We celebrated Nathan's 5th birthday in June. He was excited to invite a few friends to the party and they seemed to have a great time playing with balloons, toys, and in the sprinkler. The kids didn't seem to notice the 100 degree temperatures, but the adults sure did. For this almost summer birthday, I opted for a camping theme, hence the campfire and s'mores themed cakes at the end of the video/slide show below.
I'm sure you noticed the hospital pics at the end. A few weeks after his birthday, Nathan had to have a tonsil and adenoidectomy and tubes put into his ears. After months of wondering if his hearing was an issue, or if he was just ignoring his mom and dad, Nathan's teacher observed that he had a hard time hearing the directions given and was sensitive when he felt he missed something. Another day or two later, while having dinner, I noticed Nathan was turning his left ear closer and closer to me, each time saying, "what?". I asked him about it and he stated quite plainly, "this ear doesn't work." A call to the ENT who helped Andrew with tubes and an appointment was scheduled. It took just a moment for Dr. Hertler to see Nathan's tonsils were quite swollen and likely the adenoids would be, but were not visible behind the huge tonsils. While there, an audiologist tested his hearing and determined that Nathan was only receiving about 50% of sound. Yikes.
We opted for a surgery date at the start of summer, getting Nathan in as soon as possible and giving him the summer to recover. Surprisingly, the doctor was 40 minutes ahead of schedule on surgery day, so we were whisked into a room, changed Nathan's into hospital pajamas and shortly prepping for surgery. Recovery went smoothly while Nathan enjoyed watching a movie. A couple hours later we were on our way home for a day of rest. Since the surgery, Nathan has often reported that he can hear things he couldn't before (the UPS truck outside, the listening station at the zoo). I'm thankful to have this resolved quickly and hope it will build his confidence in the coming school year.
Now that he's five, many people ask if Nathan will start kindergarten in the fall. After months of consideration and weighing the issues, Jeff and I have opted to have him complete one more year of Pre-K. Nathan loves school and is anxious to read on his own. But he is a sensitive guy and young amongst his peers. Even before we had children, I recall reading text from my teaching program about how boys would benefit from a later start to formal education. From research and anecdotal evidence of other parents or in my own classroom, it seems a later start helps boys most in the primary years (a critical time for reading and writing development) and eventually everything evens out.
We've met his new teacher and have heard that she designs her lessons aligned with kindergarten curriculum. Additionally, his class will be smaller than traditional kindergarten. Fortunately, the same buddies who came to his party, and a few more with summer birthdays are doing the same, which means Nathan will have a comfortable circle of friends next year.
After a summer of swim lessons, Nathan has decided he would like to be a "swim lesson teacher" when he gets bigger. He is gaining confidence in the water, and has a great time with his teacher or classmates.
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