About the Kiddo: One post at a time: 3.24

[05/19/2016]

Guess I'm a little overdo on a post.

I'm mostly inspired because Nolan had a surgical consult on Friday for his umbilical hernia.

For some reason, I'd always thought that was basically cosmetic, and Cory and I had already agreed that we would not put him through the surgery until he was old enough to decide if he wanted it done.

But, we were wrong. Apparently, if the internal opening of the hernia is larger than a quarter inch, it can pose some minor health complications.

The surgeon said that it will likely not close up on its own at this point, but we're going to give it another eight months anyway - until he turns four.

I did what any good parent would do and immediately read the internet horrors of this "simple" and "minor" surgery.

I've gathered a list of concerns that range from: What if they cut his intestines to what if his heart responds critically to anesthesia? Negative anesthesia reactions run in my family - do genetics play a role in that? I have no idea. Add it to the list.

In other news Nolan has been watching a lot of Doc McStuffins in the afternoons - I know, I know. Screen time articles are running rampant on fb. I'm sure if his brain literally rots out of his head, they'll write an article about me. And if it doesn't, they'll still write an article about me. Because, with parenting, there's no real winning in social media... amirite? - but, anyway, I can tell it's helped tremendously with his anxiety while visiting a doctor.

He gets a little excited about them checking him out now, and sometimes even sings the little song. I'm quite impressed. When he started showing an interest a few weeks back, we got him this little doctor bag full of all the little toys. He's constantly doctoring us and his toys now. So I was interested to see how his perspective might've changed when in an actual medical setting. A few weeks back he had to go to the doctor after a scary allergic reaction type thing and he was a total champ, and he was a total pro at the surgeon's office on Friday.

That allergic reaction type thing: He had exposure to shellfish for the second time in his life. Several hours after the encounter he awoke from sleep unable to breathe. I mean, you could hear that his throat was swollen and he was having a hard time moving air through it. You guys, it was terrifying. After making contact with our physician we gave him Benadryl and was able to conclude he didn't need immediate medical attention. The next morning we took him in, and the popular opinion was a big: we-don't-know. It didn't follow the normal pattern of a typical food reaction and was a bit bizarre that it was so sudden and severe several hours later, but also calmed down rather quickly. They threw out Croup a couple of times, but the doctor examining him didn't think that's what it was either. She said his throat was pretty red and swollen, but he didn't have any other symptoms that pointed to like strep/virus. But... he was totally fine and back to normal by the next day... so I'm still kind of thinking food reaction... but who knows? All I really know is that it scared me to death.

Nolan had another speech evaluation and the conclusion on this one was that there is a mild expressive language processing delay. The proposed plan is for six months of therapy and then re-assess. Unfortunately we plan to relocate in just a few short months (😳) and his therapy isn't able to be started here until July/August anyway. So, I think we'll just have to find a new therapist once we move and get it all started there.

However, I'm noticing a pretty progressive increase in his expressive language in the last three(ish) weeks. We've received some excellent suggestions to use at home, and just in the last month he's almost completely moved out of the "parroting stage." Finally.

Also, you guys, the kids imagination has just completely taken off. He's constantly pretending now! I've always thought his imaginative play was pretty good, but lately, it's just been so evolved. It's so adorable.

He definitely has a growing sense of autonomy, making for some of those oh-so-fun stubborn toddler moments - and melt downs. They're still very short, lasting only a minute (or less). But... guh-eez, they are dramatic. Also... crying. The kid can cry over anything. These little bits last only seconds, but when they happen all the time, it starts to feel exhausting. The most mundane of things too: he doesn't want to take a bath, he doesn't want to get out of the bath, he doesn't want to drink out of that cup, mama and daddy are singing his favorite song (seriously), it's time to eat, etc., etc.

But, with all of that has come so much more of his silliness. He loves to be silly - and I love that about him. He loves to make us laugh, and he does so often. He's so sweet and so kind... to everyone. He's so gentle and calm around babies and kids younger than him. He shares better than any toddler I've ever met - if a kid wants something he has, he offers it up without hesitation. He plays so incredibly well with all the kids we run into.

He's really taken to coloring and art stuff (finally). Which is a fun thing for mama (I love to color and paint!).

He's just awesome and I just love getting to watch him grow into the little person he's becoming.

This is something else that happened in the last year. It's been tough. We've always said we were only going to birth one child. But, we also always thought we'd adopt. Recently, we'd really started to envision our future with two kiddos - we just thought it'd be the 'untraditional' way, but... now... who knows?

And with that, I'll leave you with pictures :)