3 Down, 1 to go

Well, we have less than a week until Johnny's activation.  We are excited and nervous.  I don't know how Johnny will react, so it will be interesting to see.  I think it might bug him for a while because he is one who doesn't always like change.  At the same time, he always adapts very well and quickly.  

In my ASL class we watched a movie about two families, one that was Deaf, with deaf children, and one that was hearing with a deaf child.  We watched as the two interacted with each other, and in not the most friendly ways.  As I was watching it, I wondered what it would have been like to be one of the other students watching the film.  For them it was just an interesting movie in class.  For me it was real life.  My wife and I had gone through all of this, and had to make this decision, and had to wonder if it was the right decision.  I think about it all the time.  How is Johnny going to feel about his implant when he gets older?  Will he appreciate what we were trying to do in giving him as much opportunity as we could?  Or will he resent us for forcing an implant on him?  The family in the movie who got the implant, the dad said he stood behind his decision 1000 per cent, and called his brother (the dad in the other family) criminal for not doing it to his children.  I guess at this point, all I can say is that I hope we made the right decision.  I hope Johnny will find a way to live and thrive in both worlds.  I hope he will find a way to function in the hearing world, without losing his deaf identity.  I hope he comes to appreciate the culture he was born into, one that his mom and I knew nothing about.  I hope it all just works out for the best.  I just hope, no matter what, he grows up to realize his full potential, that he grows up to be a leader and an example to those around him.  That has nothing to do with him being deaf or hearing.  It just had to do with him being my son.

Liza's Signs

We've noticed that Liza is really beginning to sign more and more.  My favorite is when she sees me in the morning or when I come home from work, she signs Daddy.  I love it.  We have also been working with her to sign milk.  Usually, she tries to just go for it when we tell her to sign it, but more frequently she signs it now.

Earlier today we went to the library, and Eliza was just watching Johnny and us sign, and was trying to sign everything she saw.  Johnny  saw an alligator on a table and signed it to me.  Eliza saw that and laughed as she signed it over and over again.  I don't think she knows what all of those signs mean, but she knows that in our family, that is a way that we communicate.

She is growing so fast.  She went to the doctor's  today, and she is growing.  The doctor said that one of the things we should be seeing her do in the next couple of weeks is crawling.  Erica just informed him that she has been doing that for weeks.  He said the next thing that she will probably be doing by the next appointment is pulling herself up on things.  Erica let him know that she already does that too.  Apparently, our child is gifted and advanced for her age.  How many other 9 month olds out there crawl, pull themselves up on things, and talk?  Ok, I'm sure there are plenty out there, but we like to think that our Liza is pretty special.

2 Down, 2 To Go

Well, we are at the midway point between Johnny's surgery, and his activation date.  It has been an interesting time for us.  We feel like we have really done a lot to help people become aware of cochlear implants and how they work.  Johnny's scar has drawn a lot of attention, which always leads to questions.  We are always glad to explain.

Johnny is picking up signs like a sponge.  He has started watching what we sign to him and copying it, including finger spelling.  Granted, he doesn't really finger spell, but he tries.  He knows so many words, it is hard for us to keep up with him.  This week, we have been working with him on the concept of "help".  He still doesn't ask for it when he needs it, only when we remind him to.

His favorite new sign is sad.  Whenever we see some one who is crying, he signs sad.  The other day, we were watching the Superman movie, and we got to the part where Lois Lane dies, just before Superman flies really fast, causing time to go backwards (if you haven't seen the movie, excuse my nerdiness).  Johnny saw Superman holding Lois Lane, crying, and he turned to me and signed sad.  It was really cute.  Turns out, Superman movies are a great way to teach the concept of help.  Every time someone was in trouble, I would sign to Johnny that they needed help, and then Superman came and helped them.  Pretty soon, Johnny was signing to me that the people needed help.  I think he was really beginning to understand.

I hope, as we get the implant activated, that Johnny will learn spoken words quickly, and will continue to learn signs, as quickly as he has been.  I think that no matter how well Johnny learns to talk, his first choice will always be signing, and we don't want to discourage that.  We want him to be comfortable expressing himself in his language of choice.  That's why we want to learn sign language, so he always has that choice.

Parents Decide

Recently, I've been hearing of things that are a little troubling as a parent.  There are those out there who are trying to change, things and not for the better.  I am wary of any person or group who tries to tell me that there is one size fits all approach to children who are deaf or hearing impaired.  I am also wary of anyone who tries to tell me that my children can be "fixed", like their broken.  My kids aren't broken, they are perfect just the way they are.  I want to give them tools to communicate and be successful, but I always want them to be proud of who they are.

I know there are groups out there who are working to take away our choices as parents to decide what is best for our kids.  Nowadays, there are so many choices for kids with hearing loss or who are deaf, that we should be able to study them out, and decide for ourselves, and professionals and PIP workers should support us in that.  I am grateful that this has been our experience thus far.  We have shared with our PIP advisor what we have decided, and she has supported us on that.  However there are groups who claim that PIP is too one sided.  In reality, I think they feel that PIP should not offer any other option but the one they have chosen, whether that be signing or oral or somewhere in between.  These same groups are working hard  to make sure that they bring about these changes.  Everyone I have ever talked to in PIP has said that it's the parents' choice how to raise their kids, and they are there as support.  That is how it should be.  If these groups who want to change things by writing letters and going before boards are successful, our right to choose will be taken away.  I hope parents will be aware of this and make it clear that all we want is options, and the support to accomplish the goals we set for our kids.  I hope the day will not ever come that my freedom to choose will be taken away.

Now, those who are supportive of these groups, I believe are really doing what they feel is best for themselves and others.  

I am also just trying to do what I feel is best for my kids and others.  I want there to be choice, I want to have the right to choose for my kids, and I want my neighbor to have the same choice.  If you choose oral communication only, or if you choose signing only, or a mixture of both, make it the right choice for you and your family.

Johnny Goes to University

Yesterday, I brought Johnny to my ASL class at the University.  It was the last day of actual class before the final, and our teacher wanted us to each to bring a show and tell item and describe it to the class using sign language.  I brought Johnny because I thought the other students would think he was cute, and I love showing off how smart he is.  What I didn't expect was how much Johnny enjoyed the class.  He thought it was so cool that everyone was talking the way he does, like he was normal.  

He spent the time before our turn going back and forth between two different chairs and playing with his little super hero toys.  He also would sign all the things that the others brought to class.  He was really interested in what was going on.

Then it was our turn to go.  He walked right up to the front of the class.  I signed for him to sit in a chair and he moved over by the table where he had his back pack and sat down and just looked around and smiled.  I wanted him to try and sign somethings to the class, but he was being shy and didn't want to.  When our turn was over, he moved the chair back to the corner at the front of the class, and then he went back to where we had been sitting and got the rest of his toys and signed that he was ready to go to the car.  It was really cute.  Everyone was really impressed with him and how smart he was.  I am just amazed with how smart he is.  I am so proud of him.

Earlier in the day we brought Johnny to the city library in Salt Lake City.  He loved it.  The children's part was in the basement.  They had different rooms to play in, and one was the crystal cave.  He had on his Superman cape that Erica had made for him, and had just watched Superman II in the morning.  We thought it was pretty cool, because the crystal cave room looked a lot like Superman's Fortress of Solitude, so we got a picture of our little Superman in his Fortress of Solitude.

1 Week Down, 3 to Go

It was just a little over a week ago that Johnny had his surgery done, and he is looking good.  He is running around and playing like he always did.  We are amazed at how good the scar looks on his head.  It is really healing up nicely, and now that the hair has started to grow to cover it, you almost have to really look to see it.

Yesterday he went with Erica to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.  She wanted to take him because lately he has been really into dinosaurs, and she thought he would be excited about it.  She was right, I guess as they came around the corner and saw the first dinosaur he started jumping up and down and getting excited.  He enjoyed the outing very much.

His newest thing is being addicted to chocolate milk.  He was already addicted to regular milk, but last week we bought some premade chocolate milk, and he loved it.  Now he won't have his milk any other way.  He also loves hot chocolate, so when we were out of the chocolate milk, Erica would make him the hot chocolate, which he began signing when he wanted to drink by signing hot, then chocolate.  Last night we went to the store and got him some mix for chocolate milk, since that is easier than making hot chocolate all the time, and he likes it just fine.

I am amazed at my little boy.  To be his old happy self again, this soon after surgery amazes me.  He has bounced back so well.  He still remembers the surgery, I think, but he has moved on.  I know he doesn't know the impact it will have, but in just three weeks, he will, and hopefully he'll eventually understand why we put him through all of this.

Not so Little Liza

Eliza went in last Thursday for an evaluation at the audiologist.  Her hearing is about the same as it has been, which means that the hearing aids are still working for her.  We were beginning to get a little worried that her hearing loss had increased because she doesn't seem to making all the sounds she should at this age.  It's kind of a frustrating thing.  These professionals decide where your child should be based on averages and what not, when in reality, every child is different.  Maybe we just worry more because of the progressive hearing loss that both our kids have.

The last little while I have been amazed at the amount that Eliza has grown.  All of a sudden she has her own little personality, she is becoming more and more a little girl instead of a baby.    One way that this is apparent is in her first signs.  Recently she began signing a few things, and it is so cute.  She signs milk and reaches for mommy when she is hungry.  When I come home from work, she signs daddy by smacking the side of her head, it is so funny.  She will also sign more by clapping her hands together.  I am amazed at how she has quickly picked these up.  I don't think she totally knows what they mean, but it is still cute.

She is crawling all over the place and has begun pulling herself up on things to stand.  Just last week she started letting go of things and trying to free-stand.  This usually only lasts a couple of seconds, and then she falls.

My little Liza is not so little anymore, but fortunately for us, she is still pretty cute.