Hot fun

Sorry for the radio silence. We just got back from a whirlwind four-day weekend in the Florida panhandle where, I'm convinced, everyone from Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana were on vacation. Oh, and let's not forget Tennessee too. Thankfully, that meant most were heading home northbound, while we were one of very few heading southbound, making for lighter than usual traffic--as did the roughly $4 per gallon gas prices I'm sure.

Things here are cruising along into the dog days of summer in these parts. In the past two weeks, we had 9 days of 90+ degree temps. Factor in the humidity and well, it's been a little unbearable. And just think--summer doesn't officially start until a little more than three weeks from now.

With summer coming, J started taking private swimming lessons back in February. That kid was a water lover before and she's a fish now. Alas, in the midst of the lessons, however, she has come down with a series of ear infections. I'm talking back-to-back. Finish a course of antibiotics, get the all-clear at the doctor and then, bam, a week later, another ear infection.

Needless to say, her swimming lessons are temporarily on hold while we get her ears on the road to recovery, so to speak. Sadly, no more of this chlorine-y goodness for some time to come:



With three or four ear infections so far this year (I've lost count honestly), fluid has remained in her middle ear, leading to some conductive hearing loss (the good news being that it's reversible once the fluid is gone). I'd noticed she had been having some trouble hearing and her preschool teacher mentioned it as well. A visit to the ped last week resulted in a spectacularly failed tympanogram, so we go back for a follow-up next week, after another 10-day course of antibiotics.

At this point, I'm tempted to just ask the ped to forego any more antibiotics and go with PE tubes. We've got some good friends who had them put in for both of their kids and their ear infections stopped completely and haven't come back since--despite the fact that the tubes have since fallen out of both kids' ears. It is a procedure that takes only a few minutes and needs no IV, etc., just a few whiffs of gas and voila! done! Anyone with any experience with PE tubes in your child's ears--good? bad? indifferent?