Tom Drapeau

I love apple picking. It was a yearly tradition growing up in central Massachusetts–picking, drinking of mulled cider, pumpkin carving and merriment. I just had the privilege of living that feeling vicariously through KidWonder last weekend, while visiting family. We went to Doe Orchards in Harvard, MA, my childhood haunt. Here are some pics, and don’t miss the video toward the bottom!

The trees:

The tools:

The catch:

Enjoying the fruits of his labor:

Here is KidWonder in action:

And finally, walking off, stage left, with his Pa:

tdrapeau KidWonder Apple Picking, Doe Orchards, KidWonder, Nostalgia

Its been a while since we attended this event, another gem suggested to us by the Lollipop Moms meetup group. The Great Children’s Read, held at Columbia University, is in its third year and brings together books and celebrities to wow an audience largely 2 to 8 years old.

We wiggled into the crowd of parents, strollers and mayhem just in time to see DJ Lance Rock, emcee of the popular kids program Yo Gabba Gabba, come on stage and lead the crowd in song and dance. KidWonder was a bit weirded out by the crowd, but was very excited to see DJ Lance and his favorite character, Brobee.

After the Gabba set, we waited in line at the signing tent and got some pictures with both, and DJ Lance signed a poster and KidWonder’s Brobee doll. Very exciting.



We stepped out for brunch and came back to hear Peter Yarrow sing Puff the Magic Dragon. His performance seemed geared more to the parents than the kids, and KW was more interested in running underneath a flap in the tarp holding up one of the signing tents than listening to Peter talk about remembering Mary. Peter did bring kids on stage to sing Puff their way, which was nice. Too bad for us, KW started singing it himself… a week afterwards.



After listening to Puff the Magic Dragon, we left for naptime, as did Brobee. Here is KW wishing him a good nap.

tdrapeau KidWonder Brobee, DJ Lance Rock, Great Children's Read, KidWonder, Puff the Magic Dragon, Yo Gabba Gabba

I wanted to share two KidWonder anecdotes before we run out for yet another great kids event (pics to come).

On our way out yesterday to the Mamaroneck Lollipop Fair (MomWonder will post the pics, I keep hogging that privilege), I had to gas up the car. On the back of the front passenger seat is an old purse strap MW uses to rig up her iPhone when KW wants to watch a movie–other times it just sits there, within his reach.

I left the radio on while gassing up the car, and come back to realize he’s holding on to the straps for dear life! I say “What are you doing?” He replies “I’m holding on Dad!” OK, well, alrighty then. I get in the car, and start driving, and he says “Dad!” “I REALLY want to stop holding on!” right as the chorus hits. And then I realize–the song on the radio is the Wilson Phillips “Hold On”. So I say “You can stop holding on”, and he says “No. Can’t”. I turned to another station, and he let go of the strap and breathed a sigh of relief.

While playing at the local playground, KW was chasing a boy twice his size and speed. The boy was running him in circles, with KW desperately trying to catch him. He stops by me, panting, and I say “Buddy, you can’t catch him on foot, he’s too fast. You’ll need to be more strategic than that.” He takes off, races around one more time, and comes back to me. He looks at me and says “OK Daddy, YOU catch him.”

Now THAT’s my son. Alright interwebs, off to the next event.

tdrapeau KidWonder

Great fun was had by KidWonder and I when we visited the local mini-golf course. The proof (be sure to watch the video at the end):

tdrapeau KidWonder KidWonder, Mini-Golf

KidWonder, MomWonder and I had a really nice outing today at the Larchmont Autumn Community Day, which included a blood drive, free food, public safety presentations, and, the pièce de résistance, Truck Day. KW was in heaven (once he got over how big and loud the trucks were), and played on a small tractor, ambulance and a few others before riding in the back of a fire truck. What fun! A few pics of the boy:

Showing off his fireman’s hat:

Driving the ambulance:

After riding the fire engine:

We had some great food (hot dogs and hamburgers), listened to a local band play some tunes (yes, KW and I danced, we like to dance), and I donated a pint of blood for the first time. Great fun was had by all. Big thanks to the Lollipop Moms meetup group for telling us about this great event.

tdrapeau KidWonder KidWonder, Truck Day

MomWonder, KidWonder and I spent a nice afternoon out at the local park. We bought dinner from a local takeout restaurant and ate on picnic benches while KW ran around and played, mostly with an older girl named Natalie. What a mack.

We normally don’t take pictures since the boy is so hard to pin down, but we were determined to get some shots of him today. This is the best of the bunch:

All in all, a nice afternoon. A nice break from the hectic work week.

tdrapeau KidWonder KidWonder, Park

It seems like just yesterday I was wearing the paper hospital outfit, staring at the clock, waiting until I could go into the operating room and see KidWonder for the very first time. Now he’s all grown up! Here’s a pic of the boy and his MomWonder, at his restaurant of choice, the local Applebees:

Most of the meal consisted of KW laughing hysterically at the idea of being itchy. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a toddler crack himself up–he laughed so hard he fell off his booster seat!

A good time was had by all. Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

tdrapeau KidWonder Applebee's, Birthday, French Fries, itchy, KidWonder

In honor of the new X-Men Origins movie (trailer below), KidWonder graciously agreed to pose as various X-Men in tribute. Here he is:

As Magneto:

Cyclops, missing the glasses:

KidWonderine:

KidWonder X — DON’T look too closely at his eyes:

Trailer (129 days and counting!):
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

tdrapeau KidWonder KidWonder, Movie, X-Men

At the beginning of the year, MomWonder and I had to rush KidWonder to a local hospital because he was having trouble breathing. We had called our pediatrician in the morning, explained the situation, and were told to bring him to the emergency room.

When we got to the ER, we were asked about our health insurance. No problem, I said, our family is covered under United Healthcare. Great, they said, and allowed KW to see a doctor. As it turned out, he was diagnosed with bronchiolitis, which is what they say when your child has asthma but is too young to be declared to have asthma. Weird stuff, but whatever.

The attending physician had the nurse administer 3 doses albuterol via a nebulizer, and afterwards KW breathed easier, and we were so much happier.

Then, the bill came. The attending physician, who spent a total of maybe 10 minutes with KW, charged us $691. We waited for United Healthcare to pay for the visit – they did not. As I investigated, it turned out that the attending physician was not in network. The hospital neglected to tell us this when asking for our insurance. As I probed further, I discovered that the physician’s group practice was in network, even though the doctor himself wasn’t. Puzzled, I pressed on with this line of logic, and was told by UHC that we could resubmit the claim to the group practice. This time, it worked! A network discount of $470 chopped the total down to $221, which UHC paid. Hooray!

And yet… that was just the beginning. I received a bill now for $470, the original $691 minus the $221 UHC paid. I was confused as to why the discount wasn’t being recognized by the doctor’s practice. Continuing, I was told that the practice was in disagreement with UHC as to how much the procedure should cost. UHC thought $221, the practice thought $285. I asked if I could just pay $64, the difference between the 2 discount amounts. No, I was told.

At this point, several months had passed. I called again and again, hoping to get this matter resolved. UHC considered the matter closed, and even sent a letter to the physician asking him to leave me alone, that this procedure had been paid for/covered, and the matter was closed. Still I kept receiving bills.

I called UHC again, went through first line, second line, rapid response groups. Finally, exasperated, I was told that UHC’s Network Management would get involved. I was assured that when Network Management gets involved, things get resolved. The doctor would be called personally, and be told to knock it off. I thought this odyssey might actually be at an end. I thought wrong.

Yet another bill arrives, still asking for the $470 difference between the original amount and the $221 paid by UHC. Calling for the 15th time, I got in touch with a UHC rep and was told the bad news. Network management called the doctor. The doctor told UHC to buzz off, that he’s not in their network. Since he’s not in the network, the Network Management group have no mojo over him. There’s nothing they can do to him, since he has nothing to lose with them.

At this point, all I want to do is to be this soccer player and make the doctor the defender:

A week ago, 10 months after our little KidWonder had trouble breathing, I wrote a check for $470 to stop a collections agency from getting involved. And I feel a little sick about the whole process. I spent extra time on the phone with the last UHC rep, making sure I asked what was on my mind: What am I supposed to do when my 8 month old child can’t breathe and the only doctor in the ER isn’t in network? I got the highest level of insurance that I could, the PPO coverage, and yet it didn’t seem to make a lick of a difference.

Well, I guess that’s the whole rant. I’m still raw from the whole experience.

tdrapeau KidWonder Health Insurance, KidWonder, MomWonder, Rant, UHC

Riding atop his trusty steed (aka Dad), KidWonder revels in conquering Halloween.

tdrapeau KidWonder Halloween, KidWonder