought were pimples because I'd been scratching so much. While I was gone the bumps started to hurt, so I went to the doctor when I got home. Turns out I had shingles! It was a fairly mild case with more itchiness than pain, but it was still irritating. The doctor said that being sick and then being stressed out about my grandmother is probably what triggered it. The bumps have all scabbed over and are just a little itchy now, thank goodness.

So, that's my month. Good times, sad times, sick times, well times - quite a month it was. I'd say the next month should be calmer, but my little Tommy has started his terrible twos this past week. That's another blog altogether!

How old is he?!?

So Tommy is 21 months old, and the size of a 2-3 year old. He's always been a bit big for his age. He was 7lbs 3oz when he was born 3 weeks early - I can't imagine what would have happened if I went full term. He only stayed in newborn sizes for a few weeks, and he was at least 1 month ahead of the baby sizes as he grew. He's been in 2T clothes since he turned 18 months, but I think his growth has finally stalled out for a little while - thank goodness!

Tommy's daycare is divided into 3 buildings. The infant building holds babies up to 2 year olds. It's divided into 3 rooms. The infants, the crawlers, and the toddlers. Tommy kind of skipped the middle room. He was in the toddler room for about 6 months, but at 18 months he was promoted to the next building because he was too big for the kids his age, plus he was getting bored with the baby toys. When 2 of his friends were promoted this past August to the 2-3 year old class, Tommy went with them. So since he was 18 months he's been in "preschool" with 2-3 year olds, and sometimes with the 4-5 year olds.

Because of this Tommy is doing things I never thought he would at this age. He knows his colors, he knows the numbers 0-9, and he knows 75% of his letters. He loves animals, and knows the sounds for about 20 of them. He can do puzzles that are supposed to be for 2-3 and up, and he loves to find the moon and stars in the sky. I'd like to take some of the credit for his love for learning, and we do a lot of colors, letters, numbers, and reading here at home, but most of it is due to his wonderful teacher, Jennifer.

I say all of this to explain why people are so surprised to find out how old (or young) he is. When we're out shopping, at church, or at the doctor people always think he is older than he is. My grandmother is afraid this will be a problem in the future - she thinks he will be too advanced to relate to his peers. I'm not so concerned. I think he is happy, well adjusted little boy who just happens to be a little ahead of schedule. Since he loves his class and he loves what he's doing, I think he's just fine. He may be a little big for his age, he may be learning and understanding things that are normal for kids 1-2 years older than him, but he still loves horseyback rides, bubbles, and spinning around till he falls down. I don't think I have to worry about him doing advanced algebra or building rockets anytime soon - although the fact that he has figured out how to open and close the baby gate on his own does worry me :)

New Blog

So I'm starting over with a new blog. My other blog started out when I was pregnant with Tommy, but I didn't write much after he was born. This time I'm writing about my life as a wife, mom, and veterinarian.

My mom was a stay at home mom for most of my childhood. She put her job as a physical therapist on hold until I was in junior high, and stayed home with me and my two younger brothers. To be honest, I don't know how she did it. I work 4 and a half days a week, and stay at home 2 and a half days. I only have one child, she had 3. I'm exhausted at the end of my home days. I can't keep up with him! Thank goodness for the 1-3 hours he naps - that's my chance to actually get some things done around the house.

Not that I actually like to do housework. Along with the "stay at home mom" gene, I seem to be missing the "must keep the house clean" gene. My mom cleaned house every Saturday, and straightened up every day. I pick up toys at the end of the day, do laundry once a week, wash dishes twice a day, and only actually clean the house when one of our mothers is coming to visit. It's not that I don't know how to, I just don't like to. And since I work till noon most Saturdays, there just don't seem to be enough hours in the weekend to spend time with Sam and Tommy and clean the house.

Maybe in a few years when Tommy is old enough to help. Maybe then we'll keep the house clean. Then again, maybe not :)