Miles & Momma Monday - Life Update pt. 2

This is part 2 in a short long series about what's been going on in our lives since my last real post a year ago.  Since it's Miles & Momma Monday, here's what you've missed in the world of the cutest lil man you ever did see.

First - check this out.  This was one of the last pictures I posted of Miles:

This was Miles last Thursday night:

Like...is that even the same kid?  Besides being a year older, Miles has gone through some big stuff since last August.  We started him in Early On, which is the State of Michigan's early intervention program.  We felt like he was a little behind in his language development so we started some bi-weekly meetings with a speech-language pathologist to help push him along.  

We also decided, after an endless stream of ear infections, that we needed to go ahead with getting tubes in his ears.  The quick surgery was scary (I don't care how routine something is, letting your baby out of your sight to be put under general anesthesia and sharp blades run through his eardrums is some scary shit), but took less than 10 minutes and we saw a VAST improvement in his language right from the start.  You could see a huge change in his demeanor right away too - it was like he was hearing things for the first time.  He screamed - a lot - just to hear his own voice.  It was pretty amazing to see.  Here's little man before and after the procedure:

I'm working a little bit out of order here...but whateva.  In December we discovered that Miles was allergic to penicillin.  That was AWESOME, let me tell you.  So - as I mentioned before, kid was pretty much a non-stop ear infection for the better part of a year.  His pediatrician always prescribed amoxicillin.  The infection would clear up for a few weeks then come right back.  The only saving grace was that having an ear infection didn't seem to bother him much.  His only symptom was ever a runny nose - so while he was constantly having ear trouble, he wasn't in pain, which I guess is good.  For whatever reason, the pediatrician was not so hot on him getting tubes (I actually had to push for them when we got concerned about his speech), but just kept telling me - spring is coming, let's just get through the winter and he'll be good.  So he kept getting round after round of antibiotics...I digress.  So anyway, he was on the last day of what was honestly on his 9th or 10th round of amoxicillin, just after Christmas.  We noticed a couple of bumps on his back that looked like some sort of bug bites.  We decided to keep an eye on them (because it was the middle of winter in Michigan...there were no bugs).  The next day we woke up and his left eye was completely swollen.  It was awful.  

We took him to the doctor and they decided it definitely an allergy - most likely to the penicillin.  Luckily, his ears were cleared up and we didn't have to worry about finishing the meds.  She told us to give him benadryl and we went on our way.  The next morning we woke up and he wasn't any better.  In fact, he was worse.  

His entire face was swollen and red.  Those 2 little 'bug bites' on his back and turned into one giant full-body hive.  So back to the doctor we went...he had to be put on steroids.  The doctor told us it was one of the worst penicillin reactions she had ever seen and he would, more than likely, not be a candidate for re-introduction later in life (my husband, mom, and sister had all been allergic to penicillin as kids but can take it with no issue now) as each reaction would get worse and he may end up with anaphilaxis.  Sweet.    Here's my poor, miserable boy a few days into the steroid treatment (yeah...even with the steroids, it still took almost a week for that rash to go away completely...needless to say, we had to cancel our appointment for family pictures).

As if an interstate move isn't enough change for  little guy, we've also had to change his day care situation quite a bit in the last few months, which has been pretty rough.  It didn't help that we loved, loved, LOVED our day care provider back in Michigan.  She was amazing and Miles adored her.  He got so excited to go see Heather every day, got mad at us when we made us leave each afternoon, and never cried or fussed at drop off - we were lucky if we could get a kiss goodbye, because he already had Heather and his friends.  

When we first moved to TN, my mom watched him full time.  The first few days were tough, but once he got used to her, his days with Grammy ended up being pretty similar to his days with Heather, minus the drop off and pickup.  He especially loved all the time he got outside (which was a major change from the snow and cold we left behind).  After a few weeks, we all decided it would be best to put him in daycare part time - he needed the socialization and grammy needed a break (keeping up with an energetic 2 1/2 year old is tough)!  

We found a daycare center that is close to where our new home will be.  It's a bit of a trek for us now, but in the long term, it's a great location.  And it's one of the highest rated centers in the state and affordable and offers part time enrollment (which surprisingly, is very rare).  So, while the center itself is great - it's a very different atmosphere than what we're all used to with Heather's in-home daycare and then staying home each day (and continuing to stay home twice a week) with Grammy.  I think that transition has been the toughest for him.  Drop offs have been so, so hard.  I've had to fight myself a few times to not turn around and bring him back home.  But his teachers assure me that as soon as I (or Grammy) leaves, he stops crying and has a great time with his new friends.  And slowly, but surely, drop offs are getting easier and easier.  I think it's just a slower transition - but we'll get there.

Miles Stats:

Height: ~34"

Weight 20 lbs

Potty Trained? No, but starting to talk about it, and he sits on the potty at daycare (but doesn't use it).

Diaper Size: 6

Clothing Size: Shirts-2T, Pants-18 mos, PJs-3T

Favorite Foods: French Toast Sticks, Mac & Cheese, Grilled Cheese, Protein Granola Bars, String Cheese, Apple Sauce, Black Olives, Beans (Black, Refried), Hot Dogs, Fruit Snacks, Lemons (whole lemons...rind and all)

Favorite Toys: Spiderman Pillow Book, Stuffed Collie, Pete & Patty Pirate, Crane (pictured above - made by Miles' papa for Miles' momma 30 years ago), toy cars, toy airplanes.

Takin Pete and Patty for a walk

Favorite TV Shows/Movies: Super Why, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street (Elmo!), Barney (ugh), Dora (ugh), Ruff Ruff, Tweet, & Dave, Big Hero 6, Avengers

Other Favorites: 

Airplanes (everything airplanes) - we live in the airport path, so there are constantly planes flying overhead.  And when he hears one, we have to drop everything to watch it fly over.  THEN we have to pretend to be airplanes and fly around the driveway.  

Water - his water table, the hose, squirt guns, playing in the rain - if it's wet, he loves it.  Unless he has to go in it...like a pool.  The bathtub is ok.  

Letters - most especially, the letter R.  No clue why.  but you better believe if he can see an R, he will get so excited about it.

He's growing into a little kid - he's definitely not a baby anymore.  It's so fun to watch and learn all his little personality quirks.  And kid definitely has some Chelish in him...

So that's it for our 2 part update.  More (or less) exciting stuff next time.  Until then...