That last post...

Some of you may have noticed the comment we received on that last post. That, my friends, is the author of the book that I was talking about. So, for him, and for all of our friends and family, here is Stephen acting out "Dinosaur vs. Bedtime," by Bob Shea. I highly recommend this story!

Home and a video

Stephen went to the ENT today, and first had a hearing exam. The first part was a Tympanogram test, the same kind his speech therapist had been giving him. He appeared to have negative pressure on his right side, and a little more movement on the left. It was still a poor showing, though, indicating that his ear drums don't vibrate as they should. Next, he had an actual "tone" test, where they played sounds and voices through speakers on each side of us. He sat on my lap, and another audiologist sat in front of us to help Stephen focus on the front instead of looking side to side as he learned to expect sounds from the side (smart boy!). He did well with this one! It went MUCH better than I had expected, given that it was during his normal naptime (his pediatrician scheduled the appointment to get us in earlier than if I had called myself). He had a little trouble hearing some of the lower register sounds on his right side, which lines up with the negative pressure he had there as well. Afterwards, we went in to see the doctor, who said that Stephen does NOT have fluid in his ear today, but that this is just one day, and on other days, he probably does. He did say, however, that since there was no fluid today, that there has to be another reason for his poor vibrations in his ear drums. Basically, he thinks that Stephen's adnoids are enlarged to the point that they do not allow the ear drums to vibrate properly. Stephen's history of snoring, restless sleep, and daytime fatigue support this hypothesis, and since enlarged adnoids are the most common cause of sleep apnea in toddlers, he is going to schedule a Sleep Study sometime in the next couple of weeks. Then, if that is the problem, we will have surgery scheduled to remove his adnoids and tonsils, because let's face it - who really NEEDS their tonsils anyways? Theoretically, if that is the course, we should have that scheduled within the month. I suspect they take sleep apnea pretty seriously, especially in little guys! In my limited reading about this issue today, the other option would be for him to sleep with a CPAP machine, which would force air into his lungs at night, but I don't think that would help with his hearing issues. We go back to the doctor for another hearing test in 2 months, and he indicated that we would have this all taken care of by then. For Stephen's sake, I certainly hope so!

And for more fun news, Stephen has learned to catch the ball really well. I took this video last night, but it is only a snapshot of the game he and Erik were playing. I think they were doing this for almost 20 minutes...

For the past 3 nights, Erik has been reading a book to Stephen called "Dinosaur vs. Bedtime." It is a short book, so they've read it all the way through each night. Starting last night, though, Erik noticed that Stephen kept putting his hands out when he was Roaring like the dinosaur. I went in to watch tonight, and it looks like Stephen is pretending to be the dinosaur as Erik is reading. He is putting his arms out like he is pretending to "claw" when Erik is Roaring. It is pretty cute, and I'll try to record it next time they do it!

Just a quick update

We are headed to the Ear, Nose, and Throat doc this afternoon (during naptime, of course, but our pediatrician got us the appointment so I can't complain) to see why Stephen has failed 5 Tympanogram hearing tests (5 includes the one he failed last spring - the other 4 have been at all 4 of his Speech Therapy sessions). We suspect he has fluid in his ears that is just sitting, not allowing his ear drums to vibrate properly when stimulated. He seems to be able to hear just fine, but it has been equated to hearing underwater - you can hear, but it's not clear. Given that his hearing has probably ALWAYS been like this (probably due to reflux and allergies), he doesn't know the difference, and has adapted. It probably also explains why his speech is so difficult to understand...

At any rate, I'll update tonight with the results of our visit, and also with a great video of Stephen and Erik playing catch. Our boy has pretty good hand-eye coordination!

Sorry for the lack of pictures

Stephen and I have just been too busy playing together these past couple of weeks for me to have time for pictures! I'll try to do better this week, though. The weather is supposed to be bad pretty much all week, which means we will be stuck inside a lot, so I'll try to get more photos taken... no promises, though!

On Wednesday, Stephen and I went to the Downtown Festival of the Arts. We weren't looking for anything in particular, but I thought it would be fun to just go do something different. Since Stephen refused to take a nap before we left, I took the stroller, and boy, was I glad I did! He fell asleep while we were walking around, so I just reclined his seat, put up the sun shade, and let him sleep while I looked around. It was a nice afternoon.

This photo was before we left for the Festival. His shirt says "I love Danger." We think it's appropriate!

In other news, Stephen continues to do well with the potty. We had to get him a new one this week, after he *aimed* out of his older, much smaller one. The good thing about this new one is that it can also be used as an insert for the larger toilet when he gets to that point.

Lots of photos!!

To make up for the lack of Blogging these past couple of weeks, here are some fun pictures!

Stephen is sleeping really well in his big boy bed. He has only gotten out of bed a couple more times, but has discovered that he enjoys doing front flips over the shorter rail. Thankfully, he didn't hurt himself the 2 times he did it, and hasn't done it since then.

On the Friday before Easter, we took Stephen to an Easter Egg Hunt at OCU. It was for all of the faculty, staff and student children, and Stephen had a great time! As soon as he saw what the other kids were doing, he dove right in. and ended up with 8 eggs before he decided it was too cold and windy. He was very particular about which eggs he was choosing to pick up, but was still nervous about the whole thing, and kept a death-grip on his dad the whole time we were out there.

Stephen also got to meet the Easter Bunny, and wanted desperately to squeeze his nose!

After we got home, we had lunch, and Stephen passed out in his crib. He was so tired from running around during the morning that he fell asleep before he even laid down in bed.

Stephen has been enjoying the freedom of walking when we go out to run quick errands. He especially loves being able to walk between people, holding their hands.

His favorite place to do this right now is Target, followed closely by The Home Depot. At both stores, we occasionally even let him go by himself, but Stephen has a tendency to be a bit of a trickster, and likes to run off in the opposite direction from where the adults are going, so we don't do this TOO often...

This is a family photo from Easter Sunday. Stephen was waiting for lunch, which explains the look on his face in this shot...

But, with Daddy goofing off behind the camera, we were able to get a good smile with his grandparents.

Growing up...

No pictures of the big boy bed (yet), but Stephen has not been sleeping any worse than normal since the switch. Those of you who know us, know that really isn't saying much... He just discovered this morning, though, that he can get out of bed. I heard him fussing at 6am, and when I went in to see what was going on, Stephen was sitting on a pillow on the floor, facing his bed, 90% asleep. I just put him back in bed, and he was fast asleep before I left the room.

Tonight, was a different story. Mom and Dad are visiting right now, and as Mom was walking past Stephen's room, she heard his doorknob rattling (I didn't hear it on the monitor because his humidifier is going as well). She slowly opened the door to see him RUNNING back to bed! Of course, he tripped and fell, landing on a pillow. Silly boy! Good thing we have a door knob cover on, since he knows how to open the door...

Stephen had speech therapy today, and his therapist continues to be impressed with his progress. She said that she wants to see him imitating more, but that his language usage is age appropriate. He is putting together sentences (when he wants), and using pronouns and more verbs. He is getting caught up pretty quickly!

Tomorrow we are going to the zoo to see the dinosaurs again!