Baron's First Trip

Last week we spent 5 days in Edmonton visiting friends and family. This was Baron's first trip away from home, first flight, and first time without his Daddy.

Day 1: Charlie's family bday party. Good times had by all.

Day 2: Baron and I went to the U of A hospital to visit past co-workers. I worked in various departments in my 8 years in the lab so I was there from 830-noon. Layla refused to come, as I expected, as she wanted to play with Charlie and Max. I was able to talk to the lab's genetisist about Baron's Goldenhar's and she reaffirmed my beliefs that Baron was not being properly handled by his BC dr. We then had a visit from my brother, Mike, and his family. Baron got to meet his closest cousin in age, Alex. They got along splendidly : ) Friday night I went out for a bite to eat with my old running buddy, Jen, who has recently started dating Greg's half brother, Blair. Too funny, or so we think. What a small world.

Day 3: Charlie's princess palace party, and then a visit from the Quist cousins. Those Quist boys are great for reminding me just how old I really am! I still see their mom, Jen, as a twenty-something new mommy like me. I just can't wrap my head around her being a mother of 5 middle-aged woman. It was great to see them. The rest of the evening we spent hanging out with my mom and dad.

Day 4: More good times with the HBs and my parents. For dinner we were invited to my brother, Rob's place but by the time he drove out from Sherwood Pk to pick us up, Layla had started throwing up so we didn't get to go. Those donairs will have to wait : ( So we hung out with my parents again for the night.

Day 5: This was Baron's big day. I took him to see our old family dr for a consult about the Goldenhar's Syndrome. I new he hadn't heard of it but I was confident he would do his researcch prior to our appt. He didn't let me down. He educated me about the syndrome, which I had done myself but it was nice to hear it all from a professional. He immediately sent us downstairs for a spinal xray. The radiologist said it looked normal from the front so because of his age he would leave it at that unless the specialists really wanted to see the back view. YAY! His spine was one of my biggest concerns so it is fantastic to hear that it's normal! YAY!!!!! He also referred us to Dr Bamforth, a genetisit who's wife, Dr F Bamforth worked in the lab with me. We are also referred to a team of specialists at the Goldenhar's clinic and craniofacial team to assess his face, heart, and kidneys. So it looks like we'll be back to Edmonton in the near future. They will moniter any and all changes to his face and act accordingly. It's going to be a long road but at least I can feel confident that Baron is getting the care he needs. In the afternoon, we visited Layla's old dayhome. Rosie was so excited to see her! Then we stopped by for a quick visit with one of our neighbours in our Quail Ridge complex.

Day 6: Today is our flight home so the day was mostly spent packing our things and getting ready for the flight. On the way home our flight was delayed 40 minutes so Layla played in the airport with a boy and a few girls. She had a blast and as a matter of fact, she had her first kiss! That's right, out of nowhere the little boy she was playing with, Maddox from Whitecourt, planted a big one right on her lips! She jumped back, stunned, the boys mother gasped in embarrassment swearing he had never done that before and apologizing, and then the kids went back to playing like nothing happened. Maddox was also flying to Kelowna and in the lineup to board the plane other passengers were commenting on how taken he seemed to be with Lays. He was so excited that she was going to be on his plane! It's a good thing Greg wasn't there as he probably would have insisted on separating them, I'm sure he wouldn't have thought it was half as cute as his mother and I did.

We all had a great time in Edmonton. Baron got to meet more of his family, Layla got to play with her cousins, and I got to see my friends and family. By the sounds of it we'll be back soon.