Everything is just fine with our little prizefighter

Sorry so late for this update--but here it is in a nutshell:

The surgery went great--the dermoid cyst was excised, and no problems there. He did have a blockage in his tear duct, which was ruptured and now his upper & lower ducts work just great--no gummy yucky goop in the mornings, and no more rogue tears down his cheek (prompting strangers to wonder if he's been crying, thus leading us to the explanation of "no-he-just-has-a-blocked-tear-duct" which is a lot of fun for all involved). The most exciting thing we learned is that Noah has a THIRD tear duct, which is very unusual. Our Dr. has only seen two--and Noah was her second--in 13 years of practicing (and she specializes in Pediatric Ophthalmology). So--basically, if we don't see any goopy yuckiness, there's nothing that needs to be done for his freakish third duct. BUT--if it appears that it, too, is blocked, we'll have to have a Pediatric Plastic Surgeon excise it, which doesn't sound like fun, and I'd like to avoid it if possible.

Noah was back to his old self the next day (the day of surgery, he was at about 90%--just a little fragile, easy to cry, but nothing major), and has been terrorizing the cat (he's getting really good at beaning her in the head with his various balls--or as he calls them "DEEEE!")--so really, we've got our NoMonster back.

He does have two steri-strips over his eye where they made the incision to take out the cyst (internal sutures), and they'll peel off on their own (like old postage stamps, we're told) when it's time. We don't have to do anything special to it--just some antibiotic steroid drops for his tear ducts, and we're good to go. He has shown some bruising, though, which the nurses at the Pediatric Surgeon said is absolutely normal--a little on the side of his head and in the crease of his eye, which really makes it look like he got into a fight. People ask what happened, and we just tell them with a straight face:

You should see the other baby.

Noah's Surgery (and other not-as-important events)

I got a call from the Pediatric Surgeon, and we had a date in November scheduled, then got a call from the Pediatric Ophthalmologist, and they wanted it done sooner--so we've got Noah's pre-op with the Ophthalmologist on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 9:15, and then his surgery is Friday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 a.m. (he'll be the first patient, which I'm happy about). The probing of the tear duct to open it will be done first by the Ophthalmologist, and should only take 5 minutes. Then the Surgeon will come in and remove the cyst, and that should be about 30-40 minutes. Noah will be under a general anesthetic, which I'm not too thrilled about, but the Surgeon assured me that the anesthesiologists that do this are specialized in pediatrics, so we're in good hands. It still makes me nervous, though. I know that it'll feel more like 30 years to Patrick and me, though! It will be a relief to have it done--his eye just gets so gummy and we are having to explain to strangers that no, he's not crying, he's just got a blocked tear duct... And, with his increased mobility, I'm worried now that he's going to fall on the cyst and break it open before we get it removed!

Speaking of his mobility, he's really truckin' now. He toddles around pretty well, though he prefers to use his Retro Rocket--pushing it from the front, so the Rocket itself is backwards from the intended use--and run around the house. Last night, though, he made the loop from the living room to the kitchen & back around to the living room without sitting once. He still gets pretty excited when he makes it to where he's going while walking, but not nearly as much as when he first discovered his bipedality.

He's got three teeth on the top that have broken through the surface, and if he bites on your finger, you'll swear that there's about 14 more just waiting. None on the bottom yet, so he looks pretty funny when he gives his goofy wrinkled-nose-smiley face. He's talking up a storm, and we're picking out more & more words every day. Of course, it's mainly conjecture for us--we can't be absolutely sure that he's saying "flower" but we're pretty sure. Today I could have sworn that he said "Grandma" when I was putting him in his car seat. We'd just left Grandma to get into her car at the YMCA and us into ours, and I was talking to him about how we were going to go to Grandma's house, and he said something that really sounded like "Grandma." He acted excited when I repeated "Yes, we're going to Grandma's house!" so I'm hoping that's what he said.

On other news fronts, I received my first commission check from a listing that was mine! I did give a 25% referral fee to my partner, Sheila, because it was our listing to begin with, but when it expired & he relisted it, she said that I could take it & run with it, and she'd just want a referral fee--which is standard practice, and was happy to do it. It was nice to be paid! I did get a smaller check that Sheila & I split 50/50 earlier in the month, but it was on and "investment property"--which is a fancy way of saying "not a whole lot of money." I'm working with a few buyers right now, and hopefully we'll be able to find something they like and can be in their new homes by the holidays. I've been really lucky--all the buyers that I've worked with have been really nice people, and have been very easy to work with.

I think that's about all the news that's fit for print!