You've Got a Friend in Me

The Beast is quite the social butterfly. He loves to make new friends, drive them nuts until they run away screaming for mercy, and then make new friends to torture. Okay, so maybe it's not really that bad. Well...I guess it's not that bad anyway.

Despite his chronic verbal diarrhea (I wonder where he could possibly have gotten that from?), he has had a few neighborhood friends who have chosen to stick by his side.Miss P. is pictured here with him and Pretty. We didn't really know Miss P. even lived around here until the Beast brought her home with him one day. She's tinier than Pretty, so I assumed she was about two years old and worried a little that she was roaming the neighborhood. Come to find out, she's the same age as the Beast and is going to be starting Kindergarten with him next year. We had been given the choice to allow him to take one friend with him to his class who already knew him and wasn't bothered by all of his hearing aids. Once I caught on to Miss P.'s age, it was a no-brainer. I had the perfect friend for him to have by his side next year!!!

These three have forged quite the friendship. The second the Beast gets off the bus in the afternoon, the three of them are attached at the hip. Well, actually Miss. P. and the Beast are running at full speed and Pretty is just doing her best to keep up with them. They go back and forth between my house and her house. Luckily, we're just four houses apart from each other.

It's amazing to me how blessings fall into our laps sometimes. I had been so worried about the Beast having friends next year when all of a sudden, Miss P. shows up. What's crazy is that her family has apparently been living just four doors away from us for about six years. Whatever the case may be, I'm just glad to know these little ones will have each other when they venture off to the big elementary school next year. Now to start praying for the sanity of their poor teacher.

Who Says Work Can't Be Fun?!?

It was Pretty's turn to work with Jo today. She's focusing on improving her attention span and speech. We think her speech is great. It's just that the rest of us don't understand Chinese. I get a good chuckle out of the fact that the Beast has the best speech of my three oldest children...and he's the Deaf one. Go figure, right? That just goes to show that you can never really guess what to expect from any child.

Pretty is getting ready to age out of ECI, so Jo had mentioned wanting to do something fun with her. I'm too cheap to take them out to play at a place where I have to pay. Why bother? With enough imagination and enthusiasm, the backyard can be Disneyland. Okay, so that can take a LOT of imagination and enthusiasm, but you haven't met Pretty. She's got it in her. Trust me.

We decided that we'd use our new water table in the backyard, and then make a picnic. What can be better than PB&J sandwiches, lemonade, and a Klondike bar?? Pretty was excited to make her own sandwich, count the scoops of lemonade mix, and share an ice cream with Jo. Jo was a great sport about it because, well, that's what she does best.

I have to say that Pretty has made some progress since she's been in ECI. We can understand more of what she's saying, and her attention span has increased from that of a flea to more like that of a mosquito. She stays at the same thing long enough to suck the life out of you before moving on.

No matter how you slice and dice it, it's clear that ECI work is tons of fun for Pretty. I'm not even sure she knew she was working today. And that's just the way it ought to be.

Front Page News!

Little Guy is working hard to make himself famous. It's not like he has to work all that hard. Have you seen this kid? He's freaking adorable!

Last week, he got a real treat in the mail. We received the quarterly newsletter from Dr. Michele's office. I didn't think much of it until I opened it up. There, on the front page, was our Little Guy! He looked so beautiful on his blessing day wearing his first set of earmolds. I really can't imagine anything more amazing than to see a child who, through the miracle of technology, has been given a chance at finding his own voice and singing his own song. I'm thrilled that Dr. Michele was able to share him and his journey with others.

I was even more surprised to arrive at her office for another set of earmolds (that makes THREE sets now!) and discover that there was a full poster-sized photo of him on her wall. He's made history in her office. He's officially the youngest patient she's ever had. Way to make your mark on the world so early on, Little Guy!