Wordless Wednesday - January 11, 2012

Currently feeling: settled in for a long winter's nap

Luke's Audiology Follow Up

You may remember that Luke failed his hearing screening at the pediatrician's office back in November. It took me a while to get the audiology follow up scheduled, and then they were booked out past the Christmas holidays. His appointment was today, at the same facility where he had speech therapy 4 years ago. It was rather strange being back there after all this time.

They ran though three different tests, including two that were run at the pediatrician's office. All three came back completely normal! He was quite congested in November when the test was administered, and it is more of a "quick and dirty" test there than an audiologist would perform. Her suspicion is that he tends to have fluid build up in his hears when he is congested, and that can temporarily affect hearing. However, the fact that his hearing is now reading normal without him ever getting an ear infection means that his body is handling the fluid just as it should. It's not (always) staying there and getting infected, and it isn't causing any sort of permanent hearing trouble. He's just fine. So, a bit of a hassle to do, but nice to know nothing is wrong.

It also means that when I'm having to call his name two and three times while he's watching television or playing video games, he *can* hear me just fine, he's just choosing not to. Busted!

Currently feeling: can you hear me now?

Project 365 - 2012 Edition

Some of you may remember that I did Project 365 in 2009. Almost every day for a year, I took at least one photo. I actually wasn't sure if I could do it for a whole year, and I missed a day here or there, but I did it! I really enjoyed it (most of the time), and I learned a ton about my camera and how to use it. I've wanted to do it again for a while. Why not this year? And given that I have a spiffy "new to me" camera, I figure it's time to put her through her paces.

As I did last time, I will be posting (probably not daily, but somewhat regularly) on my Project 365 blog. The URL is the same as before, so if you're still subscribed, you should already be seeing the new posts. I will also be posting the "summary mosaic" on each month's round up, just as before, and there will undoubtedly be some overlap with Project 365 photos and things like Wordless Wednesday. Hope you enjoy!

Currently feeling: photographic

Wordless Wednesday - January 4, 2012

Currently feeling: Happy New Year('s Eve)

Where did my real child go?

I think an alien has come down and replaced my son. (A beta unit, perhaps? Name that movie reference!) You know, Mr. Picky Eater? This is the child who decides before he's even put something new in his mouth that he doesn't like it, and even if you can see on his face that he clearly *does* like it, he will swear that he does not and refuse eat any more of it. That is the child I am used to. That is apparently *not* who I was dealing with today!

We've been trying for years to find some version of chicken fingers that he will eat at home. Homemade certainly didn't work, but neither did any of the 5 or 6 varieties of frozen that I tried! Didn't matter what brand or type, he still said he didn't like them. I have noticed that his taste in restaurant chicken tenders has improved (he's now a Zaxby's boy, when he used to say he didn't like them), so when a coupon popped up in the paper the other day, I decided to try them again. I made him some for lunch today, and he immediately said, "Yum!!! I want to eat these every day!" Um, okay, maybe not every day, but it's nice to have an at home option besides peanut butter, pepperoni, and grilled cheese. I was certainly getting tired of making them for him for dinner, especially when he takes peanut butter or pepperoni in his lunch at least 4 days a week. Maybe in another few months, we can try homemade baked ones again?

Then, this afternoon, the *same* day that he had already tried (and liked!) the new chicken tenders, he starts asking me why we don't eat "the beans in the brown sauce" anymore. I'm sorry, the what? "You know, it had the brown sauce and the beans and it was my favorite." Do you mean chili? The chili that you ate starting around age 2 through age 4 or 5, and then have flatly refused to eat for at least the last 2 years so I stopped trying? That chili?! He couldn't say for sure, so I made some tonight for dinner. "Yeah, this is it. I love this! It's my favorite." And he proceeded to eat the entire bowl!

Okay, who are you, and what have you done with my son?! It's possible it's a fluke and he won't eat it next time, but for now, he seems to love it, and it's easy enough to microwave on nights that he doesn't want what the grownups are having. [Updated on 1/5/2012: He requested chili again for dinner tonight. I heated up Tuesday's leftovers, which he promptly downed and asked for more, which I sadly didn't have. I will definitely make sure we have some on hand at all times going forward!]

Look out, world. There may be pigs flying tomorrow!

Currently feeling: you want to eat what?

My Seven Objectives for 2012

You know I'm not much on resolutions; it's just not really my thing. Lists, however, I love (as you may have noticed), so when I saw the Seven Things at the Day Zero Project, I thought they sounded great. So here are mine. Care to join me?

Learn how to ... Use my DSLR effectively/efficiently.
Start ... Exercising regularly (even if only once a week).
Stop ... Drinking so many calories (i.e. drink more water).
Take a vacation to ... See Connie in Texas.
Find ... A good weekly routine that includes grocery shopping.
Try ... Quinoa.
Be more ... Patient with my child.

Currently feeling: hope this works

Happy New Year 2012 - CD Calendar Reveal

(Still working on the December 2011 Round Up! Will post when finished.)

And for my traditional New Year's Day post, I give you the reveal of the 2012 CD Calendar.








Currently feeling: ready for the new year (I hope)