We haven't done a whole lot the last two months because of one illness after another it seems. We've had it rough this winter! We're all ready to be well again, but this last round of colds seem to just hang on. We're all still congested and coughing. It's horrible.
I do have a few posts that I need to do, but decided that I'd just do another no-picture post with an update on the boys for now. Hopefully my energy will return one of these days and I can transfer the pictures from my phone to the computer!
Miles started back to his preschool at Provo High this week. They were off from early December until the end of February. It was a LONG break! Miles was so excited to go back. He has missed it dearly. His other preschool is off this week because his teacher and her family got to go to Disneyland! He is missing his friends and his teacher from that preschool now. Next week he should be a happy camper because both preschools will be up and running. He just loves playing with his friends and getting some time away from the house.
On Monday, February 23rd Miles had four of his baby teeth pulled. A couple of weeks ago Miles told me he had a sore in his mouth. I took a look at it and quickly realized he had a permanent tooth coming in. It was back behind his baby teeth on the bottom in the front. It was pushing his baby teeth apart, but they were not loose or wiggly at all. I called his dentist's office and they suggested we bring him in. On Monday the dentist pointed out that his other bottom front permanent tooth is close to coming in as well so he suggested pulling all four of the front bottom baby teeth. He said that would just help the permanent teeth come in straighter and be in the proper position. Miles hated the shots that numbed his mouth and sort of went in to freak out mode, but we made it through. Once he was numb he was a trooper with the extractions. The dentist said he'd be sore for a couple of days, but he hasn't complained of any pain. I gave him some ibuprofen the first day and that has been all he has needed. We weren't really prepared to be tooth fairies yet (I wasn't expecting his teeth to fall out for quite some time yet). I tried to make a cute a little box for him to put his teeth in, but I wasn't able to pull it off before he went to bed. We decided to just go low-key and worry about a cute box for the next time. The tooth fairy brought him $1 for each of his teeth (we weren't sure what the going rate was these days and decided $1/tooth sounded reasonable). Although he told me he wanted the tooth fairy to bring him a car instead of money, he was super excited the next morning to see his $4. He now wants to go spend it on a car!
After several years of worrying about Miles and having lots of struggles with him, we decided last fall to start looking in to what was going on with him. Through my job at the United Way I was able to connect with the BYU Comprehensive Clinic to get him tested. The wait-list is usually a year long, but because of my connections we only had to wait a couple of months. We spent the entire fall attending different meetings with a student in the psychiatry department at BYU, filling out questionnaires, having his preschool teacher fill out questionnaires, etc. We got a diagnosis sometime around the beginning of December of ADHD - combined type. This means that he has both the hyperactivity and the inattentiveness. BYU recommended that we start "therapy" and then determine later if we feel like medication is needed. Because Miles isn't old enough to go through the "therapy" himself, they recommended that Dave and I attending weekly "therapy" sessions to learn how to be better parents and how to help Miles. It isn't "therapy" as much as it is education. We're supposed to go weekly for classes, but because of all of our illnesses we've missed several weeks. We're on like step 4 of what I believe is an 11 step process or something like that. The classes have been really helpful. We're all still learning, but I think it helps to have some tools on how to handle him when times get tough. We're trying to focus more on the positive things he does and catch him making good choices. That isn't always easy to do especially when we're used to reacting to his "bad" behavior. Through this process I've also connected with a local support group and have attended one meeting. It was all about medication for ADHD. I learned a lot and had confirmation that we are on the right path; that psychotherapy is best first and then decide if medication can add to the psychotherapy. It's nice to have resources and to not feel alone! I'm glad we're getting this all figured out before he starts kindergarten next fall as well. Hopefully he won't have struggles in school and school will overall be a positive experience for him!
Now on to Oliver...
Oliver decided about a week before he turned 14 months old (the end of January) that he was ready to start walking. He is a pretty cautious guy (unless he's climbing something) so he'd only take a few steps at first, but he is pretty much walking all over the place these days. He will occasionally crawl still, but it's not very often. His little elephant that Grandma gave him doesn't get much attention these days as he no longer needs it to get where he's going.
He hasn't really been interested in saying actual words until recently. He will say "mama" and "more" but that's about it. Sometimes I think he is saying "ball" when he sees a ball, but I'm not quite sure if he is really meaning that. He will throw his hands up in the air when he's "all done" and sometimes it sounds like he is saying "done." If he's acting tired and you ask him if he's ready for a nap, he'll walk over to the bottom of the stairs and point up towards his bedroom. He doesn't protest naps much. He's getting to where he won't always take a second nap during the day. He'll just hang out in his crib jibber jabbering and playing away. We'll probably have to start transitioning him to one nap in the next while.
He hasn't grown much in the last 6 months. He went through a big growth spurt between 9 mos. and 1 year and since then has leveled off. He had his 15 month doctor's appointment today and the doctor isn't worried about him because he's still a big boy. Today he weighed 25.88 lbs (88th percentile), he is 32 inches long (80th percentile), and his head circumference is 18.5 inches (56th percentile). So, he isn't almost off the charts anymore, but he's still big.
There are only two things that really frustrate him; not getting food fast enough and his big brother blocking him from doing what he wants to do. Other than that he is a pretty easy going little guy. He isn't a fan of pain or being sick though so he does get cranky when he's getting new teeth (he now has a total of 11 teeth - 3 of them are molars) or when he can't breathe at night. With these colds he's had a couple of ear infections this winter and those are pretty rough for him.
He still isn't a fan of his car seat. We've even gone against the "recommendations" and have turned his seat around (we should've waited until he was 2). He just hates to be strapped in. I think he does a bit better facing forward but not as much as I would've hoped. We are hoping to go to Kansas in April for spring break and are trying to work up the courage to spend 15+ hours in the car with him. I want to see friends and family badly, but man the trip is going to be rough! I hope I'm wrong!
That's about all I can think of on the boys right now. Stayed tuned for pictures of the few fun things we've done over the last couple of months.
