My Nur

Something not unfamiliar to any adoptive parent is deciding if a behavior is adoption related or if there is something legit going on in your child that would have shown up regardless of adoption.  That is where I am constantly at with Nur.

Since the day I brought this child of mine home, I've seen some behaviors in him that I questioned.  I would bring these behaviors up to people, and was often met with a common response that adoption no longer plays a role in Nur's life and that his behaviors are all very normal.  I'd kindly nod my head and smile, and then make a mental note that that person, although loved and valuable in my life, is not someone I can talk to these sorts of things because they truly don't understand. 

Even though many in my life brush off my concerns, I still wonder about certain things on a daily basis.
"Did Nur do this because of this?"  That is a question I ask myself daily.  And am amazing thing happened over my Christmas break.  Other people finally started listening to some of my concerns, and even mentioned that they see some things in Nur also. 

So next week, I'm going to face my fears, and bring up to Nurs pediatrician something that I've been worried about almost since day one of meeting my son.  I'm going to ask my pediatrician if he thinks it's a good idea to test Nur to see if he is on the Autism Spectrum. I think he is, and perhaps the pediatrician will agree with me, or perhaps he'll agree to have him tested, and maybe even perhaps he'll assure me that he isn't.  Either way, it's something I need to start saying out loud now. It's something that I've been worried about, and as Nur continues to get older and smarter, and more adaptable, there are still some behaviors that make me think that we could be dealing with something that isn't adoption related, and something that is at least worth looking into. 

Here is the thing I've learned about parenting Nur.  My love for him only grows deeper and stronger as the days pass.  Early on, I sometimes struggled with attachment, but those struggles are long gone.  Perhaps I couldn't have dealt with the Autism Spectrum Disorder early on in our attachment process, but I'm more ready to deal with it now.  Because I love this child of mine so very much, and whatever he is struggling with, or not struggling with, I love him fiercely and perfectly, and I know I will work hard to get him the resources for these things. 

Here's hoping that I'm wrong! But if I'm not, we'll get through this as a family.

Third Opinion? Don't Mind if I Do.

When I left the Mayo Clinic on Friday, I had a feeling that this wasn't the last time this particular doctor would think of S and try to get to the bottom of what's going on.  Giving the diagnosis of Androgenetic Alopecia on a 1 year old is unheard of.  In fact, I don't know if there are any documented cases of it ever happening.  And with that diagnosis, it makes the hairloss almost a symptom of something bigger.  I had the feeling that the doctor cared, and that she would be following up on this.  I had that same impression from the Endocrinologist we saw at the UofM.  She called my house the next day and said she couldn't get S out of her mind.  Doctors love a challenge, right?

Yesterday as I was sitting at work, I got a call from the doctor at the Mayo Clinic.  She started off by saying not all the bloodwork has come back yet, but what has come back is all normal.  This is all great news!  She then said that after she met TT on Friday, she consulted with a doctor in her department who is one of the leading experts on hairloss in children.  Dr. T (This leading expert doctor lady) was stumped.  She looked at the pictures of TT and was unsettled by the diagnosis of Androgenetic Alopecia.  She decided to consult with some of the leaders in this topic in the world who practice out on the west coast.  She shared TT's picture with a group of doctors out there, and all of these physicians were very interested in TT's case. After reviewing the pictures as well as the tests that have been done on TT, they called the doctors at Mayo to say that they thought it was another form of Alopecia called Alopecia Areata.  In the last few months, I've become quite the hairloss expert, and there are many forms of hairloss, and there are also many forms of Alopecia.  Alopecia Areata (AA) is the most common type of hairloss in children, but it usually presents itself much differently.  This is the more common look of children with AA.

The bald spots this condition cause are usually complete baldness.  TT's hair is more thinning.  Again, a pic of TT.

TT doesn't have complete baldness.  In fact, I can see why 2 doctors thought Androgenetic Alopecia.  It does follow the same pattern as many with male/female pattern baldness.  But again, my daughter being 1, if the Androgenetic Alopecia diagnosis was correct, than more likely than not, something more serious was causing this.

The Mayo Doctor explained AA to me, and said that TT presents differently than any child she's ever diagnosed with this.  She prescribed me a topical steroid and directed me to put it on the affected area twice a day, and that most children see improvement in 8 to 12 weeks.  She said that she doesn't know how TT will react to it because  nothing about TT's case has been normal. 

The diagnosis of AA was a relief to me.  It is much more common in children, and it rules out some of the scary stuff that was being discussed with me, such as hormonal tumors, adrenal system issues, etc.  And now TT is just a child who has AA, instead of being a child with Androgenetic Alopecia, which is probably more like 1 in a million.  And, there is a safe medicine for AA.  Whether it works or not is still to be seen, but at least there is something out there.  And some children with AA, the hair grows back on it's own.  Where again, if this was truly Androgenetic Alopecia, the hair would be gone. . . forever. 

I just want to add that the Mayo Clinic is not paying me for their endorsement.  Ha.  :)  I'm just so impressed with them.  The doctor we saw Friday was wonderful, but she was stumped.  She consulted with another Mayo doctor before going to world experts in this field.  It is that kind of attention that makes me feel like I'm in the best hands possible. 

I'll go back to Mayo in about 6 weeks to see this Dr. T woman who is a leading expert in the field.   I'm hoping we have some new growth by then.

I also want to add. . . at the end of the day, if TT loses her hair, but has no life threatening disease, I consider myself very lucky.  Doctoring these past few months, you see some very sad situations at the children's hospitals we have visited.  If this is the worst medical condition we deal with in our family, I will consider us all VERY VERY lucky.

If The Mayo Clinic Says it, it Must Be True

Friday morning I rushed both kids out the door and was on the road by 7am.  T would have loved to have joined us, but he had work obligations.  So, we jammed for an hour and a half to kids music (I know every song made for children now, seriously), the kids spilled on their clothes, they laughed, signaled that they were all done with the carride, we stopped at McDonalds, and finally arrived at the Mayo Clinic around 8:45am.  My Mom works there so she met us there and we took the kids to her office to see her co-workers.  My Dad then met us at the actual appointment, and he and Nur played while my mom joined me at the appointment.  A 2nd set of hands and ears is always very helpful at these things.

The Dr. was extremely nice, and so good with TT.  TT wasn't scared at all.  She just sat and smiled and played with my Mom while I filled the Dr. in on what had been happening up until this point.  The Dr. did a hair pull test and tried to remove a few hairs from TT's head.  She had a difficult time doing it.  The nice Dr. then asked if I minded if she brought in another Dr. to take a look.  Of course I didn't mind.  We drove an hour and a half to get some answers, and I was willing to see all the doctors in the world to get this figured out.

A few minutes later, the original Dr. and another Dr. walked in.  The new Dr. examined TT's head, and asked if she had always had a receeding hairline on the side of her head.  I mentioned that I don't remember it being that receeded originally.  Both Dr's then left the room again. 

About 15 minutes later, the original Dr. came in and started explaining to me her thoughts.

Basically, she said that originally, she thought TT probably started losing her hair due to Telogen Effluvium.  This makes sense because right before TT started losing her hair, she had a high fever and I brought her to the Dr. and it was Hand and Foot Disease.  After a couple days of Tylenol, she felt completely fine, but in kids, an illness or stress can cause hair to fallout.  And the Mayo Dr. is thinking that this what started the hair loss.  She said then though, it looks like it has turned into androgenetic alopecia, which is exactly what the UofM diagnosed her with.

The nice Dr. T told  me that she always reviews the patient's files before seeing them.  And when she received TT's a couple weeks ago, and saw that the 1st opinion at the UofM was Androgenetic Alopecia, she basically laughed because she thought it was near impossible for a 19 month old to have this, and she was very sure that her diagnosis was incorrect.  But upon meeting TT, and seeing for herself, she too thinks it's Androgenetic Alopecia.  She said she has never diagnosed anyone TT's age with this, or anywhere close to TT's age, but all signs are pointing towards this.  She said she did want to do a lot of blood work today though, as well as a bone age xray. She said before ordering the bloodwork, she wanted to talk to a Dr. in Endocrinology.  She got on the phone that minute, and called an Endocrinologist.  Seriously. . . another reason I LOVE the Mayo Clinic.  It's a one-stop-shop.  All the experts that needed to be consulted on TT's case, were consulted immediately.  I love that. 

Right after the appointment, TT went and had her bone aging xray, and then had her bloodwork.  They are looking for pretty much everything.  TSH, T4, Vitamin B6, Vitamin D, a bunch of other things that I can't remember.  A part of me is hoping they find something in her bloodwork.  Something that will really explain what is going on.  If all of her bloodwork comes back normal, than this is definitely androgenetic alopecia.  And the Dr. at Mayo also suggested Rogaine.  Rogaine people.  For my 1 year old.

And then there is the Rogaine debate.  T feels really strongly that we not give our 1 year old Rogaine.  I've been told by 2 Dr's that this is what we should do.  I feel stuck.  I see T's point.  There is no evidence or cases out there of a 1 year old taking Rogaine.  It's a chemical.  She could possibly need it for the rest of her life.  No one really knows the long term effects of taking it.  But I also know that T doesn't know what it's like to be a girl.  It kills me that TT may deal with this the rest of her life.  I thank God it's not life threatening, but it still has me down. 

So, that was the most recent appointment.  I hope to hear from the Mayo Clinic sometime this week about the bloodwork.

The Endocrinologist Appointment

Where we are doctoring currently (The University of MN) every appointment has been in the same hospital location.  So, yesterday's appointment was very near where her previous appointments were. . . including the dreaded biopsy appointment.  So needless to say, TT FREAKED out upon arrival.  The nurse even asked if she had had a recent procedure.  Umm. . . yes, she had.

The nice doctor then walked in.  She is actually a Fellow.  She asked a ton of questions.  Really good questions.  She said that in her opinion, Dermatology had already done the exact same tests that she would have done, and she made it seem like a lot of the big stuff can be ruled out by the bloodwork alone.  But, she said that doesn't really leave us with an answer.  She asked if we minded if she went and consulted with a higher up and of course I didn't mind.  TT and I played My Little Ponies and sang songs.  About 20 minutes later, this nice Fellow came in with another doctor.  Turns out they had been looking up cases for the past 20 minutes of past incidences.  And they could not find ONE case where a 1 year old was diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia.  Not ONE. 

So, we left the appointment with this nice Fellow wanting to do additional bloodwork.  She wanted to check TT's electrolyte levels, prolactin, another TSH, and a few others.  I mad the executive decision at that point to ask if she could just write up the lap request, and I could bring it down to the Mayo Clinic with me when I'm there next week.  Afterall, TT has been a bit traumatized as of late, and having her blood drawn would not help her to feel more positively about this place.  And because we are going to Mayo anyway, I figured why not just hold off and get all the needed bloodwork at one time.  The Fellow agreed and we were on our way. . . no where closer to knowing why my 1 year old lost a lot of her hair.

I was impressed with the Fellow we saw however.  She had read up on TT and really done her research before we showed up.  That means a lot to me.  And now I'm even more impressed with her.  I was sitting at work today and my phone rang.  I knew it was a UofM number, and figured it was a nurse or scheduler.  Nope.  It was the Fellow herself!  She told me she had been thinking a lot about TT and had done even more research in the past 24 hours, and TT's diagnosis at her age is troubling to her.  In all the research she had done in the past 24 hours, the youngest person she could find with a similar diagnosis was a 6 year old boy.  However, the Fellow said this boy had a huge family history of androgenetic alopecia.  We do not have this history in our family. . . at all.  T has a full head of hair, as does his dad, as does my dad, as do my brothers, etc, etc, etc.  The fellow said it occurred to her that she wants one more test done at Mayo.  She wants them to check her vitamin D levels to see if she has a resistance to that vitamin.  She said it's a long shot, but she really wants it checked.  DONE. 

She also told me that she is happy I'm going to Mayo and that no one in the medical field takes 2nd opinions as a bad thing.  She said that even though we are going to Mayo, she would love the results of all the bloodwork they do, because this is very interesting to her and she is intrigued. 

She then also said that she wanted to read the pathology report from TT's biopsy to me.  Basically, it noted that there is still a chance that it's something else, and perhaps a repeat biopsy would be needed to gain more tissue samples. 

Anyway, this nice Fellow and I spoke for over 10 minutes (that's forever for a doctor. .  trust me) and I got off the phone call feeling great about who we saw.  Being a fellow, she is looking to get hired somewhere after fellowship.  She is working hard on our case, and it's obvious, and it's so appreciated by this mama.  She is leaving no stone unturned, and between her, and going to Mayo on February 10th (a week from today) I'm feeling good that we are going to figure this out.  And perhaps this nice fellow will end up writing up a case study on TT because this is such a unique situation.

Has anyone ever seen Mystery Diagnosis?  I feel like I'm living it right now!  And although we still don't know what's going on with TT, I have an endocrinologist very uncomfortable with her diagnosis, and a doctor at Mayo, who I bet also shares that opinion.

Thanks for those who have been keeping TT in your thoughts and prayers.  It means the world to me and to my family.

Composing My Thoughts

Yesterday my brain was mush.  I was scared for my little girl, not 100% confident in the diagnosis received, and anxious to wait for more answers. 

You see. . . I'm not loving her diagnosis of Androgenetic Alopecia.  What that diagnosis tells me, is that they couldn't find anything else wrong with her, but there is absolutely no doubt that Scarlett has lost hair and had thinning hair on top of her head, so there is definitely something going on.  They were able to rule out a few things, which I guess is progress in terms of making a diagnosis, but we didn't get a definitive answer.

Going into this, I was almost 100% sure that Scarlett was pulling her own hair out.  She has a hair fixation.  She is always pulling her hair and twisting and twirling it.  I wasn't going to be happy with that diagnosis because that's a hard habit to stop, but I was going to live with it, and work on finding another way for her to soothe herself.  I was so sure that's what this was.  Well. . . the biopsy she had done completely ruled that out. 

You see. . . Androgenetic Alopecia is really just a fancy name for Male Pattern/Female Pattern Baldness.  Which to me, just means, Your daughter is losing her hair, and we don't know why.  If this was a 30 or 40 year old man with that same diagnosis, there would be no need to look further.  When you get older, you may lose your hair. That's  normal. I googled this condition, and yes, it's very common in older men and women.  And once in a while, it can even present itself in the early teen years.  But I couldn't find anything on this condition presenting itself on a 1 year old.  Nothing.  When her doctor called me yesterday, she even said that she didn't feel comfortable giving this diagnosis on someone Scarlett's age, prescribing her some Rogaine to help the hair grow back, and sending her on her way.  Why?  Because when someone this age has this, there is something behind it.  There has to be.  Right?

So, on February 2nd (a week from today) I will take Scarlett to see an Endocrinologist at the University of MN.  Chances are, they will want her to undergo a CT or an MRI.  That scares me a lot.  Not only because Scarlett will once again have to be sedated, but because of what they are looking for.  They are looking for tumors that would throw off Scarlett's hormones.  Tumors.  That freaks me out.  I've been reassured that the main growths would be on the pituitary, and that these are usually benign (non cancerous) but I can't help be scared. 

Nothing is good enough for my children, so in addition to the appointment at the UofM next week, I will also be bringing Scarlett to the Mayo Clinic the following week.  Mayo ranks #1 in the country for Endocrinology (as well as many other things) I want/need a second opinion.  However, when I take Scarlett to Mayo, they will have her start right back in Dermatology.  That's a little annoying, but at the same time, maybe they'll completely disagree with the UofM's diagnosis and set me on another path.  Or best case scenario, they'll review the biopsy results and blood work and say, "It's because of this, and all her hair will grow back soon and she's perfectly healthy."  All I know is I'm feeling in my gut that a second opinion is the way to go. 

As a parent, I think all of our worst fears is that something could happen to our children.  I've never loved anything so much as I love my Khalil and my Scarlett.  Oh, I love Taher too, but the love I feel for those kids of mine is something fierce.  Right now, I'm simply trying not to get ahead of myself.  Chances are, this is NOT life threatening.  Chances are, something small, or not at all is going on.  I have to keep reminding myself of that, because when I let my mind go towards the what ifs, I feel positively sick.

The Diagnosis Is In

And it surprised me a bit.

The thing I thought it was has been ruled out.  They have completely ruled out that TT is pulling out her own hair.  A few other things were ruled out as well.  They all had big fancy names to them, and I can't remember those big fancy names.  Things such as stress were ruled out.  So, the big diagnosis is:

Androgenetic Alopecia

I don't love that diagnosis.  I would have prefered the "your daughter is pulling her hair out diagnosis."

What this diagnosis basically means (in the words of the dermatologist) is that TT has something most likely going on hormonally that causes this.  Even though her blood work was all normal, something is causing this, and the Dermatologist now thinks it would be best if we started seeing Endocrinology.  She mentioned the next step possibly being a CT scan to check for benign growths on her puitary gland or ovaries. 

Yes, I immediately started freaking out at this, and mentioned cancer.  The doctor said that cancer would most likely show up in the blood work.  Okay, good.  But why were all of her blood tests normal, yet she is still getting a biopsy result stating that whatever is happening has to do with her hormones?

I'm confused, scared, sad at what this diagnosis could mean. (A lifetime of Rogaine?)  I have an appointment with Endocrinology for next week, but I'm also in talks with the Mayo Clinic as they have the best Endocrinology department in the world.

TT's Procedure is Complete

Yesterday morning at 8am, TT and I walked out the door.  She was so excited to get to leave with Mama.  Nur on the other hand was not pleased at all that I was leaving with TT and leaving him home with the nanny.  I kept assuring him that he would have much more fun than his sister!

We got to the University of MN at 8:30am and TT got her gown on.  She was a bit overwhelmed and shy, but they she got some meds to relax, and boy did she relax!  She was "talking" constantly and as happy as could be.  The anesthesiologists came in to talk to me as did her doctor.  At about 9:30, I carried TT into the procedure room.  She was laughing and pointing to things asking everyone, "What's this? What's this?"  Then the anesthesiologist had me hold down her arms and he put the gas mask over her face.  TT screamed and turned bright red and cried so hard that my heart hurt for her. Then she went limp, and I was escorted out of the room. 

TT's nurse came in and let me know everything was going well.  She told me kids can take up to an hour to wake up.

Then the anesthesiologist came in and told me TT woke up immediately.  Next thing I knew, a doctor was bringing TT to me and TT was crying out, "Mama, Mama."  I held her and she kept trying to remove the IV in her foot.  She screamed, and screamed, and screamed, and the doc and nurse kept telling me kids don't usually react this badly.  Her blood pressure was through the roof. . . probably due to the screaming.  She has 1 little stitch on the top of her head. 

Finally, the nurse told us we could go home, even though they didn't get a good blood pressure on TT yet.  TT just wanted out of there. 

She passed out in the car, rosey cheeks and all, and wouldn't let go of me the rest of the day.

So thankful that is over, and I'm hoping to have results in 2 weeks. . . or less.

TT's Procedure

On Tuesday, January 3rd, I brought TT to the doctor for a follow up on her balding on the top of her head.  The doctor said it hasn't gotten any better, but it also hasn't gotten any worse, and her recommendation is that TT gets a scalp biopsy done. 

I'm not going to lie. . . this scares me.  Because of TT's age, they will put her under conscious sedation which will be administered through an IV.  I don't want to put my child through pain, but the doctor recommends this, and I need to trust her opinion.  Apparently, the biopsy will show if this hair loss is do to something hormonal, genetic, or if Scarlett is pulling her hair.  I asked the doctor what happens if the results show nothing, and she said that we'll then do a CT scan on TT's entire body to see what's going on inside.  Again. . . that makes me scared and worried. 

In the doctor's words. . . she doesn't feel comfortable not knowing what is causing this.  The looks part doesn't bother me.  TT's hair is so long around the baldness that it is easily covered up.  What bothers me is the not knowing.  Because according to the doctor, kids don't just lose their hair at this age for no reason. 

A part of me is hoping that we find out that TT is pulling her hair.  We'll need to find a way for her to stop that behavior, but at least it won't be a medical issue, which is what I really fear. 

A lot of people tell me that they can't notice any hair loss on TT.  Well, that's because this mama has perfected brushing her hair a certain way to hide it as much as possible.  I'm going to share this picture, and I just want you to know that the picture breaks my heart.

You can't deny the baldness.  It's there.  But this mama can make this beautiful girls curls look like this.

A week from today, TT will get a biopsy of her scalp done, and get a couple stitches.  I am praying this is all behind us soon.

The Hair Saga Continues

Today I brought TT to her long awaited Dermatolgy appointment.  I scheduled this appointment 6 weeks ago.  Yes, it took 6 LONG weeks to get in.  And as always, I left the appointment with more questions than answers.  Medicine is such an interesting Science, is it not?

TT pulls and plays with her hair a lot, so I was expecting the dermatologist to think that's what was causing the balding and hair thinning.  But, the doc doesn't think the pattern of baldness correlates to pulling one's hair.  I wish I had a good picture to show the baldness occurring.  I unfortunately don't have one.  The doc took one today, but I haven't managed (or tried) to get a shot of it.

The doc took bloodwork from TT.  A lot of blood.  And my little TT didn't cry a bit.  I was so proud of her.  (Elmo helped keep her calm)  The doctor thinks it may be hormonal or autoimmune related.  She also wants to do a scalp biopsy on Scarlett.  The doc said she'd call me when the blood test came back. I'm not sure how long that takes. 

The doctor was talking about endocrinologists, adrenal glands, hormones, and well, I just don't know what to think.  All I know is that one year olds shouldn't be going bald, right?  And my concern is for TT's health.  And it's also for her vanity, which I realize sounds ridiculous.  But a baldness that you see on 70 year old man, should NOT be seen on 1 year old little girls. 

So now we wait.

I am so very truly thankful for the health of my two kids.  The floor of Dermatology at the University of MN is also on the same floor as pediatric brain tumors and pediatric heart transplants.  TT and I were in the waiting room with some very sick little kids.  The sickest of little kids, and my heart broke for them as I watched them.  And my heart broke for their parents.  And if TT is otherwise healthy, besides some balding, I will take that any day.

So, this is the new hairdo.  I call it the toddler combover.  I'm kidding, I'm kidding.  This is right after "tubbies" and her hair only stayed like that for about 5 seconds before her hand was in her hair messing it up. For a moment though, I forgot about TT's bald spot.

Crowning Jewel

I never realized how much I'm attached to TT's hair.  Perhaps it's cause my hair has always been what I consider an unlucky trait.  I have a ton of hair, but it's all very very fine, which means I need to brush it about every 30 minutes to keep it looking kept.  Which means that I carry a brush absolutely everywhere I go.

TT on the other hand, was blessed with beautiful hair, right from the start.  She came out of the womb with thick, beautiful, black and shiny hair.

By the time I left for Ethiopia last October, her hair was starting to fall out.  I heard that happened with newborn hair, so I wasn't concerned.  Before I knew it, TT was almost a baldy, and stayed that way for about 3 or 4 months.

After a while, her hair started growing back.  It grew back even thicker than it originally was, and perhaps a little lighter in color.  If the light hit her just right, her hair would almost look auburn.

When TTs first spring came around, her hair even started curling in the back, which made me wonder if I was going to have a daughter with curly hair.  T's family all has very ethnic hair, all very wavy.  My siblings all have natural wave to their hair.  And mine?  Yuck.  It's as straight as hair can get. 

By the time we celebrated TT's birthday this past July, she had a head FULL of girls.  Beautiful, tight curls.  Oh, how in love I was with that head of hair.  Afterall, don't we always want our children to be better than ourselves.  I have bad hair. . . I was so grateful that TT has such beautiful hair.

This fall, I noticed that TT's hair appeared thinner in the front.  And then T noticed the same thing.  It was definitely thinner, but only right on top of her head.  Everywhere else, was still extremely thick.

At TT's 15 month appointment earlier this month, I decided to bring it up to the doctor.  I bring up a lot of things to TT's doctor, and he usually laughs at me (as nice as he is able) and tells me not to worry.  I thought for sure he would do the same thing when I mentioned TT losing her hair.  Instead, he actually took some concern to the fact.  He moved her hair around, and noticed that she is in fact balding on the top of her head.  He decided to do some bloodwork for us to test for diabetes as well as some autoimmune diseases that can have losing hair as a side effect.  All the bloodwork came back normal, and he also referred us to dermatology, and unfortunately we can't get in until November 15th.

Unfortunately I don't have the best picture to show the balding, but trust me, it's there.

TT seems to be feeling fine, which makes me wonder if I'm really just concerned because I'm vain? I think it's more than that though.  Her hair is falling out.  That can't be normal, can it?

Her doctor did mention that if she only lost her baby hair on the sides that this could be her losing her baby hair on the top.

Some other theories I have are:

• When TT's hair started getting longer, we were constantly putting rubber bands on the top of her head to keep her hair manageable.  Perhaps her hair was just too fine to handle the stress of that rubberband?

• TT is constantly playing with her hair, and at times, even tugging and pulling at it.  Could TT be pulling out her own hair?  And why would she do that?
• Perhaps TT has a hair loss disorder such as Alopecia.  (Oh God. . . don't let this be serious!)

For now, I try to rock a bit of a comb-over on TT.  (She has so much hair everywhere else on her head, that this usually works) I've been using bows and ribbons to hide it, and I've been trying to keep hats on her head so she isn't always pulling at her hair.  And really, all we can do is wait until November 15th, and hope we get some answers.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions or anything, I am all ears.

All Over The Place

Nur had surgery on Friday to remove his adenoids.  His surgery was at a brand new Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, and let me tell you, they know what they are doing at this hospital.  I was nervous about the surgery.  I know adenoid removal is a minor surgery, but my boy was having surgery, being put under anesthesia, being intubated, and I was nervous! They let me carry him to the Operating Room and lay him on the table and hold his hand and talk to him while they administered gas.  Then they escorted me out of the room.  The surgery went great, and according to his surgeon, the surgery was completely necessary and a lot of tissue was removed.  Nur spent the weekend recovering and already has that sparkle back in his eye.  I cannot even tell you how brave this boy of mine is.  He is so brave and such a trooper.

Yesterday our family received some awesome hand me down toys from a family member.  One of the toys is this big princess vanity set that TT absolutely loves.  I didn't know where to put it, but decided to put it in her room.  T mentioned that he wished TT had a bigger room.  (TT's bedroom is our former office, and isn't the biggest space in the world, that's for sure)  For a moment, I also wished TT had a bigger room.  Then I mentioned to T that while in Ethiopia, I met a family of 6 who lived in a hut together, along with their animals, which included a cow.  And it was a small hut.  And this family was happy.  I got on my "soap box" a bit, and mentioned that our children have their own rooms.  A room of THEIR own.  They have closets full of clothes, shelves full of books, and so many toys it's ridiculous.  We are blessed!  Yes, sometimes we feel like we need MORE MORE MORE.  But we have SO much.  What is our obsession with things?  Haven't we learned yet that happiness does not come from possesions?  I want to learn to live more simply.  I want to teach my children to be grateful.  T and I though on these things for a long time, and we both realize that our kids' rooms needn't be bigger. 

My daughter turned 1 and also turned into a firecracker!  (Oh, and now she's already 13 months. WOW!)  She is going through a naughty stage.  Oh, how I hope this stage ends SOON.  Last week, she had one particular bad day.  She woke up from her nap crappy, and when I tried to give her a sippy cup, she threw it on the ground.  She wasn't sure I noticed, so when I was looking, she picked it back up, and threw it again.  Oy vey!  Then she hit her brother, and went into a timeout.  Then she hit me, and went into another timeout. Then she called 911, which I wouldn't have known except the nice 911 officer called me back to make sure everything was okay.  Is this teething? A growth spurt? Just a bad day.  Well, I love this little firecracker of mine.  She's got personality, that's for sure. Oh, and she insists on wearing scarfs and hats.  Who is this girl???  She brings me a hat almost everyday and insists on wearing it. 

I leave you with some random pictures of our summer.  We are having an amazing summer and I'm enjoying every moment of these kids of mine.  Even the naughty moments.

Hope everyone is having an awesome summer!!!