All Things Ethan

I just realized it has been a while since I gave a full-blown update on how Ethan is doing. Let's fix that, shall we? Beware ... it's going to be a long one!

Cardiology: As far as we know, Ethan's heart is doing just fine; we haven't been given any reasons to think otherwise. He is pink and full of energy, just the way we like it! We still have two more months until we take him back to see the cardiologist, and I hope that things will continue to remain nice and quiet.

Orthopedics/Nerve: Ethan has not worn his arm brace since June 21!! Aside from the fact that he probably should wear it while sleeping to sustain the correction, this is a great thing! It appears that Ethan's arm, hand, and fingers have regained full sensation. He no longer tries to chew on his index finger and he responds to touch. There is a possibility that his hand is hypersensitive now, but his OT is exposing him to different textures so that he'll begin to explore objects a little more with his left arm. It is simply amazing to watch him play and interact now that he has access to both hands. He feeds himself with his left hand, picks up toys, transfers toys from one hand to the other, puts pressure on the left side of his body, and runs his fingers through his hair (adorable!). This is his normal and I don't think he's going to have any problems, what-so-ever, learning to use his special arm.

(Please excuse the fact that he isn't wearing any pants!)

Urology: Ethan has a visit with Dr. W. in a couple of weeks to assess how things are, um, developing down there. I suspect that he'll schedule stage 2 of the surgical repair, which should happen sometime in September.

Feeding: Well, our tube-free trial didn't exactly go as planned. Ethan had a high fever for those two days, and then some, and just didn't feel like eating. Who can blame him? It took him until yesterday morning to really shake all the symptoms of whatever that was, so we're going for Round 2. So far, we've only given him milk through his tube and he's done pretty well at each meal time. By far, his favorite foods are anything crunchy and salty. Between that, and his love for Oreo cookies and chocolate pudding, I'd say he's definitely his mama's child!

He will only drink water out of a sippy cup. If it even looks remotely different than water, he won't touch it. Have any of you experienced this? Any advice or suggestions?

Developmental: Ethan continues to impress us and his OT! Right before we left for the lake, I asked his OT how we could encourage Ethan to stand himself up in the middle of the floor. (At that time, if he fell down while walking, he would crawl over to the nearest object and pull himself back up.) She said it would be difficult because he doesn't (didn't) have access to both arms to stabilize himself in order to push up from the floor. Well, wouldn't you know that Ethan wasn't going to have any of that talk, and figured it out just days following that conversation! I think our crawling days are officially in the past.

Sometimes he walks so fast, I wonder if he'll be running soon. I can't even imagine!! Just a couple of days ago, we turned our backs for a few seconds and he was at the top of the stairs before we knew it. Then, he proceeded to scoot himself down, which was a first!

Ethan has been chomping away with 16 teeth for the past couple of months. The jury is still out as to whether or not his 2-year molars are trying to pop through. His mouth is like a leaky faucet these days and he has been biting on things a little more than usual. He has been an extremely early teether from the start, so I wouldn't be surprised.

He has added a slew of words to his vocabulary (most random word: "keys") and will sign "please", "more", "bath", "all done", "eat", "cold" and something that looks like "milk" but I don't know what he wants when he does it (definitely does NOT want milk!). He blows kisses anytime he hears "I love you" or "bye" and he loves to give hugs! He can point to his eye, ear, hair, nose, and tummy, although he still gets them confused from time to time. He's learning to follow simple 1-step directions, but does not like to share. We're working on that one.

Oh, and he loves to dance!

(We DO fully dress our child, I promise!)

Now, instead of bouncing, he'll wave his arms above his head and sway back and forth. I walked into his room the other day to see him gettin' down to the song on the radio. Precious!


I absolutely love being home with him, watching him reach these milestones and noticing the change from week to week. We've had so much fun going to the pool and story time at the library with friends. I'm a firm believer that he needs as much interaction with other kids as possible, and I'm thrilled that I can facilitate that for him!

So, there you go. Consider yourselves updated! Thanks for checking in!