Tongue-tied

Now for the latest on the Jed's speech delay saga. I took him yesterday to an ear, nose and throat specialist, where they first checked his hearing (it was fine) and then his tongue. When the doctor asked Jed to put his tongue on the roof of his mouth he couldn't do it. The doctor said he's seen shorter frenulums (the little flap of skin under the tongue) and didn't overwhelmingly assert that it is causing his speech delay, but he thinks it's a good idea to have it clipped. So, Jed is scheduled for outpatient surgery on October 2. He'll have to go under general anesthesia and it'll be a 15-minute procedure. I guess the older they get the more intrusive the surgery is. Liane's little boy Drew (seriously-lee.blogspot.com), who's 8 or 9 months old, just recently got his clipped and he was awake and alert, poor baby! It will be interesting to see if this procedure really makes a difference. I asked the doctor what he called the surgery, thinking it was some long medical name. Nope. It's called surgery for tongue-tie!

Jed the Minute Man

At least one of you asked if I had a picture of Jed wearing his minute man costume, so I finally got around to taking one. I had to take what I could get, though, since Jed didn't feel like changing into pants, which would have made him look a little more authentic. :-) Here he is using a metal pipe for a musket. He has informed me multiple times that he needs a musket for Christmas. In the meantime he's uncomplainingly making do with what he has on hand.

Ay-yi-yi, it's been a long time since I last blogged! We're all alive and well here. I'm finally feeling like living again now that morning (or rather ALL-DAY) sickness is a thing of the past and several other little health issues have cleared up.

Last Saturday the five (and a half!) of us went down to Concord, Mass., which for those of you who aren't familiar with it is a paradise for American history and literature buffs! Which, incidentally, Jed has become, much to our delight. His fascination with weaponry has naturally introduced him to both world wars, the Civil War, and the American Revolution. On Saturday he was in seventh heaven as we checked out the Minute Man visitors center, which showed a fabulous, award-winning multimedia presentation about Paul Revere's midnight ride, as well as other Revolution paraphernalia. Jed learned what a minute man was--a civilian who was always ready to take up arms at any moment.

In fact, the next morning when he got up he came downstairs to Evan's office dressed up (surprise, surprise!) in his rendition of a minute man's garb, which was actually amazingly authentic--even if he was using Chloe's little pink purse to carry his musket balls (a.k.a. marbles). Evan, ever the preacher, saw a teachable moment--to use at church! He asked Jed to wear his outfit and stand in front of the congregation for him that morning. Jed readily agreed (he seems to have no fear of standing in front of an audience). Evan explained what a minute man was, then proceeded to give a beautiful analogy of how each of us should be "spiritual minute men," ready to move at the Spirit's leading at any moment, no matter what we're doing.

The picture above was taken at the Minute Man visitors' center. It was a truly happy family day. It's a vastly rewarding experience to take your kids places when they're genuinely thrilled about what they're seeing and are learning things that make history come alive.