Tick, tick...

We're almost there, folks.  The misery of living in this lead-encrusted house is almost over.  On Wednesday the packers come.  Then I drive The Boy to VT straight from daycare.  We have his birthday (angel food cake, chunky cardboard blocks, a mini piano, some puzzles, balls, and maracas...) and Christmas (inasmuch as my family "does" Christmas, as we all fall somewhere on the atheist/cynic spectrum) and return here for one night so I can get The Boy to his 12-month appt, after which Boy and I will head straight down to NYC to visit friends for a couple of days while Speedy takes care of the closing on our new house and oversees the demolition phase of the renovation.  Boy and I return on Friday to oversee the actual move while Speedy works, and on Saturday we will wake up in our new house.
We have our new car, and after a tragic mishap involving Speedy, a low-clearance underground garage and our brand new roof pod, all is well on that end.
What concerns me is that while we have been extra diligent in trying to minimize The Boy's contact with the lead-lined walls and floors of this house, we had his lead checked in November and it was already 5 mcg/dl.  FIVE.  Now, that's below the federally-determined danger level of 10, but  above the average level of 2-3, and much above the ideal level of ZERO-- certainly not at all okay with me.  On his 12-month appt we will have it rechecked via a venous draw, but I am totally freaked out.  One, almost two months will have passed between test 1 and test 2, and if his level went from a presumed 0 to 5 in just one month, what will it be now, especially since he has outgrown the confines of the lead-safe room and has been toddling like crazy everywhere; and two, It's TOO FRIGGIN' LATE.  The exposure has happened, whatever his number is.  I am not too worried about there being any long term consequences-- The Boy continues to be extremely bright and active-- but just the thought that we have allowed him to be poisoned makes me sick.  It is possible that he was exposed during his nanny share-- they had a kind of crusty apartment and honestly it never occurred to me.  I have asked the mom to have the other boy tested just to see if that's part of it. 
Whatever the case, our landlords are just pure dumb-asses.  They had a choice; they could very well have not rented to us.  Instead they chose us because they thought we were "cool" (seriously, they said, reproachfully, that when we first told them about the lead, as if our wanting to protect our child from lead was somehow un-cool. I guess being "cool" and all, we should have just rolled with the lead situation.  Not to mention the mold infestation in the basement.  And the fact that it's 20 degrees outside and about 25 inside because this place has no insulation). But I digress.  They promised to pay our moving expenses and refund our deposit, and right now I am just hoping they are not dumb enough to renege on those promises, because I will drag their asses to court if they try to mess with us.  And I will call the State on their asses and report the lead situation to the officials. [Breathinbreatheout]
What infuriates me is they just don't appear to care at all.  When I wrote to them to tell them about The Boy's lead level, they didn't even respond.  They are trying to rent the house for the day after we move out, which I guess means they have no intention of doing squat about the lead, even though they have no way of knowing whether any prospective renters are or will become pregnant-- even if they don't have any kids at the moment.  The more I think about it, the more I feel like we should report them regardless.  But that threat is the only power we have over them to ensure we get our $3000 deposit back.
OK.  So I disappear for weeks only to resurface with some clearly only semi-processed angry ranting...sorry!  I will make it up to you and post some video of the boy dancing very soon. 
I kinda thought it was an every-baby-does-it thing, but his daycare teachers have remarked on it:  every time he hears music, he drops everything he is doing (literally, with a crash) and strikes a little butt-out squat pose, throws his arms up into the air and starts bopping.  It's seriously the funniest thing I have ever seen, but almost impossible to catch on video.