My Future Canadian

CJ is doing amazingly well with his hearing and being mainstreamed and adjusting to life and...well, you get the idea. The list goes on.  On occasion, no matter how well we have him hearing, funny things will happen. The following is a conversation that we had on Monday that highlights some of the funny situations that happen when your hearing is just a little off.

CJ: Mom! I know what I wanna' be when I grow up.
Me: Really?  What is that?
CJ: A Canadian!
Me: (a little confused) Why?
CJ: Because I'm funny and I like to make people laugh. (The kid literally memorizes entire joke books.)
Me: Oh. You mean a comedian?
CJ: Yes. A Canadian. That's what I just said.

I Took Down the List of Liam's Words

It was time to take down my sidebar that listed all of the words Liam can say or sign or both.  The fact is that he's moving along at such a rapid pace that I can't possibly fit all of his wonderful words into one sidebar. That's surely nothing to complain about, right?

I think my favorite words he says now are Aiden, Amen, Bus, and All Done.  He says them so well that pretty much anyone can understand what he's saying when he says them. He doesn't have a ton of words that everyone can really understand, but that will come. What words he can't say he can sign well...or he just makes up a sign.

Right after Thanksgiving, I was walking with him through Target with some friends visiting from TX and we had Liam with us.  Target has all of their finest lingerie on an end cap right on the main strip of the store.  It would just figure that the bras and thongs are all in crazy bright day glow colors, which inevitably catch the attention of adorable little boys.  Nice.  Anyway, we haven't taught Liam the signs for bra and underwear yet. As we walked by the bras, his face lit up as he loudly said "Oooooh!" while pointing to his own breast area with both pointer fingers. HUGE grin on his face.  Just four or five feet down were the above mentioned thongs. Again he got that same grin and loudly said "Ooooooh!" while pointing to his groin area. Nice, Liam. Very nice.

Explantation and Re-implantation For Liam

Liam went in for his re-implantation surgery and I'm pleased to say it went MUCH better. I know it's been a while since we've updated and there is a LOT to share, so let's just do bullet points to be sure I don't miss too much.

• Surgery should have taken 2 1/2 hours, but actually took 5.
• The doctor thought he was only able to get 8 electrodes in (and he had to use a different device, but that's okay), but at activation, we found that he has TEN! Wahooo!
• Recovery went quickly, and Liam did awesome.  He had some trouble with his oxygen levels when he was waking up, but was fine by the end of the second day.
• Liam is WILLINGLY wearing his hearing aid and processor for several hours at a time every day.
• At the end of December, he turned three so the school district took over his education.  He now goes to school full time four days a week and a half day on the fifth day so he can go to physical therapy in the afternoon.
• He's starting to have a couple of words here and there that people can actually understand.

I think those are the major highlights. There is more to share and I'll get to them. Now that Liam is in school more and I don't have to take him (thank you school bus driver lady!), I can devote more time to blogging. I'm pretty excited about that because I'm dying dying dying to start writing a book.  More to come SOON!