"More Parts", "Amelia Bedilia" and other great books....

One of our early teachers (who specialized in educating deaf/HOH kids) gave me some book recommendations (see title) because she felt in her experience, kids who were HOH tended to be very literal in their learning. I, of course, read these books to my oldest daughter, Delaney, all the time, and read them to Emily w/ some frequency. But, I think I had kind of forgotten that advice- Until the other day.

Jake and I were dropping Trey off at school, and Jake mentioned that he had to go to the bathroom. He tended to use this as a stall tactic, to avoid getting back in the car for the 30 minute trip home. I asked him if he 'really' needed to go, and he admitted that he probably could wait. I asked him several more times, and all three times he chimed in with "Nope....I can wait". At that point I told him "O.K., but if you think you have to go, you're going to have to hold it". "Huh?", he asked. And I told him, "You'll have to hold it". A few minutes later as we're walking to the car, I noticed him grabbing his shorts in an odd way, and I thought, "oh no....I knew he had to go to the bathroom", "Jake, what are you doing?" at which point he looked at me like I was crazy and said "Mom, you told me to hold it!".

I think it's time to pull out the books again- And, start using more expressions that will teach him how to be a bit less literal :)

Happy Friday

No more I.V.

I was sitting here, trying to think of a really creative way to say that, but sometimes the simple way is the right way. T is now 100% back to normal. He still has a small bandage, but the nurse came out today and removed his picc line. It's funny how quickly all the 'bad' stuff is put behind us at times. I guess what T had was serious, but somehow it ended up being a very small chapter in our life- something to remember and be thankful for, but fortunately, that's it. I wish the same for everyone else, knowing it can't always be the case, but hoping that the majority of us experience mainly 'bad' things that vanish quickly.

Now if I could just get rid of the sticky medical tape residue, we'd be in really good shape (sorry, just couldn't end on too sappy of a note, although the sentiment was very heartfelt).

Goodnight!

My child is not a hypochondriac after all.....

At least not ALL of the time. E (my second child) has been a frequent visitor to the school nurse this year. I have no idea why, but Theresa (the Health Asst) and myself are now great friends. I've been told it's just a phase for some children, but it makes it hard to know when the 'sickie' is really sick. I tried telling her the story of the "Boy who Cried Wolf" but it really just made her start asking me about wolves and sheep, etc. This morning E got up, sobbing and clutching her ear. I, being the caring mom, assumed she was trying to cash in on some of the extra attention T has been getting due to his Mastoiditis.

While I was waffling on whether to coerce her into going to school or not, she mumbled something about her stomach, and then coughed up a lung. At that point I decided to visit our Pediatrician. THANK GOODNESS. Boy would I have been on the 'bad mom' list. She has an ear infection (both ears), but more importantly the Pediatrician said she sounded very wheezy- "Had you noticed?" Of course I hadn't noticed, I was too busy accusing my poor child of faking it. He gave her a breathing treatment, to help prevent it from turning into Bronchitis, and put her on an antibiotic and asthma medication. Bad mom.....I know. And boy, has she been gloating all day :)

Pictures from our vacation....

a few weeks back (a.k.a. the soccer tournament in Seattle). With the exception of T (who you saw in the pictures below) a good time was had by all. I included the picture of my older daughter walking off the field w/ one of her teammates because it is always so refreshing to see how much fun the girls have- even when they have just lost the one game they needed to win to move on. They played their hearts out, and had a great time. (EDIT: I temporarily deleted this picture so I could edit my phone number off of my daughter's soccer ball- oops :) And, as you can see the younger siblings all manage to have fun at the games as well- a great mini-vacation!

Before, During and After pictures...

'After' yet to be added.... The picture of T sleeping on my husband was taken two days before he went to the hospital. This child NEVER sits still at soccer games- he just felt that bad. And, the picture w/ the bandaged head was taken a day after the surgery to drain the infection. I love the picture because it is the same bandage he had when he got his CI, and my computer 'ate' those pictures :)

The 'after' shot will show a completely healthy and happy little boy, running around like crazy- Now I just need him to be still long enough to snap the picture.

I've been MIA- Sorry 'bout that.....

I love this time of year- It's my all-time favorite. But, this year for some reason I was having a really hard time getting into the Christmas/Holiday spirit.....until Friday morning. Something about the prospect of standing in long lines w/ all the other diehard shoppers, restored my Christmas spirit. My sister and I hit the stores (sans kids, for the most part), and did a big chunk of our shopping. We even stopped for lunch (at a spot that offered no toys with any meals). The next day I hit the mall with three of the four children- even that didn't dampen my holiday spirits. Now I'm in full 'cookie making', Christmas carol listening mode.

I even made my poor husband get up on a ladder last night, in 30 degree, VERY windy weather. No one's getting in the way of my Christmas fun.....(and for those who are wondering, he survived it, and my lights look very nice :)

Here's a funny one for you......

What do you think would be one of the worst times for your dishwasher to start leaking all over the kitchen, making it unusable???? If you answered right before Thanksgiving- the holiday that generates the most amount of mess, you'd be correct. Bummer, huh? (EDIT: Well, I guess the cause of the leaking was the Lysol cleaner I sprayed on the inside of the door to get rid of the bad smell- But, I'm glad they came out because of my note below).

But, I'm choosing to look at it this way- For the first 3 years of my oldest dd's life, we didn't have a dishwasher, a garbage disposal, etc. We lived in a historic 1930's bungalow, that was still quite.....rustic. I'm going to use this as an opportunity to be thankful for the fact that our current house has a dishwasher (that may work again in the near future).

Off to try (ha ha) to get the appliance person out before Turkey day :)

NOW FIXED- YAY! Well, except he discovered my heating element is not working (which explains the not so nice smell coming from the dishwasher, which was the inspiration for me spraying the inside of the dishwasher w/ Lysol), But it is usable, if I pre-wash well.

One more step back to 'normal'....

whatever normal is :) T got his ear drain removed today, so the only reminders we have of this whole ordeal is the picc line (which we're stuck with for 2 1/2 more weeks), and the stitches behind his ear (which will dissolve). Hopefully we can put his CI back on him in the next day or so- he still has a small hole (of sorts) from where the drain was, so I'm not sure how comfortable it will be for him.

Now I have to catch up w/ everyone else's blogs. I missed my daily reading last week :)
Catch everyone tomorrow, and thanks for all the thoughts, etc. !!!

We're home!

Finally.......They put in a 'PICC' line this morning at 8:00, so I (or Rob) can administer IV antibiotics (lucky us, right?) We went from "oral antibiotics for 10 days" from our surgeon, to the infectious disease team telling us we needed 2 weeks of IV antibiotics, once a day, and wound up with 3 weeks, twice a day, via his picc line. But, the good news is he is feeling good (albeit w/ a drain sticking out of his ear, and an embedded IV line).

Now, on to Thanksgiving- It's hard when you lose a week :) I promise a better post when we're home for a full 24 hours.

Update #2- Thursday

Well- there was really no improvement, so they took T back for surgery at 3:00 pm today. It went great according to our much beloved CI doctor. They took out lots of infection, and he looked really relieved that they did the surgery. He was wavering for so long on whether it was riskier to do it, vs. not do it, but in the end he said it was definitely the right decision. So, now my poor baby has on the same head-wrap that he had on post-CI, and he has a drainage tube under all the bandages. They told me he should feel loads better tomorrow, and by Saturday we can (hopefully) head home. I had to leave him w/ Rob (very much appreciated hubby), which should have been hard, but he was sooooo asleep, I think he won't even know I'm not there- Plus the other three kids have been such troopers, they need some mom time.

More tomorrow....

It was a good day yesterday, but a tough night.....

I guess the 'wick' (spelling?) in T's ear came out (he pulled it out)- no big deal. It's basically just a small sponge they inserted in his ear to help the drops get to his inner ear. I hope they don't replace it, however, as it involves touching his sore ear. The bigger bummer is that his IV had to be replaced (never fun for anyone, but especially not for a 3 year old at 12:30 am). His fever is still present, and the ear, while not getting worse, is not significantly improved. What does it all mean? I have no idea. I think it means we're going to be there at least for the rest of today though......I'm off to purchase some things to distract a very bored, somewhat crabby, and still sick 3 year old, and get the other three kids off to where they need to go.

I hated ear infections before, but now I have a whole new respect for them. (And for those who will now worry about ear infections, this really, really isn't common- I promise :)

Fastest Post Ever.....

They decided not to do surgery ( due to potentially spreading the infection further), and have opted to continue w/ IV antibiotics. Tomorrow is the big day, as T will have had antibiotics for 48 hours at that point, and if there is not enough improvement, than they will go in and remove the abscess. But, he's feeling a lot better (meaning, we walked every inch of that hospital today- multiple times :) On a positive note : He now loves his hearing aid, and he was not a fan prior to this :)

More tomorrow!

Another Curveball for Cochlear Implant Kids (or adults)

Hadn't heard of this particular problem, but my littlest son, T, is now in the hospital due to an ear infection gone bad. A simple ear infection turned into an abscess (which I guess potentially threatens his CI). I'll have to post more later, as right now I'm beat from being at the ER, etc. But, I'll give you all the (gory) details tomorrow, so you will all know what to watch for. For the record, I really don't think it's all that common, but who knows :)

He will go into the operating room tomorrow to have it all cleaned out, so I'll post more at that point.

Night everyone!

When it rains, It pours-

Not an original title, but an accurate one as I sit here at 4:54 am watching the rain pour down. I love to sleep- LOVE IT. So, why am I sitting here at 4:54 am? I'm listening to my youngest son whimper, as he clutches his ear and fights off his 101 degree fever. Yes, the dreaded ear infection is back. But, it's a bonus weekend, because my other poor son now has a stomach bug. And, unfortunately the bedding and mattress in our bedroom caught the brunt of it. My husband now resides on the family room couch, while I have stolen my daughter's bed (forcing the girls to share a room- seems fair to me.)

I'll have to share more regarding our 'family vacation' (a.k.a. another soccer tournament), tomorrow. Let's just say no family hotel stay is complete without a middle of the night fire alarm (and an oozy ear).

Anyone know how to clean a king size comforter in a not so king size washing machine?

We're Off!

To one more soccer tournament, that is :) Not too exciting- but I've been so busy doing laundry for 6, and packing that I haven't had time to post. All this packing for an overnight (basically) trip. Is it worth it? YES- when I see the look on all of the children's faces when they are splashing around in the hotel pool, and most importantly on the face of my oldest daughter (who will soon probably not want me around anyway), as she comes running off the field. Totally worth it! Pictures to come- hopefully non-muddy ones.

My daughter talks a lot-

This is a good thing, right everyone? I mean, all those years of speech therapy, auditory verbal therapy, etc. have paid off! I told her speech teacher at the private, AVT focused, school she used to attend, and she was THRILLED to hear it- I cannot imagine for the life of my why this bothers her current teacher- HA! I am kidding, just for those who think I might be totally insane at this point.

I received a note in my 7 year old's school planner, saying "talks while teacher is talking". That is all I got. So, my 'mom' instincts kick in, and I'm trying to figure out if maybe she was already talking and didn't realize the teacher had started, or if she was just totally disregarding the teacher. We decided to have a talk w/ our child about the importance of listening, and being respectful to the teacher (A.K.A. Don't talk when the teacher is talking- You have a hard enough time hearing sweetheart). I informed the teacher, and heard nothing back....until last week. Again, just a note in the planner, and this time all it says is "talking".

I NEED MORE INFO! Is this wrong? Would you feel the same way? I guess we've just been spoiled w/ teachers prior to this who were really good communicators. Lots of notes back and forth- email messages, etc. Sigh........I guess it's only 6-7 more months until 'we' get a new teacher. Maybe one who appreciates how truly outstanding it is that my daughter who had very little speech until a couple of years ago, is such a GREAT talker- LOL!

Happy Halloween: The Wilson's