Sneaky bottom molars

Last Friday when Megan was having her ears cleaned and was screaming I could see that one side of her bottom molars was working on coming in again.  

This week when I dropped her off at school each day she didn't want me to leave.  On Monday she went to a teacher and then immediately came back to me, hugged me and laid her head on my shoulder.  On Tuesday when we walked into the classroom she grabbed hold of me and put her forehead to mine and stayed that way for a few minutes.  Today she went to a teacher and was okay with it but she had a rough day.  Each day when I pick her up she just wants to get in the stroller and then she touches Sam, holds his hand and pats his leg.  

So this week I thought that she was realizing that this preschool thing was a regular thing and that she was unhappy about it because she misses me.  She does miss me and Sam.  On Tuesday she was leaning up against the kitchen working with the PT and when she saw me she leaned forward to stand up straight and then tried to walk to me and today she was standing up using a container and she cruised around it toward me and tried to walk to get to the stroller.  

This afternoon I got Megan up from her nap and gave her a bath.  Will & I had a date tonight and I didn't want the sitter having to deal with bath too.  After her bath she was sitting in my lap and I decided to check on her teeth just to see if anything was happening.  I checked her left side first and was excited to feel that her bottom molar had partially broken through.  And then I checked her right side and her bottom molar is in!  It has come in completely - not quite all the way in height wise, but all areas have broken through and it is at least halfway in.  Oh my goodness.  No wonder she hasn't wanted to leave me - she has been hurting.  Every other time she has been working on her molars she has been up at night, every night, for 3+ weeks so we had no idea.  

I was so very excited for her.  Tonight before bed she got some tylenol to help her through the night.  Maybe by morning her other bottom molar will be completely through.  

Passed with flying colors!

Megan passed her behavioral hearing test this morning without any issues.  She also passed the repeat OAE now that her ears are clean.  Woo-Hoo!  I am so thrilled to finally have this off the table.  I even waited for a copy of the report before I would leave the office so that I don't have to deal with requesting it in the future.

A new phase to her PT

Megan had her at home PT session today and since she is no longer needing so much work to get her on her feet the PT changed what she worked on today.  Instead of working with her to get her on her feet she worked with her to get her to stand without putting her weight on the tables or toys - so her weight was all on her feet and she played with her hands or just used them for a little bit of balance.

She also worked on transitioning between surfaces at right angles and even moving somewhere that was out of her reach.

Ears clean but no hearing test yet

The ENT cleaned Megan's ears this morning and boy was it traumatic.  Megan screamed and kicked and was flipping out and I had to help hold her down for them to get it done.  The doctor kept saying "I promise this is not hurting her" but I am sure everyone in the lobby thought someone was hurting her.  She was too traumatized to let the audiologist do the OAE test and the doctor wanted her to get a full hearing test anyway so she is scheduled for next Tuesday at their other office for the test.

Keeping up the good work

Megan is continuing to do a great job.  She had a wonderful day at preschool yesterday and did great with her PT.  They said she pulled up and cruised at multiple surfaces in the room.  When I got there to pick her up she was standing and playing at the water table.

She has been pulling up at various places at home on her own, including pulling up and cruising in her bed.

She has been throwing toys less and less lately.  She actually went 2-3 days without throwing anything which is a first in more than a year.  Historically she has thrown anything that is stored in a container like her farm animals, food for her kitchen, etc; but she has been playing with those items the past couple of days instead of throwing them.

Ready to come home

This morning when Sam and I picked Megan up from preschool she didn't want me, she wanted to get into the stroller.  As soon as I buckled her in she reached over and grabbed Sam's hand and just held it.  They ended up holding hands for 2-3 minutes while I talked to her teachers and then walked back to the car.  She misses her little brother when she is at school.

Jesus and book

I sing to Megan about Jesus all the time - we make up songs about how much Jesus loves her, etc.  This weekend Will was reading a book to Megan called God Made Me Special.  As he was reading it he was pointing at the pictures and telling her what they were and when he got to the picture of Jesus and told her this is a picture of Jesus Megan did the sign for love.  Talk about melting your heart - Megan KNOWS that Jesus loves her.

Yesterday afternoon we were playing and Megan picked up a book to say "read this to me mommy" and I said "bring it to me and I will read it to you" and she did!  Megan scooted, pushed, carried and got it to me.  This is her first time for that, so proud of her.

Hearing test....again

Megan had another hearing test on Friday.  I took her to a nearby middle school to meet with the audiologist.  The tests she did were so much faster and simpler than what she has been through previously.  The school program that she is in requires another hearing test since the behavioral test is the only one she has passed so far.

The audiologist did two tests with Megan.  The first test was an otoacoustic emission test which tests the little hairs inside your ears.  There are five different tones that it tests for and Megan only passed one in each ear.  Since she didn't pass this one the lady did another test which tests Megan's eardrums and middle ear.  She passed that one just fine in both ears.  The lady then looked in Megan's ears and said that there was quite a bit of wax and that made her feel better about the results because wax can throw the test off.  I was instructed to get Megan's ears cleaned and then they would repeat the test; or I could just take her to an ENT to clean them and get the test redone there.  I went with option B and scheduled an appointment with a local ENT for next Friday.  They will clean her ears and then repeat the otoacoustic emission test and based on the outcome we will go from there.

We still have zero concerns about Megan's hearing, because she responds to us just fine, loves music and different sounds, etc; but if there is something going on we definitely want to take care of it for her.  It will be nice to finally get this behind us and move forward.

Changes

My little girl is changing so much and so fast lately.  She is so excited to be up on her feet, it is thrilling to watch.  She will quickly and happily stand up to get to what she wants.  She is playing with more intent - she is concentrating on tasks and figuring out how to make them happen instead of just having me do them for her.  She is back to saying please to get what she wants if we hold out and wait for it.  She is vocalizing about everything too.  Today, during her PT session, she played for 20+ minutes with a puzzle and by the end of that time she was able to put some of the pieces in by herself (it is an animal shape puzzle so not easy to do for her).

Speaking of her PT session, today was her first day with her new therapist.  Mandy moved and is now 1 1/2 hours away from us so she understandably dropped all of her clients in our area.  Her boss has taken her case load and she came today to see Megan (only because I said I would find someone else if I didn't hear from her).

Betsy is a nice lady and Megan had a great time with her but oh man she is loopy.  I am glad this is a short term situation.  We will be keeping Megan's at home sessions until she starts walking, which let me tell you is not that far off.  Today during the session Megan was a rock star - she pulled up EVERYWHERE, stood and played for over 30 minutes, cruised back and forth at the table to get puzzle pieces and take them back to the puzzle and stood up 3/4 of the way without holding on a couple of times.

So it seems that preschool is already helping Megan.  I do not attribute the "on her feet" to them because it was her deciding she was ready and it started before school; but I do think her being more thoughtful about play and her communicating more has to do with school.

Even better than before

Sam slept most of the afternoon because he was up a lot last night so that meant that it was just me and Little Miss for quite a while after nap.  She woke up super sweet and ready to go.

Megan quit fighting me on pretty much everything and just played.  She pulled up and cruised at every surface she could reach; she played so nicely with her farm animals and even gave them to me when I asked to see them.  We had so much fun.  She walked to the end of the driveway and back twice and played with the shrubs along the way.  She got very excited when the school bus arrived while we were at the end of the driveway (our house is the stop).  

She walked holding just one of my hands for a few feet a couple of times, but this is really not her favorite thing to do yet.  

Benefits? or Downside?

I realize that Megan has only been in preschool 4 times but for the record we haven't seen any benefits yet.  I know that it will take some time for her to adjust, etc.  However, we are definitely experiencing the downside  of her being there.

The teachers are correcting Megan's behavior at school, but they can't do things exactly the way we do them.  Well our super smart little one has figured this out and she is pushing her limits at home.  From the time I picked her up yesterday Megan has been aggressively disobeying; doing things that she rarely fights us on.  I can only imagine what they are experiencing with her at school.  

Preschool and catching up a little bit

So much to catch up since I have been sick.  Megan has been loving preschool.  She went two days last week and I picked her up early both days.  The first day she was tired, I mean super tired and the second day they said she would tired again.

We have been having to get her up an hour early to get to school on time but we are keeping the routine all week and she has gotten used to it.  She didn't seem tired at all this weekend like they were talking about so it occurred to me that they might be mistaking frustration/boredom with tiredness/fussiness since her noises are all the same.  This morning when I dropped her off I explained that to them and they said they would watch out for it.  Last week I picked her up at 10 and today 10:30 and she was fine when I got there.

This morning I had Megan walk to her classroom.  When we got to the door she walked to the sink and climbed up and washed her hands.  I talked to the teachers about how important it was to keep her on her feet, if only during transition time (they did tell me before she started they would keep her on her feet but every time I am there someone is holding her).  Well, my little chat worked because they had her walk to the cafeteria which is a really long way and she did it.  After I got her to the car (used the stroller because Sam was with us) that was the last time I carried her so far today.

When I got her out of the car I stood her up and she walked into the house from the garage and then into the kitchen.  She walked using her wagon back and forth and everywhere.  She pulled up at the table and couch and cruised around everywhere.  We went for a walk and she walked outside, down the front stairs to the stroller and then I had her walk back in.   When daddy got home I had her walk outside to his truck.  Will did carry her around a little bit but she walked up the stairs and to her room for nap.

She is also getting more and more vocal about everything.  When she wants something she lets you know it.  This is a good step in the direction of communicating.

Preschool

Megan officially starts preschool on Tuesday.  The school recommended 5 half days a week, but due to other therapies (i.e. hippo) and my need to have her around more than that, I agreed to three days a week.  She will go Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  I am excited for her but I am also nervous.  I am worried that 3 1/2 hours a day is too long for her to be away from me; I am worried about the teachers not understanding what she wants and her getting frustrated or missing out on something.  I know this is the right thing for her and I am sure after the first couple of weeks it will be easier on me.  

I think she will like all of the attention and getting to socialize with the other kids.  Her teacher and assistants are all very nice and they seem excited to work with her.  Her name is already on the bulletin board, and she has a cubby.