Busy, Busy, Busy

I know it's been a long time since the last update.  We've been so busy that two weeks has gone by in a flash.  Since the last update, we had a visit from Silas' grandma, Rosalie.  We had a great time as Silas got to know his grandma.  Among other things, we went to the playground, visited the Science Center, and played water games in the backyard.  I only wish we had more photos of Silas and Grandma together, but apparently Mom and Dad had a tough time remembering to break out the camera.  :-/

The following weekend, we spent around the house.  Brian finally got around to re-assembling and reinforcing Silas' rocking horse, which was a gift from Silas' Grampy Jim and Grammy Carol.  Actually, the rocking horse was designed and made by Silas' great great grandfather, so it's very old.  Grampy and Grammy restored and refinished it for Silas.  All we had to do was screw it together and reinforce it with some wood glue.  It's a good thing we finally got around to it because it's one of Silas' favorite toys.  He loves climbing on it and rocking back and forth.  I'm glad he's still little enough to enjoy it.

Yesterday, Silas had a big day of medical appointments and testing.  We started the morning at the ENT, where we learned that Silas' left ear tube is clogged again.  :(  He also underwent a couple of hearing tests.  For the first one, Silas sat in a booth and the doctor looked at his reactions as she played sounds in speakers on different sides of the room.  That test was inconclusive because Silas wasn't really responding to the sounds.  He was more interested in looking at the doctor to see what she was doing.  After that, the doctor did a newborn hearing screen, which involved pulsing sound waves directly into the ear, and measuring the inner ear response.  After that test, the right ear tested "normal."  The left ear showed no response because of the clogged ear tube and some fluid in the left ear.  We are going to be trying to dislodge the left ear tube with peroxide solution over the next two weeks.  If we clear it, they will retest his hearing then.  If we can't clear it, we will probably be looking at another surgery to put in larger ear tubes.  If we do that, the doctor will also do a special kind of hearing test that is done under anesthesia.

After the ENT appointment, Silas went to developmental screening for Early Steps.  Early Steps is a government program that provides early intervention services for children under 3.  Because Silas is a cleft baby, he automatically qualifies for services.  We just needed testing to see where his deficiencies might lie.  The good news is that Silas tested at normal or high for every category except expressive speech, which we already suspected was delayed.  His social/emotional score was the highest.  That shows how he expresses and responds to feelings and interacts with others.  The next highest was gross/fine motor skills.  This is all great news as orphans can frequently show significant delays in these areas.  The result of all this testing is that Silas will be getting 30 minutes per week of speech therapy courtesy of Early Steps.

Well, that's the (what I can remember of) last two weeks in a nutshell.  Will try to keep the blog updated more frequently, especially as we head into fall and the holiday season.  Keep the comments coming.  We love hearing from you!