Say ANKYLOGLOSSIA 5 times real fast

Today was a day of big words. The short of it is that Caden was born tongue-tied. We noticed it at birth but when we asked the military doctors about it they said it was no big deal and they would do nothing about it until he had a speech problem. I recently made friends with a military mom whose children go to school with Zeke and both her children were born with the same thing and had it corrected at birth. Armed with this information we went to our civilian pediatrician and were given a referral. We went to the consult this afternoon with a specialist in the Otolaryngology department and he diagnosed Caden with severe Ankyloglossia. Whew -- didnt think I would make it through that sentence. So, in English-- We went to an ENT ( Ear Nose and Throat Specialist )and he told us that Caden has the worst case you can have with the exception of the frenulem being connected to the top of his tongue. He seemed surprised that Caden was doing as well as he was considering how severe his problem. Of course he told us that they should have corrected it at birth -- go figure -- military medicine at its finest. He said we should expect to see drastic improvements in Cadens speech and eating habits within a week or less of the Frenulectomy. We are scheduled for the 40 minute out patient procedure 1 May. I am so excited to see Caden's tongue -- I know seems like a weird thing to be excited about.

Chris came home early today so he was able to make it to Caden's appointment. I was so glad he was able to be there. Then we went to the park so I could show Chris Caden's amazing feats of climbing. He can already climb -- without assistance -- some of the rock climbing walls at the park. It is really wild . People stand around to watch him because he is so little and he is doing things a lot of big kids can't do. Of course he has been climbing since he was 7 months old. Crazy kid.

After the park we came home and the boys swam for an hour, Chris worked on getting the 5th wheel ready for next weeks trip to Talladega, I worked a little on the lawn, and Caden slept. Tomorrow will be another day of working on the house. I am so tired of working on the house. Hopefully tomorrow will be a pretty day so we can spend some quality family time together between projects around the house.

With all that being said I wanted to share a poem with you today. I asked my kids if I was a mean mother and they said no I was a push over so I guess I need to work harder. Anyway, the other day I got this poem from a retired Marine Col I used to work with . We used to spend time talking about the kids before our meetings and he brought this in to me.

What is a Mean Mother?

A mean mother never allows candy or sweets

to take the place of a well-balanced meal.

A mean mother insists on knowing were her

children are at all times, who their friends

are, and what they do.

A mean mother breaks every child labor law by

making her children work--washing dishes

making beds, learning to cook, and doing

other cruel and unpleasant chores.

A mean mother makes life miserable for her

offspring by insisting that they always

tell the truth.

A mean mother produces teenagers who are

wiser and more sensible. She smiles with

secret delight and pride when her children

call her "mean".

What the world needs now are a few more mean mothers.