gaga

The big kids are always saying things to Mikey to get him to repeat it back to them. He did say all their names first, but wouldn't say Mama for the longest time. His pediatrician said she had a theory about it -- she had seen it before in other babies that hit their milestones early, so she thinks that to them they are aware that Mama IS. Mama is everything, so they don't need a name. Sounded good to me! Once he started saying it, he only said it when he was crying... but he says it all the time now.
He says Paige in a French accent, "PAyJuh-ha" which is pretty cute.
We get to DJ's school and he starts yelling "DJ" at the top of his lungs.

He has said "gaga" for the longest time. The kids will get him going and they are all saying "goo goo gaga" back and forth in a goofy sort of way. I always thought it was pretty funny to have him say it.

Mikey loves Lady Gaga's music. Paige shows him the videos on her iPod all the time. We will put it on in the car for him and soon they are all singing to it.
The other morning I was trying to get ready and I needed to distract him from throwing all the clean clothes out of the basket (not a fan of that trick) so I put a video on the computer.
He points, "Gaga".
huh?
We are driving home and he is yelling at Paige, pointing to her iPod, "Gaga!"
ok.

Is this what he has meant this whole time and we just misunderstood? Does he think we are just morons?

I don't know, but it is from the baby that calls every ball a football --

the sounds of my son, again

I first posted this in March 2008 on my other blog. I think I wrote maybe 5 posts before giving it up and this one was the last one.
It explains up until that point what was going on with DJ's hearing. He did have a total of 3 surgeries and his hearing is perfectly fine now, but he does have a couple of prosthetic bones in there and so we made the decision that he will not play football even though it is something that he really wants to do.
I thought about it when I mentioned DJ not playing football in my post growth charts. Looking it over made me realize how stressed I was about what was happening to him.
Even though I know next to nothing about football, it still makes me sad that he can't play. He hardly ever talks about it anymore, but there was a time that he talked about it constantly -- couldn't wait until he was old enough to play...

the sounds of my son

At around age three, my mother-in-law questioned my son's hearing... his speech was a bit off -- and well, he didn't seem to hear us. He was well behaved -- but didn't listen.

Had his hearing tested, he was fine.

By age 4 it seemed to us that he had issues with speech development. Had him tested. He did have a bit of a delay, but he didn't "qualify" for help. We lived in a very small community at the time and options were limited.

Had him tested again in preschool for speech. Didn't qualify.

Kindergarten rolls around ~ he gets his sister's teacher from the year before, who already knows his situation ~ she has him tested immediately.

Wow.

He now qualifies for speech!

At the same time, the school nurse notices a bit of a hearing loss in his left ear. The new speech therapist (who was the same one who tested him before...) recommended him to an ENT because she believed that his speech problems were caused by having never developed a proper tongue thrust. (he did have this problem) She thought he would benefit by having his tonsils removed. He sees the ENT. She agrees that he should have his tonsils removed, but says the hearing loss is from an ear infection.

He has his tonsils out right after his 6th birthday. (My youngest daughter was born a month later!)
We move home to SF.

On the way to his 7 year old well child visit he tells us in the car, "Maybe Dr. Lee can fix my ear while we are there."

No Joke.

Of course, we question him ~ and he hasn't been able to hear for at least a year! (since the ENT said it was an ear infection)

So! -- Hearing test, otolaryngologist. ~ then a CAT scan... he has a "growth" next to the bones in his ear.

They think they know what it is... but it’s in the wrong spot... they had to "consult" with other doctors. (my mother-in-law just passed away from cancer two months before all of this) They have to remove it, but it's not an area that you go into lightly. (nerve damage, balance, etc)

First surgery, all of it is removed. It's a congenital cholesteatoma. (not cancer) It was something he was born with, and when he grew, it grew. (it can also be caused by numerous ear infections, but not in his case) She also had to remove two of the bones in his ear. Recovery time is 6 weeks. No showers (ugh!) No "strenuous activities". He is a 7 year old boy -- its summer... !

I have him telling everyone his scar came from a sword fight with a pirate!

We let him get a mohawk between surgeries...
Second surgery, August 7th, they replace the bones that were removed with prosthetic ones. Bionic Ears! No idea if it'll even work... may have to have a hearing aide even after all of it. (that was one of the scary things -- they were not worried about fixing his hearing, they needed to get the growth out!) Another 6 weeks of DJ bouncing off the walls, but not being able to do much....

Post-op and hearing test. His ear is perfectly healthy AND his hearing is (almost) completely normal! The little bit that is not in the range they want may even improve over time.

Right before his 3 month check up, my husband thinks his hearing has worsened. We wait until his next hearing test, but they confirmed it. Again, moderate to severe hearing loss. Talk to the otolaryngologist, she has no idea why it stopped working. "Let's wait and see and check him in three months."

What?

Just had his hearing test last week and nothing has changed.
The audiologist recommends a hearing aid. Go to see the otolaryngologist she says that a hearing aid would be fine, or she can try to "tweak" the prosthetic.
We are going for the surgery.
We have scheduled for the middle of June, as soon as school is out.

Today we received a FM System for his classroom. It transmits the sound of the teacher's voice directly to him. I have seen others where the teacher talks into a big handheld microphone, but his is brand new so it just clips on. His side just fits into his (good) ear and sort of looks like a Bluetooth.

I hate all of this.

I'll say though ~ nobody could ask for a better kid! He has such an easy going personality. He was never scared (except the morning of the first one) and was so pleasant to all the nurses... everyone was surprised how well he did.
But this time he seems a little nervous. He wants my husband to stay with him overnight instead of me!

growth charts

Mikey had his well baby check up, and now Mike is checking a million different growth charts. Mikey is 50th percentile in weight and 12th in height. He was the shortest one when he was born -- 19 inches, and now his Dad is convinced he is going to stay short!

From my understanding, growth charts are used to check that a child is developing proportionately and generally growing in the same pattern. Right?
But it is fun and hard not to compare them when you have four that are so different!

The growth charts we grew up with were based on data from 1977 and were updated in 2000. Apparently, there are even more charts for specific race/ethnic group categories, but I think that is confusing -- I have also come across discussions about the need for having two separate growth charts, one for breastfed babies and one for formula fed babies.
I have no idea which ones where used in our doctor's office 10 years ago or even yesterday, but here is what I remember about my own kids:

Paige was always in the 10th-15th percentile for height and weight.
DJ was always 90th-95th with his head off the charts.
Kelly was 95th in both when she was born, but moved to the 70th in height.
Mikey has been 25th for height and 75th for weight up until this last appointment.

Paige was 7.14 lbs when she was born and 20 inches.
DJ was 6.8 lbs and 20 inches.
Kelly was 9.14 1/2 lbs and 22 inches.
Mikey was 9 lbs and 19 inches.

Paige didn't hit 20 lbs until she was 17 months old (and yes I kept her in an infant seat until then)
DJ was 20 lbs at 6 months old -- he had tripled his birth weight! At 18 months he was 34 lbs and 35 inches tall. (and made me herniate a disc in my back)
Kelly was 23 lbs at a year.
Mikey was 24 lbs.

Paige was exclusively breastfeed. I tried forever to get her to take a bottle... she finally took one when she was 10 months old -- with cow's milk, she never had formula. The recommendations on when to start them on whole milk was 10 months then. I should  never have given her a bottle and just let her have a cup. She nursed until she was 20 months old, but I had a hard time getting the bottle away from her. She would take DJ's from him and hide under the dinning room table to drink them...
DJ seemed really hungry, so at maybe 3 months old I started giving him formula in addition to nursing him. By 10 months old he wasn't interested in nursing. It was around Thanksgiving, so I tell everyone he would say to me, "Thanks for the beverage. May I please have a turkey sandwich?"
Kelly. Kelly was a hungry baby! She would nurse on both sides and then finish off a 6oz bottle when she was 6 weeks old. She did this until she was about 9 - 10 months old and went to formula only for 2 months until she started on whole milk.
Mikey had a couple of bottles with formula when he was smaller -- in the car when we couldn't stop. One day, he just refused to do it anymore. He never liked the pacifier either. He doesn't seem interested in giving up breastfeeding any time soon, and I guess we will just see how it goes over the next few months.
All 4 of them started solids at four months old.

If you can find me a growth chart that will factor in all that, I'd be grateful! I could show it to my husband who is now worried that his other boy won't be playing football.
(DJ can't play because of his ear)

We were also playing around with the height predictors. They calculate the kids size and both parents to see how tall they will be at 18.
Paige's pediatrician told her at her last appointment not to expect to be as tall as me (5'1 3/4") The height predictor says she should be 5'.
All the rest -- 5' 6"!

Kellyisms age 4

It seems that I use a lot of quotes from Kelly as my status on Facebook! I have a couple of friends that tell me all the time that I should write them down and put them in a book for her. Well, I went through my FB Wall and found as many as I could and just copied them here -- I stopped at Feb 2010.

My friend *S* has named them Kellyisms!

"We fit together don't we Mama? Everyone in our family is like a puzzle piece."

"How old do you have to be to go to Wipeout?"

"Dad?"
"Are you picking me up from school?'"
"Oh"
"Can you Pick me up at recess and bring Mama so you can take us both to lunch?"

"You are in big trouble Dad! No football for a week!"

New Years Eve: ‎4 minutes until midnight... "can I just please go to sleep now?" yes, Kelly

"So, you can call 911 if you are close to a cliff and about to fall into hot lava, right?"

"fleas la de dah, fleas la de dah, fleas la de dah..."

"I love you more than birthdays."
(she didn't say more than HER birthday....)

 "Mama, have I met Lady Gaga?"

"Mama, why do you have cracks on your eyes?"

"Lets pretend Mikey is a helpful man today. Mama, do they even have those?"

"how to make a human: they get the gooey stuff and mix it with sugar, then they put the skin on and push the eyeballs in -- I guess the have to use glue to get the hair on top"

"I love you mama. I like you dad. I love Paige and DJ, but Mikey is the best!"

She looks at her dad and says, "I love Mama the best."

Is it really all that wrong not to correct her when she says "ramaca"? <maraca>

Boys are having fist fights over Kelly at her school!!! "she's mine"

‎"My baby never cries Mom. Even when I drop her. Isn't that good?"

told Miss Kell that if she wasn't still when I brushed her hair, I wouldn't let her imaginary friend Olivia come with us today... and it worked

"I will love you even when I am 17"

"I wish you'd just let me grown up myself."

"Mama, can you buy me an arrow so I can teach myself how to shoot things?"

Miss Hognhog's visit. She is an astronaut who studies volcanoes. She has no siblings, is an orphan and comes from the planet Hognhog. She likes to make cake. You can call he Liberty for short, but don't say the "for short" part.

Miss Liberty Hognhog

My sweet 4 yr old has traded places with an orphan named Liberty Hognhog from the planet Liberty Hognhog. She wears big dark glasses and is really bossy, but likes to make cakes for everyone. For some reason, Kelly's older brother is really upset by all of this...
Oh, and this is Day 3.

"Why are there so many people at the zoo?"
"The zoo is a super fun place."
"Actually, Disneyland is funner."

"I love Disneyland, it's the Happiest Place on Earth! But you know, Auntie Kenya said the happiest place on earth is Target, isn't that funny Mama?"


"I didn't know she was older than you, Mama."
"She looks newer though."

"daddy does all the hard work, you do all the soft work and all the rest of everything"

Me: "You can be a mom too someday."
Kelly: "Will I get to say grownup words then?"

Liberty Hognhog has returned....

"I'm awesome." says daddy -- Kelly answers "Not really, you're old and your foot hurts."

Dad, how old are you?" "38" "Wow! That's a lot." "Yeah" "Can you even count that high?" "Yes I can" "It would probably take all day huh?"

"My eyes are hot, so I can't close them. I need to stay up a little while until they cool off."

Is it wrong to laugh when the 4 yr old forgets to keep looking for the 10 yr old when they are playing hide and seek, and the 10 yrs old stays hidden and never seems to catch on?

"Mama, I wish it could rain popcorn."

"I know you'll miss me, but I'm having fun and I know you will always come for me"

...and she always wants to be The Boss!

three day weekend

The last 3 day weekend was so fun, but we did nothing. I am pretty sure we were all in pajamas for most of it. Mike watched football while we played Scrabble on the iTouch he got me for Christmas. DJ and Kelly were attached at the hip as usual, and Paige helped with the baby and read. Seems boring, but I find myself looking at everyone and just loving the moment. Then of course, I wonder if they will all need therapy because we have made them be anti-social along with us....