Ear Update

Ryan and I took Matthew to the ENT late last week for a two month check-up. He still has fluid on his eardrum, especially on the right side. We are trying him on children's Zyrtek for now to see if that will help to reduce or eliminate the fluid on the eardrum. I take him back in November (or sooner if he gets an infection) to see the progress. If he continues to collect fluid then we will have to go with a second set of tubes. The doctor put it this way, what he hears is similar to hearing under water. He can hear noise and pitches, but can't really understand the actual word, making it hard for him to learn new words. What he hears when he talks is right to him even though it might not sound right to us. So it is a two month waiting game again to see what will happen next.

I am now 20 weeks along today and tomorrow is our big ultrasound. We are hoping that this baby will cooperate like Matthew did and we can easily tell the gender. I still have no clue or ideas as to what we are having. Tomorrow is also the first day of the new school year and I am very eager to get it started! I want to meet my new class, many of whom are new to the school through the recent redistricting. This also marks the 80th year my building has been open. It is the oldest building in the district. Our new school opens next summer.

18 weeks

I went to the doctor for my 18 week checkup and everything looks good. The baby's heartbeat is 152, the same as four weeks ago. I have my ultrasound on September 8th and hopefully we will find out the gender. I am carrying completely different this time around than with Matthew. I have only gained 5 pounds, something I am very proud of. Chasing and running after Matthew has kept it to a minimum. I just started wearing maternity clothes, many of which are way too big still, but I know I will grow into them.

Matthew is doing well too. He has now cut the two bottom two-year molars at the same time and on top of that pulled one of his tubes out, which was not a pleasant experience in the least. He goes back to the ENT next Friday for another check-up and hearing test. While I started working on my room, Matthew went back to daycare for a few half days. The first few were challenging for him when I left. Deah had to basically pry him off of me, but by the time I was in my car at the end of the driveway he was done crying and playing with his friends. Oddly though, when I went to pick him up every day, he ran and gave me a hug and kiss and went about his business playing with the other kids. He is over the separation anxiety now, which is a good feeling. This was the first time in two years that I have had him react this way while dropping him off, but I know that it comes with the territory of a two year old!

I am eagerly awaiting next week as I go back to work. I have been working very hard the past two weeks getting my room ready and set-up and am about 98% complete. Each year I set up it gets easier than the one before. I still can't believe this is my seventh year! I will have another intern this semester, which always is a neat and challenging experience. Our new school is coming along nicely too. The construction is literally right outside my door, which will make for some distracting few weeks, but we will get used to the noise and traffic.

Not Much Else to Say...

Matthew was fighting me all day for a nap and refused to take one yesterday, so I finally got him out of his bedroom to play. He climbed on the couch and started to fall asleep sitting up within a few minutes. I told him that he needed to go lay down. He then tipped over from where he was sitting and started to get off the couch, but never made it. He slept like this for over an hour until he partially woke up and got comfy on the floor. I guess it is true that kids can sleep just about anywhere!

A Smooth Transition

Matthew is now sleeping in his new room and his new bed with ease. It took a couple days of skipping nap and passing out in the new bed to get him accustomed to his new surroundings. I love that when he is sleepy or wants a little rest, he will climb up in there and take a little rest.

Potty training has been put on the back burner because Matthew said he was "all done" and put the potty in the closet. Fine with me, we weren't expecting him to be trained for probably another year following the patterns of all the other boys we know. If he can be day trained by the time he is three, that would be great.

Brushing his own teeth has been one of Matthew's new "I can do it" chores. He doesn't like our help, but needs it at times to get the junk off his teeth. We got him a child's electric toothbrush to help him clean better. I saw today that my little fuss bucket has also been cutting his last teeth. His second year molars are starting to cut the gums, explaining the harsh moods and resistance to eat anything except applesauce and bananas.

Just when we will get done with Matthew's teething we will have to do it all over again with #2 on the way! I am 15 weeks pregnant today and due January 25th! I feel great and have had no symptoms of being pregnant other that being a little tired. We will have our ultrasound next month to hopefully find out the gender. I have no idea or guesses, though many family members are "rooting" for a girl. We'll see! This time around will be a different experience when it is time to deliver. First off, we won't be moving!! Secondly I will have a scheduled C-section so we will know exactly when it will happen and can plan accordingly. We are incredibly excited for the kids to be so close in age and we will be done after this one! We will keep you posted with the progress.

Work!

Ryan finally went back to work yesterday after being off for a combined six months. Since being laid off in December he has only worked five weeks until now. Knowing that his job is unpredictable like this we saved up and were able to keep our heads above water. Thank you for our family and friends for their support during this bumpy road for us. He jumped back into work full force, working seven twelves until mid-August! We are not complaining at all, in fact we are thrilled. Granted it means we will not see him that much for the next months or so, but we got in a lot of great family time over the past months. After the long hours are over, they should move to four tens, which is great news for football season! From the sounds of it, this company will have work for at least a year, not including the other jobs they pick up along the way. It all worked out for the best. There was a call out for Wisconsin last week and we found out that Ryan was one guy away from being called. Had he been called, he would have been in Wisconsin and not here to get this job.

Matthew finished up swimming lessons this week and absolutely loved them. We already are planning to take the same class again next year. One of his favorite things in jumping off the edge by himself (to my arms) and going completely underwater. I posted pictures to our photo site (along with a recent boating trip). Enjoy!

ENT update

I took Matthew to his ENT this afternoon to have his ears checked. Both tubes are officially out of the eardrum and both eardrums are healed completely, so that is good! However, both tubes are still in the ear canal and will hopefully wok their way out in the next few months. The goal is to work out enough so the doctor can use his tools and dig them out the rest of the way. Matthew' s left eardrum looks great and they are not worried about it at all. His right eardrum is another story though. It has fluid around it again and he could very well get an infection in the near future. He had a hearing test on that ear to see how the sound waves were bouncing off his eardrum. His eardrum is still quite flat, which is not what they want to see. We go back in two months and hopefully then he will be able to take the tubes out and we can talk about what happens next. If his eardrum continues to collect fluid like it is doing now, he will have to have the tubes put back in, which we are completely fine with. It is very comforting to know that Matthew got his tubes first put in on April 18, 2008. He has not had an ear infection since that day, so while they were in the were doing their job.

In other news, Matthew started swimming lessons this week and absolutely LOVES it! He is like a fish and hates to get out of the pool. He is even brave enough to jump off the edge to my arms! That really shocked me as well as our swim teacher. We will continue with lessons next week too and then be done for the summer. Ryan will be going to swimming lessons tomorrow to take some pictures, so check back soon for some fun pictures!

Sitting on the Potty

I know that in the future when Matthew looks back to this he is going to kill me for posting this picture, but oh well! We have embarked on the task of potty training Matthew. To start, we just wanted him to become familiar with the potty and what it is for. Since he can't verbalize to us yet if or when he has to use the potty it makes this step a little hard. To our surprise, Matthew loves to sit on the potty, so why stop him! We started on Monday and he sat three times for over a half-hour each. While he sits, he likes to read books, it is just too cute. For the past few days it seems like he has the urge to go, but doesn't know to just let go on the potty. Last night, he used it for the first time and was super excited when Ryan and I did the happy dance and rewarded him with lots of cheer and a Junior Mint. First thing this morning, once he was up and out of his crib, he ran to the bathroom to sit on his potty. Though he sat for a half-hour and didn't do anything, we were still happy with him for wanting to sit there and starting to connect what the potty is for. We don't want to rush this, so when he decides that he is done for now, we will put it away and try again later.

We also are in the process of moving Matthew into a big boy bed and out of his crib. He is having some troubles understanding that even though he can get out of his bed whenever he wants, he needs to sleep in it too. He is having too much fun now. I wanted to have this step completed this summer because I am home and can work with him. We will keep you posted on our new adventures!