I Want Ketchup

I found myself so wrapped up in the protesters outside Liam's school and researching their agenda over the past week that I forgot to pay attention to some of the amazing strides Liam has been making.  To most people, they probably aren't much.  To us, they're huge.  Luckily, last night I was brought back to planet earth again.

We had some friends in from out of town and took our kids and them to one of our favorite restaurants.  Liam is a little bit of a picky eater so we pretty much always order him the same things.  Macaroni and cheese with a side of french fries always leads to 100% customer satisfaction with him.  As he's gotten older, he's wanted more and more to go with those things, though.  While we were sitting at the table, Liam very clearly stated, "I want ketchup".  Instinctively, I passed him the bottle of ketchup and he happily drowned his fries in it.

It took me a second, but I suddenly realized what a moment that was.  Liam was able to tell me with words what he wanted and I understood him on the first try!  Even more, he knows the sign to tell me "I want ketchup", but he CHOSE to voice it and did so beautifully.

This is such a different scenario from just six months ago. I remember clearly on CJ's birthday going out to eat and Liam crying inconsolably for something that we simply couldn't understand. We'd given him every single thing on the table, but nothing satisfied him. He was frustrated. I was frustrated. I imagine those dining around us were even frustrated.  We were almost ready to haul him out of the restaurant, but I knew that would only lead to an even greater feeling of defeat for him. He wasn't being naughty. He was trying to tell us what he wanted, but we didn't understand. Finally, after a good fifteen minutes and even me being on the verge of tears, we figured out that he wanted an icee.  An icee!!! Something so simple led to so much frustration for him, and I don't know of any signs for that word that he would have been able to use to tell us.

The great blessing in having children who are different from typically-abled children is that we get to truly rejoice in the little things rather than just taking them for granted.  Who knew something as simple as asking for ketchup could ever be such a milestone?

If I Didn't Know Better, I'd Say Liam's Light Bulb Has Come On

Wow! What great progress Mr. Liam is making!!! He is finally really interested in signing words, and I find him imitating almost every sign I demonstrate for him.  On top of that, he's vocalizing some sounds as well.  We can't ask for better progress.

One example happened just last night. I'd put him to bed, but could still hear him sitting in his bed talking to himself as he played with his toys.  I peeked through his door and waved to him as if to tell him goodnight.  He looked straight at me, blew me a kiss (which is totally new!) and said "buh buh" for bye-bye. Suffice it to say I slept well tonight.

Wednesday, as I was walking him into school, he saw one of his friend's mom.  He looked right at her and said "Hi!" just as clear as day.  I've NEVER heard him say that one, and he used it in an appropriate context!!  Go Liam Go!!

Last Friday as he was working with his way-too-cute-for-words teacher, Ms. Terry, she showed him some toy fish. He watched her as she picked up each fish and put it near her face and made it pretend to swim.  After she was done playing with him, she turned around to get another activity ready, and he picked up the fish, put them by his face, and pretended to do just what he did.

All of these are steps in the right direction!!  I'm so excited to see him trying to be an active player in family activities and finally getting something out of being at school.  Yesterday, he helped bake cookies from scratch with us and seemed to actually understand what he was doing.  He was of course most interested in getting his ten (Okay, closer to fifteen because I snuck him a few extras when the other kids weren't looking) chocolate chips.

Even today, as he sat at the table for lunch, I showed him the sign for cheese.  He signed it after me perfectly, so I then gave him a reminder prompt for "please".  The little genius looked me straight in the eye and signed "cheese please".  It's always such a delight working with him and seeing the progress he makes each day. I love that his Deafness makes these little babysit that much more spectacular for us.  Liam, you are truly a gift!

Liam's New School

Liam and me at the local zoo this past weekend. He was more interested in the animals than looking at the camera.

We haven't had Liam's IFSP yet, but all of his testing is done. Before we moved here, we learned about a school in our area. I did a little research into our options and agreed that the site closest to us would be a good place to send him to, but wanted to be sure we checked it out first. It's the same place CJ went to get his testing and educational recommendations, which our school district will be honoring and implementing.

When we visited, we spoke with the director and asked lots of questions. There are some things about it I'm not 100% sure about, but nothing that counts as a deal breaker for us. The school is oral only, and I believe in signing with all my children. They assured me that we could still sign with him, but not at school. That seems fair enough.

Liam will be receiving a lot of amazing services at the school. They are:

*all audiology services until three years of age including aids, testing, ear molds, critter clips, etc.

*seeing his own audiologist at the center 90 minutes a month

*one on one instruction with an educator of the Deaf

*a teacher to follow him around making sure his hearing aids stay in (a HUGE problem for us)

*speech services

*auditory training

*possible continuing services at the same school when he turns three paid for by our school district if it's deemed necessary for him (which it more than likely will be)

We'll be starting out with him going just two mornings a week and then move up to three mornings a week as soon as he's ready and shows compliance. I'm hoping that's before Christmas. I really believe this will be the best thing for him.

It's so vastly different from the way we did ECI in Texas. We were so happy there, and I was pleased with the progress he was making in most areas. Making the decision to do things this way once we got here was a hard one, but I think will have the most positive outcome. He'll still be having some services at home through the state early intervention program. He'll have an OT that comes to work on his oral sensory issues, a speech teacher, a teacher of the Deaf to teach him sign language, and a dietician to follow his eating habits. All in all, a very good plan for him...I think.