ENT Follow-Up

Well, for the past couple of months, Owen has been having ear issues again...more specifically right ear issues.  First it was swimmers ear, then an ear infection, then they thought he had eczema in his ear canal...which all finally lead to another appointment with the ENT. All of this was brought on because he is constantly itching at his right ear...and I don't mean a casual rub, he digs his finger in as far as it can go.  When you ask, most of the time he says it itches or that there is something in there that he needs to get out.  To be honest, I was getting a little frustrated with the whole thing.  We went through 2 different ear drops and 1 oral antibiotic to try to help him.  The Nurse Practitioner at the pediatricians office also dug ear wax out of his ear a couple of times during this whole process as well...nothing seemed to help more than a couple of weeks, then he was back to digging in his ear again.

So, about a month ago we had another visit to the ENT.  The PA there (don't get me started on how we haven't seen the actual doctor since he put the tubes in his ears....) looked in both ears and said things looked fine.  They sent us for a tympanogram to check the pressure in his ears-that came back fine, and then they tried to check his hearing-which was an epic fail!  So, he suggested that we try zyrtec and nasonex (two allergy meds) for a month to see if the itching was allergy related.  Well....needless to say when we went back for our follow-up appointment today, he was digging in his ear again!  They sent us back for another tympanogram-which was again fine, and didn't even try to test his hearing again.....the only thing he saw was that there was again wax in his right ear canal.  He said it was dried and hard, so that is probably what has been causing him to dig so much.  So....now we are going to put baby oil in his ear 2-3 times a week to help with the wax build up.  We have another follow-up with that office in 6 months to see if things are still good.  If they are, then we will be released again.

Needless to say, I am happy that he did not have to get another set of tubes put in.  Tony and I were convinced that this was the route we were headed, so it was a bit of a relief when he said that Owen didn't need them.  But...I really hope this baby oil thing helps because it really bothers me to see him digging so bad in his ear!

Potty Training = Complete?

Well, I am almost nervous to write this post because I don't want to jinx anything....but I think that Owen may finally be fully potty trained....YEA!!!  HAPPY DANCE!!!

Like I had said earlier, he's had the peeing down for a long time but it was the pooping that was taking a while.  Well, last week we had a breakthrough....he had been pooping for me, but not really for anyone else.  And he was only going because I made him sit on the potty every night before his bath.  Finally I guess he just decided that he was going to do it....so last week he announced to Gramma that he had to go poop...and he did!  He finally was able to earn the basketball hoop that has been sitting at Gramma's for months!  And Gramma even sweetened the pot by letting him pick out a donut when they went to the store...and he chose one with sprinkles and gummy worms!  Now he just announces when he has to go and then goes and does it...so proud of him!!

So, for more than a week he has had no accidents!  We still wear a pull-up for naps and at bed time but otherwise he is in underwear full time.  I've also started to trust him to tell us when he needs to use the restroom and not ask him every 20 minutes!  In fact, he likes to go by himself.....we just have to work on pulling the pants back up when he's finished:)

Overall it has been a long road!  I'm so glad we have finally reached the end:)

Here are the pictures Gramma sent me on the day he finally pooped at her house:

Here is the basketball hoop he finally earned!

With his donut:)

"Owenisms"

I've had several friends blog about the "cute" and "funny" things their kids say and I thought I would join the trend:)  I know that there have been several funny things he has said or done lately that I can't or won't remember them all.....which makes me a little sad:(  I can't believe how big he is getting....less than 2 months until he is 3!!  I will try to be better about writing these things down so that they will have a permanent record:)

The "My's": I know I've mentioned how Owen uses "my" instead of "I" and probably my favorites is when he is saying his prayers at night...."should I die before my wake...."  Although, I am sad to report that he is beginning to use "I" much more than "my" lately.....:(

One day after he woke up from his nap, he was on the floor playing.  My mom offered him a snack and he said, "I'm busy Gramma!"  He's used this a few more times as well:)

He is really into singing lately.  One of the songs he has been singing a lot the last couple of days is "This Old Man" and my favorite line of the song is "knick knack paddy whack, dig a dog a bone."  :)

We went to the ISU homecoming parade on Saturday to watch Tony (who was a guest of the Environmental Health Department) march in it.  Owen loves parades, especially the bands!!  He marches around playing his trombone and singing the high school fight song (he knows most of the words...seriously!).  After the parade we were in the bookstore and he grabbed two of the pom poms and started marching around the store singing the fight song. When he finished he said "thank you, thank you very much!" and then proceded to start again!

He calls Frank the Combine (from Cars) Frank the Cucumber:)

He is getting much more independent with his potty-training.  In fact, if he goes into the bathroom and you try to follow he stops, puts up his hand and says "Stop, I can do it by myself" or "I don't need help!".....which he does do a good job, except for the part of pulling his pants and underwear back up!  Usually he comes hopping out of the bathroom with them around his ankles:)

Those are all for now....but I will try to be better about sharing more as they happen....or as I remember:)