Back in November we decided to act on our concerns about Grant not talking at 21 months. Our pediatrician set us up with Early Intervention. Two darling women came to the house to evaluate Grant; they confirmed what we already knew, that developmentally he was very bright and where he should be. However he did not pass his hearing test. They came back a second time and he still did not pass the test so we scheduled an appointment for him to have further tests done at the Utah State Department of Children's Health . Grant was a little trouper, he was so patient and compliant with all the testing that we felt pretty confident that the testing was successful. The results suggested that he had mild to moderate hearing loss and would possibly need hearing aids. They set us up for appointments with an ENT and geneticist. They also scheduled an appointment for Grant to have an ABR (Acute Brain Response) test to see where specifically the hearing loss might be happening. Unfortunately/Fortunately Grant got pneumonia two weeks before so they would not proceed with the test until six weeks after the pneumonia passed. After nearly six hours spent at Primary Children's we reached the decision to put tubes in and see if that corrects the problem. We cancelled the ABR test and hopefully will not need it if the tubes work; this makes me happy because I do not love the idea of have Grant put out more than is necessary.
On January 24th we left EARLY in the morning to get tubes in Grants ears. I know that this is a very common procedure, but I was still nervous and did not sleep well the night before. For some crazy reason I was worried about how he would handle fasting in the morning and so I had several bad, weird dreams about it. Grant was perfectly fine with not having food - didn't even phase him. The hospital was AMAZING!!! Truly the best experience in a hospital I have had (having children was of course the best thing that came from a hospital experience and the experience was great, but this was better.)
The hospital was extremely clean, bright, and happy. The toys were super fun; each waiting area offered a new variety of toys, unfortunately they were so efficient we hardly had any time to play in them. A nurse came before they took Grant to surgery and let him play doctor on a doll; Grant got to use real equipment, he especially liked the little gas mask. (they let us keep it and Grant still pulls it out from time to time to play). They had cute cars or wagons for the kids to ride in when they took them into surgery; this helped with the separation a lot. When the anesthesiologist came he wheeled Grant away and Grant only cried for a few minutes - Jared and I did not cry at all - amazing. The nurse said that while in surgery Grant happily played with little flashlights until he fell asleep.
While Grant was in surgery the hospital treated us to hot chocolate and pastries - yummy breakfast. :) Jared and I settled in for a wait with our phones hoping to get some good reading in. I know it is terrible but I was really hoping for at least half an hour of quiet time in a waiting room to read, but five, maybe ten, minutes latter we were called back to meet with the surgeon. He said everything went really well. Grant had LOTS of stuff in his ears - they were very infected (he showed no signs). We were told that in about 10 minutes we could go see him, less than five minutes later we were sent back to snuggle him in recovery. The nurse taking care of him was so sweet and helpful. They told us it would take anywhere from half an hour to an hour for Grant to recover and be able to go home, about twenty minutes later we were walking out the door with a fun gas mask, toy dinosaur, new sippy cup filled with juice, cozy socks, and a pillow.
I honestly felt like we had been to a children's toy store where the sales people's only objective was to make you happy and comfortable and you leave with toys for free. This is one of the waiting rooms - wished Brandon could have seen it. :)
Grant seems to be doing well. It will still take some time for us to see the full results but he does seem to be more attentive, vocal and outgoing. On car trips Grant usually cries for half to two thirds of the drive, we just went to St. George and he did not cry at all - it was wonderful!!!
During all of the doctors appointments we have been meeting twice a month with a speech therapists from early intervention. Ms. Karen is WONDERFUL! I look forward to her coming every time. Grant adores her and loves the focus directed to him and him alone. Since we began speech therapy Grant has increased his vocabulary by 30 words - that is huge! We have also started ASL classes which I am super excited about; Ms. Mindi comes twice a month as well. I love that they both come to the house and focus all their time on Grant. I do not know how many words Grant can sign - I should count, but I would guess it is around 10-20. I am watching Signing Time regularly and loving it! Within the next few weeks we will go back to Primary's to do more hearing tests and find out if the tubes accomplished what we needed them to, here's hoping. I know hearing aids are not a bad thing, but I would really like to not have the hassle with a two year old in hearing aids.
The day Grant put his dragon suit on he was in one kind of mischief or another, so his mother called him WILD THING and sent him to his room with out a sippy cup. A few minutes later this is how I found him - don't know why but I LOVE this picture. :)
Grant celebrated his golden birthday in style :) We decorated the house with groups of two balloons all over and two big birthday signs. Grant loved his day! He got two boxes of zoo duplo blocks - so fun, two new sets of train tracks - one construction and one safari and he got two birthday cakes; one on his birthday and another a few days later at a Superbowl/Grant/Grandma Julie/Grandpa Johnson birthday party. I love that he is starting to pose for the camera and even say cheese (I don't know what makes me happier - him saying cheese or the fact that he is smiling on cue. :D)
He also got spider man slippers, spider man p.j.'s, a Mickey Mouse shirt, and a toy cell phone from Grandpa Wyn and Grandma Dee Ann.
One of Grants favorite songs is the Eensy Weensy Spider - this outfit has inspired a few sing-a-longs complete with actions. :)
Grant (2) gets the football cake, Grandma Julie (52) gets the soccer cake and Grandpa Johnson (78) gets the basketball cake. I love celebrating all three birthdays together - even if they aren't on the same day. I gave my Grandpa and Mom an illustrated book of Grandpa's original Little Red Monkey song. They loved it and I especially loved that they loved it.
Oh - and we also watched to Super Bowl - I don't love sharing birthday parties with that game - but everyone was great to make the priority the birthday kid(s) :) so I was happy. :)
My family gave him books (can't have enough, all though our house is beginning to disagree :D) and new clothes, a toy car (G. and G. Johnson) crazy pincher things (one for each grandson :D), castle blocks (G. Osborn), a handful of musical/educational toys, and Winnie the Pooh duplo blocks (the Wieler's). He is one spoiled little boy!
* Favorite toys - balls (thus the birthday cakes), trains, and duplo lego blocks.
* Loves Juice - A LOT!
* Lives on fruit
* Very sober and reserved, often misunderstood to be grumpy by strangers
* Very silly when he is with his brother.
* Adores his brother and will mimic just about everything Brandon does - I love their relationship even when it creates disasters in the house.
* Great dancer! Great rhythm, Loves music (unless I try to create it by playing the piano or singing which elicits a STAH! (stop) from Grant and a hand on my mouth telling me to zip it - I really don't think I sing that badly?)
* Super smart - I know every parents says this, but he is; puzzles, shape shorting, look and find books, and mechanics occupy a lot of his time and thoughts. I often find him contemplating the inner workings of - well everything.
* Plays really well by himself - I am so grateful!
* Loves his little, green, silky, blanky and his blue and green fleece blanky
* Has no problem going to nursery each Sunday or going to a babysitters house or being dropped of at the Fit Stops day care - also so grateful for this one.
* Amazing memory - we need new look and find books :)
* Loves to tussle on my bed
* Tough - I do not even want to count how many times he has fallen off a bed or a couch and jumped right up like nothing happened
* Has a terrible interest in knives - new bananas have been destroyed on several occasions because he likes to stab them with the knives (I have got to find a better place to store the knife block and the bananas, because having them next to each other on the counter is just too tempting)
* Likes to turn on his radio with the volume all the way up and dance or jump on his bed; we have actually caught ourselves yelling "turn it down." (mini teenager)
* Has a charming bashful smile that can lure you in like a moth to a flame.
* Likes to play tag, races, predators, and animal action with Brandon.
* Thinks he should participate in all of Brandon's at home preschool activities.
* Is currently trying to potty train himself, I am not very supportive; but seeing him undress and squirm his way out of diaper and then climb up to a kneeling position on the toilet does make me grin.
I just adore this boy - more than I ever thought I could. We are so lucky and happy to have him in our family!!!!
