lunch with daddy

i had promised the boys that we would have lunch out to celebrate their first week of school, but i had forgotten that we already had plans! with daddy! manning was referred to the hospital for a hearing test (just to confirm that his hearing wasn't what was the problem with the lack of clarity in his speech) so we made plans to have lunch with daddy (ent is one of his departments). the kids love having lunch with daddy at "daddy's hospital," but we very rarely get to do so (partly because of matt's schedule and partly because of the distance to get there).

manning's hearing test was right after lunch and he did great! i was a little curious about how they would perform a hearing test on a two-year-old. there was a lot of playing and following commands given at different volumes by someone in a second room. manning had to 'fed' balls to a piggie toy bin, point out body parts on command and look towards a pig or lamb (right or left) depending on which side he heard the sound in his earbuds (he didn't like the traditional headphones so they switched to buds). i am happy to report that his hearing is perfectly normal and any problems with speech are not due to his ears. (i was only mildly concerned it might be hearing because his mimicking was not even close - even with sounds that he could make. for instance he can say "dada" very clearly but ask him to say "dog" and he would say something like "ehhh."

the recommendation by the hospital and, previously, by his pediatrician is to wait until closer to 3 before exploring speech therapy.

we will take any excuse to see daddy! and once again, i am reminded how fortunate we are to have had this be our very first appointment at the hospital. love.