What's Been Happening

 Beth has hoarding tendencies. I've tried to go downstairs and help her clean out her closet or clean up her dresser but usually she doesn't want me to mess with her stuff. Can't say I blame her. I wouldn't have been too happy if my mom came to my house and began cleaning or organizing things they way she thought they should be. 

But there comes a time when I step in and tell Beth it needs to be done. 

I got the idea recently to buy her some decorative bins to put her stuff in. She wouldn't necessarily have to go through it right then but the bins would make her bookcase look better. We went to Target and bought the bins she wanted (not the ones I would have chosen) then went downstairs to get started.

She was NOT happy that I was helping and it showed. After a few minutes I told her, "Okay. I'll go upstairs and you can do this."

The next day I went down to check and she did a pretty good job! Again, not exactly how I would've done it but I have to find that fine line of treating her like an adult vs. treating her like a child. She was willing to make the change and do it by herself, so, I'm proud of her.

            Before          

 

 

After

She hasn't been hearing well lately and I finally made an appointment with the doctor. Thankfully it was just wax buildup, whew! We stopped at the bathroom on our way out and when she was... going, she pointed down to the toilet and yelled, "I hear that!" After we got home she came upstairs with her iPod and said, "I hear it now, in my headphones!" I'm so glad it was only a wax problem!

I was watching TV the other night when something didn't look right about it. I kept checking my glasses thinking they were smudged but that wasn't it. I just couldn't figure it out. Then the next night it seemed the top half of the screen was darker than the bottom, it was really weird. The next day it was even worse! The top half of the TV was going dark. Just all of the sudden. We've only had it about 2 years but of course the warranty ended 4 months ago. So we bought a new one. Same size but this one has Ultra HD. I'd never heard of it but oh my goodness it's like watching a live play on stage. The colors are SO vivid, the images are super clear like 3D, it's just amazing!

Here we've taken the stand off the old TV and put it on the new one.

 Well that's what's been happening at our house this week.  

Have you ever had hearing problems? 

Have you seen the new Ultra HD TV's?

Issues

I took Beth to the doctor on Monday and everything looks good. She heard every sound and the doctor even said she's hearing better then most young adults her age. As we age we lose hearing below the 20 decibel level but Beth even heard at 15. She was very impressed.

They put some wax softening drops in her ear then used a syringe to wash out her ear. They had a book called The Body in the room so I was able to show Beth a picture of her ear, along with the inner ear and explain exactly what they were doing. It helped tremendously.


I've been really concerned with Beth's weight lately. She's put on 20 pounds since Christmas!! We're trying to change her eating habits, talking to her about snacking too much. She told me, "I know. I talk to myself about it. No more snack." "Great Beth! That's a very good decision!" We're buying lots of fruit this summer and we always have yogurt, bananas and oranges in the house. Year round. She loves grapes so I try to keep some in the fridge and she knows if she does have a snack, that's what she eats. She used to eat frozen waffles or pancakes for breakfast every morning, with lots of syrup but now she has cheerios almost every day. With no sugar. This morning she was nervous about missing her bus so she just had a yogurt and a cheese stick. She's doing better in  alot of areas, but when she was at the doctor on Monday, she had gained 4 pounds!
One piece of good news, the social group she's a part of, All Aboard was offering an adaptive P.E. class and when I called to sign her up, was told that the teacher had to back out. But then yesterday Beth brought home a paper that said they've found a new P.E. teacher and the class is on again, beginning next month. Thank you Jesus.
Before puberty Beth was as skinny as a rail! But then the weight began to increase. Even though she stayed active, she easily gained weight.
I've been trying to give her things to do at home. She's busy every day this week with bowling or meetings with her job class, the doctor appointment, job hunting. But when she is home, I usually ask her to vacuum, empty the dishwasher or even just walk on the treadmill. I make a list for her and put it on the counter. I came home from work one day and found everything crossed off the list, but none of it done!! I was a stay-at-home mom for 18 years and loved it. Since I've gone back to work, I can't monitor her as much as I'd like.

She wants to sit and write and watch tv. She loves to write. She writes when she's not watching tv. She writes lists of names over and over and over. Dozens of pieces of paper. She no longer throws them on the floor thank goodness and is now at least putting them in the trash, but I'm afraid of what her future is going to look like if we don't get her weight under control.

Chuck's side of the family is obese. His dad died when he was 3 and his mom developed agoraphobia. She didn't get off the couch for 10 years. And my side is all overweight so Beth needs to work harder to just maintain an average weight. She does have hyperthyroidism but that usually means weight loss, not weight gain.

Hearing

Sharaya's at work and Allie is taking a nap so I thought it would be a good time to update the blog.

A few months ago I had Beth into the doctor for a physical. The doctor did a quick hearing test and it wasn't good. At first she (the nurse) did Beth's left ear. "Raise your hand every time you hear a sound." After a few seconds Beth started raising her hand.

Then the right ear. We sat there for a full minute when the nurse asked, "You really don't hear any of that?" I made an appointment for a hearing test. The doctor wants to see Beth again first to make sure it's not just a wax buildup. That appointment is next week.

Do any of you watch the show Switched at Birth? It's about two families that had their babies on the same day but the hospital sent them home with the other families child. Now, 17 years later the mistake is revealed and the two families are trying to cope with it all. One child, however developed a fever as a 3 year old and is deaf.

Sharaya and Diana both took American Sign Language in school and Diana even hung around the 'deafies' (as she calls them) for a while. Switched has a lot of deaf culture in it and has even referred to them as 'deafies'. We love how the show is made because when two or more people who are deaf are having a conversation, all sound stops. You don't hear the cars or the other people. They try to put you in their world, so to speak.

All of that to say, one of the main actors is deaf, but she does talk. And her speech.... reminds me a lot of Beth's speech. Sort of nasaly and doesn't pronounce every letter. (No disrespect intended, just trying my best to describe it.) Anyway, with watching Switched every week and hearing the nurses concern about Beth's hearing, I'm a little anxious to get this test done!