BAER Hearing Test

When Braxton was in the NICU at Sanford he was put on a gas (Nitric) which was forced into his lungs to help him with his breathing. When small children are on this it has the potential to cause some hearing loss. The doctors informed us that he wasn't on this for very long so he should be okay however they would like to run the test just to be sure. If I remember right he was only on the nitric gas for a couple of days. So this past Friday was the day for the test and we are happy to know that Braxton has no hearing impairments. Since he was "moderately" sedated he was not to have anything to eat or drink up to 6 hours before the procedure (except clear liquids up to 2 hours before). We went with pedialyte so he wasn't starving or crying all the way to Sioux Falls. Everything went smooth... we got there, got checked in, met with the nurse, the anesthesiologist came to visit us, the nurse came back and gave Braxton the sedation medicine (chloral hydrate), and Braxton was off to jammy land (taking what they call an "exaggerated nap"), the gal came to do the test and 1/2 hour later he was done and awake... and STARVING. I have posted a couple pics of Braxton hooked up to the machine that was testing his hearing. The BAER hearing test puts sound into his ears and the "pads" that were stuck to his head measures the amount of brain activity based on the sound put into his ears. It's a hearing test that the child does not have to cooperate with. We were pretty sure that Braxton had no hearing problems but felt that it would be nice to know now if there were any slight impairments. He was pretty sleepy the rest of the day which was really nice... so we could finish up our Christmas shopping. Once again another awesome experience with the doctors, nurses, and staff at Sanford.

Potty Training Complete...

Well I am so happy to say that Brooks is completely potty trained. He has been wearing underwear for 2 weeks now. He had a couple accidents the first week other than that the only other accidents that he has had are when he goes in to use the bathroom and he can't get his pants and undies down fast enough or if he "shoots" over the toilet seat and hits his undies. We are so very proud of him and new that he could do it. I am not sure what really made him become potty trained but I am definitely loving it. For being trained at 2 years 3 months he does an awesome job. I know some people say that boys are harder to train however I beg to differ. Both of my older boys were the exact same age. The accidents that he did have we would still have him clean up his undies which he was not too fond of so maybe that played a part in the training. I guess it doesn't really matter now as long as he continues to be a BIG BOY!!!

1st Grade Letters...

Payton was so proud that he was able to fill a "full" piece of paper with sentences. I have taken pictures of those sentences... see if you can read what he wrote. I remember looking back at my papers from grade school and laughing at our beginner level spelling. He really does an awesome job. At conferences we found out that he is reading at a 1st grade 8th month level. At the time of testing they were only at 1st grade 2nd month. We are VERY VERY pround of Payton and hope that he continues to succeed in his schooling.

I never thought I would but I couldn't resist...

No offense to those who put their children in the same outfits for pictures, holidays, etc... (I think it's cute when people dress their children the same). I just never thought I would do it - let alone with 3 boys. I have always bought the boys new sweaters to wear for Christmas and ended up finding the same sweater in 3 different sizes for the boys. I will probably never be able to do this again. I can't wait to put the sweaters on the boys and take their picture.

He's Rolling Rolling Rolling...

Braxton has started rolling over from his belly to his back. The first time he did this was Nov. 20th (2 1/2 months old) and is now doing it on a pretty regular basis. It's amazing how fast they really do grow and change. About every time I do laundry I find myself putting away more baby clothes as he is out growing them - it really makes me sad. Sad to know that "I" will never dress another one of my babies in these adorable baby boy clothes.

Family Buck Hunting Experience...

Saturday Nov. 15th the entire family went out just to look for deer. Instead of switching car seats over to the pick-up we took the Denali instead. Obviously by the looks of the pictures we should have taken the pick-up. As we came up over a hill Craig spotted a doe... I look in the binoculars and spot a buck. Craig decides that he is going to shoot it so climbs out of the vehicle. I am trying to keep the 2 older boys quiet so we don't spook the deer as we are waiting to hear the gun shot. Craig jumps down and tells me to get in the driver seat as he is going to walk around the back side and see if he can sneak up on them. I back down the road that we were coming down and he is sneaking around the other side. The doe stands up and walks away... the buck stands up and... BAM... he runs into the corn field. I am trying to keep watching the deer in the binoculars and come across Craig motioning me (like an airplane stewardess) to go this way and that and drive (my vehicle) into the field to come and get him. So across the fields we go... bouncing all the way. (ha ha ha) As we come up on Craig he asks Payton to jump out and help him track the deer as he saw blood on the corn stalks. I thought he had missed the deer and that he ran away. Payton was so excited as he kept telling Craig... "yep, here's some blood... here's some more... THERE HE IS... YES I FOUND THE BUCK!!!" It was so awesome. That is the first time in 29 years that I have ever seen a dead deer before being gutted as well as the first time ever to see anyone ever gut a deer. The 'buck deer' was a 6-pointer but had a good size body to him. Craig said that he was very hesitant on whether he wanted to shoot him beings he wasn't so big... but since he had his family as his audience he thought he better. It was an awesome experience and I am glad that the boys got to be a part of it.

Potty Training...

***Comment on Comments...***
Thank you Michelle for your suggestions - that's exactly what I was looking for. As far as the anonymous comment goes I think you are somewhat misunderstanding me. I do consider myself a good Mom, a VERY good Mom and I would do NOTHING to hurt either one of my boys. I LOVE THEM DEARLY and would do anything for them. I am not making him sit in a bath tub of FREEZING COLD water... He is standing in the tub rinsing his undies out... not sitting. The plug is not in so he is not standing in the cold water either. The cold water is just running on his hands. I guess I should have worded it a little different and I hope you understand my purpose for having him clean up his own mess. I chose the bath-tub as the place for the cleaning to be done instead of him making a mess on the counter. I chose to use "cold" so it was less pleasurable for him not to hurt him. If you comment on posts in the future please leave a name so I know who you are. Thanks

Any suggestions or techniques are welcome...
If we allow for Brooks to run around with no pants on he goes to the bathroom by himself - both potty and poop. However come December 1st he will no longer be allowed to run around that way as I return to work and have 11 other kids in and out of my house. As soon as you put pants on him, whether it's a diaper, pull-up, or underwear he feels the need to go to the bathroom right in his pants and as soon as he is done he tells us. We know that he knows exactly what he is doing - however we are just not sure how to get him to use the bathroom. I was told by a couple different people that when he goes potty or poop in his underwear make him clean it out and also clean up any mess he made on the floor. It sounded good to me... so this morning 7:00am he went to the bathroom and I put him in undies... by 7:45 he was wet. As furious as I was I set him in the bath tub and made him take his own undies off and wash them out. He was not impressed and cried the entire time. That was the reaction that I was hoping for... I put him back in undies and about 1/2 hour later he was wet again. Even more furious I did the same... had him clean up his messes - however this time he wasn't bothered by it. And for the 3rd time by 10:00am he wet his pants again. This time he told me he was going to get in the tub and wash his undies. Okay... plan not working too well. So this evening when it happened for the 4th or 5th time (I honestly lost count) I made him wash his undies out but in cold water. This time he cried the entire time. Maybe he will learn to use the potty tomorrow. He will be 2 years and 3 months next weeks so it's not that he is that old, however he knows exactly what he is doing as he uses the potty when he has no pants on. If you have any suggestions or techniques that you have heard works well please let me know. I was hoping to be done potty training him by the time I got kids back. I guess time will tell.