Big Boys Don't Cry...

...they go to school.

First grade is not the same as kindergarten.

My pep talk?

Remember who you are.

Remember that you have a Heavenly Father that loves you and a mom and dad that are here for you.

You'll make new friends.

The first day always sucks.

I'm not sure if my children are just miniature, I mean I'm certainly not a "petite" girl, but Talin looks the same size as the kindergartners and the 1st graders all look like giants. I hope the boy can hold his own.
His nerves were getting the best of him. His new teacher looks like she's eighteen. None of his friends are in his new class. We're hoping for a miracle.
First day went okay, but he claims he was bored and has no friends. First day always sucks.
Today is the second day. It WILL get better.

Caleb in his cute church outfit that Aunt Amy gave him. The outfit fits in length, he's just still a little slim. I've never seen a baby with so little chub as this one.
My solution to cute little pants that won't hold up?
Wrap a belt around him twice.
It totally worked.
And it was totally ridiculous.
I'm not sure what I'll do when Caleb's constant entertainment goes to preschool in two weeks.
Met his teacher today. He will be the big man on campus. The oldest, and most likely the biggest in his class. Total opposite of what Talin is dealing with. Everything is opposite with those two.

What he lacks in brawn, he'll make up for in brains.
I think 1st grade is going to be wonderful for his little mind. He's constantly reading, creating and coming up with great ideas. He's going to do fabulous.

Now if only this little bit would drink a bottle on his own...

Good news:
Weight - 11 pounds 12 ounces

New surgery date - Nov. 25th

Yeah I know, he looks like the kid that gets beat up on the play ground everyday. It's a sad new device, and I'm starting to wonder where my baby is, with all the tape, tubing and now lovely khaki headband.

Here's the deal:

The ENT specialist out in Iowa City thinks that he has a working cochlea, and that his hearing loss is due to the structure of his ears, or I should say lack of structure. That because his ear is closed, not formed all the way and there is no ear canal, that he might have a working cochlea in there.

Solution:

A bone conductor hearing aide. It sits on the bone behind his ear and vibrates the sound through the bone, into his cochlea. Now if his cochlea is not damaged (fingers crossed), this would give him normal hearing, the way you and I hear, not the way a deaf person hears. If he were dealing with a damaged cochlea (deaf), then the hearing aide would only be able to magnify distorted sound for him. Kind of like Charlie Brown's teacher. Wa...wa...wa...wa...

So we go back to Iowa City on Sept. 10 & 11th.

The 10th:

Genetic testing

The 11th:

Neurological hearing test to see where the damage lies inside his ear.

Now if the bone conductor hearing aide is what he ends up with, don't worry, he'll only need to wear the head band for the first five years of his life. Then when his skull is thick enough, we'll drill it into his head behind his ear.

So there's the update!

Reality Check

Collin & Caleb
She's Gone! My sanity was dropped of at the airport yesterday at 6:30 in the morning.
Oh my goodness how I miss her!
It was so nice to have Cyndee around for a month. I'm just now realizing how much help she really was. For some reason the dishes keep piling up, the dishwasher has not been unloaded and no one has made the kids pancakes in two days.
We all REALLY miss her!

This is what we did her second to last day here. Stayed up till midnight on Saturday making this glorious five layered chocolate cake.
Caleb helped and shared in the bounty of chocolate.

And I shaved every blasted chocolate curl.

Update

So Caleb is doing better...a little. We went to the doctor and he was put on amoxicillan. It's so difficult, because we have no idea if it might be an ear infection or not because we can't see his eardrums, and we have no idea how his ears are formed on the inside and whether or not he has proper drainage. So...we're playing the guessing game and putting him on some drugs.


He also cut his first tooth this month, which could also be causing all the symptoms of congestion, vomiting, fever and cough. I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it eventually.

And better late than never, here are a few Fourth of July pics, a month late.

We did sparklers on the back porch, went to a ward barbecue and watched a really cool fireworks show late that night. The boys loved it.

On another note, Caleb is quite fascinated with being fed through his tube. He loves to sit and watch the milk go down, a little disturbing.

So this is my new discovery, or should I say, my copycat discovery.

I saw my cousin Diana's little boy in one on her blog and had to get it.

It's a bumbo and makes it really easy to sit Caleb up in it. He loves it and has a great view of the world.

This is not an unusual sight. Caleb on the table with his bumbo watching his brothers refuse to eat. It was peannuty noodles, my favorite, the recipe is found on Amy's food blog, so good!

This is what happens when we're in a rush. We sit the babies in front of the TV and let Collin and Talin take turns holding the tube to feed Caleb.

Comical.

And I decided to chop off my hair, kind of. It's not as short as what I originally planned on, but I still like it, I can just barely put it back into a freaky tiny ponytail, so that works.