Mysterious Leg Ailment

Daycare was nice enough to capture on film Marino's mysterious leg issue, so I can share with all the doctors and others who seem to think I am insane, since he never does it when a doctor is around. If you know Marino, you know he is always moving, running, etc. There is no way he would be refusing to walk/bear weight on his leg unless there was an issue. Any thoughts/suggestions/opinions are welcome.

Our Weekend, Update on the Leg

I really made a conscious effort to get some relax time in this weekend, since we always seem to be so busy. Saturday we managed to be very lazy all day. We had lots of playtime and Evan's Aunt Joyce and her 4 year old grandson Landon came over. Landon was great about showing Marino how to use his toys:) Other than that, we just stayed at home and relaxed.

Sunday, we met up with our preemie moms and babies for some fall fun. We met at Homestead Gardens in Anne Arundel County for their Fall Festival (you know how I feel about fall festivals). The one thing I didn't like about this fall festival was it was free to get in, but then everything you did required "tickets" that cost money. I mean, even taking picutres in front of cardboard cut outs. Crazy. I'd rather pay a fee to get in than have to worry about buying tickets for everything inside. Anyway, it was definately nice to visit with everyone and see the sun after a ton of rain.

L to R: Marino, Simon, Evan and Cameron

Marino checking out the scene...happy boy!

Happy with his hay and his "papples"

Best friends

Simon and Megan

Brendan decided he liked the pumpkins, after all!

The boys were all really into this little fountain.

Evan and Cameron listening to the live bluegrass band.

Brendan and Simon enjoying the music.

Cameron and Evan

This is how he fell asleep on the way home, with his hand behind his head!

On Sunday, we also got a chance to visit with my grandfather. Here's Marino and his great grandpap.
Joanne, Pacey, Pap and Marino

What can I say about Marino's leg? Over the weekend, he had a couple instances of refusing to bear weight on it each day, so I was feeling like things were improving. There were some other times, though, that he would freak if I tried to put him down, so I'm not sure if that was because his leg hurt or because, you know, he loves me so much;) But today, daycare told me he refused to walk for over an hour and a half. Even on the playground, so you know that is serious! I spoke to our doctor and she asked me to try to get a video so everyone can stop acting like I am insane and see what I'm talking about. I'm sending our camera to daycare tomorrow so they can hopefully capture it on tape!

In unrelated news, Marino started saying "dance" today. And he is totally in love with catfish (consumming it, that is). He generally dislikes meat, so this is a big step. He ate a whole catfish filet himself tonight!

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boy this week:

5. Marino started saying "What's that?" I'm not sure I can count this as a two word sentence, because I'm assumming he's just repeating what he's heard other people say. Or should I count it?

4. He calls pumpkins "papples" which apparently is a hybrid of an apple and a pumpkin. I think he thinks they are just orange colored apples. He's been eating pumpkin risotto this week (which is actually made with pumpkin and apple juice, so it is sort of "papple") and he loves it!

3. He is madly in love with ducks. He loves all animals, but not like he loves ducks. He sees them everywhere - duck toys in 2nd floor windows at school, abstract looking ducks in murals, etc. If he sees me on the computer, he says "duck" until I show him duck pictures and then he says "quack quack quack quack."

2. Marino's leg continued to cause trouble for him all week. In the past week, he saw: the pediatrician, his physical therapist, the x-ray technician and the pediatric orthopedist. None of them have a clue what's wrong with him (more on that below). Anyway, in spite of whatever he was going through, the boy was his normal, cheerful self all week. He's such a trooper!

1. I think my #1 favorite things of the week always have to do with dancing, since dancing to me = happiness (you don't dance if you're sad, right?). This morning in the car, I was flipping through stations and we came across a rap song ("Wipe Me Down" - I seriously need someone to explain the lyrics to me, I have no idea what he's talking about - I'm an old lady now). Anyway, Marino was doing his dance, but then he included a gangster face in his dance (see below if you're not familiar with a gangster face...Evan and I call it "the ugly face"). OMG, I was dying! Where did he get that from?

Although none of our doctors seem willing to concede this point, I'm convinced that Marino's leg issue is the result of the MMR shot. I did some very serious research on the topic (ie: I googled it;)) and I found that join pain, mimicking arthritis is a possible side effect of the MMR shot. I also found other people that said their toddlers stopped walking for a week or so after the shot. His x-rays are clear, so it's not a bone issue. I really think its a bad reaction to the shot. Wednesday was really bad but things seem to be improving now (the limping is less frequent). I'm not sure why doctors don't want to admit side effects of vaccinations. At the end of the day, I would take some temporary discomfort for Marino over leaving him exposed to a debilitating/life-threatning illness. But accepting and informing patients about potential reactions is important.