I decided to clean the bathtub today when we got home from work and G had her aids in. I turned the water on and she jumped back and said "The bathtub sounds different."
I laughed and said, "It must be fun to hear new sounds all day."
She just squealed and laughed and clapped at her new found bathtub sound.
I need to remember these moments when I am having a bad day. She really is hearing better.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
It's Getting Better
Here is an e-mail I sent to my husband today:
I told G last night we would be wearing our aids today of most of the day, just taking breaks if we were in the car. So far she wore them from 8:30 until noon with only one 15 min. break. She took them out a couple of times at home this morning but I put them right back in and she accepted that. It is so funny because she will only take them out in my presence. She would never be sneaky about it which is one of the great things about G. When we got in the car after story time she heard and ambulance and decided to keep them in for the 5 min. drive to playgroup, but only if her window was rolled down. Two things she said this morning, one funny, one a little sad:
She told me she didn't want to go to school tomorrow and when I asked her why she said "Because none of my friends noticed my hearing aids." I will have to take her Oliver book tomorrow and see if the teacher will read it and show off her hearing aids.
She also was complaining during her car ride break that she didn't want to put them back in and said "I wish I had ears like you and Darby." Kind of broke my heart a little.
After nap we put them back in and she wore them for another couple hours and then took a car break. When we got home she put them in for maybe a half hour before we took them out so she could talk on the phone. I gave up after that. She had been a real trooper all day and I didn't want to push my luck. The little red spot she was getting is less red lately and I think she knows they help because at night when I give her the option to wear them while we read books she wants them in.
It is hard as a mom to do something you know your kid doesn't like. No mom wants to have to do that all day, especially when I am hoping for a positive association with the hearing aids. She is a precious little girl and I love her more and more every day if that is even possible.
After nap we put them back in and she wore them for another couple hours and then took a car break. When we got home she put them in for maybe a half hour before we took them out so she could talk on the phone. I gave up after that. She had been a real trooper all day and I didn't want to push my luck. The little red spot she was getting is less red lately and I think she knows they help because at night when I give her the option to wear them while we read books she wants them in.
It is hard as a mom to do something you know your kid doesn't like. No mom wants to have to do that all day, especially when I am hoping for a positive association with the hearing aids. She is a precious little girl and I love her more and more every day if that is even possible.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Hearts for Hearing Trip
Here we are in the waiting room having Daddy read a book. Georgia loves to be read to lately and Matt has so much more patience with it than I do.
Here G is just being goofy and playing while waiting to get her aids in.
They had to measure the depth of her her in order to set the hearing aids right and G was resistant at first but once the audiologist got some bubbles out all went well.
More playing.
And here they are hot pink with purple swirls and sparkles ear molds and purple hearing aids. They look so cute in.
The hearing aids came with an otter who also wears hearing aids so while G got hers put in we put his in.
She thinks he is pretty cool.
this is the brief moment in which she left them in.
And here she is in the car wearing them and listening to her DVD player.
As I said before, it was a great experience. I have gotten over the angst of having her wear hearing aids and moved on to the challenge of actually getting her to wear them. I would say of her 10.5 waking hours today she wore them for 5 hours. We are slowly building and getting used to them. I can tell she hears better and speaks better with them in so it is just a matter of helping her realize it. We are going to try them for a short period at school tomorrow and see how that goes. She is a sweet sweet girl and is trying really hard to please me and be good even though I know it is hard at times.
Here G is just being goofy and playing while waiting to get her aids in.
They had to measure the depth of her her in order to set the hearing aids right and G was resistant at first but once the audiologist got some bubbles out all went well.
More playing.
And here they are hot pink with purple swirls and sparkles ear molds and purple hearing aids. They look so cute in.
The hearing aids came with an otter who also wears hearing aids so while G got hers put in we put his in.
She thinks he is pretty cool.
this is the brief moment in which she left them in.
And here she is in the car wearing them and listening to her DVD player.
As I said before, it was a great experience. I have gotten over the angst of having her wear hearing aids and moved on to the challenge of actually getting her to wear them. I would say of her 10.5 waking hours today she wore them for 5 hours. We are slowly building and getting used to them. I can tell she hears better and speaks better with them in so it is just a matter of helping her realize it. We are going to try them for a short period at school tomorrow and see how that goes. She is a sweet sweet girl and is trying really hard to please me and be good even though I know it is hard at times.
Birthday Party
We did another paint party this year but added a few features since the kids would be a little older. Of course the painting was a big hit, especially with my kids.
Georgia always had to cover the entire paper lately so it takes her a while to finish a project.
Vivian had fun painting Darby.
Leonard had fun painting himself.
My little budding artist.
We had foam visors and foam stickers to put on them.
The intensity with which the backs had to be removed.
The crowd favorite was the "volcanoes." We bought a huge bag of baking soda and 2 gallons of vinegar and let the kids go wild.
The food coloring didn't hurt either.
We also made pipe cleaner bracelets with beads.
And here is the princess castle cake G had to have. I was going to buy it but wavered at the last hour and made it. Matt did stay up with me and help.
I thought G blew out the candles but this picture tells a different story.
The kids eating cake.
Emma was the last man standing and the 3 girls got back into painting after everyone else left. By the way, the "washable paint," not so much. Not when it was on the clothes to the extent G put it on.
This picture cracks me up. Georgia was having so much fun at one point she just took off running across the yard as if she didn't know what to do with herself.
Georgia always had to cover the entire paper lately so it takes her a while to finish a project.
Vivian had fun painting Darby.
Leonard had fun painting himself.
My little budding artist.
We had foam visors and foam stickers to put on them.
The intensity with which the backs had to be removed.
The crowd favorite was the "volcanoes." We bought a huge bag of baking soda and 2 gallons of vinegar and let the kids go wild.
The food coloring didn't hurt either.
We also made pipe cleaner bracelets with beads.
And here is the princess castle cake G had to have. I was going to buy it but wavered at the last hour and made it. Matt did stay up with me and help.
I thought G blew out the candles but this picture tells a different story.
The kids eating cake.
Emma was the last man standing and the 3 girls got back into painting after everyone else left. By the way, the "washable paint," not so much. Not when it was on the clothes to the extent G put it on.
This picture cracks me up. Georgia was having so much fun at one point she just took off running across the yard as if she didn't know what to do with herself.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Side Note
I somehow messed up my blogger setting and am having a hard time getting things back the way I want them. I think I just figured it out so hopefully my posts will stop being so choppy.
And the Cake
I bought G's cake at Sam's for her party at Mary's. I can only bake so much in a week and I think the Sam's cake taste good. Plus G wanted the princess rings.
She was able to blow the candles out by herself.
She was able to blow the candles out by herself.
Party at Mary's
We had a party at Mary's on G's actual birthday. Her big present was a prin
cess bike.
Both the girls got Wiggles dolls
This is what I always though the Wiggles might do in their private time.
G really wanted a special birthday hat so we got her a princess tiara (whose kid is this?).
Mary and her girls.
cess bike.Both the girls got Wiggles dolls
This is what I always though the Wiggles might do in their private time.
G really wanted a special birthday hat so we got her a princess tiara (whose kid is this?).
Mary and her girls.
Princess Ears
Our appt. with Hearts for Hearing was Friday morning at 10:30. Matt took the day off work and we arranged to have Darby go to school and my mom to care for her after that. I found myself in a horrible mood by the time Matt got home from work on Thursday. I was short with the kids and generally a little mean. Around 7 I told Matt I was going for a walk and left him with the girls. As soon as I stepped outside I realized my mood was caused by a deep feeling of dread.
Here we had this gorgeous, innocent, precious little girl on a path of "normalcy" only to discover she was no longer on that path. She was on a different path. The finality of actually getting the hearing aids was what made it seem so real all of the sudden. I walked over to my mom's house and had a good cry to get it out of my system. My mom, as always, was wonderful and sympathetic, and said the right things. I felt much better after that and returned home to finish off my duties as a mom for the night. (As a side note, I also realized I had broken out in hives from either the worry or the stress. They are gone today.)
We got up Friday morning and hit the road around 8:15. Georgia was really excited about he trip and about being alone with her mommy and daddy for a whole day. Honestly, sometimes all of us need a break from "The Destructor" (Darby). We got to HFH at about 10 and were obviously early. We chanced it and went in hoping maybe they were ready for us and they were not. Finally at 11 the speech pathologist took us back and spent about an hour testing G and getting an idea of where she is developmentally speech-wise. We were really please to find out both her expressive and receptive speech are at or above her age level. We were also told that if her hearing loss was progressive and she eventually went deaf, with cochlear implants, she could always be audio/verbal (meaning we wouldn't have to rely on sign language).
The audiologist finally came in and said that the aids they were fitting Georgia with with the first pair of a new generation (Oticon Safari 600) and that the software was giving them a problem. She suggested we take a lunch break and they would call us when they were ready for us. That was fine because I was starving (as usual) and G needed a break. We were right by Penn Square Mall so we headed over there for lunch and running around.
They called us at about 2:00 when we had just gotten in the car to find a park so we headed back to get our new hearing aids. Georgia was very excited, even though I don't think she fully understood what hearing aids meant. I should mention that I felt great the whole day. I never came close to a breakdown or even crying. The people at HFH were so nice and reassuring, by this time I was as excited as Georgia to get her new aids.
The fitting was pretty uneventful except for the fact that G wouldn't wear the hearing aids. This was no surprise to me, but the people there said most kids walk out with them on. Georgia was tired and ready to be home so we put the hearing aids in her case and headed back to Tulsa at about 3:30. Once we got G set up with a DVD and were on the turnpike she said she wanted to wear her new hearing aids. So Matt, who had never put her hearing aids on, climbed in the back seat and put them in her ears. She kept them in all the way home and half-way there even said "I like my new hearing aids. They make me hear so much better."
As soon as we got home she took them out and didn't put them back in until we read books before bedtime. I have to go take care of the kids now but I will try to post birthday pics and trip pics tonight and update how we did with our hearing aids this weekend.
Here we had this gorgeous, innocent, precious little girl on a path of "normalcy" only to discover she was no longer on that path. She was on a different path. The finality of actually getting the hearing aids was what made it seem so real all of the sudden. I walked over to my mom's house and had a good cry to get it out of my system. My mom, as always, was wonderful and sympathetic, and said the right things. I felt much better after that and returned home to finish off my duties as a mom for the night. (As a side note, I also realized I had broken out in hives from either the worry or the stress. They are gone today.)
We got up Friday morning and hit the road around 8:15. Georgia was really excited about he trip and about being alone with her mommy and daddy for a whole day. Honestly, sometimes all of us need a break from "The Destructor" (Darby). We got to HFH at about 10 and were obviously early. We chanced it and went in hoping maybe they were ready for us and they were not. Finally at 11 the speech pathologist took us back and spent about an hour testing G and getting an idea of where she is developmentally speech-wise. We were really please to find out both her expressive and receptive speech are at or above her age level. We were also told that if her hearing loss was progressive and she eventually went deaf, with cochlear implants, she could always be audio/verbal (meaning we wouldn't have to rely on sign language).
The audiologist finally came in and said that the aids they were fitting Georgia with with the first pair of a new generation (Oticon Safari 600) and that the software was giving them a problem. She suggested we take a lunch break and they would call us when they were ready for us. That was fine because I was starving (as usual) and G needed a break. We were right by Penn Square Mall so we headed over there for lunch and running around.
They called us at about 2:00 when we had just gotten in the car to find a park so we headed back to get our new hearing aids. Georgia was very excited, even though I don't think she fully understood what hearing aids meant. I should mention that I felt great the whole day. I never came close to a breakdown or even crying. The people at HFH were so nice and reassuring, by this time I was as excited as Georgia to get her new aids.
The fitting was pretty uneventful except for the fact that G wouldn't wear the hearing aids. This was no surprise to me, but the people there said most kids walk out with them on. Georgia was tired and ready to be home so we put the hearing aids in her case and headed back to Tulsa at about 3:30. Once we got G set up with a DVD and were on the turnpike she said she wanted to wear her new hearing aids. So Matt, who had never put her hearing aids on, climbed in the back seat and put them in her ears. She kept them in all the way home and half-way there even said "I like my new hearing aids. They make me hear so much better."
As soon as we got home she took them out and didn't put them back in until we read books before bedtime. I have to go take care of the kids now but I will try to post birthday pics and trip pics tonight and update how we did with our hearing aids this weekend.
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