Jackson update

A week ago I took Jackson back into the doctor and guess what? His ears were both infected again. Or still infected...I'm not sure which. I know, it's a shocker. So our doctor said to go ahead and make an appointment with an ENT to look at getting tubes. He also prescribed another antibiotic (that's five, if you're keeping track) in a last ditch effort to get the infection cleared up before the procedure. The pharmacy didn't even have Erythromycin in stock (is that a bad sign?) so we didn't get him started on it until Monday. It's not so fun. Tuesday we were able to get Jackson in with an ENT who looked at his ears and said neither was infected but there was some fluid in both. They tested his hearing and since that was not being affected at all, he recommended holding off on ear tubes since it seemed like this antibiotic was working. I'm glad that he wasn't all gung-ho about doing the surgery but I have a feeling that as soon as this antibiotic is done, we'll be right back where we started in March. Dr. Hunter (the ENT) wants to see us back in two months for a follow-up but I can pretty much guarantee that we'll never make it that long without another infection. I'm hoping for the best but as our pediatrician said, "the writing may be on the wall." We're hoping that if Jackson's ears get bad again. we will be able to get the procedure scheduled as soon as possible. Dr. Hunter told us he'll be gone for two weeks in June at Scout Camp (ick) so knowing our luck, it will happen then and we'll have to wait.

The part that makes me feel the worst is that I think Jackson has just gotten used to his ears hurting. He actually sleeps pretty well at night and isn't as grumpy as I would expect. Poor thing. I'm sorry buster, hang in there and we'll get those sweet ears figured out soon, I promise!

First fish

This is what Eliza caught on Saturday. Well, it had a head and a tail at the time. Matt said when she reeled the line in and saw a fish there, she had never been more excited! I was worried that when they, uh, prepared the fish to take home, she would be upset or grossed out but I'm not sure she even thought twice about it. Must be a little more McCann in her than Burton because a Burton would have left empty handed. :)

She was so excited to eat it! I cannot stand anything about fish - the smell, the look, the feel, and most especially the taste. But, I didn't want to taint her so Matt cooked it (outside) and the two of them ate Mr. Fish for lunch on Sunday. She actually liked it!

2nd Annual McCann BBQ/Kickball game

Last Saturday we had both families over at our house for a barbeque and kickball game. A little bit of a poor showing from the Burton side...but we still had a blast. That morning as Matt and I were getting the yard ready, we noticed not one, not two, but THREE bounce houses out in our park. Turns out it was our next door neighbor's daughter's 6th birthday and they definitely throw a better party than us! They had the bounce houses, tons of food, a pony, a magician, and very cute party favors. And the best part is, Eliza got an invite. She had such a good time and still hasn't stopped talking about it. The only downside to this (besides the total upstaging of our party) was that even though their party ended by the time ours began, the bounce houses were still up so it was torture for the kids in our family to stay out of them. Our neighbors were very generous though and let the kids jump for a little while before they took them down.

Anyway, back to the McCann's shindig. Matt manned the grill to cook everyone's steak and it was delicious! We had fruit, rolls, chips, cookies...you know, the usual cookout spread. Matt had some games like "Guess the number of Skittles"and "How many people has Jack Bauer Killed?" to try and win amazing prizes. It was great.

I sat out from kickball but it looked like fun. Couldn't tell you who won but everyone was good sports and I hope all the children were very tired afterwards.

Thanks to everyone who came and helped make our party so much fun! Not "bounce house and pony fun", but still a good time! In case you're wondering, Jackson was being put to bed by grandpa during picture time so we don't have any of him. He had great time too!

Ugh...

Ear infections...aren't they just awful?! I feel like we've been battling this for weeks and weeks. Back in March, we took Jackson to the doctor and found out that both his ears were infected. Round 1 - Amoxicillin for 10 days. A week later, he was still grumpy and pulling on his ears so I took him back. Round 2 - Omnicef for 10 days. A week later he was STILL grumpy and not sleeping, so I took him back. Not all the way cleared up but not totally infected. Just fluid around both eardrums still and that was probably causing the discomfort. A week later...well, you know. I took him in again. Totally infected. Round 3 - Azithromycin for 5 days. That ended on Sunday. He has STILL been rubbing and pulling on his ears. But he was a little happier. A good sign but today I took him back, yet again, just to make sure. The doctor said they didn't look good. Not awful anymore but they just don't look "normal." So he wrote a prescription for Augmentin which I think is the last resort. Next step will be tubes in his ears if this doesn't work. I'm supposed to wait a few days and see if he is any better, if not, we'll start the Augmentin. Our doctor is great and I know he's doing his best to get Jackson's ears better. I told him that Jackson had actually been doing pretty well with all these antibiotics and he hadn't even had any diarrhea. The doctor said, "Well, don't worry. The Augmentin will take care of that!" Great.

Incidentally, Eliza has an ear infection now, also. Thank goodness it's almost the weekend. Let's all hope things get cleared up soon. I want my happy boy and girl back. I'm trying to have a positive attitude because truly, things could be MUCH worse. Here's hoping for better days!