Exciting progress

I am quickly finding out that the development of language with a cochlear implant child is similar to the development of everything else of a child. There are times when it seems like nothing is changing and then all of a sudden, boom, so many new skills are acquired! After being in a few weeks of non-changing, this last week (and specifically weekend) have been so much fun to witness. I'll write about this after I tell you about our weekend:

We flew down to Legoland last weekend and unfortunately, Kevin started to get a runny nose the morning of the flight. After landing and taking a nap in the car, he woke up looking very pale. He seemed to have lost his sense of balance. He couldn't stand or walk! It was very scary and I took him to the doctor and they said he had a slight ear infection, but most likely it was due to fluid in his middle ear. Hopefully this isn't a recurring theme with him....!

We had a great time at legoland and took advantage of the disability program they have there. It is kind of like a fastpass at Disneyland and lets you cut in front of the line. I thought I would feel more guilty about using this, but it is the little perks in life that keep you happy.

Anyway, on to Kevin's progress. He now says 'doggy' and I think he said 'grand-pa' today in the bathtub. I'll have to keep my ear out for that one again. He also clicks his tounge on command. I am really happy about that one because it means he is doing something different with his tongue and that will help with his expressive language. We were at a loud restaurant yesterday and Kevin was acting up, so I put my finger to my mouth and said 'shhhh'. He repeated it back to me! He said 'shhhh'. I can't believe he heard that with all the background noise! He also fake sneezes by putting his head back and then pushing it forward and saying 'sh' at the end like the end of a sneeze! :) I love that one! He also pants like a dog when he sees one and says 'ha' for hot when something is hot.

The most impressive thing happened today! I was having breakfast with Kevin and Ethan and doing the typical morning conversation and the toaster oven dinged. Kevin put his finger to his ear and looked at the toaster oven as if to say, I heard that! He then wanted me to go over and get the waffle out. He also got up and went to his changing table today when I said 'you have a poopy diaper, let's change it'. He is understanding soooo much! I love it!

As you can tell, this is a very happy day for me. I love to see the progress in his hearing!

Bye-Bye

Kevin finally said bye-bye today! He always waves when someone says 'bye-bye', but today in therapy we were really working on getting him to say it and he finally did! It was a very breathy 'bu-bu', but at least he knew what he was saying. We are on our way to the verbal world!!! Yea! One thing a having a deaf child teaches you is to stop and enjoy EVERY bit of the language learing process.

How well can he hear?

Most people ask how well can Kevin hear with the cochlear implant? Today, I think I have a great example of just how well he can hear and it is only 4.5 months post activation! We were swinging on a swing today at the park and another girl was swinging sitting the opposite way from him. There was the typical park noise and I was saying my typical 'swing high' and 'wheeee' sounds. The man pushing the girl (behind Kevin) ask his little girl for a 'high five'. As soon as he said that, Kevin turned around and held up a hand to give him a high five!!!! I was sooooo excited!

Also, last weekend at a 4th of July family event, there was a lot of comotion with all the kids running around and we asked Kevin where his belly button was. Kevin was standing about 10 feet from us and he pointed to it. Then we asked him where was Matthew's belly button (cousin) and he walked over and pointed at Matthew's belly button.

These are just some of many examples I am coming across that show just how great Kevin can hear!!!

On the expressive language update, today Kevin saw a cotton puff that we play with and he started saying in a very breathy tone 'pu, pu, pu'. He was really trying to say puff!!! He also tried to say 'that'. When I hand him something I make him say 'I want that' and then he has to repeat it to get it. This enforces the use of his voice and teaches him that his voice is powerful. Anyway, when he said it, there were distinct words and it almost sounded like he said 'that'. Pretty cool!!!

His receptive language has really skyrocketed, so I am assuming his expressive will not be that far behind!

Mapping

Kevin just had his 3 month post activation mapping session today. He did fantastic!!! He heard down to 20 db and was consistent between 20 and 30 db across all frequencies. Some of hte soudns were so soft, I had a hard time hearing them! I can't believe how well he is hearing. What an incredible baby!!!

Everyone is so proud of how well he is doing. He was a very antsy little guy, but my Mom and a friend were there to distract him. At least he was in a good mood and not fussy. They didn't change the maps much, so that is a good sign that he was hearing pretty close to normal before this session.

Long day... I'm beat!

Realizing he is different

Kevin is starting to realize that he hears differently from other people. I knew this day would come, but I didn't realize he would start to understand at 14 months! Yesterday, he walked over to Ethan and touched his ear and pulled it back to check. Then he walked over to my ear, pulled it back and checked mine. Then he felt his and touched his processor. Seeing things like this is when it hits me with a ton of bricks that yes, he is deaf. I have a tendency to forget at times and then I see or hear something that brings me back to reality and it makes me sad. We had a big waterslide up this weekend and I put Kevin on it, but he doesn't like to be without his 'ears', so he didn't want to be on it. Then, I see other kids his age just crawl around on it having fun, and I think this isn't fair. But, that is life and we have to take what we have.

On a positive note, the technology still continues to amaze me and Kevin's progress does as well. He now points to his ear when he hears something and then points to the sound. That amazes me! I can't believe that he can do that already! As sad as I get at times, I am constantly encouraged at how well Kevin is doing and how close he is to his hearing peers in speech and language development.

The other day Ethan was walking around banging pot lids together. Kevin grabbed 2 and started joining him. There was so much racket in the house, but I loved it!!! You know why? It was great to see that Kevin wanted to join in because he could hear how much fun Ethan was having. Yea!!!

more words

I just had to update the list of words that Kevin now can say. In addition to the last post, he also says Ehtan, open and when he saw a banana, he said 'b'. It is so much fun seeing him learn language! I completely took for granted that Ethan would learn to talk and never really took time to watch him develop his language skills. Now that I know what a miracle it is for Kevin to even be able to talk, I am enjoying every minute of it!
We went to the Audi yesterday to get a re-map, but the computer system went down from a recent move, so we had to reschedule for next week. But, they did manage to get a booth test in and Kevin was hearing at 30db. We think he can hear better, but he had a terrible cold when they tested and he wasn't the most cooperative.

Kevin got a new replacement controller because there was a crack in the other one. I originally liked it better than the old one because the design made it a little easier to use, but now I think it might be too easy to push the buttons and Kevin might have turned it off during a diaper change by laying on the button. I'll have to keep my eye on that and see if it happens again.

3 Month Progress

It is amazing that only 3.5 months has passed since Kevin was activated! He is making such incredible progress. I am soooo proud of him! To date, he listens and understands much of what I say. He can follow simple tasks such as: stop and turn around, on your bottom, go get that, etc. He also says 5 words!!! He can say more, moon, up, ball, and bird. While they are not perfectly clear, he is defiinitely saying them! How can this be possible after only hearing for such a short time? Cochlear implants are truly miracle technology! Life is somewhat normal now with the exception of twice weekly therapy and constant talking on my part. Kevin is starting to let us know if one of the coils fall off, so that means he really likes sound more than quiet.

So far so good with everything. Keivn is a hard worker and he is proving to everyone that this disability will not be a set-back for him!
I'll try to update more frequently...