Reading Lips

First, I got another call from the principal today......ugh! We are working on B's behavior which is good for the most part, she only got one check mark this week!! but then she can snap and uh oh! We will work on the issues at hand and keep her in her seat, hands to herself, and be respectful! But tonight...a funny story. I know Gage is an awesome speech reader, however his skills become compromised as he hears better and better with his new ci's. I've also noticed a bigger difference in his speech the minute he removes them. I guess going months with no hearing I got accustomed to the missing R's and such but now when he takes his ci's off, his speech is a little slower, slurred at times almost like he says things but loses confidence at the end of his sentences. He still speaks perfectly but he feels less assured I think. So Mommy's noticed! Anyway, tonight I was watching the end of "The Lake House" since I've watched the whole thing before but I have never seen the last 30 min. It was on the Oxygen channel and when I told him what I was watching (post shower, no ci's) he said, "oh, okay". I assumed he got it. Then he says "why does it say this?" and pointed to the ad in the bottom corner that encouraged me to watched "Dance Your A** Off" ! haha, I showed him I was watching The Lake House by putting the title on the screen and he says "Oh, I thought you said Lady Cows, not Lake House." Just goes to shows, speech reading is hit and miss !! (Can you believe I'm mid thirty's and having to defend my obviously monitored TV time!)

my BIG girl

This year with both kids in school and independence necessary, I decided to keep these little cochlear cases in their backpacks at all times. What a lifesaver, let me tell ya. Already, they have been used by both children. One day as the bell rang for kids to be dismissed for school, Gage's Microlink became dislodged from his controller. As he was leaving the classroom the teacher (knowing how expensive they are) told him to just put it in his case until he got home for me to fix. So he did, at least for the time being and when he got on the bus, he was able to sit down, open his case, remove his processor so he could see it, put the Microlink back in (the little rubber part was in the way) and add tape and place it back on his ear, no problem!

Yesterday, when we were getting Brook ready for a shower, she said, "oh yea, let me show you something." She took off her processor and told me that her battery ran down on the bus (it was also a microlink) and she put the whole Microlink in her case, got a new battery cage as seen in the photo, put batteries in it and got her tape on all by herself....putting it back on her ear! My 5 year old independent girl! I was very impressed. And for your viewing pleasure....

that's her with her makeup on just before she puts on a show for me and her dad!

the deaf "kangaroo"

You can usually find Gage after school, releasing his ADHD ENERGY in the form of pretend play, usually involving animals that either run fast, hop fast or climb things. Today he was a kangaroo. Brook decided to do a "presentation" on the patio and I'm sorry that my camera ran out of batteries for that but I did catch her explaining to me why a kangaroo would need cochlear implants.


Yesterday the kids helped their Dad with a project they created in their own little heads. They decided that our cat Whiskers needed a cat box to sleep in so they put Dad to work! Now get in there cat! We did find her in there this morning (at her own will).

In other news, we decided to take Gage to a behavioral psychiatrist. No not what you think it is. We want to be sure that with his intelligence, his energy (ADHD), his hearing loss, and all that this little guy has been through in the last 8 years, all works to his advantage. We believe that all he has on his charts (medical and school) can certainly work together to benefit him in the end. So far we feel that they all have worked well, but this is just something I've been meaning to do for a year but with the infection last year, I gotta little side tracked. We hope to gain some knowledge and leave with ideas how to better manage his ADHD at home and to also use it to his advantage. He gets bored unless he's taking things apart or building something. So far he's limited himself to toys but I can only imagine as he outgrows toys, what he'll be wanting to take apart...so we need ideas to keep the little guy stimulated and not lose his creativity. The group I'm taking him to specialize in special needs/gifted/learning disabilities/behavior/ADHD, etc. and will surely keep us on the right track. My husband and I have to go first since he's under the age of 10 but after that initial meeting, they will see Gage.....more on that later.

...at ease

There are some things worth standing up for: and here are my two biggest reasons!

You won't hear me say "not my babies, they are perfect Angels..." but there are times when parents have to step in and make sure that ALL people who are responsible for these children when I'm not around, are doing everything in their power to keep them safe, teach them, and help them mature, grow and learn just like all the other kids are doing in their public school. I just have to say that it's wonderful to know you have a supportive principal, teacher and staff to keep things running smooth over the little bumps we may encounter. Even the school nurse called to ask me to give her more info on the kids and their cochlear implants. She's interested in even learning the different parts to the processors. "Of course I can come down one day and show you, we want you all to be very comfortable with the devices," I told her last week (don't you just love it).

Many of you are fighting battles, some seem more like wars with your schools, some are deciding to change schools and some are even homeschooling because of the massive amount of stress and "issues" that we deal with. I just feel 'at ease' with such a fabulous system we have in our area, and the people running the school here. Thank You!

Wow, Helen Keller!

I was reading Jamie Berke this morning and found this from Bill Cresswell. Please click to see. Amazing video of Helen Keller and it's captioned!

We had a funeral the other day...Brook left one of her stuffed animals outside and our dog, well um, let's just say he loves stuffed animals too. It was Mama Giraffe, and you can see here that she rests peacefully in our yard (what we could find of her) and Baby Giraffe did attend the funeral.
We are still getting used to school, and the rules, and I have to remind myself that not everyone is quite as understanding as our fabulous teachers and when we cross those people along the way, it is our parental responsibility to advocate and educate them, or they will leave our path no better than they arrived.

Don't Say "I love you"........

I have made a critical error, but I've learned my lesson! You don't announce to the third grade class that you love your child...OOPS! I could see immediately that this is highly inappropriate and I should have known better. When eyes cut quickly in my direction and Gage said "Hey!" I knew I had crossed the line. I even said to the teacher, "Oh, was I not supposed to do that?" and her response "NOOO!" haha. As you can see from the photo Gage helped Brook with her hair this morning (and it showed! lol). When I went to "adjust" the front of her hair, they both asked why because Gage already did that! Well, I said, "I'm just gonna fix her bangs right here." Gage responded with, "Yea, I had trouble there, I thought about cutting it..."

Also, the kids have a new "job". I got tired of hearing how certain things like not only getting them something to eat at their beckoned call, but also I've learned it was my job to deliver it to where they were sitting........so we are working on sharing household responsibilities.

Got Gage all mapped out yesterday, he behaved so well!!! He got two prizes. Both are using their FMs for the first time today, we'll see how that goes. The school hasn't ordered any batteries for them yet, so not sure how long they will continue working w/no batteries, but hopefully they will get that taken care of real soon *smile*.

And if there are any parents who want to write an article or help with a blog called "With Organized Chaos" let me know!! I need help with it. It's to help organize time better, save money, live healthier, a little of everything...teaching people how to organize their chaos so everyone is happier and life runs smoother. I have sort a "test" article up now but you can read it and get the idea.

and I felt sorry for her...

Last night as I was putting this sweet precious child to bed, we had one of those mommy/daughter moments. You know when she's had her shower, she tired, she's in her bed with all 36 of her stuffed animals, and we are giving our final good nights for the day... You see, she got her first (of many probably) check mark yesterday at school. So no TV. Which just kills the child 'cause even at five years old she has "her shows". She likes to come in after a long day of learning at school, prop her feet up, enjoy her snack in front of Dora/Diego/Max & Ruby, whatever happens to be on. But not this time, and due to her behavior when we left Melissa's house (the dreaded long car ride home) she couldn't watch TV yesterday either. Now Brook loves attention. And she does well with lots of positive praise. "Oh, I like the way you used nice words Brook. I love how you raised your hand." Those types of things and she can easily do a complete flip when doesn't get those praises. So we will reinforce her positive behavior with positive praise and she should straighten out soon. She has to earn her TV rights today and I think she will do so.

Back to my story... So I was putting her in bed, the usual routine and I was feeling a tad bit sorry for her, 'cause she'd had a rough day in her own little eyes. She stared into my face, watching me tell her goodnight (remember no hearing at night) and she watched me "mouthing" my "I love you's"...she watched me tell her in my unvoiced but exaggerated facials "be good tomorrow, you can watch TV". She's not typically a star lip reader but she manages and we are working on that. She held up her "I love you" sign, and I gave her one right back...It was hard for me to believe such a sweet and precious child can sometimes work as hard as she does for negative attention...but again, we are working on that. I hugged her tight and she smiled what appeared to be an innocent and tired little grin....but apparently she had me fooled! That was no innocent and tired grin, it was the evil grin of a sly child who had just fooled her mom into putting her to bed with her processors on. She enjoyed watching me in sound vs. silence and she shared her evil laughter with the whole house, 'cause she got me.

We're off to a MAPping for Gage, B's going to school, Gage will be late. HEAR Center, here we come!

VIPs

Here we are, part of the Deaf Village crew. Almost a year ago we were invited to the Chaikof's house (some VIPs in the hearing loss world). Last minute, we had to decline the invitation because Gage's infection kept getting worse, and the symptoms were unusual so we had no idea what we were dealing with at the time and I didn't feel comfortable leaving him behind to go on a road trip several hours away. When we heard that Elizabeth B. was flying in to spend a few days there, we took the opportunity to drive out of state and meet everyone.

I have to say, Elizabeth is so adorable and funny and smart. She has very ambitious goals, she's about to be back in school, she has her career well thought out and I'm sure she'll reach at least 9/10 of her goals (wink). She's really a funny gal and so polite and she and Rachel seemed like they've always been friends. You can almost picture their little sleep overs when they were younger, only they never knew each other til recently.

I took mom along for the long drive to help navigate and control behavior. She suggested we stop at a rest area mid way to walk the kids. So we did. That helped...some.

I have to tell you they were all wonderful people, I even got to meet Adam the middle hearing child. He hung with us for an hour and a half, before he retired to his room for his homework. Jessica is a doll! She along with big sis Rachel have bilateral cochlear implants just like my two children. Jessica was very patient with Brook and allowed her to play with her dolls and brush their hair. She kept the kids entertained the entire time. She was a BUSY girl. Just after the kids played for a while and got comfortable with each other, we all sat down to eat. Melissa is quite the hostess and provided not only a very nice lunch but dessert as well. And joining us for lunch was the famous Mary Ann who was THE AVT Rachel has written about and who has become a close friend to the family as well. Jessica told me all about her school which sounds fabulous and she's very excited to be in eighth grade now. I was pleased to get at least a decent first two hours out of the kids before it all hit the fan! When we got ready to leave I assured Jessica that I had the kids packed up and ready to stay with her for a while at Camp Jess. She's such a good little teacher, very patient (even though another child had their hands all over her stuff). I had hoped she would keep them for a few days and train them to be as quiet/calm/polite as she is. She said, "I'm in eighth grade, I have too much homework." So I had to take them back with me. I almost made it out before Elizabeth spoke and reminded me that I didn't have all of my children...

But just as we were ready to go, I think it was Elizabeth who suggested we ALL play a game of chase the Blakely kids. I wasn't really in the mood truth be known but we were guests and who are we to decline her ideas? I know it was the therapist in her that made her want to do some listening exercises while the child were in motion, increasing their distances from the speakers, and hiding in places no one could find them! Even Mary Ann the retired therapist couldn't escape the active game that seemed to never end. Here Rachel finally tackled one while Jessica got another only to escape again but after a 30 minute game of high speed chase that left everyone wearing sweat on their bodies and exhaustion on their faces, we wrangled both and got them in the car. I've never seen so many smiling faces as we pulled out of their drive way... they were happy we stayed to play that last game of chase with them. And yes guys, we had a great language expanding conversation on the way home. One child calmed down (the one w/severe ADHD at that) and one chose not to. She went straight to bed when we got home! **smile**

(possibly more later) I hated to leave you all hanging on who I got to meet up with, so I decided to spill the beans asap. I will say they are all very kind, laid back, very intelligent people and I'm so glad we had an opportunity to meet them. Rachel of course is ready to skip town again next weekend to begin her next adventure (she's so brave and ambitious as well).

Gage goes for mapping at the audiologist's office on Tuesday which he really needs and we'll get those FMs going in school. So far so good with school, had a great first week, let's hope it continues.

The Wise Owl

And the nursery rhyme goes (only I would leave out the old part!!!)

A wise old owl sat in an oak,The more he heard, the less he spoke;The less he spoke, the more he heard;Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?



I'm going to meet the owl tomorrow. This owl has earned the spot on the oak. It can perch for hours and always see what's around it with careful eyes looking in all directions. But even as beautiful as this owl may be, you always have to be aware of the claws, still sharp as knives no matter how long it sits in the tree.


But I'm also going to be on the lookout for this! You never know what's gonna blow up w/one of these babies! Better check the weather before I leave, I'm guessing these things move fast and could go in any direction!

I'll also get to see someone I know has plenty of these...

and I'm so excited to meet this lady who has a unique way of wearing shoes she's never owned!

Big Day Tomorrow

I will not be commenting on those who think they've solved this riddle, all I can say is I'm so excited about tomorrow!

Investigating/Interrogating

So I wanted to go meet the "new guy" on the block that serves as our area Cochlear Awareness Rep. when I heard he was in town to see if I could get the low down on "the goods". But knowing the seriousness of the situation, I called for my backup, Jennifer A. Rumors have been flying of some "better stuff" hitting the streets soon under the code name of Nucleus 5. Jennifer went undercover and arrived in her workout clothes on her way "to the gym" (she's a genius) and even brought her four year old "prop" who was wearing some technology previous sold by an associate of this "new guy". She was already drilling the said New Guy to see if he had any information on "the goods" when I showed up late. He seemed to avoid questioning, which led us to believe he was either guilty himself, or withholding information. We took the tag team approach and when she finished, I began. One glance and I could tell he wasn't totally guilty. He was in fact armed with only his Freedoms. I checked to see if he had any other hidden technology over near his bag, and as his companion Red left the scene, I got down to business. Jennifer took the inquisitive approach, gathering initial information, playing the good girl **wink**. I came in fast, hard and strong, not giving him any chance to conceal information. "Can we get this here? It's all over the Internet, we want to know if someone having surgery in the next few months would have a shot at the 'good stuff'? Who, what, where, when?" We got a confession! He knew nothing. He said he wanted one too, and the company doesn't release all the information (even to employees) until it's FDA approved. So...I assured him AL had plenty of "techno junkies" that would be lining the streets for this "stuff". After a while, we let him go and released him with no charges pending.





In other news: thank you all for who are participating in the October Challenge, I walked straight up hill yesterday for quite a distance and now my legs are so sore I'm gonna have to do it again tomorrow just to stretch them out! You can still participate but you must send in your photos octoberchallenge@yahoo.com !


AND, my deaf child arrived safely home on the public school bus (his first time). I didn't notice the bus number when they dropped him off, I was too busy cheering and embarrassing him but he says I told him the wrong bus so they put him on that one he came home on...? I will look into that since I turned in the bus number that usually goes by here so I'll have to see. Brook won't start riding until Friday, her first full day of school. She's been getting out early all week since she's a kindergartner. I have a workshop to attend for substituting at the high school so it works out.

Angels Sing and the Devil Grins

No tears.........I was proud, of them and myself! I almost choked up when I was fixing B's hair this morning but I sucked it up, and off we went. I was a little nervous since this year there is a new principal. I didn't know this until two days ago. Ugh, was my first thought. You parents of special needs kids know that we always feel like we are starting over each year w/every new teacher, and to even think about having to begin all over with a new principal.....but we can't help retirement, it happens. As we entered the building, she (the new principal) was greeting everyone with a friendly "Hello". As we smiled, returned her greeting and walked on, I heard a "Oh, are these my cochlear implant kids?" Stop. About face. "Yes, these are the Cochlear Kids." The very friendly principal says "Oh, my grandson has a cochlear implant"...and the angels began to sing. Another one sent to us from above (we hope!). Right away I felt more at ease. We took Gage first to his third grade room, got the essential introductions out of the way, and headed out for the K. Gage had already prepped Brook on the way there about things like "Don't say bathroom Brook, it's restroom!" Good advice from someone who's been there done that. I got Brook all settled in, told her I'd pick her up at 11:30 since they let the K out early if they want, the first week...and we want! Brook promised to follow erections (unfortunately that's no typo-we are working on that one particular word where the /d/ is so important). As I took a deep breath and strolled back down the hall...alone...with no kids...the devil paid his visit in the form of a sly grin that I wanted to hide, but why bother?

I grinned my way on out the door to the two hours worth of errands I had to run, alone. The kids are begging to start riding the bus home this week, I was going to wait til next week but we may start early (Gage might, Brook will get out early all week).

I have more homework than ever, filling out papers for two kids instead of one. The nurse pulled me aside today and I chatted with her, which again, makes me feel at ease. Also I noticed on all the health paperwork, there were options under hearing loss where you can check hearing aids, or cochlear implant...didn't see BAHA or ABI anywhere but that'll change likely in the next few years if more people get those.

Picked B up and she had a great day, there was one child that flicked her coils off a time or two, but the teacher took care of that. I did speak to Brook's class upon her request and explained that she can't hear without her devices and I managed to keep it in three sentences and under this time, too much info confuses them. And when I finished a little boy says "What do we do with this folder?"......ah, so that went well I'd say, haha. So for our first day, it couldn't have went any smoother. The teachers are great, we have a really good school, regardless of how rural it is. They teach, and take care of my babies.

Almost there.......

oh we are almost there! The kids are....um, at least one of them, are going to bed by 8:30 now. The little rats will be dropped off first thing Monday morning (pray for the teachers) and believe it or not, I have stuff to do everyday, not a minute's break. But after that, who knows? I may have free time, I may be subbing some. The FMs are at school, waiting to be used, only they forgot batteries, but I feel confident they will indeed have batteries so that they can utilize these devices to hear pertinent information in the class.

AND if you haven't read BAMA EARS lately, go! fast! click here, great story....and just so ya know, Gage shared the diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome w/this little gal for years, til they changed Gage to Goldenhar Syndrome. Love this family, they are so great. And I have to say, there is so much info in there, read the whole thing...but there's stuff I never knew! And just 'cause I try to tell my husband I DO know everything, apparently I do not. Awesome job Julie...thanks.

Never Bored

This is what happens when I tell the kids to go play in their cabin while I cut grass. Gage proudly made Brook her own McDonald's. He simply took the doors off her kitchen that Santa brought her and attached them to the cabin to make her some type of pick up window and he's completing the project by installing a "grill" too where she can cook those patties. What am I gonna do with these two? They are never bored...they WILL find something to do. If you are keeping track, our school starts in THREE glorious days. FMs are there waiting, supplies will be purchased tomorrow, I am so...I mean, uh, they are so excited! Oh and if you didn't catch it on Facebook yesterday here's the copperhead I ran over. They are EVERYWHERE! My husband's ran over three in the same spot as where mine "accidentally" got ran over.

Yea, so excited....going to have coffee w/Cochlear next week, and a meeting at the school for substitutes...busy busy days ahead.

Thrift Store

Brook found a new baby (new to her) and a high chair (that was $0.59) and you see Gage already disassembling his finds only to reassemble in different ways to make the trucks better!

I started going to the thrift store years ago and if you've ever been to one of my presentations, you know I'm a huge believer in the good bargains you can find there. I used to find tons of bagged animals used for our at home therapy play (our AVT auditory verbal training)

for less than a dollar. One week I could get a bag of zoo animals, the next week maybe sea animals, pets, you name it they had it already in bags. The same goes for household toys for doll houses, instead of having to buy my SON a doll house I could buy a bag full of sofas, tables, chairs, etc. for cheap. All I had to do was come home and wash them (sterilize them!) and we could learn vocab/language and practice our AVT at home for weeks without HIM having to play with doll houses!

Now the kids are out of all that, and we still go, behavior permitting, several times a year and today we left with each child carrying a bag FULL of items and we spent $12.00! Gage got like 5 big trucks he's currently working on and Brook got lots of baby clothes for some of her kids, a car seat for one baby and high chair for another.

You know how some people get on these long drawn out stories and you sort of just half way listen, tune out the majority of it, hoping they won't find out you're not really listening? Well, one of my deaf children (G) can go on, and on, and on, sometimes and we do take that for granted at times and just tune out so our brains/ears can just rest for a minute. Today, on the way to the thrift store, he was telling some story that my husband and I thought had no ending, we tuned him out. He was in the front seat with my husband, I was in the back with Brook (we have to separate them, ADHD in the car can be dangerous, so he rides up front for safety reasons believe it or not!). He ended up getting distracted in his own conversation and then wanted to go back to what he was originally talking about...trouble is, not only did he not know what he was originally talking about, but my husband and I didn't either....we got caught not listening. But thanks to my other deaf child, bilateral Brook in the backseat, was able to tell us what Gage had originally began telling (which was amazing giving the time lapse and distractions!) so he was able to return to the never ending story....which eventually did end when we arrived at the thrift store!

and the countdown is on......

SIX MORE DAYS!!!!!! School, school, school. I've been calling Brook "Kindergartener" trying to get used to the whole idea...she doesn't want to go. She says "But what if I do something I'm not supposed to and I get in trouble..." I just told her that she'll learn the rules (and likely try to break everyone of them!) Gage's first year of big school was disasterous, I got phone calls almost weekly so I'm hoping that she learns them sooner than he did. I feel like Gage will do fine being only four months post activation. He still says "what and huh?" but alot of that is habit, alot of it is not. I'm hoping when he gets his FM system set up the second week of school, he'll be able to hear much easier over the background noise which is his biggest issue...but you mention under your breath that you're about to go to Wal Mart and he'll hear you three rooms away and come out with his socks/shoes, ready to roll! I'm confident he'll do well behavior wise though, he's maturing (some).

Here are some pictures from our weekend, Gage had some little "hotties" as he called them come visit. Brooklyn missed out, she had spent the night with my mom but noticed all of her babies had on different clothes upon her return the next morning...hehe. Anyway they had a ball and so did the adults. Also some pictures from today's visit with Cousin Ethan, even though he didn't feel very good, he had an earache...poor fellow.

Halloween...up for a challenge?

Okay, I have a challenge for you. I need and want to lose 15 lbs. I have no motivation to get started but I'm always up for a good challenge. So, if you need to lose weight, any amount but find yourself in the same boat I'm in, join me in the challenge! Send me a full body photo, (taken recently) without any editing, that would be cheating. You don't have to send me your weight but do include your goal (mine is to drop 15) and I'll check in on you guys from time to time between now and Halloween. If you reach your goal then I'll delete your photo, and you can send in a new one of yourself after losing the weight, or we can do before/after, you choose as the reward for losing weight. On Halloween, I'll post pictures of everyone who participated in the challenge and you'd better hope you've at least tried or my Halloween post could be very scary this year..........

send your photos and goals to : octoberchallenge@yahoo.com