Ethan (Monthly Update)

Ethan is 2 years and 9 months old now.  In addition to his trip to the emergency room a couple of weeks ago (by the way, his limp has been completely gone for days now), Ethan's other medical issue this month has been the return of his ear infections. He had 4-5 ear infections from age 4 months to age 10 months.  He had tubes put in his ears just before he turned 11-months-old, and we have been almost ear-infection-free for almost two years now (one exception last February).  In my last update, I mentioned that Ethan had been acting out a lot in early December (including deliberately pushing the Christmas tree over). The morning after the Christmas tree incident, he woke up crying and complaining about his ear, so I took him to the pediatrician and found out that he had a bad double ear infection.  Ethan tends to deal with pain or discomfort by being extra mischievous (as opposed to whining and complaining like his big brother), so I'm sure his ears were a big contributing factor to that week of challenging behavior.

We started his course of antibiotics and both ear infections cleared up quickly. Less than two weeks after he finished his antibiotics, he woke up with another ear infection, this one painful enough that he cried for over an hour about his ear after a nap, (until the ibuprofen kicked in and made him feel better). He is currently on the second course of antibiotics. Since the tubes were so successful last time, I would like to go ahead and get them again now, but the pediatrician wants to wait until Ethan gets one more ear infection (and one more round of antibiotics) before making that move.

So, other than the recent health issues, Ethan has had a good month. The behavior problems I mentioned before disappeared as soon as the first ear infection cleared up, and he has been back to his passionate, fun-loving, people-pleasing self.  Since he loves people and any kind of party, he had a great time during both Christmas celebrations.  His memory about who gave him what is surprisingly accurate, and he often tacks the giver's name onto an item that he is talking about: "I was playing with my new flash light that Uncle Mike gave me and I shined it at Caleb's shirt and..." He is still dry at night most of the time, and he fights bedtime much less than he did just a couple of months ago.  He is still eating much less than he used to, but he has not mentally adjusted to that change: he still asks for food all the time, but then takes 2-3 bites of what I fix and says he is full.  There is almost always a bowl or plate at his seat of something for him to finish "later."

We are back into our homeschooling routine full swing after the holidays, and both boys are once again spending a couple of hours a day at the craft table: coloring, painting, drawing, cutting, gluing, writing, tracing, etc.  Ethan loves doing "school" stuff with Caleb, and, for the most part, I am able to give him a scaled-down way to participate in all the preschool stuff Caleb does.  He wouldn't have it any other way :)

Enjoy the pictures of all of us at Nanna & Papa's hotel pool: