Change of Plans

After no less than six calls from Children's Hospital, Hannah is not having her hearing tested tomorrow as we thought. They just can't seem to make it work; so, her new appt. is June 10. The only problem with that is they can't give me an actual time just yet.

We visited the ENT on Monday due to Hannah's constant state of dissatisfaction; he said both of her ears showed congestion. He still thinks she may need tubes again, but he doesn't want to do anything until he knows if she has any hearing loss.

For now, she's taking Zyrtec and we are patiently waiting.

Clearly God is still working on me and my ability to be patient!

Take Our Picture, Please!

Every once in a while the kids really enjoy the camera; yesterday was no exception! Hunter showed off his angry face and his silly face while Hannah showed her monkey skills and her basketball prowess. Never a dull minute here on our planet:)

Hannah's Hearing

Hannah has been out of sorts all week and not sleeping as well as she normally does. One minute she says her ears hurt; the next minute she says they don't. I don't know if she's just looking for conversation starters or she is really in pain. She rarely runs a fever so that doesn't help at all!

Since I know she had fluid on her ears last Monday, I decided to take her to our pediatrician today to get a look at those ears: no infection but some fluid in the right ear. I guess that was a relief.

Children's Hospital scheduled Hannah's hearing test in late June. Late June is still a month away and it's getting close to our anticipated rotation date (first week of August). If we have to do tubes again, I would prefer to do them here where we know the doctors and hospital instead of trying to find someone hurriedly after a move. Moves are hard enough without other issues.

I tried to get the test scheduled sooner, but the lady was not overly cooperative and never called me back. Today, our perfectly wonderful and absolutely incredible pediatrician was able to get Hannah in next Wednesday morning at 9:30 for the hearing test.

I am so thankful that we have such a great pediatrician and that she was able to work her magic for an earlier test. I know this doctor was placed in our lives for very special purposes (we should have a frequent visitor discount card or something); she has taken great care of our two little ones, and they love her dearly. The kids think they need to go see her every time they have the slightest symptom - it's really cute; however, I'm pretty sure the office can only handle so much of the Peterson fam!

Hopefully we'll know more next week and be able to establish a game plan for Hannah's ears. I'll let you know when we know something.

Tricycle Races

Not long after Hannah mastered riding the tricycle did Hunter decide to race her on his. Hannah thought it was lots of fun until she wasn't the one winning; the tone definitely shifted whenever she was in second place. Being the loving brother that he is, Hunter generally slowed down to let her pass him rather than listen to her complain. He's great with her - most days!

Hunter does have a bike yet he prefers to ride the tricycle most days. I guess we should get Hannah a bike for her birthday so they can do that together too.


Hunter's in the lead! (Yes, I know he isn't wearing pants. I have no logical explanation for this!)


She's closing in...


Hannah takes the lead!


Only to lose the lead again while she makes sure bear is in the back!

It's All in the Mood...

I have been trying to teach Hannah to ride her tricycle for quite some time now. She likes to sit on it and put her feet on the ground. Whenever I would gently coax her to use the pedals to ride, she would scream (just like Hunter did when I tried to teach him the ABCs); therefore, I quit trying to help her. Yesterday, she sat on the tricycle and started to pedal! I knew she could do it - just another example of how she plans to do things in her own time frame vice mine! You would think that I would have caught on to this by now; afterall, she's almost three. Don't you just love her independence?!

Yes, I do realize for safety reasons she should probably be wearing shoes, but I wasn't willing to rock the boat anymore!

Art Appreciation Week 2009

Every year the preschool celebrates Art Appreciation and hosts a spaghetti dinner. Not only did both kids love being able to show off their latest creations, but they also thought that eating dinner with their friends and teachers was the coolest thing ever! We had such a tremendous evening watching Hunter and Hannah thrive in their element. I LOVE this school - if only the school could move with us!

designed by Hannah

Floral arrangement by Hannah and friends

This is the cutest thing! Hunter's teacher is amazingly creative!

A sampling of Hunter's talents

Hunter's spider (I wasn't exactly sure what this was and incorrectly identified it as a really neat creature. Hunter wasted no time in correcting my blunder and identifying it as a spider. I just wanted to clarify so no one else made the same mistake. I had one angry, misunderstood artist on my hands!

Bring on the Water...

Summer is here and what better way to have fun than water. The kids are enjoying the sprinkler, the water table, and just about anything outside. This promises to be one crazy summer (as if there were any other kind)!

Family Walk

Whenever we have the chance, we take family walks together. The only time Petey likes going on walks is when everyone is there. He's one silly dog!

The other night we took a long walk through the neighborhood and happened upon the turtle. Hunter and Hannah had a ball playing peek-a-boo with him. They would see his head out and run up close to get a better look; the turtle would tuck back in his shell and wait until they were gone. As soon as he peeked out, the kids ran back to him. The game could have gone on all night.

Where did he go?

I still don't see him!

We found him!

Peek-a-boo

A boy and his dog!

Strawberry Patch

While we were on Spring Break (I'm a little behind on my posts:), we visited the strawberry patch with Dee Dee and several of our MOPS friends. The kids loved picking strawberries, seeing the animals at the petting zoo, and playing on the playground. I had never picked strawberries before, but I could definitely see doing this again. Hunter is actually begging to go back!

I think her favorite part of the outing was eating the strawberries! The girl LOVES her fruit!

No Secrets Here!

We have a neighborhood grocery store just minutes from the house. Needless to say, we grocery shop a lot! The kids know several of the checkers, but they have their favorites! Their very favorite lady was working today while we were shopping. As we rounded the corner, Hunter shouts, "Look, there's our friend!" She came over and visited with the kids as she always does. Hunter caught her up on the important events in his life.

First, he showed her his arm with a fresh bite mark from earlier this morning. He told her his sister did it and mom put her in time-out. Then he showed her his band aid covered middle finger and proceeded to tell her that Hannah closed his finger in the door and his fingernail fell off, but it's okay because a new one will grow soon. He didn't fail to mention that Hannah had a time-out for that one too. He also told her that Hannah goes to time-out a lot!

I couldn't help but laugh at everything - nothing is secret around here! Poor Hannah almost started to cry the third time Hunter mentioned time-out. I really think she thought I was sending her to time-out in the middle of the store and she hadn't done anything this time.

Huh?

Fifteen months ago, "Huh?" was practically every other word out of Hannah's mouth. She had fluid on her ears that wouldn't drain and she ended up getting tubes. We couldn't tell a noticeable difference at first, but "Huh?" definitely disappeared from her vocabulary (thank goodness!).

We saw the ENT back in November and the tubes were still in but on their way out. He said to come back for a check in April. I completely forgot about that - they don't do reminder phone calls! However, Pete and I have both noticed Hannah saying "Huh?" a lot in the last few weeks. Now that her vocabulary is a bit more extensive, she also says, "What did you say?" So, last week I made her an ENT appointment.

We saw the doctor on Monday afternoon, and I was the one saying "Huh?" He looked at her ears and said that the tubes were gone. They tried to give Hannah a hearing test - key word: TRIED! She either A) wasn't in the mood and chose not to comply; B) didn't understand exactly what to do; or C) couldn't hear the instructions. Though the answer could be any of the aforementioned choices or a combination of all, I tend to lean toward choice A - it's a Hannah thing! Anyway, they did the little test to see if there was fluid in her ears and the test showed fluid. The doc was even a little surprised. He looked at her ears again and gave me the game plan. She needs a hearing test at Children's Hospital (she'll have to be a little sedated - whatever that means); if the test shows hearing loss due to fluid, we're doing tubes again.

This would be the point where I found myself saying, "Huh?" I knew something might be going on with her ears, but I was thinking maybe an antibiotic or something to clear the fluid and a re-check - not let's sedate her for a hearing test and consider tubes again - YUCK! This wasn't in the plan for this summer. I have a feeling there will be many more unplanned events as the summer progresses. I'll update when I know more about her upcoming test; they haven't called me back with a date and time yet.

Dee Dee's Party

My mom and my sister have birthdays just six days apart. We called Ms. Steph (as the kids call her - instead of Aunt Steph - go figure) to wish her a happy birthday. After talking with her, Hunter became quite upset because he couldn't be at her party. Then, he wanted her to have a party at his house, but that wasn't possible either. After my mom heard how upset Hunter was over Steph's b-day, mom asked that I not tell the kids when it was her birthday; she didn't want to upset them any more. She was coming to town a week after her real birthday, so we just waited until she could be with us to celebrate. After all, who doesn't love celebrating more than once!

The kids were thrilled to be planning a party for Dee Dee. We had presents and a cake but no party hats (so said Hunter) - what's a party without a hat??? Off the party store we went to find the perfect party hat! Once Dee Dee arrived, we had a most wonderful birthday celebration, complete with the perfect party hats!

Oh, the Things They Say...

Some recent funny comments:

Hannah (as Hunter is crying and screaming): "I not crying Mom."

Hannah: "Mom, are you happy to me?"

Hunter: "Where is the T.V. boat?" translation: T.V. remote:)

Hunter (trying to understand why his friends can't come with us when we move): "Mom, it's okay. Lucy will find me anywhere."

Easter Egg Hunt at Church

We enjoyed the Easter festivities at church the Saturday before Easter. Hannah even made it into the local paper. I tried to upload the picture, but I'm having trouble.