Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A Very Nice Vacation

Our Little Skier

I promise to blog more regularly, but the "blog-cation" was rather nice. With no medical appointments, hearing appointments, and a week in Park City, Utah, we have had a rather nice February.

Last week, we flew to Park City and registered both boys for ski school. I don't have very many pictures of Matthew in ski school, because he "graduated" to the chair lift on the first day and we rarely saw him until school let out for the day. Nolan, however, remained in the "Magic Carpet" area with the smaller children, and did quite well.

Riding the Magic Carpet

I was so impressed with Park City's "Signature 3" program. They were attentive to his hearing needs, and supplied an amazing instructor, who always got down on Nolan's level and made sure Nolan was facing him before giving instructions. The ski helmet, thankfully, fit wonderfully over Nolan's hearing aids, and our little guy did amazing with the attention Park City gave to him. He actually passed every skill required to graduate to the chair lift, save one. He's simply not heavy enough to click his ski boots into his own bindings!

Andrew the Amazing Ski Instructor, talking to Nolan

Nolan does have (yet another) upper respiratory infection, but that is par for the course. We all have gotten this bug, probably from the airplane on the way to Park City. His permanent ear tubes ("T-Tubes") are functioning well, and seem to be the best thing we ever did for him. With the standard tubes, every upper respiratory infection resulted in a clogged tube and often a perforated ear drum. This winter, his T-tubes are staying put and his ears are infection-free. His ears are, however, full of wax - I'm trying to hold off on going to the ENT, since we already have an appointment on March 23rd.

For now, we are trying to get back into the routine. For Nolan and Matt, this involves returning to school. For me, it involves large quantities of Dayquil and coffee. Spring, come quickly!

5 comments:

Charlotte said...

Awesome!, he'll be fearless skier in no time, no harm starting them young. My parents always wished they skied since young age (they started at 21) I have skied since I was 4, I am a CI user and wears helmet too (finding one to fit over the CI was like a needle in haystack).

Joey Lynn Resciniti said...

How adorable they are in their skiing helmets! I was always so impressed with the little kids swishing down the slopes. I gave it a run in high school, but I'm just to afraid to be a good skier. Glad you're getting them out there young!

xraevision said...

Hey, I was wondering where you were! What a fantastic family vacation, and a great instructor made all the difference for Nolan! Sounds dreamy to me after our horrible February. Hope you guys are all feeling well soon after catching a bug on the plane, one huge downfall of traveling with some kids.

And then I shuddered when I read "full of wax" and "going to the ENT" in the same sentence. I'm desperately trying to soften X's wax with mineral oil drops to avoid returning to our ENT. X is still recovering from that trauma. Now he will let certain people do certain things around and in his ears, but not the audiologist. No reliable test since last April.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Hi Leah,

Glad you're dropping back into the bloggy world :D Oh my... Nolan is an adorable little skier! Warms my heart to hear how well the staff worked with him and his hearing.

Glad his T-tubes are working so well, too.

Julie

leah said...

We have to go to the ENT for the wax removal, because we can't use oil or any other liquid in his ears with the tubes in place. :-( Ugh- I wish there were an easier way to get rid of it all!

Joey, I started skiing late and I'm not all that wonderful at it - Matt beat me down the hill after his third day of skiing! It is kind of neat to watch your kid excel at something so easily - kids pick it up so fast!

Julie, thanks! He was so cute with the helmet and big goggles (borrowed from the ski school). He really loved it, too - which was nice to see since Nolan isn't as
"sporty" as Matt.