The Hanna Family

Ear infections, ear infections. That seems to be our pattern and the start to the month of May.

We met with the local Ear, Nose, Throat specialist who felt both boys needed tubes and that Noah's ears were worse off than Jonah's ears. Interesting. Jonah usually takes longer to recover and is always in more pain. I was required to go to the local specialist by my insurance so I complied but I had already done my research and knew that his reputation for pediatric care was not a good one. Thank goodness when I suggested that the boys be followed by a Madera ENT because of their varying special needs, he agreed. Especially when I discussed Jonah's recent seizure like episodes. Both boys see an ENT in Madera this Thursday. Shane and I will discuss after they meet with the specialist and we have already said we may wait a few more months for their teeth to finish coming in and then see if this does not alleviate some of the infections before agreeing to the tubes; this was great advice given by a local Mom whose children have all had some involvement with ear infections and she takes her children to a well known clinic in Los Angeles.

Aside from a new ear infection for Jonah, both boys are doing fairly well. I actually think Noah is getting yet another ear infection as he has been a bit more cranky, not eating as well and his gland right behind his left ear is swollen and this becomes noticeable to me when he is starting an infection. I am waiting to see what the ENT says Thursday and if he notices an infection he can prescribe an antibiotic. These poor boys have had one infection after another since the fall, perhaps soon there will be a let up for both.

Both boys were seen last week by a dental clinic at UCLA. To my huge relief, neither had cavities! I was shocked. I was fully expecting Jonah to have several and maybe need more serious work done. It was such a relief for Mom! So after a cleaning and fluoride treatment, both were sent home. I will have Jonah seen again in 3 months, it will be a payment out of pocket but the clinic does not charge much at all ($45 for cleaning and $20 for an exam) and for the security of knowing his teeth are ok it will be well spent.

Both boys continue with their therapies, more so Jonah than Noah. Right now Noah is mostly on track with his fine and gross motor skills (hurrah!) Noah does continue his speech therapy but is making good progress there as well. He loves to chatter and although every word is not always understandable, he is getting better at putting words together and building his vocabulary. His Richardson Center teacher has proudly said that he will not qualify in the fall for continued schooling and will need to go to a regular preschool! Hurrah! It was bittersweet as I love his current Richardson Center teacher and she has helped him come a long way but it was great to know of his progress! She also told me he is very good about using his manners in progress, which in my book is one of the best compliments a Mommy can get. We work very hard with him at home to always say please and thank you.

Jonah continues with the MOVES program and we love his teacher Carmen. She is so wonderful and so loving. We are intently looking at preschool options for Jonah. We heard some negative feedback about the Blair school through the county that Jonah would qualify for through the school district. We have also heard that really it comes down to the teacher and you have to be careful about who your child ends up with so we are doing some behind the scenes research. There is also a preschool opening up at a local daycare that Jonah qualifies for through his state insurance and they are fairly close to our home in the NW so tomorrow when he meets for his health assessment, I plan to ask for the special ed teacher's phone number so I can call her with some of my questions. My biggest concerns are that the program include a certified therapist who oversees the training of the teachers, aides in regards to the gross motor, fine motor, speech and feeding therapies. Jonah qualifies for vision therapy as well and this will be a huge battle as right now our school system has a very poor vision therapy program. So, needless to say we have our battles to fight but thank goodness we have a few months to go until Jonah's IEP. Hopefully this will be enough time to really refine what we plan to require of the school district and choose a proper program for Jonah.

Shane continues to look for a new job opportunity, one that can bring him closer to a community with a good children's hospital and hopefully better services for Jonah all around. We are applying everywhere from Grand Rapids, MI to Utah to Georgia. Our true requirements at this time are good health care and low crime. If we are blessed enough to find this we will end up with a pretty good community. So please keep our family in your prayers, we are to the point that we need to relocate ourselves to better provide for the boys.

Thank you everyone for checking in with us and keeping up on the boys. We appreciate all the love and support.

I had an 80's party this past Saturday night to celebrate my 33rd birthday. We had a great time. We borrowed an awesome light display from our friend Ken Ottinger who DJ's as a side job and had fun games including a challenge to be the first to finish a Rubix cube. It was fun!

This Wednesday I leave for Washington D.C. to see my baby sister Valerie graduate with her grad degree from George Washington University. It will be so great to see her, I have not seen her since last summer and among many things the First Lady will speak at the university ceremony Sunday. For my actual birthday (May 14th) we decided to travel up to Philadelphia to see the historical sites and enjoy the local culture. I am excited to see D.C. I miss it so much. The local culture, the amazing historical sites and the beautiful greeness of Washington, D.C. are some of the many things that I miss. I am looking forward to also relaxing, reading books and just enjoying time away from the many things that I deal with at home.

Thanks again everyone for all your well wishes and many prayers. We will keep you updated with new information as it happens.

Happy spring!