Tales of a Boy Mom

We are heading to week three today of having two little boys in the house and I am considering changing my blog to "Tales of a Boy Mom."  I am currently sitting next to my two year old as he watches Curious George, dressed in his monkey Halloween costume while eating a banana.  Did I also mention that he has a stuffed monkey on the table who is missing an arm.  How did he lose his arm...who knows...it is just part of a long line of things that I repair on a weekly basis.  Last week it was a dinosaur book where one of the dinosaurs was missing a head...sigh...good thing I got an MBA and I am equipped to handle such complicated near disasters.  These last few weeks of maternity leave have been spent being peed on...thank you Hayden...fixing toys that are broken in the most unexplainable way and praying for quite between the yelling...Colin...and crying...Colin and Hayden.  Thank god they are both so darn cute.

I thought about at 3am the best way to deal with the chaos that is now introduced into our lives.  I have considered talking a cat herding class but unfortunately that was full so I came to conclusion that organization is the key.  I know big shocker for those of you that know me well.  I have a new found interest in making things as easy as possible.  As some of you read in my previous blog my obsession with online shopping this has come in handy when trying to manage everything and still maintain some sanity.  I have found that I can pretty much get anything I want delivered right to my doorstep and a lot of time with free shipping and who doesn't like free. 

Some updates on Colin, he is doing really well with his hearing aids.  He has picked up so many words it is amazing.  His favorite saying is "I'll be right back" and points to you as he is going upstairs to find something that usually doesn't belong to him.  Since the Hayden has arrived he likes to take his hearing aids out because he gets a reaction from us.  We know better then to give him the attention but when your toddler is dangling a down payment for a house from his little cute fingers even the best of parents are going to react...such a little stinker. 

Hayden is a much tougher baby then Colin.  He is not the sleeper that Colin was but on the flip side he is a much better eatter.  Wow can that kid chug a bottle.  He will be very popular in college I imagine if he keeps this up.  He is also huge, I have already given a bag of baby clothes to Goodwill that he has grown out of.  We are having Hayden's hearing tested next week.  He did pass the Newborn Hearing Screening- but so did Colin- so we are having him tested at Children's Hospital.  I am optimistic that we won't have any problems.  He seems to hearing everything especially when you are trying to get him to go to sleep.     

So that is the update for now.  At this point Kyle and I are in survival mode and trying not to wish away the time.  We know that these are the moments we are going to miss later so we are trying really hard to remind each other of that at 3:00 in the morning.  I realize now how much we missed with Colin due to the fact we had no idea what we were doing and although we still don't know at least this time we are much more aware of little things that we need to stop and enjoy.  We have also started a savings fund for therapy for both Colin and Hayden in case we really screw-up this parenting thing.  Until next time...

More, More and More

"More" was the first word Colin learned through baby sign-language.  Which is kind of fitting since we live in a world of more.  We need more time, more money, more shoes, more success, more help...you name it and we need more of it.  I wish I could tell you I was one of those people that was above it and was perfectly content with what I had but alas that would be a lie. 

I think the "more' sickness starts off innocent enough but as time goes on it grows to be an ugly monster.  "More" starts to mess with your mind and you do things you swear you will never do.  You start worrying about the Jones' and trying to keep up with them. You become the person that has your child in 15 different activities because all your kids friends are involved.  "More" takes over your finances as well.  Remember when your first paycheck was "so much" money but now when you look at your bank account, you clearly are making more, and wonder where did it all go.  At work the demands and pressures of doing "more" seems to be the new buzz word...it is never enough.  The Holidays are a classic time where "more" becomes even more prevalent.  More presents, more money spent, more demands on time, more food, more trying to make others happy...I think you get the idea. 

Speaking of "more", doctors are no exception to the need for more, more tests, more information and more decisions.  A lot has happened since the last time I have blogged.  We had Colin's ABR which is the sedated hearing test at the beginning of November.  The test required Colin to be under anesthesia for almost 90 minutes while they retest his hearing trying to determine the softest sounds he can hear and to confirm that it is a sensory loss rather then a perceptual problem.  The good news is the test confirmed everything we already had been told so there were no surprises. 

Colin has a complicated hearing loss due to the fact that he can hear lower tones but is severally hard of hearing with the higher pitched tones which most of the spoken language exists.  In a lot of ways it is amazing that he can speak at all but is actually doing great.  He loves wearing his hearing aids which I can't believe I am saying due to the fact what 2 year old likes doing anything you want them to do:). 

Next we went to the Hearing Clinic at Children's Hospital which is where you get a chance to meet with different specialists including a Genetic Counselor.  It can be very difficult to determine the cause of hearing loss and they are not optimistic they will be able to determine what caused Colin's.  They are able to test for one gene due to our very boring genetic make-up (By the way good news, Kyle and I are not related and Kyle does not have any secret children...I can't make this up but it was part of the screen...oh all you can do is laugh).  The test is a simple blood test and it takes about 6 weeks for the results.  There is about a 50% chance they will be able to tell us if our future children will have the same issue (that ship has sailed) or potentially the cause i.e. genetics.  After that there is not much they can do to tell us the cause.  At some point they would like us to have a CT Scan but there is only a 10% chance that will tell us anything and he has to be sedated again so we are going to wait.  Since the hearing loss potentially could be hereditary and Colin did pass the newborn screening we are having Hayden tested on January 4th.  To be honest I am less stressed by the results of that test due to the fact I know we can live through this and the earlier we determine there is a problem the better. 

Speaking of Hayden I am 39 weeks tomorrow and we have the induction scheduled on December 6th. We are very excited and I am so ready!

The upside of "more" though is when you find people in your life that are more then you ever expected like a spouse (yes I am talking about Kyle), children or a great friend more can be a really great thing.  So I am not going to preach to you that it is the holiday season and you should be thankful for what you have and not want more...because that would make me a hypocrite but I will say this...everything in moderation and feel free to have more of whatever, but remember who and what are really important.