To Aid or Not to Aid?

That has been the question Brian's entire life.  We have had a variance of opinions on the matter since he was born.  It's been...well to say frustrating would be the understatement of the century.

So here is where are today.  We are doing a hearing aid trial.  We've come to the conclusion that we will never know if it would have helped him if we don't try.

We've been telling people little by little that this is the decision we have made and have gotten mixed reviews as expected.  The most frequently asked question has been, why or why now?  I understand that people will think there has been some sort of defining moment that struck us and steered us in this direction and that's honestly not the case.

He seems to be doing well in Kindergarten.  His speech continues to progress.  Are there holes in his speech?  For sure.  Do we think it could be better with hearing aids?  Probably.  We hope so.  With or without hearing aids, we want his speech to be the best it can possibly be.  So why not try them and see if they help?

We have also been asked if the aids are effective if we will wish we had tried them sooner.  Of course, we will to some extent, but honestly, we had reasons, good reasons, to wait.  We wanted to see how far  we could go with speech therapy.  We wanted Brian to learn to work hard for things.  We needed to see what kind of a kid he was going to be.  Luckily, he's a pretty confident kid.  He is comfortable with himself and we believe he will wear his hearing aids proudly.  Also, there will be plenty of instances in which he won't be able to be aided.  The pool, the beach, bath time...all examples of instances where hearing aids can't be used.  It will be nice to know his capabilities in these instances so that he won't be able to pull the whole, "what?  I can't hear you...I don't have my hearing aids in."  :)  And finally, Brian had some MAJOR sensory issues.  He needed to work through those with the help of his OT before we could even consider adding something so foreign to his ears on a daily basis.  We are lucky and he has been very successful in learning to manage his sensory issues, so now we are at a point where we feel he can handle adding hearing aids. 

Brian is excited about the hearing aids.  Every five year old boy needs a super power and we've told him that this will be his.  He'll be getting "super hero ears." Well one for now...they trial with one, and two in the future most likely.

We went on Friday for the hearing aid evaluation and came home with the trial hearing aid.  It's smaller than we anticipated.  Because his loss is mild, the aid is smaller.  It makes sense, but for some reason we didn't realize this would be the case.  His trial set up is a black hearing aid that goes behind his ear and is connected by a tube to the green ear mold that goes in his ear.  We had a mold made about 2 years ago when he was out for a tube surgery and ABR.  This was supposed to be used with his FM system at school, but the county didn't purchase the system we expected and it wasn't necessary.  The mold still fits well enough to use it for the trial, so that's what we're doing.

In the weeks leading up to the appointment we did a lot of talking about the hearing aids.  We read a book about an elephant that gets them and Brian was very worried by the picture of the elephant getting fitting for the ear molds.  They use a syringe filled with goo to make ear impressions and to a 5 year old this looked very much like a shot going in the elephant's ear.  I made sure to share this with his audiologist and Tommy was very thorough with Brian about the process.  He let Brian play with the syringe, squirted the goo in Brian's hand, let him play with it, etc. before ever squirting it into Brian's ear.  Brian was a champ with this and got really excited when we showed him a picture of what it looked like as it was drying is his ear.  It looked like a snail shell and since "Turbo" is popular right now he thought it was just great that a, "snail was coming out of his ear!"  He's so funny!

Once he had the trial aid on he was really cute about it.  He checked it out in the mirror, tested out his own voice with it on, ran around in the hallway to "hear the air."  It was pretty cool to see him so excited.

He's supposed to break the aid in however suits him.  The goal, of course, is to wear it all waking hours (except swimming, bathing, etc.) so we are working up to that.  I think is uncomfortable for him at times, and he asks us to take it out, but today he was a rockstar with it.  He wore it to "make something" at Lowes, horseback riding, and a friend's birthday party...a total of about 6 or 7 hours.  He showed it off to everyone we saw and everyone has been really great and supportive of him.  It was nice that we had the party because now most of his school friends have seen it.  We are debating whether to send it to school on Monday, but I suspect he will insist.  The biggest issue is that this is a loaner, which means we owe quite a bit of money if it's lost or damaged so he has to keep it in!  It's hard to think about sending him somewhere that we can't control this...at least at first.  I'm sure it will get easier.  Once we go to two aids, which I expect we will, we will have to buy them (or the insurance will depending on what they decide to cover) and they will be insured, so we won't have that worry anymore.  He got to pick the colors for his permanent aids by the way and he picked red aids and blue/red swirl molds.  A mom who I found online whose son is aided once told me that she wanted her son to be proud of his aids and not ashamed of them.  We have adopted this mantra as well and therefore allowed him to pick what he wanted.  There will no hiding these babies, but that's great!  Everyone will know he is a superhero.

We appreciate your support and prayers as we delve into this new chapter.  So far it's honestly been a lot easier than we anticipated.  Hoping that will continue.  We'll keep you posted!

Brian showing off his new "super ear."  Er, and the inside of his nose...

Waiting Rooms

We spend a lot of time in waiting rooms.  Less than we used to, for sure, but still a lot.  Often it's just me and Lilah while Brian is in a speech or occupational therapy appointment.  We have to find ways to stay entertained.  Recently we have been doing Lilah's manicures and pedicures during OT.  We play around on the IPAD sometimes and we have a friend (another mom who is waiting for her kid too) who we often chat with.  She has a sleeve of photos in her purse just for Lilah to look at.

We had to see the ENT at the Main campus a few weeks ago and we had to wait a looooonnngg time.  The kids were loosing it (and so was I) so I pulled my camera out of the diaper bag.

In case you ever wondered how we stay entertained in waiting rooms?

Selfies...

The Tornado, the Missed Flight and the Tubes

Over the weekend we went to my grandmother's 90th birthday party in Cape. We made a last minute decision to make the trip and decided it would be best for Mom and I to fly with the kids. When we booked the trip a week out we had no idea that the weather forecast would change so drastically in a week's time. By Thursday night we were more than a little nervous about the severe weather coming our way, but we figured we would just make it work.

Friday when the tornadoes hit the area we were in the last row of an airplane and were forced to evacuate back into the airport tunnels. Let me tell you, it was an adventure. I had the foresight to make Brian pee before we left the plane, knowing there were no bathrooms in the tunnels. After sitting in the tunnel for over an hour with 3000 people (give or take), we finally boarded our plane and were off to St. Louis.

The kids did really well until we were asked to buckle up and prepare for landing. Brian had an absolute fit and laid in the floor screaming. It was a joy, let me tell ya!

Once we finally got into St. Louis we were toast, so we got our rental, headed down the road a ways and then found a nice hotel to stay the night in.

The party and family visit were very nice. I will post more about that later when I get picture uploaded and I steal some from Teri!

The trip back was not so very nice. We missed our flight. It was a nightmare. I cannot even talk about it really. We ended up making the decision to drive back home because the kids had ENT appointments at 10a.m. Monday morning. I knew it would be hell, but I also knew both kids needed tubes and if we missed the appointment, that would only delay them getting the tubes.

We made it back without too much trouble. We were very tired, but okay. I was right about the tubes, and now I am just waiting on Children's to call me with the date and time. We have asked that they both have the surgery on the same day. It will be a long day, but better than two very long days! Brian will also have that ABR the audiologist has been pushing me to do while he's out. I will post the surgery dates when I have them!

One in Each Cheek

Brian got a shot on Wednesday. Two actually. The antibiotic dose was so much that he had to get on in each cheek. And since we all know how well he does with medicine orally, we opted for the shots. Do you know that kid was more upset about the band-aids than the shots?! He really is a nutter. He has an ear infection in his left ear. The one without the tube. It wasn't that bad, but the pedi went ahead and treated it for me since he's been so sick and his fever was staying around 102 even during the day.

The pedi said to just let him run a fever unless it got to 105, so we bought some tylenol suppositories just in case and let it run it's course. His fever was very low grade this morning-99 degrees, so we headed off to speech.

He an awesome speech class again this week! The speech therapist is so pleased and I am too. He's really talking so much more and so much more clearly. There are still things I don't understand, but it's getting to be less frequent.

Lilah decided to have a big week. Her first tooth (bottom left) is on it's way in. There's just the little slit where it will come in right now. I am so sad! Still nursing so OUCH and I will miss her baby gummy smile.

She also decided to start army crawling yesterday. I actually think she was doing it some the day before, but I couldn't catch her. Brian is not pleased that she can now reach any of his toys he leaves around. Ha! Maybe he'll start cleaning up his stuff. Double ha!

We have a big weekend ahead. Not going to disclose what just in case anyone who doesn't know is reading, but we will post about it next week. I just hope we make it around the crazy weather!

Monday is Lilah's ENT appointment with Brian's ENT. We are going to go ahead and take him to as his follow up is scheduled for March 13th. I am hoping Dr. Arjmand will take pity on me and go ahead and look in Brian's ear.

Brian's IEP meeting has been scheduled also. It's March 12th. I was beginning to think he would never get speech services in school this year, but it's looking like that may happen very soon! My aunt Norma is flying in for the meeting. She's been through enough of these, and we are so excited to see her and grateful for her help! Thanks to Bob too for rescheduling his business trip so she can come!!

Winter Be GONE!

Okay, we haven't really had a winter as previously noted. No real snow to speak of. What we have had are short stints of really cold weather, followed by a few days here and there of unseasonably warm weather, tossed in with some cold, but not really that cold days and some rain and some sorry excuses for snow days.

Do you know what that creates?

Germs.

Germs that will NOT go away.

My babies are sick again. Brian has croup and Lilah is a snotty, crusty mess with ANOTHER double ear infection.

Yesterday Shawn, Nana and Teri took Brian to the after hours clinic at our doctor's office while Lilah and I went to the preschool open house. The doc (not our normal doc) said he had croup (which I knew from having heard his cough and breathing the previous night) and that his left ear was red. He sent them home with a prescription for an antibiotic and a prescription for a steroid.

We got about 1/4 of the steroid dose down him yesterday afternoon and a little bit more of the antibiotic. He literally spit the steroid at me-some of it landing in my eye! (I wonder if it will improve my vision??) Anyway, last night, I knew the meds were going to be a fight. Shawn was at work, so Mom was here for bedtime. We tried the antibiotic once. He spit it out. He gagged. Major resistance.

We tried a second time. I swear to you it was like a scene from the exorcist. It always is when Brian makes up his mind that he's going to puke. He literally expels every.single.thing. from his body. It was everywhere. We called Pappy for back up.

After the very, very disgusting clean up, Mom and I made the decision that I would take him back to the doctor today and beg for a shot. No way were we going through that again. And certainly not 18 more times for the 10 day, twice a day antibiotic regime to be completed.

Mom got Brian to bed while I got laundry going and Pappy entertained Lilah. Shawn got home. I started to work on getting Lilah to sleep. She gagged while nursing. And then it was her turn to puke. Oh how I love puke!

I took my second shower of the night and changed my pjs again. Lilah finally went down about 10:15.

This morning we were lucky enough to get appointments back to back! I asked everyone there what they charge for room and board. I feel like we have been there SO MUCH this winter!

As it turns out Brian's ear was fine. Dr. Price offered him a one time oral steroid for the croup. I had my doubts, but I figured it was worth it to try to avoid the shot. Shawn offered him a new Angry Birds game on the I Pad if he took it. So he did. He cried and spit afterwards, but it was already down his throat, thank goodness, so no puke and no shot for Brian!

Poor Lilah had to get a shot though. And she has a one time antibiotic to follow that later today. We had already a cancelled her ENT appointment because her ears were clear last week. Luckily though, we got her in for a week from today. Poor baby!

Big Baby Love

Just some pictures and stats. Typing one handed is no fun.

Lilah's 1 week stats...

Weight: 8 lbs 5.6 oz...66th percentile...pedi said this is the biggest jump he's seen in the last 2o newborns! Yay for good milk!

Length: 21 inches...88th percentile

Head: 14 inches...55th percentile

Heel prick results were fine on Monday. No more jaundice! Yay again for good milk!

5 Days!!!

Just a quick update...5 days and Lilah will be here!! WOW!

Tuesday as doc day...

First up...speech therapy. Jess said Brian's best session ever. Unfortunately no speech next week...she has CPR training. Anyway, he is doing quite a bit better. Still not where he should be, but he's definitely improving!

Next...vet. Ruben got his drain tube out. It was one continuous tube, not two like I thought. I had to hold him while they clipped his stitches and slid the thing out. Yuck! He was shaking like a leaf, but otherwise handled it like a champ. He has to go back Saturday to get the rest of the stitches removed. Tonight is his first night with no canned dog food. We'll see how he does. He was not a happy camper when I filled his bowl with dry food. He finishes his antibiotic tomorrow. His wound is healing and itching like crazy. Yucky scabs are forming and falling off. Ick.

Last...my LAST OB appointment. Everything was right on track. I had them check me just so I could breathe a little easier knowing I wasn't going to go before Tuesday. I was only a finger tip dilated (such a gross term), so I left reassured. Whit came along and got to hear Miss Lilah's heartbeat! We walked into the waiting room just as the Casey Anthony verdict was being given. I guess that's an interesting, "where were you..." In an OB office that was dead silent because everyone wanted to hear the outcome. The receptionist was even holding up the phone to whomever she was making an appointment for so she could hear!

We also went to zoo on Tuesday to take flowers for Kimba and Tessa. Poor baby Zuri.

The rest of this week has been (and will be) just a whirlwind of getting things ready for Lilah. The preschool is in good hands, most errands have been run, tomorrow I will be packing for the hospital, Saturday we get our king sized bed....we're almost ready for go time!

I do have pics on the camera which I will upload and post over the weekend. I still have my 36.5 week belly shot on there and we will be taking the last one 38.5 (a little late) tomorrow! Time is flying!!

Health Updates

We picked Ruben up from the vet yesterday around 5p.m. He looks like frankendog, which is what they said he would look like. Both of his front legs are shaved, he is shaved from the top of his head to about 1/3 of the way down his back and around his entire neck. He has two drain tubes, one on either side of his neck and several stitches where the original injury, which is now the incision area, was. The vet found several more injuries upon further inspection. Bite marks on his paws and around his whole neck, bad bruising on one side of his neck/head, etc. The paws are because Ruben uses his paws like hands, and was likely trying to use them to defend himself. The bruising is from the dog bashing his head into the ground. Lovely.

They sent us home with antibiotics (10 days worth), pain meds and a collar (cone) just in case. We haven't needed the collar. He isn't eating much, but he's a night eater, so I am hoping that will change tonight. Last night he got chicken noodle soup, but I don't want him to think he will be getting that for the rest of his life!

Luckily he's not draining much at all so we are going back Friday to have the tubes removed. We have to go back toward the end of next week to get the stitches out.

He is pretty shaken up. He just wants to be held or lay around mostly, although he can be quite perky when he wants to be. We are staying at mom's today because we have a showing at the house so I have to walk him. He walks VERY fast which is not his normal pace. I sure he just wants to make sure he stays away from predators. Who wouldn't feel that way?

I'm sure his pride is wounded.

Brian was very upset to see Ruben all "fixed up" and really hasn't gone near him. The vet assistant talked to Brian about how he couldn't touch Ruben while he is healing because he could hurt him very badly. Brian either got it, or is just terrified of how the dog looks. Either way, it's made things easier on me.

Speaking of Brian, he had his hearing test today. He actually cooperated a little bit more today, which is good. I did not sit in the booth with him for the first time. It was my idea, but I was a nervous wreck not knowing what was going on. Basically his sound field test looked mostly the same as the last "good" test from last April. His bone conduction looked better. This probably means that his new tubes are doing an excellent job of keeping the fluid away. Yay!

They will retest in 6 months and see if he can be even more cooperative next time. One complication is that Brian has it in his head that he's supposed to open his mouth wide and say, "ahhhhhh" every time someone goes to examine any part of his face or head. I am thinking this may be a side effect from the dentist visit a few weeks ago. While really cute, it's definitely not a behavior that works well during a hearing test.

They wanted to schedule an ABR which requires sedation. The ENT had talked about waiting on this because he was so recently sedated (for tubes and adenoids) and I tend to agree. The ABR is not the best test-the booth is, so I would really rather avoid it if possible. We will just have to see how he does in 6 months and then decide.

We will also be visiting the developmental pediatrician (Dr. Wiley from 2 years ago) in August just to make sure we are on the right track with speech and that she doesn't see any other issues that need solving. It's just a part of the process at Children's. They always want to check from every angle-for which I am grateful!

So that's where we are with things. Ruben is healing. Brian's hearing is stable. I am still kind of a wreck about what happened to Ruben, but I will be okay.

Thanks for all of the emails and calls to check on Ru! And for weighing in on whether or not we should report the dog. Most people think we should report it, but wait until the bills are paid! I tend to agree.

Oh and we are just about done with doctors this week. I have to get a cavity filled tomorrow. Hopefully that will be uneventful!!

The One Where Ruben Is Viciously Attacked

Yesterday was a day for the books. It rates as one of the hardest days I have had in a long, long time.

The morning started with a visit to the OB. That was fine-thank goodness! My BP is fine, weight fine, her heart rate was good and I am measuring right on track.

At 1 we headed to Dr. Price's office for Brian's 3 year old well check. Brian was amazingly good. He stepped right up on the scale which he has NEVER done before. He weighed in at 38 pounds-94th percentile. He is height was a little trickier. He didn't understand why he had to put his feet up against the wall along with the rest of his body. Nurse Kim decided to measure him laying down and he measured 41.5 inches-99th percentile! Dr. Price thinks he'll be 6'2" or 6'3" as an adult.

After some confusion over his records, Brian was given a Hep B vaccination (this is where the day went sour). Upon arriving home and entering his stats in the baby book, I realized he had been given a 4th Hep B vaccination. They are only supposed to get 3. I called immediately and spoke with the nurse who was pretty sure it would not be harmful to him, but wanted to check with the doctor. I consulted the internet and text my Aunt Sarah (also a pedi). Google didn't find any ill effect and later Sarah assured me he would be okay as well. Whew!

At about 5 we decided to take Ruben on a walk. Brian likes to stroll the neighborhood and hold the leash while walking at a Brian pace (really slow). We were enjoying our walk...I was enjoying listening to Brian's speech-"Come on Ru, Ru!" "Sidewalk, Mama." I really just wanted to take a freaking walk with my dog and my kid.

Anyway, as you know from the title, things went down hill fast. As we turned the corner around the block I noticed a lady knocking on the front door of one of the neighbor's houses. I heard dogs barking inside and out of instinct I took the leash from Brian-afraid Ruben would bolt toward the dogs and Brian would be pulled over.

Never could I have imagined what actually happened.

A big dog (I recalled it as white, but have since been corrected-it was a brown boxer) ran out of the house, straight toward Ruben and before I could do anything had Ruben in the air by the nape of his neck. The owner ran out of the house and jumped on his dog, trying madly to pull the dog off of Ru. Brian was standing there in complete shock and horror while I pulled on the leash trying madly to help Ruben get free. The whole time I was screaming like a madwoman drawing 6-7 neighbors out of their homes to see what was going on. The dog just kept flinging Ruben into the air, Ruben was yelping, I was yelling major profanities at the owner and the dog-I really thought the dog was going to kill Ruben. I have never seen anything more violent in person in my life.

At some point the dog finally let go, the owner swept him into the house and we were able to get a hold of Ruben and check him. He had a pretty large puncture wound on his neck, but otherwise seemed okay. Of course somewhere in all of this our doctor called back to say Brian was not going to get Hep B. Are you kidding me?

Shawn had forgotten his phones, so I tried to call the work line with no luck. I called Mom and she flew over to my rescue. A neighbor got me the number for our vet, an ice pack for my fingers (have some pretty bad rope burn from the leash), and a bowl of water for Ruben. I called the vet and luckily our good friend Kate answered the phone. She said to bring him right in.

Somewhere in there I did get Shawn and he ended up meeting us at the vet. It turns out all of the skin on Ruben's neck was ripped away from the tendons, so he had to have surgery this morning. We left him at the vet last night, afraid that Brian would torture him here. The surgery involves 1, maybe two drain tubes that he will wear for 3-7 days. They will drain out onto the floor, so unfortunately he will be confined to the kitchen while he is wearing them. They also had to shave him from his ears to half way down his back. I just called for a status update and he is doing fine post surgery. I am sure the vet will elaborate on this when we pick up Ruben at 5.

The dog owner gave Mom his name, number and address last night, so I will be passing that along to the vet so he can cover Ruben's bills. We are still trying to decide whether or not to report the dog. What would you do?

Tell you what if it weren't for our beach vacation and the excitement of Lilah, this summer would really stink. Between the stupid health department banning our pool time and not being able to take a walk in my own damn neighborhood, I am kind of over it!

The good in all of this is that Brian stayed put. He didn't run away or into the street which would have made things much worse. I feel terrible that I couldn't protect him from seeing what he saw, but I am hoping that he is young enough that he won't remember. Also, I'm pretty much okay aside from emotional wounds and the rope burn, and Lilah is also okay. Ruben will be okay after some healing. Our neighbors came pouring out last night to check on us. The whole neighborhood knows what happened and they are all concerned. It's nice to have people who live nearby and have your back!

Please say a prayer for Ruben (if you pray for dogs!). I am sure he's going to have some pain and with the 4th coming up, he's going to be even more agitated now that he'll have healing to deal with on top of fireworks. Also, please pray that I can keep Brian a safe distance away from him! Thanks!

The Sqeaky Wheel

On Friday we went to see Dr. Arjmand for Brian's ENT follow up from his surgery (tubes and adenoids) and what was supposed to be a follow up from his hearing test last week. The hearing test didn't go so well by the way. Brian put his arms wayyyy up over his head and locked his shoulders therefore blocking his ears. It's a little hard to put earphones in the ears of a two year old in this position. Thus, we will be retesting on our 9 year wedding anniversary in June. And as previously stated, his audiologist is moving away, so we will be switching to an audiologist, Tommy, on our side of the river, which will be much more convenient.

As for the ENT appointment, Brian's ears look good and so does his throat. I asked Dr. Arjmand's nurse about speech and whether or not she had a good way to get him in faster. She said, "the squeaky wheel, gets the grease." Enough said. I can be that wheel. No problem.

I also asked Dr. Arjmand and he said to tell them I can come any day, any time. So, as we were leaving, I called the scheduling center and guess what?! We start speech THIS Tuesday at 8a.m. I am so excited to get started!! We will be seeing a speech therapist named Jessica on this side of the river! 8a.m. is a little earlier than I would like...I am hoping Brian can get up and moving and be ready to work by then. But it does work out well because I can get to work by 9:15 or so. Wish us luck!

Appointments

Monday we visited the allergist. Brian had an allergy skin test. He has no allergies. None. This is crazy to me given Shawn's terrible allergies. I have allergies too. But apparently Brian does not.

The allergist ran blood work to see if maybe his immune system is out of whack. A constant runny nose is not normal. The blood work came back fine. So now the allergist is going to write a letter to the ENT to check his adenoids. He thinks that may be the cause of the constant faucet.

At any rate, I'm glad he doesn't have allergies. And I'm really glad his immune system is okay.

We also made contact with First Steps this week to have his speech re-evaluated. Some days I think he's making great strides and other days I worry a little. (A little as a mom can worry, which is pretty much a lot.) First Steps is our state program that provides therapy in home for kids who qualify. Brian was evaluated before he turned 1 and he did not qualify. Even with his hearing loss. So the hope is that he will not qualify again, which will mean I can stop worrying. (Or worry less maybe.)

Anyway, they are sending forms for me to fill out while observing him. Then I have to call the evaluator, go over the survey on the phone, and she will decide if he needs to be evaluated by her or not.

I made that phone call yesterday. This morning, Brian woke up, walked into the kitchen, looked at the dog and said (very clearly), "Ru Ru, I kick your butt."

I told Shawn he needs to stop threatening the dog. It's clearly wearing off on our son.

Some Randomness

We've been busy! School started. I love it, but it's exhausting.

The Bengals LOST the first football game of the season on Shawn's Birthday. Total bummer.

They seemed to play better though when Brian was wearing his team helmet. He will be wearing it for the remainder of the season. At least during games.


Yesterday I caught Brian sitting in his toy bin. He's a mess.


Today we went to the ENT. No news. The right tube is still in there, but not really in. Left tube is still where it should be. No fluid. Yay! So we see the audiologist for a hearing test on November 8th. Hopefully there will still be no fluid and we will get positive results (no change).

I took a stuffed Arthur along to the appointment due to a project we are doing at school. Here is a picture of Brian poking Arthur's eye out with a tongue depressor while waiting for the doctor.

After the ENT we decided to enjoy some nice weather at the park. Brian was in a posing mood.


Well until the end. Then he decided no more pictures, please.


I love how he says, 'CHEESE" and then immediately says, "See the baby?" He's trained to look at himself on the camera preview window! Won't be long and he'll be insisting I delete pictures he doesn't like.

Speaking of his speech, it seems to be coming along. He's figured out a way few ways to get around talking from time to time. He says "Em-hem" a lot instead of actually answering. He also occasionally says "Oo-oo, ah-ah" as an answer to a question. I guess he's been watching too much "Curious George." We'll have to break those habits, or ban that monkey...one or the other. He did just run into the room earlier and very clearly say, "Mommy, do you want a popsicle," though, so I can't complain too much!

The Will of a Two Year Old

Sorry it's been a week since I've posted. Some little boy has been sick. We had lots of poo last week. Then on Thursday we had projectile vomit. Awesome.

Friday we visited the doctor who diagnosed a virus. Longest virus ever IMHO. Anywho, the doc said to call for a collection cup if he wasn't better by Monday. Really?! Awesome.

The weekend was better, but tonight he filled his diaper with the mother load. This was slightly before he opened a "child proof" bottle of children's zyrtec and dumped it all over my kitchen floor. Do you have any idea how sticky my kitchen floor is now? I will be mopping tomorrow. And collecting poo. Awesome.

With the sickies comes the stubborn. Tantrums galore. Brain has what Shawn calls "Gandhi style" tantrums. He goes completely limp, lays down where ever he is, and refuses to move. Last week he did it in a parking lot while we were trying to get Max a hair cut. The ladies inside (once we finally got inside) asked if he was taking a nap out there. I said, "No, he was being TWO out there." Awesome.

And do you know why he was throwing the tantrum in the first place? Because he has this crazy fetish where he MUST take something with him when he leaves a place. In this case we were leaving the car, and I wouldn't let him take a DVD into the hair salon with us. Not the player, just the disc. I am a mean mommy.

We can't leave last night out though because it was by far the most awesome. Brian decided he did not want to wear a diaper after his diaper change. Absolutely refused and then dug through his drawers until he found the new underwear we bought. After rummaging through the bag, he settled on a pair of Wall-E underwear. (You know from the Pixar movie that Brian has never even seen.)

We compromised. He wore a diaper. And the under wear on top. He refused to ruin the look by putting on shorts. So I called mom to check and see if she thought it would be offensive to bring him to meet them at Panera that way. She advised me to let him win one. So to Panera we went. And I took lots of pictures. Because some day, little man, you will regret driving your mama batty!

For Me

I started this blog as a means to disseminate information about Brian's medical progress. I found that with all of the appointments we had during his first year, it was hard to make sure and tell every single person the exact same thing because the further away we would get from the river, the more I would forget or confuse! Plus, as much as I love my friends and family, it was taxing calling every single person each time we left an appointment to give updates. So, this became a good way to share the information. Everyone could read it at the time same and Shawn or my Mom (whomever had joined me at the appointment) could double check the information I was posting to make sure I was sharing it accurately.

However, as his medical appointments have dwindled, (THANK GOD!!!) the blog has become more of a record, or journal of his childhood. I love that I get to share things with my friends and family, but often I post things for myself. I want to make sure I remember little moments and silly things that he did. He changes so quickly and it's easy to forget those things.

So, this post is one of those "for me" posts.

I just had to get pictures of him eating pizza. It's hysterical and I never want to forget this particular stage where he is so lacking in social grace. The child inhales pizza, from the top down. He literally smashes it into his face. He eats the cheese first, then actually SUCKS off the sauce. Think MAJOR slurping noises. And sometimes, if he's in the mood, he eats a little crust. We're talking pizza sauce up the nose and it's down right entertaining to watch.

Thus, even though I know I am posting this "for me," I am sure you will also be entertained by the following series of photos.