auditory memory

I feel that Kevin has had a huge bump in his language the past few weeks! I am sure it directly correlates to his last mapping, but it is so much fun to hear him talk up a storm using proper grammer, syntax, and clear(er) articulation! Something very exciting happened today, though, that brought tears to my eyes! This was one of those true 'CI moments' for me, as a Mom.

Kevin was in music class this morning and, as usual, was walking around the room rather than sitting in my lap. The teacher was talking about auditory memory and she wanted to show us this through the use of singing 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'. She would have us sing a phrase and then hold her hands to her mouth during the next phrase instead of singing it so that the kids would hear the song in the head rather than hear us singing it. I wasn't sure how much Kevin was paying attention because at that time he was more focused on things in the room rather than the teacher, but when she put her hands to her mouth, Kevin waited for the next phrase and then filled in the blank for her! For instance, we would sing, 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' and Kevin would conclude with 'Ran up the water spout' once he realized no one was singing it. His auditory memory seems to be great! Also, I was impressed with how much he was paying attention without seeming like he was. It was great, my little boy who is deaf was helping fill in the blanks to the song!

He also did a very good rendition of 'Wheels on the bus' tonight. At his school, they were singing the verse about the baby crying and saying 'wah, wah, wah' to work on 'w' sound. He perfected it in his song tonight and actually said the entire verse perfectly clear.

I know that their language comes in peaks and then levels off and then peaks and levels off.... and we are really enjoying this climbing to a peak. I feel like Kevin is on his way to a completely different level right now!

Swtiching to BTEs? Maybe not now...

So, the skelaton earmolds arrived in the mail and I was anxious to try them out with the BTE setup. I just used the earmolds (not the wigtape) with his BTEs and they stayed on 'OK'. I feel like they flop off easier then when I use the babyworn setup and a huggie. It was a little discouraging because I don't seem to have any problems with the babyworn set-up. Maybe I'll go back to having my Mom sew pockets on his undershirts for the Fall and Winter and revisit the BTE in the Spring. It is so easy to just have a small earpiece on his head, so maybe I'll keep to that for a while. I just thought it would be nice to have him hear while being naked and not have to rely on special shirts. He is potty trained now, so I don't want him in a onesie... maybe a regular undershirt will work ok.
Kevin, however, LOVED the new earmolds! He wanted to take them to bed because he felt like he got a new toy. He was so sad when we told him he couldn't sleep with them. I wasn't expecting that reaction!!!

His speech is getting better and better each day! His language is just amazing, and the clarity is getting improving. He hit his head and said 'ouch' just as I would. I looked at my husband with eyes of disbelief and he smiled (thinking I was amazed he hit his head) and then it dawned on him how well he said 'ouch'. Yes... we will never take speech for granted with him!

latest mapping

Kevin had his latest mapping appointments last Wednesday and Thursday. We split the appointment up into 2 days (one day for each ear) just to make it easier on Kevin. Sitting still for 3 hours and concentrating the entire time just doesn't do it for him! It works out so much nicer to only map one ear each day. He did awesome! He was consistently hearing across the board between 15-20db on each ear. The higher frequencies jumped to 25db, but with the new mapping, hopefully those will go down too. We didn't do a hearing test with both ears due to my wiggly boy, but we can assume it would be better than the individual ear tests. The great news is that Kevin's ears have stabilized enough to have the next mapping session 6 months out. We have been going every 3 months, but now we can start going every 6 months. I feel like Kevin is getting to be one of those 'older kids' that I always looked to when we went to the implant center. I used to be the parent with confusion on my face, fear in my eyes, and a little baby struggling to keep his implants on. Now, Kevin walks in the office like he owns it, talks non-stop to the audi and the staff there, and I feel so much more at peace with everything. I love being on this side of things! If anyone is reading this blog who is just starting their journey.... you will be at this place before you know it! Trust me!!!

Anyway, Kevin continues to do great! He said a 10 word sentence tonight. 'Teacher stop reading her book, so we go in class now?' He was referring to his gymnastics teacher who was reading a paper before his class started. He said this immediately after she put the paper down. Nothing gets by this kid anymore!!!

Baseball

Tonight, Kevin said baseball! He has been omitting his initial and mid-word 's' sound for a while, and we have been working with him on saying them. He can get them if he really works at it. For some reason, the ending 's' sound comes much more naturally to him. He is even saying some plurals.

Well, tonight he was looking at a baseball and he kept calling it a bay-ball. I worked with him to get him to say bay-s-ball and finally he was able to say baseball so perfectly well! It flows off of his tongue very naturally now! Hooray! Maybe this will be a start of the 's' sounds...! Let's hope every 's' word doesn't take as much work... but at least he is starting to say them!

It is very fun conversing with him now. I understand him most of the time and he is a little chatterbox! He has a lot to say and he uses full sentences to speak. He is turning into a big boy right in front of me!

banana

I haven't posted in a while, but things are going well these days. Each day, Kevin's clarity seems to be improving. He has started some patterns of omitting initial or final sounds, but even that is getting better. Today, we were looking at a book and he saw a picture of a banana and said the word as clear as day! He didn't say 'nana' or 'bana' or anything else he was previously saying, he said 'BANANA'. I made him repeat it about 10 times! To me, this means that his tongue is really starting to work in his mouth. I am very encouraged by this.

Now, if we can only get those 's' sounds when he talks in sentences!!! That will be our next breakthrough..... :)

Talking in bed

I used to comment that my older son (hearing) learned to talk in his crib. He would stay up for a long time just talking and 'reading' to himself after we put him to bed. That is where he would try out different expressions and words. Kevin never did that. I figured that he just thought bedtime was silent time.

Today, however, he figured out that bedtime is a time for talking too! Remember, Kevin can't hear while in his bed, but he has decided to take up talking himself to sleep too. We always leave a few books in his crib and today, while trying to take a nap, I heard him 'reading' Go Dogs Go. He would say, 'Big Dog, Little dog, Go Dog Go, etc'. It was really cute!

I don't know if his auditory memory is getting better or he has just decided to talk to himself in his crib, but either way it is fun to hear. I figure, the more he talks, the more practice he gets, and the better his language skills will be. (not that he needs to talk any more than he already does.....! He is NEVER quiet!)

Anyway, I just had to share how fun it is to hear your deaf child read to himself in bed!

Kevin can hear while swimming!

Kevin swam with his ears on for the first time today! We 'waterproofed' them using the Aloksak bag and a lycra swim cap. Kevin hasn't been interested in using this technique for a while, but I just bought a lycra swim cap today and thought I would give it another try. He initially didn't want it on, but his brother tried on the whole get-up first. Kevin decided that it wasn't so bad and he liked it! He actually heard while swimming!!! I was sooooo excited!

I sang 'motorboat, motorboat' and 'Sally the camel' and played 'marco polo' with him. I never thought I would be able to communicate with him like this while he was swimming. This has now opened up so many doors for Kevin in regards to water activity. It will make our trips to water parks more enjoyable, going to the beach (lake, ocean, etc) easier, and of course, swimming much more fun! Not to mention how much easier his swim lessons will be!!!

I guess I should really enjoy this because I know there will be a time when he doesn't want to look different from everyone else. Being that he is only 2, he doesn't really care right now. Hopefully, by the time he does care, hearing in the water will outweigh his self consciousness about his look.

I don't think I have been this happy about anything related to his cochlear implant since he was activated. This was a breakthrough day!!!