It's a Zoo in there

Usually, blogging is my day-ending activity. The boys are long asleep, or hidden in a dark room with movies or video games mimicking nocturnal behaviors. Tonight though, I am becoming highly doubtful that I will outlast them and be in bed before even Benjamin. So, I am blogging much earlier than the norm.
A 6:30 a.m. wake-up time do not complement a 3 a.m. bedtime very well. Actually, I went to bed several hours before that last night knowing I had to get up early this morning. (Ok, I actually went to bed at my summertime 1 a.m. norm.) However, I stayed awake thinking about "First Day" lesson plans. Yeah, that's how I roll... back and forth in the bed all night long.

We had an early wake-up call this morning because we had to take Benjamin to Norfolk for a 6-month follow-up appointment with the ENT that put his ear tubes in back in December. The last appointment led to wrestling a very tired and cranky toddler into being perfectly still and quiet for an auditory test. Didn't work so well. So, I made this appointment as early as possible to try and avoid nap time conflict. We instead had a very rambunctious and curious toddler today.

This is how most of the waiting time in the examining room was spent, until the doc came in, then he was a seated perfect angel. I suppose that is more desirable than the inverse. However, when we had to go from doctor check to auditory testing to doctor follow-up, it made for a very long morning. Of course, the one toy that I brought to the office. The one toy that I had replaced the battery and hidden away for today's appointment... didn't work.

Benjamin is the first boy to get ear tubes. The older boys had a few infections over the years, but nothing abnormal. With a history of deafness in my family, and over 13 years since having a child just starting to talk- thus not being sure what is "normal" Toddler-ese and what he should be hearing and pronouncing better- I try to stay on top of the ear issues.

After the doctor appointment, Jason & I took Benjamin to the Norfolk Zoo. For the coolest day of the week, it was still a very hot day to be out and about. He was a bit wore out from the morning activities... Benjamin, not Jason... well, mainly Benjamin. So, we did the fast-forward trip through some of it (think Lampoon's European Vacation, museums scene). Thankfully, we went ahead and got the family membership today (since it cost less than 2 family trips), and we knew we would be back soon.