Patrick's hearing test

I took Patrick to the audiologist for a hearing test today. He did well (hearing threshold 30-40 db and above) and as expected failed the tympanogram, which is a test of the eardrum. There is fluid in his middle ear, so the eardrum is not working properly. Since the purpose of the eardrum is to amplify sound, when it is unable to move due to an obstruction, it leads to conductive hearing loss. Patrick's hearing loss is very minor, but it is causing some speech delays, so we will need to watch it closely.

On an interesting side note, I've learned that there is a group of people who intentionally rupture their eardrums in order to make diving and hunting at sea easier. Who knew?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eardrum

Intentional rupture

The Bajau people of the Pacific intentionally rupture their eardrums at an early age in order to facilitate diving and hunting at sea. Many older Bajau are therefore hard of hearing.[2]

Patrick

Patrick had an appointment with an ENT today. We have been a bit concerned about his hearing lately. At 21 months, he is still not talking very much. He used to sing songs but he has stopped doing that as well. The doctor cleaned out his ears, which were blocked completely by wax. He was very cooperative during this procedure. One of his tubes is out now and the other one is nearly out. He is still having fluid problems and we think he will need a second set of tubes soon. His adenoids are also inflamed, which is expected given his ear situation. The ENT also "popped" his ears (like we would do on an airplane). After his appointment, he started babbling and was loud the entire way home. He kept saying things and seemed much happier.

Julia's slideshow

Here is the slideshow I made after Julia's birth.

A little sickness...

Or a lot. In any case, I've lost track. I've been to the doctor two, no, three times this week. Already. Two children have fevers and I forget which ones they are half the times. It changes on a daily basis. Caroline and Patrick have fevers today. Tomorrow, who knows? Isaac and Anna have been sick, but that was last week. I've been sick. We passed around strep two weeks ago. Last week it was conjunctivitis. This week it's tonsillitis. Next week, anyone's guess. I hope we are all well though.

Julia is now 6 weeks old and is nearly 12 lbs! She is also smiling and cooing to all of us. We are so in love with her!

update

I've been away a while. We have had a lot going on and I have not made time to update on the blog.

Here's the short update. Todd got a new job in Singapore. We moved to Singapore last November and had a baby in May. I think I covered all the high points here.

As for other news, my mother died of breast cancer. It has been over a year, but it still feels like it happened yesterday. I miss her terribly. There is just not too much more I can say about it right now.

Caroline is now 6.5 years old and attends a local school in Singapore. It's an all girls' Catholic school where she is immersed in Chinese every day.

Isaac is now 4.5 years old and he is in a Chinese kindergarten. It's a full immersion program and he is definitely learning both how to write and speak Mandarin.

Anna, now 3, attends the same kindergarten (different class) where she is also learning Mandarin. I haven't heard too much Mandarin from her, but I trust that she is learning some.

Patrick is 19 months and doing all the normal toddler things. He is very athletic and is also very musical. He does not talk very much yet, but he can sing and has been singing since before his first birthday. It's really something to hear his rendition of "Singing in the Rain" and his favorite "Make 'Em Laugh".

Julia Maxine Lewis joined our family on May 24th, 2011. She shares her birthday with me, which is quite special, I think. I will post her birth story soon, as well as some photos.