Updating

So, I've been a bit busy. Here's a quick synopsis of the recent happenings:

The ENT said that Sam does need tubes in his ears. However, I'm REALLY hesitant to have my almost 3 year old put under general anesthetic for tubes and possible adenoid removal. Then again, I'm fighting with myself because now is the time that his language skills are really developing. I spoke with a lady that I visit teach and she said that she was told her little boy needed tubes, but then when she went to the ENT 3 or 4 months later (he was totally booked til then), he had grown out of the problem. Then again, her little boy was a lot younger than Sam. I guess that I will take him into the doc one more time in about a week to see if he still has the problem, especially since he seems to have a cold. If he does, then we probably ought to go ahead and have it done, since constantly having fluid in there can actually cause permanent damage over time. We'll see how it works out.




Claire is 5 months old today. What a cutie she is, and such a happy little girl. This video is from about a month ago.


My sister Miriam just gave me a copy of this photo she took. I scanned it in so I could put it on the site--though my scanner doesn't do the photo justice.

Andrea has been doing pre-ballet and is excited about it. She keeps talking about getting toe shoes and a dog someday.



Peter is such a good boy, and so smart. He is such a great helper. Yesterday, he told me that he wished he could live at school because they have playground toys and lots of rooms. He and Andrea just had their Primary Program. Here is one of the videos I took of them practicing a song called "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus".


Sam seems to be the comic relief of the family. His language skills seem to be improving a bit.

Thomas is done with harvest, but now he is cleaning things up, building things and thinking about projects.

I'm pretty boring, though I am considering going to school for music therapy instead of vocal performance. There are so few music therapists, and a great need for them in this area.

Caitlin is working at an assisted living center and a phone center right now. She's pretty tired, I think. What an awesome girl she is.

Halloween was fun. Peter was a vampire pirate (he was a pirate, but he got some vampire teeth from a party), Andrea was a ballerina fairy princess, Sam was an ape and Claire was a banana. I just wore a black and red irridescent hooded cape and darker lipstick. The kids asked what I was, and I wasn't sure. So, I said I was a witch. Next year, I think I will wear the same thing, but find some vampire teeth, too, and be a vampire instead. Thomas was a candy hander-outer. Very scary. Caitlin was also a pirate, but she wrote something on the back of her shirt: "Arrrrr, they're after me booty! (The gold, of course.)" She's funny.
We had our first really good snow, but it's all gone now. I'm sure we'll get more soon enough.






More later...and I'll do better at keeping it updated...I hope.

Change of appointment

Sam was supposed to see the ENT on the 22nd (or should I say, 'the twenty-tooth', as Pete called it last Christmas), but they called & said they had a cancellation for Monday so we'll be able to get in sooner. Yea! More updates to come!

Bye-Bye Baby!

No, not Claire. Following the advice of a couple of friends, we've gotten rid of Sam's paci (said like pa-see), otherwise known as 'the binki' by said friends. : ) That seems to have been helping by warding off further infection thus far. It's alright that he's given it up since he's 2 1/2 now--it's time to say bye-bye baby, even if he only used it at night. Just for the sake of being thorough, we've also gotten him a new pillow and will be getting new carpeting in that room as well. Most of these problems started (at least the constantly runny nose) since we moved him into the 'boy's room'. The carpet in there is the oldest in this house, so we got an end roll piece pretty cheap and it will be put in sometime in the next week or two. We also have an appointment with the ENT for October 22nd. We shall see what he says. Perhaps by then, his eardrums won't have the pulled back reversed pressure and/or fluid behind them. If not, then we will further explore allergies, etc.

A Quick Video

Here is a video of our newly painted front room. Try to ignore the red sharpie decor on the couch and some of the carpet...I tried to avoid videoing the exact areas of Sam's 2 1/2 year old expertise.



Speaking of Sam, the audiologist said that his eustachian tubes are not opening properly, so that is what is causing the fluid behind his eardrums. He is recommending to the family doc that we get sent to the ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) doc so he can see if it's a result of allergies, large adenoids, large tonsils, or something else making it difficult for the eustachian tubes to open when they need to. If you have no idea what I'm taking about, then here are two illustrations and a medical explanation:

About the eustachian tube
The eustachian tube begins in the nasopharynx, which is above and behind the soft palate, and extends to the middle ear.
The eustachian tube opens periodically to equalize the pressure in the middle ear. A malfunction of the eustachian tube may cause problems in the middle ear or the mastoid.
Some of these problems include:
Fluid
Infection
Retractions of the eardrum
Cholesteatoma
Children with some middle ear problems may "outgrow" the difficulty as the Eustachian tube matures.

Sam, cont.

I've abandoned soy. I've decided to try another route for Sam. He's going to the audiologist this Thurs. More about all that later; it's hard to type with one hand while holding the baby.

Dave's Killer 100% Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

Click this link to take you to the page where you can find the new 100% whole wheat bread recipe that I really like. The only differences are that I don't use a thermometer to check the temp at the end of baking the bread and I replace the sugar with an equal amount of honey.

On another note, Sam has an appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning. We will see if we have gotten anywhere with figuring out what is up with him.

More about Sam

Well, we tried him on the goat's milk, but it didn't seem to help with the snot production. I did more research on proteins in cow's milk and turned up some interesting information. Of course there is still lactose in goat's milk, just like cow's milk, but some of the proteins are different. There are two kinds of protein in milk: casein (KAY-see-in) and whey. The whey protein is different in goat's milk, but the casein is just the same. So, I'm guessing that since a person can have sensitivity to different fractions of the milk, that he is probably having a problem with the casein. I've put him on all soy for the next couple of weeks and we will see how it goes. He doesn't mind the taste, so at least we are good there. I've also learned that there are actually milk solids in margarine as well. I didn't realize it before, because I never read the ingredients in margarine...I just knew that there was hydrogenated oil in it. I also changed my bread recipe to eliminate the dry nonfat milk that I put into it. That's okay...I found a stellar 100% whole wheat bread recipe that was SOOOO good, Peter--the "I only like white bread best" boy--said, "Mmm...this tastes just like white bread!" I'm sure that's because I use hard white wheat instead of red and set my grain mill to "finer" instead of the "coarser" setting. Let me know if you want that recipe, and I will post it for you.