Back to Reality

We are finally back from California, and the much needed vacation with family. It is always hard to travel back to frigid NY after being in sunny Southern California, but at least the daffodils are blooming and the snow is gone.

A run-down of our great language opportunity vacation:

Flying: We checked Nolan's hearing aid supplies, except for a package of batteries and one case containing a tool to open the battery door. He kept his aids on for about half of the trip out to California, and did not wear them at all on the flight home. Stickers and Yogos seemed to be the best things for keeping a 19 month old entertained. The three year old was actually much, much harder to keep entertained, and he did not sleep for the entire 5 1/2 hour flight.

The Beach: It was rather windy for most of our vacation, so we did not venture near the water until our final day. The boys loved playing in the sand. We did keep Nolan's hearing aids on during most of his sand play, because he wasn't getting it anywhere near his aids. This was a time I wished I had brought his Ear Gear, though.

Disneyland: This deserves its own post. The short and sweet is that Nolan enjoyed California Adventure more than Disneyland, and enjoyed both parks better without his hearing aids.

Easter: We had a great family party, complete with Easter Egg hunt. Nolan tends to be a bit clingy, but he was quite outgoing with all the kids.

Hearing Aids: The aids stayed in Nolan's ears for all of week 1 (except at the Disney parks). He developed a virus and didn't leave them in AT ALL by the end of week 2. We have to work on getting him to wear them again- I think fluid might be an issue here.

Viruses: Ugh. Nolan's low-grade fever has never left us (is it six, or seven weeks now?) and he decided to develop a cold during our trip. Which involved vomiting every other day over the last week or so. This certainly isn't helping his low weight issues, but we're hoping he'll get better now that we're at home in a familiar routine.

Aquariums: The Long Beach Aquarium was really cool. There was a lot of background noise indoors, which made things difficult with getting new words into the little guy. Nolan was also in a non-compliant mode with his aids at this point. He loved the touch pools with the rays and sharks, even if he couldn't quite reach them. I think splashing was the main activity for him!

Water: Water, water, everywhere! This made for some anxious moments with his aids. Certain rides at Disney don't advertise that they're going to squirt or drip water on you. Heimlich's Chew Chew train at California Adventures drips "watermelon juice" onto your head- luckily it wasn't a lot of fluid. Fountains all over California beckon the curious - and surprisingly fast - toddler. Besides the hearing aids getting drenched (we left our Dry and Store at home), the weather wasn't exactly fountain friendly (in the low sixties with wind). When it warmed up enough to enjoy the water, we let Nolan go for it (sans aids). Nolan LOVES water, and Matt was pretty fond of the ocean, too.

Now we're back to reality- speech therapy starts again on Monday. We have a urology appointment on the 30th of April and an ENT appointment on May 13th (I really hope the fluid is gone by then, so we don't have an adenoidectomy and third tube insertion added to everything else). I also have to schedule a hearing test since Nolan's overdue for one.