Follow up = "Normal"

BIG SIGH!!!

So, last night parents as teachers person, Leslie came to visit. She is absolutely awesome. I love her and literally had to give her a big hug before she left. She said she came into the visit not having a clue what to expect, and after an hour had passed my thoughts were confirmed. Ben is normal at 22 months! Right on track in other words. She said he seems to be very smart, as he proceeded to put the puzzles together she brought along for him to play with. She said he is right in the middle of a developmental stage where a lot is going on, and he will be a sponge in the next months all the way up to the age of 3. Normal is that a child can say short phrases and have between 6-50 words in their vocabulary. Some children have more than that, but if they have any less or don't talk and don't "jibber jabber" that is the first red flag. We did some testing with things like whispering to him and he would follow through with the activity. One being giving Leslie a hug and a kiss. I think she loved Ben as much as we loved her. I got lots of handouts to read on where Ben should be developmentally, and everything seemed up to par. Some areas he even seems to excel in, which is a good sign. The fact that he talks a lot, and it is jibber jabber that I can't understand is OK! She would worry if he didn't do that. She said Jake and I did a great job of verbalizing with him and trying to understand him. She said it is quite normal that children go through temper tantrums at this stage and part of it is they are still developing and learning to talk and communicate. When Jake or I don't understand, that is when Ben get's frustrated. But it's okay.

Next stop, this morning at the ENT! Good visit, very thorough. No hearing test, I was disappointed. He checked his ears and said, yes, Ben has fluid in his ears.... today. Ben has also been sick with a runny nose, congestion and allergies this whole week. Which the doctor feels is attributing to the fluid there today, but after all the discussion of his history and review. He thought it was acute at this point, and felt it would be best to do a hearing test in 6 weeks to give him time to get through the allergy season, and see what happens from there. Then he would follow up with me.

The doctor praised me for not wanting to over-medicate him and keeping him on rice milk verses dairy. He said he had some amazing stories of what dairy allergies can do to people. He also recommended a HEPA filter to run in our house, especially considering Jake's allergies and Ben's too. I advised him I use homeopathic sprays that seem to help and he said if it works that is great. I explained how we have used anti-histamines, that didn't always seem to help, and he said that is because they don't always work for each individual. Ben's watery eyes and runny nose verified that Ben has allergies, and depending on what a hearing test showed in June, we would see how to proceed from there, but at this time, he also felt Benjamin was "normal." He didn't feel it was appropriate at this time to do a bunch of needle sticks on Ben or recommend tubes until the findings and exam after his hearing test.

BIG SIGH again!

So all is happy again in Holee land!

Benjamin- 22 months

Ben is 22 months and still "all boy." Doing great and loves to press Mom and Dad's buttons. His two favorite things in the world are balls(preferably the kickable kind) and air planes. I would have to say a close #3 is firetrucks. I guess that isn't too surprising considering Grandpa Doug is a pilot and Dad is a fireman. He is deathly scared of lawn mowers, but will observe them for over an hour. This was proven a week or two ago, where he literally sat outside and watched Jake mow the entire back yard. We were helpful though, we sat on the sidelines with ice water in case Dad got thirsty.

So, everything seems great until, my daycare provider expressed to me that she believes Ben is having hearing and speech problems. She probably didn't approach me in the best way she could have which doesn't help, but a Mom get's all upset when someone tells you they think something is wrong with your child, especially if they aren't a doctor. In Miranda G.'s word's, "you wanna knock them out." Which really is kind of true. Ohhhh, a mother's love. Jake or I haven't thought that Ben has had any problem hearing us, just "selective hearing" which is a common child trait. And he talks a lot and says several words, and even a few short phrases. They aren't perfect pronunciation, but understandable. She questions all the other words he says that she can't understand, and I will be honest that Ben talks a lot, and I don't understand him either. But I just figured that is his way of developing. He isn't two yet, and he has cousins that didn't really start speaking until 2 or even up to almost 2.5 to 3. So I wasn't concerned. Plus my Mom said I didn't say a peep till between 2 and 3 and then I didn't know how to stop talking. Imagine that.


So, tonight "parents as teachers" lady is coming tonight to review Ben to see where he is developmentally, and then tomorrow we go to an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist to check his hearing. The thought is he may have fluid in his inner ear that may be affecting his hearing which in turn is affecting how he pronunciates his words.

If you ask Jake, he will let you know how stressed I am about this. Why? I really don't know for sure myself. Could be the pregnancy hormones, could be the way she approached me about it, could be that fact that I think my son is perfect in his growth, and pretty darn smart at that, could be that all children grow and develop differently. Could be a lot of things, but I am looking forward to see what the doctor says and the teacher says tonight.

And in all honesty, if there is a problem, then we want to fix it.

Besides that he loves to tickle, tickle, tickle Jonna in my belly. Which I think is really cute. And Jake was proud to show me the other day that he had but Jake's arm in a figure four wrestling hold with his legs all by himself. He loves the song, the itsy bitsy spider and the ABC's song. And he still loves to wrestle Mugsy. His favorite being a head lock at this point. Mugsy weighs more and is bigger in size than what he was months ago as a wrestling partner.

Oh, I forgot one last thing. Another of Ben's favorites, that may even top out at #2 above airplanes and firetrucks. BUGS!! Amazing what he can find!

29 Weeks

Thinkin it's about time.....





And I am pretty sure my glucose test went fine, because I haven't had any calls about that. Next appt, March 21st!!

Mommy Madness and more!

So Mother's day is coming, and I just sit here thinking about all the mothers I am close too, and how awesome it is just being a mother, so HAPPY EARLY MOTHER'S Day to all those ladies.

I am in trouble for not putting a belly pic up, but I will get one soon. To tide you over, here is some of my cuteness:




So, about the Mommy Madness, I have a friend that was nominated to test drive a Chevy Travers for 8 weeks, pretty cool, and all of her adventures plus videos will be on here. To follow up more this is Lori's blog..

Kind of exciting, just every day Mom's doing some advertising for Chevy. It is fun to watch the videos, and all the different Mama's out there with their kiddo's. So, here is my "GO LORI!!!" And don't forget to vote for her also.