A bit of catch up

So, I promised a catch up from Christmas. Oliver is doing great but has had a very hectic last month. I counted the other day and of the 10 days I had off for Christmas break, we spent 6 of them in a doctor's office.

To begin with, last month, Oliver got ear tubes. We had so many ear infections from September to December, I lost count. It seemed like we were either getting an ear infection, on antibiotics for an ear infection, or starting a new ear infection. Every time he had a cold or allergy issues, a week later we were in the doctor's office for antibiotics. They weren't mild ear infections either. Apparently doctors rate ear infections, from 1-10 and he was getting 7s and 8s. Not a time you want to score high. He was also getting double ear infections. It was affecting his sleep (and ours) and we found out later, the fluid had turned into a gel like substance and wasn't draining at all. The ear doctor was surprised he could hear at all. So on December 21, he got tubes. It was scary for a mom even though I know this is a common and very safe procedure. He got through it just fine though. We started have sleep problems Christmas Eve and we thought the ear infection he had at the time of the surgery hadn't cleared up. He was waking literally 8-9 times a night and our usual Motrin/Tylenol wasn't helping. Of course, this is Christmas weekend so we had to wait till the following Monday to take him in. I was convinced he had an ear infection and was shocked when the doctor said his ears looked "perfect". We later decided that this must have been a reaction from the anesthesia, being out of his routine, and cutting one of his two year molars.

Oliver is not really a cold weather kid.

Also that Monday, Oliver went to the allergist to get tested for allergies. I was so proud of him. He took the testing like a champ-didn't cry once. Thomas the Tank Engine on the TV screen helped, I am sure. I was so glad to finally go the allergist. Oliver has had problems with eczema since he was about 8 weeks old. It has come and gone but never gone away completely. His hand eczema could get really bad and we could never figure out why. The next day, we went and had blood drawn to confirm his allergies. Again, Oliver didn't cry once and did great. I think he was too fascinated watching the blood getting drawn to be upset. He did not get this from his mom!

Trying to show Oliver that snow is fun. It worked for few minutes.

About a week later, we found out that Oliver is allergic to milk, egg, and peanuts. It has been an adjustment but we are figuring all of this out. You don't realize how much you use milk and egg until you can't. One of the hardest times was when he had a meltdown over not being able to eat cheese one afternoon. Our traditional snack after school had been cheese and crackers and he just didn't understand. He got over it and now we just don't talk about cheese a lot. It is amazing the substitutes that are available if you look. I am still learning to cook and plan meals around the milk and eggs but I have a long way to go. It makes it all worth it to see how much better his skin looks and not spend 10 minutes after every bath applying a steroid cream. We still have outbreaks and are keeping a food diary but it is much, much better now. The peanut allergy is a little scary. He will probably outgrow the milk and egg allergy but not the peanut. We must carry an epipen with us at all times.

Also, during Christmas break, Oliver had his two year check up. The doctor said that he was doing great. He is 35 inches tall and 30 pounds, which puts him in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Poor guy, had his immunizations while he was there as well. He is an amazing little boy and I am so proud of how well he did with all of his doctor visits.

The pictures in this post are from a snow we had a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it has taken me this long to finally finish this post. We took Oliver out thinking this year he would really enjoy the snow and realize how fun so can be. We were wrong. As I write this post, it is snowing outside and we have quite a bit of snow on the ground. I am not even thinking about taking him out.

If you have made it this long, I am impressed. The next post won't be as long, I hope. We are going to enjoy being snowed in and hope that everyone stays safe and warm.