Hi there! I'm back from Baltimore already and boy do I have a lot to share. First of all, I now have been in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. Along the way we went over and under a ton of really cool bridges and through one very long tunnel! We also stayed at a nice hotel and Mom made Dad a peanut butter sandwich.
So where to begin. Well, after six hours in the car one day, and then another eight long hours the next, we made it to Baltimore. The next day, Mom, Dad, and I headed in to the Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins. It had just started snowing. Unfortunately, I had to have my head measured and blood pressure taken. I sang the ABC song through my tears. The nurses said that it was the saddest version of the ABC's that they had ever heard. After that, we met with a team of clinicians who made an assessment of me. They asked Mom and Dad a lot of questions. I mainly squirmed and finally made my escape to play with some toys in the hallway.
After a while the assessment team watched Mom try and feed me some banana baby food. Then they left and we waited for a little while. When they came back a GI fellow was with them. They told Mom and Dad that I was a candidate to participate in their eight week, that's right eight week inpatient program.
Sometime in early February the Kennedy Krieger staff will give Mom and Dad a call and let them know where we are on the waiting list. The waiting list for the inpatient program is shorter (3 months) than the outpatient day program (6 months), so we are expecting an April admission. Next week, I will fill you in some more on what it will be like there. In the meantime, I will need to get an endoscopy at Riley Childrens Hospital. No one is looking forward to that one.
The next day, Mom, Dad, and I went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. We had a really good time! I played in the water and saw my first horseshoe crab.
The crab was neat, but I liked splashing in the water a lot better.
Then we went to watch the dolphins! Here I am on the edge of my seat. I also saw some frogs, and a lot of fish, and some starfish, and a bunch of sea anemones, and a couple of birds, and an octupus, and sting rays, and sharks! I especially liked the puffins.
Along the way, I came up with some new things to say. I started the trip out practicing math with Dad. Dad asked, "Macy, if you have five ladybugs and you take one away, how many ladybugs do you have left?" My answer......."a turtle."
While Mom and Dad pushed me around the aquarium, I kept asking "What's for dinner? What's for dinner?" in my outside voice.
Mom pointed out two sharks swimming by in an exhibit and said, "Macy, look....sharks! Look at their teeth" My response, "The sharks are smiling Momma."
I also changed the words from Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Snake. Mom bought me some rubber snakes to keep me occupied while she and Dad ate lunch.
Dad especially likes this picture of me with my snakes. He told me that it reminds him of Conan the Barbarian. You know..."Two snakes coming together..." [Austrian accent].
I don't know what he is talking about though. I thought Conan was this funny Irish guy with big hair on late night TV. I added a link under the "Places to Visit" section for Kennedy Krieger in case you wanted to check it out.
We also want to welcome Baby Sophia Rae and congratulate Stacey Rae and Mark and big brother Daniel on the precious new addition to their family. She is beautiful!!! We are so glad for her safe arrival and look forward to meeting her.
See you all next week!
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