Snow Tubing

Drew has really enjoyed watching the Winter X-Games on ESPN over the past couple of weeks. He is always asking what "trick" a skier or snowboarder is performing, and he's been asking to go skiing. I'm not quite sure that he is ready for that, so we decided on Snow Tubing at Mad River Mountain.

Drew and his sister loved it! They had so much fun snow tubing. They kept asking to go up the mountain again and again. To be honest, I think I may be sore for days from the experience, but they had a great time!

Here is a video from the experience:

Holiday Gifts for the CI Child

As the Momma of a CI child, I am often asked about gift ideas for children with hearing loss. As we all know, much of our life with a CI child is spent playing games at home that also serve as the necessary therapy needed for communication. So, what are some of our most favorite gifts we have received for Drew that have also helped with therapy?

1. 100 Hoops - Basketball Counting Game: Drew loves this game! It is perfect for a little boy, and allows for work on counting, and vocabulary like in, out, over, under, made it, missed it, dunk it, brick, etc. It counts in Spanish, two's, ten's, backward. This was Drew's favorite Christmas Gift of 2008, and nearly 365 days later, he plays with it daily.
2. Giant Road Carpet and Melissa & Doug Wooden Vehicles & Traffic Signs: Drew loves to play with his transportation vehicles, and I love that he has no idea he is actually doing therapy! We work on things like, "Drew, you need to take the children to school! Which vehicle goes to school?" You can put up the stop signs and talk about stop vs. go. You can have the child make the vehicle go fast vs. slow. "Oh, Drew! The police car needs to go to the store - fast! Let's go!" So much fun...for everyone!
3. Melissa & Doug Band in a Box: Perfect for these little CI kiddos! Work on the different sounds of musical instruments. You can work on making a beat. "Shake the maracas fast!"
4. Plush "My Barnyard Friends Carrier" With Sound: When Drew was younger we loved this barnyard. They animals are soft and cuddly, and they each make noise! Plus the barn was nice because you could say, "Drew put the cow in the barn." This helped with working on in, out concepts. And, this plus barnyard works great for the small concept, you can get a larger animal sounds barn to talk about big vs. small, etc.
5. Little People 'Busy Day Home": A perfect sized house to work on many daily activities! It can start of very basic. "Drew, Put Daddy in Bed." Then you can get really advanced, "Drew, Mommy is tired. Where should she go?" And then I would wait for Drew to find the Mommy and lay her in the bed. This shows that Drew understands what "tired" means and that he understands you need to go to sleep when you are tired and that you sleep in your bed. Really, really difficult concepts, yet somehow we all learn this stuff!
6. Mr. Potato Head: Super fun to play with, reminding me of my childhood, yet excellent to help with learning body parts! At first, you can design Mr. Potato Head, and then ask your child, "Where is the nose?" Then you can have your child design Mr. Potato Head himself, talking about where each item goes. And, what we're doing now, you can play sabotage! One of my favorite things to do with Drew! I'll build Mr. Potato Head totally wrong...then Drew has to fix him. "No, Mommy, that isn't where the ear goes. The ear goes here! That's where the mouth goes!" Oh, how I love to play sabotage!

We actually have been given every toy I talked about above! And people say we have too many toys...ha! If you are reading this blog as a grandparent, aunt, uncle, friend...I can not tell you how much we appreciate these types of gifts. We work so hard with our kids daily on activities that seem so trivial, but in the grand scheme of things, these gifts help our children develop their listening, language and communication skills daily. The thoughtfulness of thinking about how a gift will help with the child's therapy is helpful beyond words.
So, what will Drew be getting for Christmas this year? We have so many of the "staples" when it comes to therapy, and in many ways, we are past the learning to listen phase of this journey. We're working on phonics, pre-reading, pre-math and fine motor skills. So, we've decided to get Drew a Leapster Learning Game System and Leapfrog Tag Reading System. He'll also be getting some of his favorite friends:

1) A Toy Story Talking Sheriff Woody
2) A Toy Story Talking Buzz Lightyear, and
3) ARex the Roaring Dinosaur from Toy Story!

He'll be so excited! Drew has worked so, so hard, so now we'll let him play.

What are some of your favorite therapy toys? Let's keep the list going!

These are some of Drew's favorites!

How Tall This Fall?

So tall this fall, with the help of his tip-toes!

Today, we spent a very beautiful, sunny fall day checking out a local farm, complete with a hay-ride, games and pumpkin picking. Or, as Drew say, "Punk-in Picking!" We all had a wonderful time, relaxing and enjoying the day. It's so nice to have our lives back to normal.

Happy Birthday Sis!

Drew's Sister celebrated her 4th birthday this past week. I can't believe that it has been four years since I gave birth to my beautiful little girl. She is such a joy; a beautiful, happy little girl who can light up a room with her smile. She even got to enjoy Drew singing "Happy Birthday" to her. The bond between the two of them is quite unique. And while they fight quite often, they always end their day by hugging and kissing each other, and saying "Goodnight."

We have been quite busy, thus the lack of new blogs. Drew's Dad and I continue to spend most of our free time working on Drew's preschool placement. While not much seems to be happening in the way of scheduling Drew's MFE or moving forward to the actual IEP writing, Drew's Dad and I are hard at work researching and finding resources to help our case. While we aren't traveling the easiest of roads, we are confidant that everything will work out in the end.

Too Loud For My Ears

Drew is hearing quite well these days, and immersed in all of the daily activities around our house.

As we were playing yesterday afternoon, Drew and his sister decided to create a band for our "listening pleasure." Drew assigned himself the drummer, while Drew's Sister was left to choose from the variety of other instruments. She finally settled on the saxophone, but continued to whine about Drew playing the drum. She would have preferred him to select a different instrument.

As Drew continued to drum, the whining from his sister grew louder, and more annoying, as time went on. "That's too loud for my ears, Drew! Whaaaaa!" She continued whining, throwing her hands over her ears in typical dramatic fashion, while continuing to tell Drew that his drumming was just too loud for her ears.

Drew's Dad and I, while largely trying to ignore the situation, finally had our attention drawn to the band playing and whining, when we noticed a sincere act of kindness. Drew, with his natural, loving nature, decided to stop playing the drum, and gave the drum sticks to his sister. It was so kind, and a sincere act of sharing, or so it seemed. As soon as Drew's Sister began to bang the drum, Drew, while throwing his hands over his ears, screamed, "That's too loud for my ears! That's too loud for my ears! Ahhhh!"

It was a total set up. He repeated word for word what she had been saying over and over to him. Such a sweet little boy, with a devilish streak. Can't wait to see what he pulls next.

Bathroom Conversations

Last Saturday afternoon, as we were house bound together, Drew said some fabulous words, "I need go potty!"

Drew's Dad sprang to his feet, immediately grabbed Drew and carried him upstairs to the potty. Drew's Sister was right behind them, proclaiming, "Drew, I will show you how to do it. That's what big sister's do!"

I remained seated. Seriously, Drew is a crazy boy, and I will be lucky if he is potty trained by the time he is three years old and starts preschool. I have no delusions about that, and I knew this time wasn't going to be any different.

Drew's Dad sat Drew on his little potty, and Drew's Sister climbed on her "big girl potty" and they both began to do their business, which for Drew meant playing with himself. I mean, he is a boy after all, and that is what boys do best. (This is where the story gets a little PG-13, so I will try to do my best.) As Drew's Dad tells the story, Drew began to play with himself so much that "it" became, um..., erect.

Drew immediately got a concerned look on his face, and then glancing up at his Dad questioned, "What's that? What's that? What's that?," over and over.

I can only imagine the look on my husbands face, and as he hurriedly tried to come up with an answer to his two year old son's question. "Drew, that is your wiener!"

"Weeeee-nah. Weeeee-nah?" Drew continued, pointing at it with his index finger. "Weeeeee-nah!"

I of course, was still sitting in the living room as this was unfolding, when I hear my name being shouted urgently from upstairs. I sprang to my feet, wondering what on Earth needed my attention so quickly. As I approached the bathroom door I heard, "Weeeee-nah!" I opened the door to find Drew's Dad sitting on the edge of the tub, Drew's Sister sitting on the big girl potty, and Drew, sitting on his little potty, pointing to his penis, saying "Weeeee-nah?"

I could not help but laugh. My little boy, with an erection sitting on his potty, calling it a wiener, over and over. (I feel a bit like Jodi in this post.)

"You called?," I asked my husband.

"Yes," Drew's Dad replied. "He asked me what that is, and I told him it was his wiener. I'm now thinking that isn't the best thing to call it."

"Um, no," I said. "I don't think wiener is good. How about we call it what it is? His penis?"

"Okay," Drew's Dad said, turning his attention back to Drew. "Drew, that is your penis. Can you say penis?"

Drew looked at his Dad for a minute. Then began to touch himself again. "Weeee-nuhhhh!," he proclaimed.

I think this crazy boy is going to be hard to potty train...and raise!

My Two Front Teeth

We mentioned in a previous post that Drew's Sister had been practicing a tap dance routine for the holidays. Here is the video from her performance:



We are very proud to have the loudest singing tap dancer. It was so sweet after the performance - she was so proud of herself and had a smile on her face that lasted the rest of the day. We hope you enjoy her performance!

Merry Christmas!

Conversation with Santa

We took Drew and his sister to visit Santa this weekend.

In the days leading up, we practiced very hard with Drew:

Mommy: "What toy do you want for Christmas?"

Drew: "Biiiig train. Blue train." He decided on this by himself. Mommy did not help or give ideas at all. Very cool.

Mommy: "OK, Drew. When you sit on Santa's lap, tell him you want a big blue train."

Drew: "Okay."

Drew immediately warmed up to Jolly Old St. Nick. He walked right up to him, sat on his lap and gladly took a sucker from Santa. In fact, Drew enjoyed the sucker he was given so much that he lost all interest in Santa! All he wanted to do was unwrap and eat the sucker, and he forgot to ask Santa for any toys! When I tried to help him, he had no interest and kept saying, "sucker. SUCKER!"

So, it didn't go exactly as planned. But it was so fun to see Drew talking just like every other two year old visiting Santa. This is so much better than our previous Jingle Bell Experience.

All I Want for Christmas

Drew's Sister has been practicing for her first tap dance performance! She is going to dance to "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth." Her tap class has been practicing their dance for several weeks now, and the teacher sent home the dance steps, requesting that we practice at home.

I love to dance, and have always loved to dance. So, of course this homework was right up my ally! Drew's Sister and I, for about the last week or so, have been practicing after dinner her tap dance routine. I will say the instructions, and then she will do the dance move. It goes something like, "Bam. Bam. Bam, bam together. Bam. Bam. Bam, bam together. Jump out. Jump in. Sing, If only I could whistle!" (It sounds rather silly as I write it out, but I promise, Drew's Sister understands!)

Yesterday as we were playing in the morning, Drew's Sister started doing her dance moves, and Drew said, "Bam! Bam! Together! Whistle!," and then imitated doing a whistle. It was so amazing, since we have never worked on this with him at all. He learned all of this language on his own, through incidental listening! Just amazing.

Is There A Girl on the Pittsburgh Steelers?

We've had a very relaxing Sunday, as we wind down another Thanksgiving weekend. We spent the better part of the morning in our pajamas, and if it wasn't for needing milk, we may have never left the house all day. It is cold and raining, just another sign that winter is here.

After nap time, we ate a quick dinner and then have been watching the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots football game. We made hot chocolate and gathered in the living room together, watching football. The Pittsburgh Steelers were on defense, when we heard Drew say, "Oh No! She missed it!"

She missed it? Drew's Dad and I both paused for a minute, looking at each other a little stunned. As a replay was being shown, we again heard Drew say, "Oh No! She missed it!"

As we watched the replay we realized that Troy Polamalu was the player that had just missed catching an errant pass for an interception.

Drew was calling Troy Polamalu "she" because of his long hair hanging below his helmet! Hilarious.

I've never been a fan of NFL players having long hair. Maybe being called a girl by a two year old will make some of these guys think about their hair style.

Thanksgiving

On this Thanksgiving, I once again find myself overwhelmed with things for which I am thankful. I am thankful for my family and my two beautiful children. Thankful for their health, their happiness, their expanding personalities.

I am thankful that there are days they talk so much I think I just might lose my mind.

I am thankful for technology giving Drew the wonderful gift of hearing, and communication.

I am thankful that I actually heard Drew's Dad say to Drew one day, under his breath, "Would you shut the h*** up?" And I'm thankful that we both laughed so hard we cried at this statement, since there was a day we thought we might never hear Drew's sweet voice.

I am thankful that I get to hear Drew say, "dube (love) you too," every day.

I am thankful for hugs, kisses, story times. Quite moments together. Thankful for their unconditional love.



Most of all, I am thankful that Drew and his Sister are mine. And thankful for all of you who are sharing in Drew's hearing story. Drew and his sister have given us many things to be thankful for this year. I wonder what they have in store for 2009?

Beach Bums

We've just returned from a week at the beach. We enjoyed seeing and hearing the ocean waves, and Drew and his sister enjoyed playing in the sand. Drew's Dad and I are very tired and hoping that the kids' meltdowns subside now that we are home and back to our regular schedule.

Drew learned a lot of new words while we were on vacation and is talking consistently in two and three word sentences. Some of our favorites are "ice cream cone" (which he asks for several times a day), "beach, dig" and "Thank You Mommy."

We will post more with some of the highlights of the trip and little things we learned that might make taking a CI child to the beach just a bit easier.

Music Appreciation?

Drew continues to amaze us.


We decided to take the kids to the Zoo on Sunday. It wasn't a planned trip, but we woke up and had eaten breakfast by 7:30 am, and decided that we needed to come up with a fun activity for the day. The Zoo is always a great choice because it is "free" to get in to with our membership.


We quickly dressed, packed lunches and loaded the car. Drew's Dad and I were quietly talking in the front of the car as we pulled out of our neighborhood. As we continued to drive we heard Drew from his car seat saying, "Wiggle, Wiggle." We noticed that we did not have any music playing in the car. Isn't it amazing that Drew knew there was an absence of sound, and had the expressive language to tell us so?


We honored his request by turning on the CD player. The Doodlebopps began playing, and Drew's Dad and I continued our conversation until we heard Drew saying, "Mama, No. No. No." Drew knew within five seconds that the CD playing was not The Wiggles and was using his expressive language to tell us that this was not the CD he wanted to listen to! I find this very interesting on two levels: 1. There is little known about how a cochlear implantee "hears" music, because of the way the implant electrically stimulates the auditory nerve, but clearly Drew could instantly recognize that the music was NOT something the Wiggles sing; 2. Drew is clearly developing an auditory memory for music, simply by listening to it in a noisy car.


We changed the disc in the CD player to The Wiggles and Drew was finally happy, listening to The Big Red Car as we headed for the Zoo.

Being at the Zoo, the fun continued. We heard Drew say the word "elephant" for the first time. He also said "duck", "bye, bye" as we would leave each animal exhibit, he growled when we saw the tigers and pointed to his ear to indicate that he heard the lion's roar. (The lion was roaring like crazy. This was the first time I have heard a lion's roar in person and it was rather scary!)

Another fun day with Drew and his Sister. This technology never ceases to amaze us. Drew never ceases to amaze us.

How Do You Spell Disaster?

M-O-V-I-E!


Drew's Dad and I (well, me, actually) had the brilliant idea to take Drew and his Sister to their first movie this weekend. We thought that Wall-E would be an excellent movie to see with them. They enjoy animated shows, Pixar has an excellent reputation for animation and the movie is only an hour and a half long. It had been raining all day, so why not?


Sure, it started off well. Drew and his Sister really enjoyed sitting in their chairs, snacking on some popcorn and sipping their juice boxes.

They even enjoyed watching the opening previews. The highlight was when Drew started saying "cheese", "squeak, squeak" and "oh, no" over and over at the preview of The Tale of Despereaux Mouse. He was enjoying every minute of the trailer. (Maybe we should take him to see that movie instead?)

From there, it pretty much went down hill. The kids didn't want to sit in their seats, insisting on standing in the aisle. Then, they were hanging on the backs of the chairs in front of us, disturbing others. They started fighting over the bag of popcorn. Drew wanted to walk down the aisle of the movie theater, running into other movie watchers. He protested with one of his loud screams when I kept him in our seating area. Drew's Sister decided that she needed "to go potty." By the time Wall-E actually took the screen, we had about had it, and when Drew screamed at the top of his lungs, "Ma Ma, Hi," I had had enough and escorted him from the theater.

Drew's Dad and Sister stayed and enjoyed much of the movie, although she became restless at the end, wondering where I had gone. They left with ten minutes to go and did not see the end of the movie.

Drew and I spent the time wondering around the lobby of the movie theater. It turns out that you can actually use the lobby of a movie theater for learning to listen exercises:

• "Drew," while pointing to the movie poster for HSM2, "where are the girls shoes? Where are her eyes? What is this?," while pointing to a characters' hair. We spent a good five minutes identifying body parts on this poster.
• Drew met "The Hulk." There was a large statue of him in the lobby. Drew was a little nervous of it at first, but warmed up after a few minutes. Now, he can give the Hulk high five, and can point to his toes.
• Drew also knows Batman, although he calls him, "Bad Man." It is quite funny.

While in the lobby I saw a woman walk up to the customer service desk and ask for an assistive device. Thinking that she was hearing impaired I waived my hand at her and said, "Is that a listening device?" I explained to her that I was curious as to how it works, since my son is deaf. She explained that it was actually a device for the blind that describes the action in the movie, which helps her since she is legally blind. As we spoke I learned that she and her husband work for a not-for-profit organization that advocates for the deaf and blind. They worked with the theater to bring these devices to Columbus.

So, I guess the evening wasn't a total wash, but considering that I only saw about two seconds of the movie, I wouldn't call it a fun, relaxing evening. We will attempt to take the kids to the movies again, but it might be a good year from now! Oh, and I have to acknowledge AMC. The receptionist saw me walking around with Drew for so long that she gave me two passes to see a movie at a later date (which Drew's Dad and I will attend sans the kids). How nice is that?

First Hearing Birthday

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy First Hearing Birthday Drew! This year has been more than I ever hoped for. It has been more than I ever dreamed or imagined. My little boy can hear. My little boy can talk. It truly is a miracle, and I give thanks for the gift of hearing each day.

As I celebrate Drew's first hearing birthday I would like to thank those that have played a part in making this such a wonderful year for Drew and our family. Drew's surgeon, audiologist and therapists have all been an amazing source of education and support. To all of the families of other children with hearing loss, we thank you for your friendship. We share an amazing bond as a result of this experience.

Most importantly, thank you, Mom. You have learned so much about hearing loss and auditory verbal therapy over the past year, it is just amazing. Not only this, you have used everything that you have learned with Drew and you have educated me. You tirelessly chauffeur Drew from therapy to therapy (allowing me to continue to work). You do activities and work with Drew on his language skills daily. You are a large part of his success, so thank you for working so hard to help our little boy maximize his gift of hearing.

We look forward to year two of hearing with our little boy.

Wii Are Learning Language

When we purchased our Wii a couple of months ago, we had no idea how much Drew and his sister would enjoy watching us play games! And we had no idea how many language opportunities our video game playing would present.

For instance, when we say, "Drew, do you want to drive?," he runs to the credenza, pulls the doors open and grabs the steering wheels, all while saying "drive, drive," over and over again. We can tell him exactly who to give the steering wheels to, and he will oblige.

Then, he'll start saying, "chair, chair" over and over, while walking to the dining room and pushing a chair into the living room. Drew knows that his Daddy likes to sit in an upright chair while playing the Wii.

We're currently enjoying the Mario Kart game, complete with the Moo Moo Meadows track, where we can review animal sounds. Now when we ask what track we should drive, Drew will say, "Moo," so we know he wants us to drive the course with the cows! We enjoy saying, "Ready, set, GO!," as a family at the start of each race. Drew will say, "Uh oh," every time I fall off of the track, which happens quite a bit. And each time Drew's Dad earns another trophy, Drew claps his hands while saying, "Yeah, Daddy!"

I never thought life would feel this normal. When you're told that your child is deaf and will need a cochlear implant, followed by years of therapy in order to maximize their hearing, you have this picture that your entire life will be spent in a therapists office as they work to catch the child up. And while it is important to have the formal therapy, we have found that there are plenty of language opportunities in our everyday activities. It is great because it allows Drew to learn to listen and talk while enjoying all of the things that we enjoy doing as a family. Wii are all having a lot of fun.

Amazing

Our bedtime routine around here is rather strict, as we try to bathe, dress, read to, sing with and put two toddlers to bed at the same time. While Drew's Dad gives the bath, I assemble the "jammies" and diapers, lay out the outfits for the coming day, pick up the kids rooms, etc. As the bath ends, Drew's Dad takes care of getting Drew ready for bed, while I attend to Drew's Sister.

Every night, for as long as I can remember now, Drew's Sister will run into Drew's room after getting her jammies on to give Drew a good night kiss. Recently, Drew's Sister has been rather slow at putting on her jammies, in an attempt to extend her bedtime. Well, apparently Drew really enjoys his nightly kiss from his sister, as he started calling her, by NAME! He said her name nearly perfectly, calling her to his room. After saying her name each time he would make a kissing sound.

Drew's Sister responded by running as fast as she could to Drew's room. She looked at Drew and said, "Drew!!! You said my name. That's amazing! That's sooooo amazing."

Drew now calls for his sister on a regular basis. If he wakes from his nap before her, he starts calling her name and walking around the house looking for her. If she's not in the same room with him, he begins calling her name and looking for her. As soon as he sees her, he starts saying her name over and over. Hearing him say his sisters name is priceless and something that, at one point, I thought might not be possible.

This is my most favorite thing he can say. At least at this point!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sis!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sis! Thank you for being such an excellent language model for me, helping me put my coils back on and for practicing my learning to listen sounds with me. You are a huge part of my success. Love, Drew

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday that I was (enormously) pregnant, anxiously anticipating her arrival. Now I'm celebrating her birthday...for the third time.

Do All Babies have CI's?

I was having a conversation with my daughter over dinner the other night that took a funny turn.


"Were you ever a baby like Drew," I asked her, curious of her answer.

"Yes. I was a baby. Now I a big girl," she said. Then she continued the conversation, taking it in a direction I never imagined. "And I wore CI and CI hat like Drew, when I was a baby."


I sat looking at her, thinking about the innocence in her answer and began to smile. She was so sweet and really thought that she used to wear a CI, a hat like Drew and that all babies apparently wear CI's, and then out grow them!

So, we had a conversation about how she never needed a CI because she could always hear with her ears, that Drew's ears did not work and that Drew will have to wear a CI when he is her size and even bigger. I wish everyone had the innocence of a child.

Mama Had a Baby and His Ears Popped Off!

The list of things that I thought I would never say just got longer.

I took the kids to The Center of Science and Industry for the first time today. We had a great time playing in the Bob the Builder and Water exhibits, eating lunch and taking in an electric light show. I think we will be frequenting COSI a lot over the coming years.

We happened to be walking by an exhibit hall just as a show was beginning. It was a show all about holiday lights, which I new my daughter would enjoy. We went in, took our seats in the front row and the show immediately began.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Welcome to the Holiday Lights Extravaganza. This is the biggest and loudest show COSI has to offer!"

Oh no. The loudest show COSI has to offer? I knew a loud show would not be good for Drew. What would I do if the loud noises scared him?

The scientist went on to explain that she would tell us to cover our ears before she made any of the loud, exploding noises. I decided that I would just pop off Drew's coils when she indicated to the audience to cover their ears. I then made sure my daughter knew how to cover her ears, so she would not be scared while I was tending to Drew.

The show was very fun, and neither child was scared of the loud sounds, mainly because Drew never heard them. Problem avoided. We watched Rudy the Reindeer ride a bike to power Christmas Lights, saw Snowmen light up with the help of liquid nitrogen and learned why Ralphie's tounge stuck to the pole in A Christmas Story. It was fun.

On the way out, the scientist commented how well my two little ones did with the loud noises. Without thinking, I looked at her and said, "Oh, it was easy. She's good at covering her ears, and I just popped his ears off so he wouldn't hear the noises."

As I walked away, I laughed. "Popped his ears off." Too funny. I wonder what she was thinking.