The clinical name for Talia's condition...

... is variously dolicocephaly or scaphocephaly (premature closure of the sagittal suture of the skull). The general name is craniosynostosis. I've never heard of it before, so I've started doing a little online research, the results of which can be found here.

Another update on Talia's health

Here's the email I sent out to friends and family this afternoon:

Hello,
I've just heard back from the doctor regarding the results of Talia's various tests from last week and unfortunately the news is not good. The MRI shows no problems. However, the skull X-ray shows premature fusion of several of the skull bones. I am taking Talia for a neurosurgery consultation next week. It's possible that they will decide the problem is not serious enough to justify intervention. But the normal thing to do in such cases is surgery, and, from the limited amount I've been able to find out from the internet, it is quite invasive and traumatic -- basically cutting the skull apart and screwing it back together, involving a multi-day hospital stay.

I'll keep you updated as I get more information. Thank you to everyone for your concern.
Nathan

I'll post updates here too.

Video diary: Talia, one day post-MRI

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Not much going on in this ninety-second video, but at least you can tell that she's more or less back to her normal, active, cheerful self. She woke up pretty groggy this morning, but by mid-afternoon seemed to be full of piss and vinegar again. She's doing a lot more cruising -- you can see her take a tentative step right near the end of the clip.

A little bit more of an update on Talia

It's been an exhausting day, but everything's gone fine so far. I went to work this morning as usual, and Heather took Talia to get some blood drawn (we're checking for lead, given that we live in an old house with some peeling paint). Heather reported that she didn't cry during the drawing. Then off to the pediatrician for a quick exam, since her eye has been looking puffy. They found an ear infection. She'll be on amoxycillin and ear drops for the next ten days. Then the hospital for the day's big event: first a skull X-ray, which I missed (Heather reported some crying), then an MRI (under sedation with chloral hydrate), which took a half hour and was completely uneventful. After that we went home and she slept for three hours. Now she's up, acting pretty groggy from the sedative (which will probably continue until mid-day tomorrow), but her appetite is back and she's obviously in a fine mood. Aside from the little bandage on her arm, you'd never know what an ordeal today was for her. I was especially amazed at how well she seemed to manage being prohibited from eating for half the day. She's a big, big eater these days.

The big question is, of course, what the tests will show, and we won't know that for at least four days. So all we can do is sit tight. No doctor so far has given us any reason to think this is anything other than a perfectly routine screening based on her head size and shape, so I'm not too worried. But still, being at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia), and seeing all those sick, pale, bald children with their parents, -- well, it left both of us pretty rattled.

A lot of people have been very supportive, and we of course are very grateful.

By the way: the previous post was done over the phone, using Jott, an excellent free phone-to-text service. They have a mysterious transcription mechanism that relies on a combination of computer speech recognition and human transcribers, presumably in some overseas location. That explains the misspelling of "survived."

Here is an update, Talia...

Here is an update, Talia just finished her MRI and we are on our way back home. She servived the day so far fine, we should get results on Tuesday.
Click here to listen

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Talia and Zeke in the kitchen

If I were into puns, I'd make some crack about a beany baby, but I won't. Talia likes beans, anyhow.

Zeke climbs a ladder

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This was at a big birthday party with a lot of kids and parents milling around. One parent beckoned me over when Zeke was already halfway up this thing. I couldn't believe he negotiated it entirely without help; it made me kind of nervous, but he was completely confident and secure. I made this little video with my phone while his way up for the third time, I think. He was pretty pleased with himself but evidently didn't think it was much of a big deal.

This one is for the folks back home

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This is an old favorite from a long time back. A favorite of a very small group but still a favorite.

Another bedtime report from Zeke

Tonight when I took Zeke in for bed he didn't want to leave his mother. He cried and said that he "wanted Mommy." Then, suddenly, he stopped crying and sat up.

Z.: Daddy, do you sometimes get sad when you can't see Mommy?
Me: Yes, sometimes I do.
Z.: Why, Daddy? Why do we get sad?

Big-head Talia

Talia had her nine-month well-baby checkup Tuesday. To our astonishment, the fact that her head circumference is in the 95th percentile is a cause for concern. She's having an MRI and X-ray next Friday to determine whether there is fluid in her brain and whether the plates in her skull are fusing prematurely. Yeesh. Poor baby. They'll sedate her for the procedure.

A recent one-liner

Walking through the war memorial in the park by our house:

Z.: Daddy, what's this?
Me: It's called a memorial.
Z.: Not your morial. My morial.

Zeke sings the alphabet

A few days ago, while driving, Zeke decided to perform the alphabet. About forty seconds. If you can't hear the audio, call (510) 248-0386, and if that number doesn't work, click this link and get the correct number.

Another little batch of photos

I took Zeke to the park before bed tonight and he spent a while dashing around inside the bandshell. I took a bunch of blurry but (I think) interesting photos.

Zeke entertains Talia in her high chair

Zeke was really trying to amuse her, and she was loving it. Go through the whole series to get the full effect...

A "day out with Thomas"

Over the past six months or so, Zeke has become a big fan of Thomas the Tank Engine, a TV character with an enormous range of licensed products you can buy. I think he sees a fair amount of Thomas at the daycare. (We try not to think about how much "movie time" there is there; he definitely doesn't see TV at home.) I have a certain amount of ambivalence about this. I don't remember growing up with a lot of brand-name characters as important elements of my imaginative life, but I could be wrong about this. Anyhow, though, about an hour from here, there's an old steam railroad that's been maintained in daily operation. It's in Amish country, in Strasburg, PA, and it's a pretty significant tourist draw. Three times a year or so they stage a "day out with Thomas" event. We decided sort of on the spur of the moment (i.e., the night before) that we'd try to make it. Zeke was probably more excited than I've ever seen him about everything; it was pretty charming. So, we got up early this morning and drove out there. It was a raging success. Zeke loved it. He was patient waiting in line (though since we arrived at 8:30 a.m., this was pretty manageable). He was so excited that he basically didn't eat anything till the afternoon. Unfortunately most of the photos I took were blurry. Of course I made a video as well but that was also out of focus. I'll see if I can salvage anything over the next couple of days. But in the meanwhile, here are some nice shots.

The trains.


Photos of Zeke riding.

To see all the pictures from today at full size, click here (there aren't too many more than this).

Video diary: Talia plays with a balloon

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Not a particularly high-quality video (one minute or so; made with my cell phone), but take my word for it, she was really having a blast.

A few photos of Talia

Photos of Talia eating ...

    
  



And playing music (while standing up)...

Talia tries cheese

This may amuse you... Sorry about the terrible quality. Made with my phone.

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Exciting times at the homestead

These are exciting times indeed. The reason why is a little delicate, but Zeke does a pretty good job explaining it in the one-minute interview below. Have a look at the video. To listen to the audio by phone, call (510) 248-0386, or if that number doesn't work, click this link and use the number supplied there.

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Last thing Zeke said to me at bedtime tonight

"I want to give you a big hug, Daddy."

Which he did. Then proceeded to curl up with his favorite stuffed animal -- a small green dinosaur -- and go to sleep.

I must have done something really nice in a past life, or something. That's all I can say.