The Rankin Zoo 

Here are some random photos from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Yesterday we took Pearl back to see Dr. Fields (the pediatric pulmonologist - he rocks). He checked her out and asked us how things looked when we monitored her with the pulse oximeter. We gave him an update on things. He listened to her lungs and declared her pretty much good to go (from the lung perspective). So, for the first time since November 14th Pearl got to sleep all night on “room air” - no supplemental oxygen!

We had the pulse oximeter on her all night and would check on it whenever we happened to wake up (which, not surprisingly, is fairly often when you have two kids in the house) and she looked good all night. We’ll keep monitoring her for a few nights and if everything looks good we’ll just spot check her here and there until our next appointment with Dr. Fields (in about a month).

This is a great milestone and we’re happy to be done with the oxygen (hopefully - we’re keeping it around in case we need it). Once we get through winter I think the Dr. Fields will let us off the hook for good (or at least many months).

In other news, on Tuesday the pediatric ophthalmologist (who happened to go to med school with Dr. Fields), diagnosed Pearl with congenital alternating exotropic strabismus. Sounds fancy but apparently it’s not a huge deal. However, it does mean that we get to have Pearl wear an eye patch for about 90 minutes each day (alternating eyes), which I’m sure will be tons of fun. The good news is that this treatment solves the problem for most kids but I guess it will be a few months before we know how it’s going.

Pearl’s other ailment these days is a rash on her skin that seems to come and go. I think it’s most likely a combination of the really dry air and our detergent. So we’re rewashing everything in a different detergent and we try to keep the house humidified. Various creams and oils are being applied. B is trying to avoid the next step, which is cutting dairy from her diet, and I’m trying to avoid what I suppose would be an eventual step: a pediatric dermatologist! If I had a nickel for every pediatric specialist we’ve seen… I wouldn’t even come close to covering even our co-pay!

The paradoxical thing about all of this is that if you look at Pearl (okay, with here eyes closed so you don’t see that they wander and her clothes on so you don’t see her rash) she looks like a totally healthy, strapping, big baby. In fact, she is quite healthy and strong - it’s just all these little things that seem to pile up.

Maybe I’ll get some photos up one of these days…

Sorry for not updating more frequently. I will try and get some photos and videos posted soon. In the meantime, here are some updates.

Over the Christmas holiday, mostly due to the activities, Coral started skipping nap from time to time. In the past, skipping nap resulted in a very unhappy evening but Coral has been handling it well. She still naps on about half the days. We’re in a bit of a tough spot. If she skips nap the afternoons can get a little rough and bedtime has to get pushed up to 7pm or so. If we do a nap then she tends to sleep for 2 hours and then it’s hard to get her asleep before 10pm. We’ve tried giving her a short nap and then waking her up but that hasn’t worked well at all - it makes the evenings really hard and she stays up late. Hopefully we can move through this phase fairly quickly because it’s a bit annoying.

Coral has started gym class and ballet class and it’s hard to say which one she loves more. Gym class is every Saturday and she enjoys jumping on the trampoline the most (big surprise there). Ballet class is every Tuesday and it’s a much smaller class. Coral’s nanny, Kirstin, had already taught her the basics so she was able to get up to speed quickly (the other girls in the class have been at it for a few weeks already).

Pearl is doing well. She had a bit of a cold a couple of weeks ago that made her a bit cranky but she got over it quickly. She had her two month check-up this past week and her lungs seem to be doing great (we’re visiting the pulmonologist next week). The doctor was a little concerned about her eye so we’re going to add pediatric opthamologist to our collection of specialists - we should know more next week. Pearl is smiling and even laughing some, which is really funny (I’ll try to get some pictures or video). She’s even grabbing at things some - at least that’s what it looks like to us. It looks like some of her hair fell out but not much and what she has left seems to be getting longer - and it’s still red.

As I recently mentioned, Scout has been sleeping in Coral’s room lately. Last night after we put Coral down to bed she came out of her room to “tell me something.” The story went like this:

“Scout was on my bed and I put my arm out and he put his head on it. His body was at the bottom of my bed. He was on my arm and he was purring!”

I replied, “He was purring? I didn’t thing dogs could purr, only cats.”

Coral said, “Oh. Maybe he was snoring.”

(Sorry for not having many updates - I’ll work on it.)

A couple of weeks ago during Coral’s bedtime routine, a bit out of the blue, she asked to have Scout sleep in her room. This came as a bit of a surprise to me because although Coral has always loved Scout she generally didn’t want him in her room - and she never wanted him on her bed. But that night she wanted Scout in her room.

We called Scout into the room and he complied (although with some hesitation). Much to my surprise, he ended up spending the whole night in there with her. The next morning I asked her where Scout slept and she said, “on my bed.” Strange.

Since then, Scout has slept in Coral’s room most nights and most naps too. He has a bed in there now so I’m not sure how often he sleeps on her bed or his bed. Most nights I sneak him out after she goes to sleep so he can eat and go outside but usually if I don’t put him back she’ll eventually wake up and ask where he is.

Coral generally doesn’t complain about being scared when she has to go to bed but she’s said some things that make me think Scout is in there for her protection. When we were visiting Meme (one of Coral’s grandmothers) after Christmas I told her that Scout has been sleeping in Coral’s room. Meme asked Coral if she was taking care of Scout. Coral’s response was, “no, he’s taking care of me.”

I’m happy to see this new bond forming. Scout’s a great dog but has always been a bit weary of Coral (probably wise) but as she shows more affection toward him he seems to be enjoying it. I’m not sure if his presence will always be required in her room when she’s sleeping but for now that’s how things are working out.