Health Update -- Whew!

Good news today from the pediatrician. Owen's blood tests are back, and the tests that were done on him in Vietnam (Hep, HIV, etc.) were confirmed. All negative. And, it looks like he was vaccinated for polio and Hep B over there, and exposed to chicken pox. He's got some shots in his future -- including tetanus next week, which he is not going to be happy about -- but the doc says that otherwise he looks great. For now, a clean bill of health.

It's such a relief. I feel like I can relax a bit now.

In other news, he's had quite the social calendar this week. He celebrated Pop-Pop's birthday with lunch at Clyde's on Wednesday, dined atop Federal Hill yesterday, and had lunch with Aunt Roberta today. He's got a few more lunch and dinner dates on his calendar in the next few days.

But tomorrow is the big one -- his debut with the Smith Family. Aunt Gail will be visiting this weekend, so much of the Smith clan will be descending on my parents' house to meet the newest member. I know he's had some culture shock since he came to the U.S., but this will take the cake.

Just kidding....

I succeeded in signing him and me up for Aquatots starting in September. Geez, what a process. I waited three weeks for the online registration to open, but with my dad's birthday, forgot to log on until a little after 5 on Wednesday. So, I saw there were only 2 slots left for the time and day I wanted, added the class to my cart, then had to create an account with MontCo Parks & Rec. Fine. Except that the account comes with a PIN you need to complete any registration...and "you should receive it in 48 hours."

As someone who works on the Web, I will explain this in technical terms: Poor user experience! And it was after 5, so I couldn't call to try to expedite anything (aka complain). Instead we headed up to the local swim center to register in person, which the web site said was an option. I wanted one of those two remaining slots, dammit.

But ha ha, the swim center is closed all this week for maintenance! No walk-in registration for us!
Say it with me: Poor user experience!!

Luckily, I got the PIN the next day, and they still had a slot in the class for Owen. So, the second week in September, he and I will head off to the local swim center for some swimming instruction.

But shouldn't signing up have been easier? Maybe I should have sent them the link to the video of Owen and me in the pool in Hanoi. They'd see this kid is made for the water. And all the shots of my rack might have helped, too. ;)