Forward and Downward

We had a followup doctor's appointment to see how Christian's ear infections were doing.  The right one was all clear, but the left one still showed some inflammation but nothing to worry about, sometimes they take a little longer to heal.  His right foot turns out when he walks, hops, runs so at the last visit the doctor said maybe his legs were still weak from the lower vitamin D and iron levels he had. She suggested some gross motor skill activities to see if strengthening the legs would help that. So we just finished a soccer session, which he LOVED!  The doctor did some more tests and found he has a tibual torsion which is basically his shin bone is slightly curved, a sign from an awkward position in the womb.  There is nothing to do about it but it isn't severe, and she said many people with this condition in more severe cases have gone on to be very good athletes. The athletic part wasn't my concern, I was worried the turned foot was something to do with his hip which may then cause issues with his lower back, but thankfully none of that is the case....whew!  And he did really well in soccer and typically was first or second when all the kids ran from one side of the field to the other.

So he had some blood drawn to see how the vitamin D levels are progressing and we should hear back mid week.  His speech is still not as clear as it should be, even with the delay of being in his past environment and with English not being his first language.  So we are having a fully audio test done tomorrow to see if there is anything there that is contributing to the delay.  Then depending on what that test reveals, will determine what the speech therapist will do, because we have to see them after the hearing test.  I hope I'm not deluding myself, but I don't think there is anything wrong with his hearing, I just think he stubborness and being as busy as he his, he just could be bothered to stop, listen and learn.  At times when I try to get him to repeat something and ennunciate it more clearly, he will tell me, "don't teach me Mom."  Independent three year old :)

Today we headed to the park because it was a gorgeous day!  By the time we left he had two skinned elbows and a goose egg on his forehead.  The sidewalk was the culprit.  It slopes down toward the playground and he was running down, so excited to get there, he turned his head to see how far back I was and BAM! down he went on his elbows.  He fussed a little, I picked him up, said, "bummer," gave them a kiss and down he went on a run to the playground.....tears diverted.  Then on the way back to the car, up the slope, he wanted to race, and me needing to get some exercise in, deciding it would be fun. We used the sidewalk joint as our starting line, counted down from three and out of the blocks we shot.  We didn't get fifteen feet when he stumbled in front of me, I stumbled, tripping him in the process and down he went and bonked his head on the sidewalk.  Big screams and tears ensued as I hugged him, rubbed his back, telling him it would be ok.  I was finally able to peel him away from me so I could see if it was bleeding.....it wasn't.  He sobbed through his tears, "Mommy please carry me," so I hiked up this sloped sidewalk carrying a 33 pound kid.  He'd stopped crying right before we got to the car and I kept looking at his eyes to make sure he was ok.  We put the Elmo ice pack on his head when we got home and he was happy.

I soaked him in the bathtub with bubbles, applied the Neosporin and then we played with the matching cards.  So hopefully he won't have any injuries tomorrow at school, poor little guy, he went through the ringer today.
~Amy

Sitter Search

I've been looking for some babysitters lately and decided, upon a recommendation from a friend, to check out the SitterCity website.  I received several replies and have interviewed two young ladies.
The first one was adorable, sweet, kind and seemed like she'd be a great sitter.  I decided to try her out this afternoon when I went to a baby shower.

She arrived on time and played with him for the three hours I was gone.  Christian has been sick but has been feeling fine the last several days and this morning was fine. However, something wasn't "fine" because he threw up.  They were on the swing and he upchucked, at least he didn't get any on her!  She cleaned him up, got new clothes and off they went to play again.  Great, just great. I find a sitter that seems good and the first time out Christian throws up.....sigh.  Only time will tell if she'll sit for us again :)

The second young lady I interviewed drove me nuts and I actually had a hard time ending the interview.  She told me SO much about herself, situations, future plans, on and on and on.  She didn't ask a single question about Christian. I had to cut her off multiple times to tell her what I needed from a sitter, how often, details and she would launch in about herself again. She was "nice" but, I guess the best word is, distracted. When Christian meets new people, sometimes his anxiety comes out in overstimulated play, which is what happened during this interview. He kept climbing on my lap, trying to get my attention and wanting to tickle wrestle.....being a normal 3 yr. old.  The sitter proceeded to reprimand him!  I was shocked, and yes, annoyed.  Then as I was trying to wrap it up, again, for the umpteen time, she asked what time it was and then said her friend was having a birthday party in a few minutes. I told her we were done so I wouldn't keep her and she proceeded to get her phone and text her friend. Then she texted her boyfriend and then read his response to me.  HELLO!!!!  This interview is over, get the hell out of my house already.  I finally stood up, opened the door, told her "thank you, I'll let you know."  She stood in the door and talked more.  I slowly closed the door, easing her out and told her we had to eat dinner, have fun at the party, have a good weekend, I have more sitters to interview so I'll let you know.  She finally left, what a mess.  Obviously she's marked off the list.

Christian has been talking about wanting to go on a train ride.  So we're going to ride the Metrolink light rail tomorrow for a little bit. He's so excited!  Now I have to look up the routes so I don't get us lost :)
~Amy

Ears, Nose and Knees oh my!

Christian has had it rough the last week.  He's had a cold for a few days, cough and stuffy/runny nose. We've been blowing his nose for what seems every 15 minutes which has caused it to be sore.  So not only did he not want to blow his nose anymore because it hurt, it was draining down his throat making him cough so much he would gag.

We ended up in the ER Saturday night/Sunday morning at 1:00 a.m.  He has ear infections in both ears, apparently pretty bad.  The only symptoms were that night when he couldn't sleep, crying in pain, saying his ears hurt.  I guess he should have been in pain a few days before, but he has a pretty high pain tolerance level, so it didn't get to be too much for him until his ears were already pretty bad.  So after the ER we head to CVS to get the prescriptions filled then finally home at 2:00 a.m. and we also got ointment for his sore nose. The meds kicked in fast because by Sunday noon he was his ol' self again :)

Then Sunday night and Monday night he wakes up crying saying his knees hurt....growing pains.  So I rub his knees until he falls asleep and then drag myself back to bed. I don't drink coffee or tea so getting a boost of caffeine to get through the day isn't an option. I gave up soda for Lent which was my caffeine source, but I think I'm going to have to make a trade because some days I need that boost, I think God will understand :)

Hoping for an interrupted night's sleep tonight.
~Amy

Soccer Sadness

Today was not a great day for soccer. Christian hasn't been feeling well this week but got better toward the end of the week so we went to soccer this morning.  The first 15 minutes went fine and was downhill from there. He didn't want to be there, was rolling around on the turf and whining. I would have been embarrassed but three other parents were struggling with their kids too and two of them were crying.  Not a good day for several of us and we parents just gave each other the sympathetic/frustrated look.

Ten minutes in the car and he was zonked out.  They do run quite a bit in soccer and combined with him being under the weather anyway, he was wiped out.  He is taking a nap as I type this and I hope he sleeps long today so I can get a few things done around the house :)

We have two more soccer classes left, he loves it (usually) and his legs are stronger...YAY!
Now I need to decide what large motor skill activity is next :)
Amy