Here's a fun slideshow to document Milo's first year.
We love you, Milo-man!
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Wednesday, October 22, 2014
A Year?! Already?
Words cannot describe how fast the past year has flown by! The ups, the downs, and everything in between, I wouldn't change a single thing!
Here's a fun slideshow to document Milo's first year.
We love you, Milo-man!
Here's a fun slideshow to document Milo's first year.
We love you, Milo-man!
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Great news for Milo!
Milo-man has had his fair share of doc/audiologist appointments lately, and I thought I'd report back so everyone knows how great he's doing! (I hope that's clear by the shear amount of Milo pics uploaded to FB/Instagram! But just in case there was any doubt...)
The first big step was our very first behavioral hearing test!
A little background: until Milo is able to "tell" us what he can and cannot hear, we've previously relied on an ABR to measure his brain waves when given a sound at various decibels. That test assumes that when he's able to hear a sound, his brain waves move; when he cannot hear the sound, they're flat. They track patterns in these waves to determine level of loss. It gives an approximation of his hearing loss, which is how his hearing aids were programmed.
Obviously, at 7-8 months old, Milo (nor any child for that matter) is able to say "OK, I can hear that!" - so the audiologist team works to "condition" Milo so that when he is able to hear a sound, he's "rewarded" (I know, I know, lots of quote marks) with an animated, light-up toy.
Think back to Psychology 101 when were learned about the Pavlovian response. In a nutshell: ya ring a bell, give a dog some food. Do it enough, and the dog will start to salivate at the sound of the bell. Luckily, we aren't tracking Milo's drool (tho there's plenty of that!). They put a device in Milo's ear and play a sound. When he hears the sound and turns his head, a lighted dog starts dancing. The goal was to have Milo turn his head to see the dog each time he heard a sound. That way, they can measure the volume of that sound, therefore pinpointing his level of hearing loss.
Or something like that. (Gosh I hope this post never makes its way to an audiologist - the probability of me relaying this information accurately is slim to none!!)
Well we went for our first try at seven months. He definitely didn't "get" it that time. He'd turn to see the dog, and in my mind, said to himself "well that's not that special" and continue to go about his business. This was pretty common at this age, but we were a little disheartened.
At the eight month mark we tried again, and he did it! Here's a short lil video. Keep in mind that this was at the end after the testing was complete, so it's a bit more delayed than during the actual test:
The great news is that the behavioral test results were in line with the ABR results, meaning A) his hearing aids were already calibrated to the level that would work best for Milo, and B) his hearing loss hadn't gotten worse in 6 months! It's our hope that his hearing loss will remain as it is now. Only time will tell!
The next step in determining the cause of Milo's hearing loss was an MRI. Through blood tests, we'd ruled out the most common cause, a mutation of the Connexin 26 gene, as well as CMV. We were to have an MRI to see if everything in the ear was structurally normal. We went to UNC Chapel Hill to have this test done. Since an MRI requires the subject to be completely still, Milo had to be sedated.
I was nervous as heck about the sedation, but it turned out to be not so bad. Just a quick squirt of medication through his nose, and Milo fell asleep in my arms within about 15 minutes. They wheeled him out, got the images they needed, and he was back to us within the hour. He was completely drunk until about 5 pm that day, but soon perked back up to his usual self.
Everything in his ear was intact! No structural issues! Cause of the hearing loss is yet to be determined - there are more genetic tests that we can choose to do. We're undecided about pursuing it at this point.
We continue to work with Milo's hearing teacher once a week, and we've got lots of tools and resources to ensure that his speech develops normally. (Tho we're aiming for advanced!)
I'll leave ya with a few of the latest pics of our lil man!
Thanks for caring about our family enough to read this through!
Til next time,
Jaime
The first big step was our very first behavioral hearing test!
A little background: until Milo is able to "tell" us what he can and cannot hear, we've previously relied on an ABR to measure his brain waves when given a sound at various decibels. That test assumes that when he's able to hear a sound, his brain waves move; when he cannot hear the sound, they're flat. They track patterns in these waves to determine level of loss. It gives an approximation of his hearing loss, which is how his hearing aids were programmed.
Obviously, at 7-8 months old, Milo (nor any child for that matter) is able to say "OK, I can hear that!" - so the audiologist team works to "condition" Milo so that when he is able to hear a sound, he's "rewarded" (I know, I know, lots of quote marks) with an animated, light-up toy.
Think back to Psychology 101 when were learned about the Pavlovian response. In a nutshell: ya ring a bell, give a dog some food. Do it enough, and the dog will start to salivate at the sound of the bell. Luckily, we aren't tracking Milo's drool (tho there's plenty of that!). They put a device in Milo's ear and play a sound. When he hears the sound and turns his head, a lighted dog starts dancing. The goal was to have Milo turn his head to see the dog each time he heard a sound. That way, they can measure the volume of that sound, therefore pinpointing his level of hearing loss.
Or something like that. (Gosh I hope this post never makes its way to an audiologist - the probability of me relaying this information accurately is slim to none!!)
Well we went for our first try at seven months. He definitely didn't "get" it that time. He'd turn to see the dog, and in my mind, said to himself "well that's not that special" and continue to go about his business. This was pretty common at this age, but we were a little disheartened.
At the eight month mark we tried again, and he did it! Here's a short lil video. Keep in mind that this was at the end after the testing was complete, so it's a bit more delayed than during the actual test:
The great news is that the behavioral test results were in line with the ABR results, meaning A) his hearing aids were already calibrated to the level that would work best for Milo, and B) his hearing loss hadn't gotten worse in 6 months! It's our hope that his hearing loss will remain as it is now. Only time will tell!
The next step in determining the cause of Milo's hearing loss was an MRI. Through blood tests, we'd ruled out the most common cause, a mutation of the Connexin 26 gene, as well as CMV. We were to have an MRI to see if everything in the ear was structurally normal. We went to UNC Chapel Hill to have this test done. Since an MRI requires the subject to be completely still, Milo had to be sedated.
I was nervous as heck about the sedation, but it turned out to be not so bad. Just a quick squirt of medication through his nose, and Milo fell asleep in my arms within about 15 minutes. They wheeled him out, got the images they needed, and he was back to us within the hour. He was completely drunk until about 5 pm that day, but soon perked back up to his usual self.
Everything in his ear was intact! No structural issues! Cause of the hearing loss is yet to be determined - there are more genetic tests that we can choose to do. We're undecided about pursuing it at this point.
We continue to work with Milo's hearing teacher once a week, and we've got lots of tools and resources to ensure that his speech develops normally. (Tho we're aiming for advanced!)
I'll leave ya with a few of the latest pics of our lil man!
Thanks for caring about our family enough to read this through!
Til next time,
Jaime
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| Taken the morning of his [successful] behavioral hearing test. All smiles from us! |
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| Kinda creepy that they look alike, right? Even weirder? This doll was Marc's when he was a babe! Over 32 years old! |
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| After the drunkness/sedation wore off. |
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| His sleeping position of choice here lately. |
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| Sometimes I think he's going to turn into a blueberry!This is one of his newest pilot caps - with mesh panels on the side (for clarity of sound and so it's not so hot) and snaps (instead of a tie)! |
Saturday, June 28, 2014
June in a nutshell!
I feel like every blog post starts with “so it’s been awhile since I blogged…” – so I won’t do that this time. (Even though it has.)
I’ll just start by asking if it is absolutely nuts-o that July will be here next week? What the crap? Where did June go? We’ve been busy!
Milo has now taken SIX trips on an airplane – three to Texas and three to Florida. Most of which require four takeoffs and four landings, since you have to connect everywhere when flying from Asheville. Too bad this tiny traveler can’t rack up some frequent flyer miles!
Since we last blogged, Milo’s been:
I’ll just start by asking if it is absolutely nuts-o that July will be here next week? What the crap? Where did June go? We’ve been busy!
Milo has now taken SIX trips on an airplane – three to Texas and three to Florida. Most of which require four takeoffs and four landings, since you have to connect everywhere when flying from Asheville. Too bad this tiny traveler can’t rack up some frequent flyer miles!
Since we last blogged, Milo’s been:
- Visited by Grandma Jan, Grandpa Bill, Aunt Carol and Uncle Fred
- To San Antonio celebrate the short life of Baby Kate. He got to be the only dude at Girls' Weekend and thought it was pretty sweet.
- On a major bike ride/nap for Mother’s Day
- To three breweries. His total count is seven!
- To Dallas for cousin Shannon’s graduation from Baylor School of Nursing
- To the beach! (Charleston, SC/Isle of Palms)
- To Tampa on a last minute Dad’s-out-of-town-for-work-so-why-not trip
- Swimming for the first time! And on his first boat ride!
- To his first Hip Hop (“Kid Hop”) concert
- To a handful of Jr. League meetings with Mom
- To the Audiologist for his first “booth”/behavioral hearing test (better luck next time!)
- To lots of playdates
- To Charlotte to visit the Taliaferros
- To lots of Jazzercise classes
- Back to Dallas to see cousin Molly, Aunt Nicole, Uncle Gregg and Grandma & Grandpa
And it’s certainly a good thing Milo-man is OK with being busy. Come to think of it, we didn’t really give him a choice!
Needless to say, we’re ready to slow down and stay put for awhile. Asheville is an amazing place to be during the summer. It’s warm but not too hot and there is a lot to do! Hint, hint: come see us!!
Oh yeah, and Marc and I celebrated five years of marriage! (But now that Milo’s here, no one cares about us, right?)
Back to Milo.
He’s also growing like a weed and learning new things every week! He’s been sitting up unassisted for about a month, and he’s thisclose to crawling. And I caught him standing in his crib today. Guess it’s time to drop the mattress. He’s finally figured out the Johnny Jump Up and can bounce for hours. Well, not hours exactly. But you know what I mean. He’s eating some solids every day and LOVES puffs (aka: baby crack).
He’s laughing and babbling and overall the happiest little boy. We completely won the lottery by getting this kiddo! It’s clearly not our parenting. Our technique tends to be bumble-around-and-figure-it-out-as-best-we-can.
Anywho, these pics are way more enjoyable than anything I could write. So… enjoy!
Needless to say, we’re ready to slow down and stay put for awhile. Asheville is an amazing place to be during the summer. It’s warm but not too hot and there is a lot to do! Hint, hint: come see us!!
Oh yeah, and Marc and I celebrated five years of marriage! (But now that Milo’s here, no one cares about us, right?)
Back to Milo.
He’s also growing like a weed and learning new things every week! He’s been sitting up unassisted for about a month, and he’s thisclose to crawling. And I caught him standing in his crib today. Guess it’s time to drop the mattress. He’s finally figured out the Johnny Jump Up and can bounce for hours. Well, not hours exactly. But you know what I mean. He’s eating some solids every day and LOVES puffs (aka: baby crack).
He’s laughing and babbling and overall the happiest little boy. We completely won the lottery by getting this kiddo! It’s clearly not our parenting. Our technique tends to be bumble-around-and-figure-it-out-as-best-we-can.
Anywho, these pics are way more enjoyable than anything I could write. So… enjoy!
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| With GREAT Aunt Carol at Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown Asheville |
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| Caught sleeping on the job! Daddy was less than thrilled. |
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| Celebrating Shannon's BSN in Dallas! |
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| Atop Mount Mitchell during the Mottingers' visit. |
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| Grandpa installed a swing on the patio and Milo loves it! |
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| The graduate and her cousin! |
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| Milo and Grandma Judy! |
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| You guessed it - Milo @ 7 months! |
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| Taking time to chill at the beach. |
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| Another visit to Granny in Florida, another ride on her Rascal. |
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| Milo & Molly (sounds like a TV show, doncha think?) |
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| All the Mott & Song kiddos. Aren't they cute? |
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| A less than perfect pic. It captures 99% of that photo shoot! |
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| On the boat with cousins Savanah and Collin. |
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| Just an ordinary afternoon at the Bywater. In a Team USA onesie. Swinging around the pole. |
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| Kash & Lola: the standoff. (Lola won.) |
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| USA! USA! USA! |
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| This little stinker got caught! |
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| Time is flying by! |
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| Checking himself out at the gym in our building. |
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| Milo visits Daddy at work! |
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| Cheering on the US Men's soccer team while chewing on a hearing aid. This kid is talented! |
Friday, May 23, 2014
Milo heads to Norfolk!
He did amazing in the car, sleeping from door-to-door on the way there. We left at his bedtime (and arrived in the middle of the night!), which turned out to be a successful travel tactic for us!
I'm incredibly lucky to have such an amazing sister-in-law! We were blessed to get to experience pregnancy at the same time, and the milestones continue! Milo and Molly are only nine weeks apart - so I've got a great resource for all the "what's next?" questions that I have.
Here are a few pics from our trip! We hired a photographer for some Mother's Day pics for Grandma Jan - those are included at the bottom. I've wanted to share them for awhile, but we couldn't ruin the surprise!
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| Aunt NiNi and Uncle G with Milo! |
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| Headed to the Norfolk Zoo with the Burtons! |
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| Fun at the Zoo! |
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| Talking soccer, I'm sure. |
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| Cousin love! |
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| Smooches for Aunt NiNi! |
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| Lovin' on Miss Molly! |
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| Don't we look good with TWO babies?? :-) |
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| The first of many hair pulls, I'm certain. I can just hear her in three years "will you tell Milo to leave me alone?" |
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| Kissing cousins! |
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| Playing airplane with our Daddies! |
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| Mommas' turn! |
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| My favorite picture from the day. You can't tell here, but it was preeeeetty frigid that day... |
More blog posts coming soon - we've been busy!!
Jaime
Monday, April 7, 2014
West Palm Beach Baby!
Jeez Louise
time sure is passing quickly! My goal was to blog once a week, and here
it's been almost three weeks since my last post. Oopsie.
I learned the hard way a few weeks ago that I am not cut out for single parenting. Marc had a "work" [ski/snowboard] trip to Breckenridge mid-March, and it was just me and Milo (and the nanny, on workdays) for five. whole. days. It may not sound like a lot to you - it didn't to me either - but whoa. Thanks to some amazing girlfriends for the dinners, for the wine, for checking in with me and for getting me out of the house! I maintained my sanity because of you!
So when Marc had another "work" [golf] trip to West Palm Beach - on my birthday, no less - we decided that Milo and I should probably just tag along. Clearly the right thing to do. Marc had work obligations, and I still had work to do, but the appeal of doing it from sunny Florida was overwhelming. So we did! And it was awesome. (Side note: "vacationing" with a 5 month old is waaaay different than vacationing without, but that's another story for another day. I consumed more room service meals than I'd rather admit.) After the cold,cold winter we've had in Asheville, we totally deserved this time in the sun!
Here are some pics from our trip! Milo LOVES being outdoors, and he was [mostly] as happy as a clam! It's absolutely crazy how much I love this kid!
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| Milo did SO great on the flights. Well, 3 of the 4 of them. Luckily the ones where I had him by myself, he was a superstar. Marc flew back with us on Sunday, and let's just say one of those was rough. We didn't make any friends on that flight. A few people have asked how his hearing aids affect him while flying (pressure, popping, etc). In a word [or two]: it doesn't! This was his 3rd trip via plane and the pressure hasn't seemed to have affected him at all! Fingers crossed it stays that way - we have a few trips coming up this summer. |
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| At Guanabanas in Jupiter! Thanks for the recommendation, Miss Caley! |
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| Lots of Momma & Milo selfies! |
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| Lounging at the pool is exhausting! What a life. |
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| Being silly in the hotel room. |
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| Headed downstairs to meet some of Daddy's co-workers. |
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| Toldya there were lots of selfies. I can't seem to help myself. This kid can help brighten even the most un-photogenic subjects! |
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| Loved when Daddy finally got to come play! |
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| Lover of beer. He is his parents' child, after all. |
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| The pool was still waaaay too cold, so we dipped our feet in. Can't wait to go swimming for real! |
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| This kid loves the wind on his face! He also made more than a couple of girlfriends while poolside. |
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| Always taking time to smell [eat] the roses. |
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| Baby's first trip to the beach! |
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| Milo loooves his Daddy! |
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| Mott Family selfie! |
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| Where we stayed. Marc played 36 holes in one day. What? |
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| Testing out Mom's sunglasses. |
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| We traveled with the big boy car seat! |
This past weekend, we packed up and drove to Norfolk to visit Aunt NiNi, Uncle G and Cousin Molly. Don't you worry, I've got LOTS of pics of that trip to come in my next post.
Hope you have an awesome Monday!
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