He Felt It

Check out his arm, he's been drawing! He wants people 2 think they're real...yep permanent marker.

We grilled out with friends yesterday...

Brook got mad for some reason and cried...no surprise...

Brook sneaking up on him, he had no processors on as he washed his 4 wheeler...

Just prior 2 taking this photo, Gage was out by himself and I was just watching him from my kitchen window, he had his back 2 the road as he scrubbed away mud from his quad...an extremely loud truck drove by and I knew he couldn't hear it...however he felt it...he raised up, looked around on the ground (instead of @ the road) and he seemed confused for a minute but then continued 2 wash his 4 wheeler

Christmas in the air

Here is the stocking cloud the kids found one morning on the way to school and I reminded them that we couldn't be buying anymore toys til after Christmas, and this was Santa's little reminder.

We put our tree up this morning and love the language/speech opportunities. So far today we've corrected the word 'ormamets' to the correct term ornaments while changing last years 'hookers' (lol) to ornament hooks. So many seasonal words we'll work into our vocab and language opportunities we'll take advantage of again this year such as mistletoe, reindeer names, fun little Christmas songs, and the list goes on and on and on. It's funny how this year Gage's list is so detailed as opposed to Lego's he's named exactly in detail what he wants. Guess what else is on his list (at the top of the list as a matter of fact)...several thrift store toys that he can take apart and use as parts for his customized creations. Only my kid would want thrift store toys for Christmas, lol. He also made Brook's list out and she named things like house shoes, and I also heard her say at one point, "okay that should be enough Gage" and there were only like five things listed, wow aren't we lucky?

**update: I just viewed those lists, we are not lucky, Gage has also a TV and a mini-fridge on his list?? lol...but it's mostly stuff like silly string, frisbees, door knob for his bedroom (he removed his) and also when I questioned the "screwless kitchen" on Brook's list he replied, "well, I wouldn't take it apart if it didn't have screws"

University of Montevallo

For those students at the University of Montevallo, here he is (no matter what he said about his little sister tonight) blowing her toes after he's just painted them (this pic is only a couple of months old)...

I'm very proud of little man, tonight he gave his first "presentation" to the up and coming Deaf ed and speech pathology majors at a college here in Alabama. And I BARELY GOT  A WORD IN EDGEWISE at certain times...his story telling has come a long way over the years, these days his stories never end sometimes (lol). You may have noticed me trying to 'butt in' on occasion and change the subject when he spoke for more than five minutes but there's good reason. I was nervous. You mamas can feel me on this one...when your kids get to telling stories about home events, home life and then out pops something so random and unexpected that your embarrassed to death...that was my fear. I've been so enthralled with a child's story before only to be blindsided with  a "you remember that mama, when you said you didn't like the neighbor's kids" or something like that (which may or may not have been true, depends on if the neighbor ever reads this, lol) But you get the idea, I was so afraid he'd get carried away on the subject and throw in a random, "like when I saw you in your bra" type thing so I was only trying to stop that before it happened! Luckily, he's maturing and no such story was exploited. Had a great visit with the college students, thank you for letting me come by and visit. I appreciate your questions and Gage is hoping to come back next year to speak with the next year's students! Topics Gage discussed, speech reading, school, self advocacy...topics I discussed, language opportunities, IEPs, audiology, siblings with cochlear implants/deafness, resources, parenting, history, Goldenhar syndrome, and much more I'm sure.
p.s. he loves the Legos thanks for offering a reward, he was expecting nothing though, he talks for free! lol, it's a hobby of his

So this is where we are now...

So after years of teaching these two to listen and then repeat exactly what we say...

we are now at a place that they can listen and process, change and then repeat what information will irritate the other one...

Today I tell Brooklyn, "Go tell Gage that Home Alone 3 will be on in five minutes"   one of his favorites.

She smiles like the devil an angel and goes into his room to say, "Mama said Home Alone 3 comes on in an hour" hoping he'd miss it.

That's what little sisters are for!

But I will say that last time this was on, Gage may have been not hearing at the time, I don't remember if he had his new ci's or not...but I just overheard him telling Brook about all the booTy traps this little boy has set during the movie. I did tell him the difference between booty trap vs. booby trap.

Gage has been working on his Christmas list(s) and spent most of the morning screen shopping online, he's picked out several $300+ riding toys that he wants. Oh, not to ride, for crying outloud...TO TAKE APART! And this is why it's just best for him to shop at yard sales and thrift stores.

Lack of Updates

The lack of updates is due to my crazy keyboard...takes me like 15 min to write a sentence or two, I will get a new one asap...

I've been subbing a lot this week and thankful for each day I get to go in. I love being around all the kids and seeing how different they all are and how individual each kid is. One kid said to me "Gage has tiny ears!" very matter-of-factly in which I quickly responded "and yours are big..." lol but then he laughed and said, "my daddy's ears are HUGE"...we talked about how ears come in different sizes...Gage was busy with a handwriting assignment and he never looked up...he must have missed that conversation or he is just used to it because he never mentioned it to me. The boy was not being ugly at all, he simply made an observation and stated a fact...no big deal at this point. Gage only lost 2  lbs since starting ADHD meds which is fine, he continues to thrive and do well on Concerta. He and I will go to U of Montevallo Monday to talk to the speech-language class. More later.

The Presentation

I'm going to have to keep this brief, my keyboard has went haywire...takes me a minute to type 1 sentence! The EI presentations went well, some therapists came up to me afterwards to tell me I should go into speech pathology...I smiled and said "I've had great 'teachers'"...a mom w/a CP kiddo told me she thought I was great at what I was doing, she was warned that she might make me cry, she saw tears. If I can encourage even 1 person, it is  worth me standing up there w/nothing but life for credentials.

I met some cicircle members: Maria and blogger Lisa , I love meeting all the families I connect w/online. Lisa  & I discussed which one of us loved a mutual friend Jennifer the most. Since I was "the veteran mom" I let her win (lol) but if  Lisa Lilly's mom had been there she would have really taken the cake because Jennifer is running on Lilly's behalf in the Mercede's Marathon to benefit The Bell Center where Lilly attends. Betty Bell herself was at my presentation again (click here for my first encounter w/this living legend) and she  actually said she learns something from me each time she comes, WWOOOOWW!!  I'm in awe that I even get to participate! Thank you all for attending.

Gage will go w/me next week to talk to students at the U of Montevallo...so exciting! Thank you Tamara for the hook-ups and for all you do/have done, would NOT be able to do any of it w/out you! You Rock!

Reading the CMAs

Gage was very excited the CMAs were coming on last night. His bed time is 8 so he got a full hour in before it was time to remove his processors and retire to his bed. His room does not have satellite access (yet) but I assured him they usually show it again as a rerun and it's usually on a Sat. night and I promised he could watch the entire show if we were to catch it on a non-school night! Gage is such a country music fan since his bilateral surgery a few months ago. I think he hears music so much better and can pick up on the individual instruments now that he can hear from both sides. Since country music tends to be more than guitars and drums utilizing fiddles, pianos, steel guitars, banjo, you name it, they use it, and sometimes all at once. A big change from his ACDC obsession! 

He went to bed and I continued watching the CMAs (they were better than the VMAs to me!) Then I hear a creak coming from behind me. It's Gage standing in the doorway with his blankets, not saying a word but the look on his face is asking if he can have just a few more minutes to watch. Knowing he can't hear a thing, he crawls in my lap and snuggles in to read the words Keith Urban is singing.  The closed captioning is a little delayed as I try to watch and read, realizing the words don't match his mouth because they are a sentence behind. So I tap my hand on his back to the beat letting Gage know the rhythm and so he can be assured this is indeed the song he knows already by heart, having watched the video a hundred times before.  We watched Sugarland, emotional as usual and Gage asked, "why does she look like she's about to cry?" and I explained that likely she was about to cry, I've seen her cry before singing, she's just got it like that *smile*.  On the second commercial break I assured him, he had to go to bed, and he agreed. He was tired, and reading the CMAs wasn't the same as listening to them. When he got up this morning, even though he was dragging at first, he had to watch a quick video before school on youtube...he chose Darius Rucker, a song he watched and heard last night on the CMAs...and it's alright by me.

Family Update

Okay, so Gage's meds are still doing fabulous! He is doing fabulous! This week, again, he got a 100 in conduct w/another note of how great he's doing! This week his lowest grade was a 96. His dad and I in no way want perfection here, but it's tough when your A student is bringing home F's, which was the final straw when considering meds for this child. He's doing great on the lowest dose of Concerta still and we go back to the doc on Nov 19.  Brook is still doing well in school also, with the occasional check mark, but we do believe that she's doing as well as she can in all areas. She is going to get check marks, no doubt but we are very proud of her improvement in behavior. Another note about Gage's adhd, I've had concerns for years about OCD, it runs in my family! His psychologist didn't have concerns with this and neither did his pediatrician. However, since he's been on meds, he's really really really focused. He's worked on this tractor for a solid week, for hours a day. He's out of school today for the holiday (a quick thank you to our troops present and past) and already put in three solid hours (it's 9 am)working on a tractor that semi worked before, he changes and re-changes and re-changes. It'll eventually be useless and not work at all and end up in the trash but wow, he's obsessively working on it. He'll put in another six at least until he eventually decides to do something else. We are still working on his weight, he's starting to lose and ribs are protruding, but I think a good fattening milkshake full of peanut butter, carnation, heavy cream, ice cream will do the trick.

Gage has been asked to come with me when I go on the 23rd to the local college. University of Montevallo usually asks me to come talk to the speech therapy class which usually has many deaf ed students as well. This will be the first time Gage has several hours of intimate time with students in a field related to him. Some of these speech therapists may not go into the deaf ed field but I feel it's important for them to know about hearing loss in any field they pursue. Whether they work with elderly or children, they are bound to run across someone w/hearing loss and this is their opportunity to learn from a child w/hearing loss first hand. I hope they pay attention, their final just may on Gage Blakely! I know the teacher!

HEAR Center at the Park

My Goofy Child

and my diva

love those press on nails

We had a great time yesterday when we FINALLY arrived (thank you Jennifer for answering your cell phone!) after I got us lost. But many families came out on the beautiful day at an area park. I met many of the families I speak to on Facebook and many families I seldom see unless we have one of these events which brings us all together. There were veteran families who have been in the hearing loss world for years and more just beginning their quest for information, comradery, and success. I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures and I had two cameras in my pocket! That's pretty sad, I know. You can find more about this on Bama Ears, so click here. Many of the Bama Ears kids were there!

I'm All Ears blog has the final details about the EI Presentation on Monday, click here.

Stuff

Gotta lot of stuff to update....

Brook got her new blue glasses

 

Gage's new obsession? WRITING and ILLUSTRATING his own mini books

You can check out his blog of all his latest creations by clicking link below

Gage's Blog

His weird ci episode I talked about yesterday seems to be nothing to worry about, just one of those weird things I guess.

And for all you local families here in AL, I hope to see you at the park Sunday if you go to the HEAR Center, details found here at BAMA EARS

Something weird w/his cochlear implant?

Back to the subject of ADHD and something else weird w/his cochlear implant...

Gage got a 100 in conduct this week! That is just unheard of here at the Blakely home. His teacher stopped me again this week while I was subbing at the school and remarked on his improvement. Yeah! You can tell from the picture his new hobby. He comes in every~single~day and colors and draws for hours. This picture is from this morning when he had a few extra minutes to spare before school, he sat (still) and drew in his notebook. If your kid has ADHD you know unusual this may be.

On to another subject, his cochlear implant. This morning he complained for the second time in a month that when he tilted his head a certain way, he felt a weird pop around his left ci (the re-implant side) and then a sudden sensation of warmth there. Then it would go away. Not sure what that means since it's random and weird and only happened twice. Will be emailing his ci nurse to see what she says.........

Going to pick up B's new glasses this afternoon. The kids have a short day today due to a Veteran's Parade in our county and my dad called wanting to keep Gage while we go to the eye doc. So that works out great! He'll likely just draw the entire time he's there anyway. Will post the new glasses tomorrow.

.......um, I couldn't read in Kindergarten!

Just so we're all clear, I could not read in Kindergarten. I learned my alphabet, I learned rules of the classroom, I learned to play with other children, I learned to color...but I did not learn to read. Brook, is already reading, Gage did as well. This is three months into the school year and wow, I'm shocked. This is without her glasses too! We went to have them(her glasses) adjusted last night and they accidentally broke her specs so we are getting new ones on Wed afternoon. Just before I started filming she had sentences with words like school in them, to me this is astonishing...not to even mention the fact that the child is deaf! So this goes to show you how much they CAN and SHOULD be getting out of public school education!

HAY!!!!

The kids had so much fun yesterday climbing on the hay bales...

Running in between the hay bales...




even playing hide n seek with the hay bales...

My husband and I watched from afar next to our nice fire on the patio...

until we hear Brook's voice, "Maaammmmaaa! Help me" she belted between tears. A broken arm? A broken leg? I raced up the hill and looked thru the maze of hay bales to find my daughter screaming "I can't find my processor!"
Brother Gage was making his way over to help her find it but she pulled up the bright pink device up from a small crack between two bales and reattached it to her ear. Whew, another day I'm thankful for those bright pink processors!!!

Weekend Update

The kids had a ball this weekend with all the activities. They enjoyed trick or treating and getting to wear their costumes (outside the house for a change-here they play dress up a lot!).

Gage made some scary signs for different people

Look at Brook checking out the mummy at our friends Rachel and Matthew's house. (oh thanks for all the candy, Mom and Dad   the kids are enjoying it)

This mummy made freaky sounds too so B wasn't taking any chances. With all the scary movies coming on the past few weeks, she's a little on edge. She doesn't really like scary things but Gage loves them! No telling what kinda damage we've caused letting him watch all those horror films but they hold his attention! He asked me once why the music would play in the background of scary movies and I told him that's to help intensify the situation and make it even scarier. Brook has never watched them long enough to ask. Now he listens to music in the films to know when it's about to get scary! (just in case you're wondering how much deaf kids can pick up from movies) Ever since he got his first cochlear implant years ago, he's really been able to pick up a lot from movies, even the overall mood and not just a story line. He automatically looks at me during sad parts because he knows I'll be in tears (and he laughs at me) but he himself has been know to cry at movies (even a cartoon once) so have no fears, they usually do well with tv, though he does prefer captions.

My husband and I even got to get out this weekend (we were married the day after Halloween 12 years ago!) and we attended a costume party at my little brother's house. We had fun, we had laughs, and we were road construction workers.

So far we have a non busy week next week with only one appointment! Crazy I know! But Brook has to go back to the eye doctor tomorrow after school and check on the lazy eye situation. She may need a patch...?