There's been a lot going on lately. Our office moved at the end of October, so it's been a crazy month at the CFC. I think I've adjusted to life in a cubicle, but the holidays are always a little hectic because scheduling meetings can be a challenge... I've been insanely busy for the last two weeks, but hopefully will be slowing down as we get closer to Christmas.
Noah and I are flying to Arizona on December 2nd for a long weekend visiting Amanda, Robert, and the kids. I'm looking so forward to seeing them and getting a break from the craziness of work! I know I'm very spoiled that I'm able to take as many vacations as we do, but I think you have to get away occasionally for your sanity!! It will be a challenge traveling alone with Noah. I'm trying not to think too much about it yet, because I know I'm going to be freaking out when I start preparing to go and when reality sets in when I'm getting on the plane.... wish me luck!!
The other big event on the horizon is surgery for Noah, another thing I'm not to think too much about for now, as it's still a few weeks off... Noah has had this lump on the back of his head since July. Initially, we thought it was a pimple, ingrown hair, or maybe a mole. The pediatrician didn't really know what it was either, and initially, it had a head and bled a little bit, so we did a round of antibiotics, and it seemed to get a bit better. Then we treated it with warm compresses and neosporin. It didn't seem to improve much, and then started to get bigger. At our 12 month check up, the doctor suggested we see an ENT and see what he had to say.
A few weeks ago we saw the ENT, and right away he knew what it was and said we would need to do surgery to remove it. "It" is called a pilomatrixoma, which is basically a benign cyst or tumor in the hair follicle. (At least that's how I understand it.) We talked with the ped and amongst ourselves, and decided to go ahead with surgery. If we don't, it could become infected, and in the very slight chance it is not benign, we could never forgive ourselves if we didn't act now. (The chance of it being malignant is something like 2%, and we're told that the majority of these tumors will not grow back.) Once they remove it, they'll run tests to confirm it is benign and in fact a pilomatrixoma. The ENT will also remove the skin tag (aka. "the nub") on Noah's ear at the same time. I'm very sad about this, but I know it's in Noah's best interest for the future. At least that's what I'm telling myself... I know it may seem silly, but it's a part of him, and I'll be sad when part of him is gone. :(
On a happier note, Noah has a lot of new "tricks" lately. When asked "where's the balloon?" and "where's the light?", he looks at both. He loves to dance, and when he's not too tired, he'll start bouncing when we say "can you dance, Noah?". When I ask him, "where's mama's belly button?", he'll put up my shirt and poke his finger in my belly button. He's babbling a lot more these days, and is more frequently imitating what we say. The other day he imitated a tune Ben was humming, and this morning he imitated some silly sounds and "words" I was making. He's so awesome!
