Tough Day

So today was the day I've been fearing since the subway elevator went out last week. The doctor's appointment. How was I going to accomplish this without a subway elevator? Daunting, yes, but I knew that when push came to shove, something would work out in my favor and I'd be ok. The appointment was at 11, a perfect time.... pre-nap time yet late enough in the morning that we wouldn't have to be rushing around.

The obstacle: moving the car. We were parked in a spot that we had to vacate (for street cleaning) by 11am. Since we would be leaving at roughly 10am for the doc appointment, I decided to get the car and bring it in front of the building to the spots that would open up between 9 and 9:30. The thing I didn't expect: a craaaaazy rain storm.

Have you ever tried going outside with two kids in a double stroller in crazy rain? And putting them in the car and folding up the double stroller to put in the trunk? I wish I could have had video of us running down the sidewalks. Liam was covered as best as could be in his little section and I held my umbrella over him for extra insurance. I put Eli's mini rain cover over him and handed him an umbrella and we were off! lol. We were all soaking wet (well, not Liam..he was ok) by the time we got to the car. LUCKILY (cause I would have lost it if all the spots were taken), we got a spot right in front of the building. Now, you're supposed to wait until 9:30 (there's no parking there from 8 to 9:30 for street cleaning) or you could be ticketed. But as we pulled up at 9:15, I thought - pffffft - there is no way I'm sitting with my wet self in this car. We made it upstairs by 9:30 and with quick outfit changes for everyone, I fed Liam and then reloaded for our second trip out. That's when I decided to look in the closet to see if the ceiling was leaking (as it often does when it rains. Lovely, right?). Well yes, it was, and yes, all of the CDs were in water. Is this something I felt like dealing with at that moment? NO. Sigh. I was about to lose it, but finally pulled everything together and made it out the door. The angels were smiling on us because for the 10 min it took us to walk to the subway, it stopped raining. THANK YOU!

When we got to the subway, my plan of having Eli get out and walk like a big boy failed miserably when he declared he was NOT going to walk and wanted to RIDE. Great. I was going to ask someone, anyone, to help us down the stairs, but no one was there. Somehow, I figured out that if I hold the stroller backwards, I could carry him down the stairs without squishing Liam, and it worked out great! We got on the train and that's when Eli decided he wanted to be a big boy and sit next to mommy. Here goes nothing, I thought, as I unbuckled his seatbelt and let him climb up next to me. Surprisingly, he was SUPER well behaved and sat next to me without trying to escape or make any crazy moves. YAY! I was so proud of him! We even made a train transfer and he held my hand and didn't throw a fit. WOO! When we got to our destination, I thought it would work out perfectly that he was out of his stroller, cause now I could have him walk up the stairs. It all worked! AND a super nice man (who definitely is a daddy) offered to carry my empty stroller up the stairs AND open it for me! WOO! Eli got in without a fight and we made it with 5 min to spare.

At the doctor's office, when we all have to take off our bags, coats, etc, I ALWAYS feel like a crazy bag lady. Especially with all of our extra rain gear (blankets, umbrellas, etc). The people at the office are super nice, though, and helped me get settled in a room.

Then it was time for the big weight check. Did Liam rise from the 3rd percentile? Da da daaaaa...no. SAD. He is now (at 7 months!) 14lbs, 11 oz, which means he's not even on the chart anymore. My teeny tiny little guy. He's in the 5th percentile for head size and 20th for height. After I explained that he's a great little eater and drinking at least 30 oz a day and eating three meals, she decided she was ok with him being little and thinks that's just who he is. Little Liam. She said she wasn't concerned about a thyroid problem cause that would have shown up in his hospital tests and said that he's too little to have something like Celiac's disease. His motor development is far ahead of where it should be, so clearly he's thriving... he's just LITTLE. And so he will remain for a while. She said when he gets a little bigger, we'll start trying to pump his diet full of healthy fatty foods... like avocado (which I already tried with him and he HATED) and oil and stuff. Can you imagine having the problem of needing to put weight ON? Sigh. All else was well and three shots later, we were out the door...in the rain. We made it home a little wet, but hey - clothes dry and we made it. YAY! I feel like I earned another mommy badge today. Every time I do something like this that I think is going to be impossible, I check it off my list and know that there's not much I can't do if I really put my mind to it. :)