Pizza and movie night

MAPping and Booth testing

Thankfully we were able to squeeze in a mapping this week because Sean's listening and attending was definitely declining.  Both his teacher and speech therapist noticed he wasn't listening as well, and it wasn't just because he is a "trying toddler!" It was time for a little tune/turn up by Sean's Audiologist, Mike.  Thankfully this mapping was painless and Sean didn't seem bothered by the "black cord" one bit!  Mike made the changes to Sean's programs and it was into the booth for testing.  It's amazing to watch Sean in the sound booth responding to sounds at 30db's.  The three new maps should hold us into the holiday season! 

Speech eval

The past two ST sessions with Barb consisted of our annual evaluation of Sean's speech, language, and listening.  He was given the "CASTLES" test, a Pre-school language scale for listening, language, and speech.  The other test was, the Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale, to determine language comprehension and language expression.
The results of these tests are based on a child's chronological age.  Since Sean's "CI hearing age is only 2 months", it's a bit tricky to to determine how well he is doing.  Overall, Sean's auditory comprehension and expressive communication skills are, "within the average range of functioning based on chronological age expectations!"  The Rossetti scale showed that Sean's language comprehension and expression are solid skills through 18-21 months; and scattered skills thereafter.
We know that Sean continues to require a lot visual cues to listen and does rely heavily on watching the speaker's mouth (lip reading).  We will continue to learn and use strategies and techniques to enhance Sean's listening and spoken language! 

Sick again?!!!

Poor Sean B. can't catch a break! On Wednesday of this week, Ms. Renee called and said that Sean was not attending to any sound and wasn't really himself. We attributed it to being tired from the weekend and the possibility that we needed to "turn his ears up," and move to the final MAP before we see Mike again. Moving him to map/program 4 made a big difference on Thursday. By Friday he sounded congested and by the evening it was all in his chest, making it hard to listen to him try and breath. ;( We had the cool mist humidifier and Vicks vapor flowing last night. It helped some, but I could tell he was very uncomfortable, waking every couple of hours.
This morning was spent at our new pediatricians office, who we really like by the way! Diagnosis: croup! After a Steroid and breathing treatment we were on our way still sounding pretty rough. Thankfully this only lasts a couple of days and he should be good to go for Monday!
I did take a video of him in the doctors office, singing "Five Little Monkey!"you can tell how hoarse the poor kid is. ;( Will upload when I get on my laptop!

Back to school...

Feels like we just got out of school! It's been an extremely busy summer, that's for sure! I couldn't imagine going through everything with Sean and his CI's during the school year! Talk about stressful! It also feels like just yesterday that I was chasing Sean around to put his ears on for the umpteen time!

I have to admit I was a bit nervous about school this year for Sean. I worried about having to teach and educate his teachers about his CI's. Both how to operate/troubleshoot the CI's, and how to best meet the needs of a deaf child who is just "learning how to listen" with this mew technology." In addition I worried about the new classroom acoustics, the fact that there are now 8 kids instead of 4. Then I begin to wonder about the Oral Preschool in Norfolk @ ODU for children 3+! Should we consider looking into that program for when we transition out of Early Intervention (EI) and into the public schools with an IEP? I'm a mom, I'm supposed to worry, but damn I don't need the added stress! ;)
Thankfully Sean is one smart cookie and will do just fine at Barefoot. Plus he will be with big brother Blake for another year!

Asking for ears!

Sean: "Ears?," while looking around the room.

What a wonderful way to start the day with your deaf child asking for his CI's aka "ears."  Today Sean woke up a bit early, 6:10 to be exact, and climbed into our bed.  Sam was on his way out the door for work and I was in bed checking email on my laptop.  Sean wanted his ears so he could hear his favorite movie!! Sean's "moustache" obsession is a bit much, but it helps me finish getting ready for work by letting him watch The Lorax for a few minutes.

Labor Day weekend!

This Labor Day weekend we traveled to Poppy's water house, aka, Petit Tresor!  Blake was in heaven, crabbing, kayaking, fishing!  Sean enjoyed the new sights and sounds (osprey, crabs, waves crashing on the rocks), on the Miles River.

Concussion

Talk about scary...Blake and a buddy collided into each other at a pool party and Blake unfortunately fell backward nailing his head hard on the ground. After a little confusion, ice to head, drowsiness, and finally throwing up, we headed to the ER. Blake was such a big boy as he underwent a CT scan in the "big donut!" Thankfully his scans came back clear of any further damage and we were told to have him lay low for the next 7-10 days. What would be an ER visit without having Sean join in on the "fun?' This same day Sean had been running a temp of 103 and just looked miserable. His fever wouldn't budge and he messed with his ears a bit. Being that it was a Saturday we opted to play it safe and make sure he didn't have an ear infection! Thankfully his ears were clear and whatever he had was viral! Both boys seemed back to themselves towards the end of our long ER wait. They both scarfed down pizza since we had not eaten dinner!