Ethan's Eye Surgery

Ethan's eye surgery was November 7th. The pre-surgery consult with the ophthalmologist revealed that the tear duct was 100% clogged. It's not unusual for a child to be born with a clogged tear duct. Many of those clear up by the first birthday. If they do not, they aren't going to clear on their own. We were anxious to get the surgery done, but had put it off until we had moved back home and were back from vacation. Ethan is of the age where he was starting to get increasingly annoyed with the constant need to clean his eye, and the semi-regular eye infections were just no fun. Interestingly enough, after the age of 1, a clogged duct begins to grow shut, dropping the success rate after two years of age rather significantly. 

Before

We had to check in at the Health Campus (5 minutes from home) at 6:15am. Ethan was the first surgery of the day at 7am! We literally pulled Ethan right out of bed in his jammies, wrapped him in a blanket, and right out the door into the car. I was concerned about how his morning would go. He wasn't allowed to have anything to eat after midnight, which in essence meant he hadn't eaten since 7pm the night before. When we got to the Out Patient Surgery center, he was distracted enough by his surroundings that his hungry belly was not an issue. We dressed him in his way too large fuzzy yellow gown and slipper socks that he refused to wear. The bracelets on his ankle made him very upset. My favorite story from the prep area was the nurse telling prepping to give him the liquid anesthesia. She was so concerned about him spitting it out. I told her that he takes some nasty tasting medication every day and now actually enjoys the flavor. She didn't believe me about how he'd react. She gives him the liquid in a syringe. He doesn't fight her. He swallows it right down and then asks for "more." She couldn't believe it. After the medication began to kick in, Ethan got a rather glazed and they took him back though the double doors to surgery. They said he'd cry on his way back, but he didn't.

The surgery itself took about 15 minutes. Around 7:30 the doctor came out to tell us that it went well and that they'd be back out to get us after he started to wake. The surgery requires no incision, so there were no post surgery restrictions, just eye drops and nose spray for the next 10 days. They came to get us around 8. He was angry waking up--Confused and hungry. Things got much better as he started to be able to eat his puffs and drink some water. Things also improved after they removed his ankle bracelets. We were released and home by 8:30. His eye was maybe a bit puffy (gone in about an hour), and he had a tiny bit of nose bleed, but that was it!

After we got home, in true Ethan fashion, he was ready to go--wanting to climb the slide and run all over the downstairs. What he didn't realize is that he could barley sit up by himself, and was quite frustrated that Mommy was trying to help him do something so basic. Daddy soon left to go to work, and Ethan and I watched Sprout in bed for 45 minutes before sleeping for a good 2 hours. When Ethan woke up, he was back to normal. Incredible to think he'd had surgery just hours before. He needed to be under close supervision for the first 24hrs after the procedure, so I had taken the day off work, and we had the whole afternoon ahead of us! We visited Daddy at work and got a snack at the coffee shop. We went to That Fish Place and looked at the fish and animals. All in all, a nice day!

After!! :)

Next day, back to school and work as usual! It's amazing how great his eye looks now. :)

His follow-up is next week, but I can't imagine that it would be anything but good news!

At 15 months (continued)

Continued from the previous post.... :)

One of my favorite things about Ethan right now is how genuine he is! He does this thing that we call a head "bump." Literally it's just that. He'll walk up to you and bump his forehead against yours. We're not exactly sure where he came up with it, but it's his version of a hug, and quite endearing. My favorite is when he's excited to see his friends at school and he walks up to each and every one of them and gives them a "bump." It's especially adorable when he "bumps" the infants! (Occasionally he gives a hug, but he "bump" is his "signature move"). He really enjoys his friends, and he doesn't like to see anyone sad. If one of his friends is crying, it's not unusual to see him walk over to them and smile to try and cheer them up. Last week his friend baby Abby was crying and he went and got her a few toys and brought them over to her. Good kiddo!

Happiness found in a fall leaf!

And of course, we all love to be silly and play together. Daddy and Ethan fly around the living room like helicopters and airplanes.  We all play Elefun or play with the Little People Farms which are distributed with all the animals and farmers across our coffee table.  We play Speedway and trucks.  We put together a lot of puzzles. Mommy drags Ethan outside to sled in the snow (Can you believe we had snow before Halloween?! Time to make use of our hill!) and to rake and play in the leaves. Mommy and Ethan still like to craft, paint, and color. In fact, we've had a few tears shed when Ethan has sighted the paint at inopportune times. 

In our day to day lives, we're successfully bottle free! Yipee!! Sleep is another story, although we're making forward strides (minus the mess this crazy time change has turned bedtime into!) And we're up to 12 teeth! TWELVE! Ethan's knuckles are starting to look a bit rough from biting on his fingers to ease teething pain. In October we had our first school Open House, and Ethan had his first school photos taken. I can't believe I've been back to work for over a year, and Ethan is beginning to creep in on one year at daycare!

So I think that's a rather complete recap from the last few months!

The next post will be about Ethan's surgery, but that warrants it's own post!

Instead, I'll end on a funny story. This weekend I'm sitting on the couch. Ethan comes walking across the living room holding his arm high in the air. I think I see a spider dangling from a web hanging from his hand. No, it can't be. Next thing I know, Ethan places the object in question next to my feet on the carpet and proudly declares "BUG!" It is indeed a live spider. Nice Ethan, nice. :)

At 15 months (part 1)

Now that I have the blog caught up, I can focus on our protagonist, Ethan! This is going to be a multi-part post, or I will never get it done!!!

Ethan has just grown up so fast! I can't believe it! He's always such a happy guy--I only wish I could bottle that little laugh of his. He really does have the greatest "HA-HA-HA" laugh. 

And he's FAST. He started walking almost spot on his first birthday, and he's been running full speed ahead ever since!

His teacher at school is convinced that he's going to be an engineer (with her disclaimer that of course, he can be whatever he wants to be when he grows up!) because he is just so detail oriented. Nothing makes it past him. If something in his world moves, he notices it immediately. He sees small details everywhere. Things also have to be "just so." If you put a cup on his highchair try, he will immediately put it into the cup holder. What do you do if you have two cups on the tray? Why you stack them of course, so that they are BOTH in the cup holder! 

Putting the cups where they belong!

Many toys have to be played with a certain way. The cement mixer driver belongs to the cement mixer. He may not ride in the back of the dump truck- that's not where he belongs. A piece of dirt or thread on the stairs! Oh no! That doesn't belong! And he sorts and arranges things constantly. Last week at school he was playing with the Velcro board and 5 ducks. He placed all 5 in a row, exactly spaced, and spent time making sure they are all straight! Always in the details!

Ethan's communication skills are also really taking off. He says dozens of words, and he's willing to try and say just about anything..and he usually gets pretty close! Recently at school he said "Kelly, snack please." Pretty good, right?! He likes to sing, and I recently recognized him singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on his own! He sings other songs I don't recognize too. He really likes music and song. We have Sprout (PBS preschool channel) on almost all the time. He really likes it, but his attention is focused when there is singing and music- commercials or programming theme songs. His favorites are Play with Me Sesame and The Wiggles. At bedtime we watch Pajanimals and RubberDubbers.

He also knows quite a bit of signing: more, please, thank you, star, roll, dirty, diaper, airplane, all done, kite, bug, eat, and most recently, hippo and hurts. Of course, he can also "wink" (really blinking both eyes at the same time- good try!) and he sticks his tongue in and out for "lizard." He knows lots and lots of animals and what sounds they make. He's quite the little sound machine! The signing is great. It definitely have giving him confidence in his communication skills, and when his speech is coupled with his sign, where one falls short, the other picks up, making him much easier to understand!

Ethan signing "more"

Every Saturday we still attend classes at The Little Gym. He's getting quite good. His favorite things to do there are walk on the balance beam (one foot in front of the other!) and hang from the uneven bars or rings. He likes to flip backwards over the uneven bars...or as always,  do anything that involves him being upside down. And of course, he loves the bubbles at the end of the session! Little Gym is a great fit for Ethan because he loves to be active. They do a lot of dancing at daycare, and he dances a lot--sometimes even while he's walking. If you're lucky, he'll do a spin when you ask him! Miss Sherri has also done a lot of baby yoga with him at daycare. If you ask him to "do yoga," he'll immediately do his favorite yoga stretch!

Downward facing dog!

So that's it for now! Post 2 is in progress!!