Kuckerrrrr!



Poor Tucker...he is always so tolerant of Ella!

 For 2 days now all Ella keeps saying is "KUCKERRRR"....it took a bit to figure it out, but now we are pretty sure she is calling the dog (who's name is Tucker!) She shouts KUCKERRRR (drawing out the RRRR) and then butt scoots her way over to him. She loves her dog. She is always trying to kiss him and pet him. She tries to lay on top of him and just a few days ago I caught her sitting on his belly bouncing up and down. Tucker is such a good sport and takes this abuse in stride even though inside Jason and I are pretty sure he hates life!

Ella's new pet name for the pup is pretty cute. I am sure it could be worse given the many different letter she could replace the "T" in Tucker with. It's also pretty significant that Ella is calling for him. This is probably the first time she is using words to get your attention. She says "momma" and "dadda" and will greet you with "hi!" when she sees you, but her speech has been delayed and the words she does say sometimes come out sounding not exactly how they should. Sure this is pretty typical of a toddler to not always repeat things perfectly, but our speech therapist wanted to have Ella's hearing checked out anyway. It's pretty standard to have a hearing test when a child is receiving speech therapy services. I am so glad we took Michelle's advice.

Ella's hearing test came back a little below normal. We met with an ENT to try and find out why. She has only had one ear infection in her 2 years and we know she can hear us (most of the time). It turns out Ella has fluid in her ears that won't drain. The doctor suspects what Ella hears sounds like what we would hear if we were underwater. It's usually more common with kids who have chronic ear infections, but not always. The best news is that it is treatable. Ella is scheduled to have tubes put in her ears on Thursday. It's a relatively routine procedure. The doctor says it should take about 10-15 minutes and the results are pretty instant. She told us that in most cases kids are already hearing better before they even leave the hospital.


Can you hear me now? Ella loves
to pretend to talk on the phone.

Of course there is always a level of anxiety when your child has to have surgery or undergo a medical procedure. Jason and I have been through a few stressful tests and events at this point, and it doesn't ever get easier. However we are so optimistic and excited for Ella to be able to hear us clearly. We can only imagine (and maybe a little nervous) about what will come out of her mouth. Maybe Tucker will actually sound like Tucker...but even if it doesn't, we can live with KUCKERRRR!