Is That a Car Sound I Hear?

Very exciting - both Ric and I thought that Aiden is making the "car" sound ("brrrruuuum") when he is playing with toy cars today. Also - Aiden is definately doing the "airplane" sound ("aaahhh aaaahhhh"), plus several other "hard" sounds like "ba ba ba" and "da da" (although not in relation to anything in particular).

I mentioned earlier in the week that Aiden's Audiologist gave us some wig tape on Monday to try. We have used it on a couple of occasions, and it seems to work - but only for a limited amount of time. One perfect example was in the grocery store the other day. I used the tape to secure his ear mic behind his ear and it stayed on for the entire trip. This was a HUGE improvement from last time when it came off every two seconds. The tape seems to hold until Aiden decides that he is going to pull the mic off. Then, even just one removal seems to weaken the "stick" of the tape. However, it works for awhile which is better than nothing! We have run out of our sample, so I will have to visit a little wig store in Belleville and re-stock.

I should mention that most of the times we have had Aiden out this week, lots of people have commented on or asked about his implant. EVERYONE takes an extra long look at him, but more people are actually saying something now. One lady in the grocery store commented to her friend, "oh, that baby (yes - she meant my 2 year old!!) has a hearing aid." Again when we were at the checkout another lady asked about Aiden's implant and said she thinks she has seen him at the store before. This lady was interesting, she told me that her husband had to go to an Ottawa hospital A LOT too - every six months!!! I didn't have the heart to tell her that we go every week. To her, twice a year was a real challenge :>

Then again, when we were out for lunch at Cora's, a couple at the next table asked lots of questions about Aiden's implant. I keep thinking that I should make little cards or something with a picture of the internal and external device and a little description of the implant to hand out. I think it's nice when people are genuinely interested - and I feel like I should at least try to give them good answers to their questions.

Great Weekend!!

We had some really fantastic "winter" fun back in Ottawa this past weekend. Spencerville, a country town near Ottawa, had a Winter Festival on all weekend. We all (me, Noah, Aiden, Grandma & Grandpa) packed up and headed out there first thing on Saturday morning to enjoy the "Santa Breakfast" at the local Legion. Aiden ate a HUGE helping of pancakes, toast, sausage and scrambled eggs. Then the kids got to have their pictures taken with Santa. Noah told Santa that he wanted a John Deere, and construction trucks ... Aiden, however, was a little suspect of Santa :>

After breafast we participated in lots of other great Festival events: decorating Gingerbread Men, horse drawn sleigh ride, kid's crafts, Barbershop Quartet, and hot apple cider over a fire outside the town's Mill. We really had a great day. Again we are all amazed that Aiden wears his implant up at full volume around all of this hustle and bustle - and it doesn't seem to phase him a bit!

Back at home, we met up with "Auntie Sharon" (my sister). We then got the chance to all sit around the table and have a little Therapy session with Aiden. He did GREAT! And, again, he CLEARLY showed that he heard all of the "sounds of the speech spectum" and all of the "learning to listen sounds" that we made as well.

Then, to top off that great weekend - Ric came to Ottawa this morning so we could both accompany Aiden to his AV Therapy (Audio-Verbal) at CHEO. And, what a little superstar our boy is!!!!! In the sound booth, Aiden showed very distinct reactions to sounds at just 30 db (like a whisper). Then, during his AV Therapy, he actually COPIED the sounds of a cow (okay, so it was an "oooo" - but pretty close!!), a monkey ("ee ee ee") and a sheep!! Aiden's therapist was SO amazed by him - and so was his Audiologist. (We also received some wig tape for Aiden at this appointment - and it actually seemed to be working, until Aiden got really tired at home and just kept pulling it off!) They just can't get over the progress that he is making (especially considering that his implant was activated just 2 weeks ago today). Way to go Aiden! I think that next week I will take some pictures of Aiden from the NICU to show them. I know that, although they think he is amazing now, when they see his start in life they will really understand he is nothing short of a miracle. We sure do anyway :> :>

Back at Home for a Couple Days

The boys and I had a great couple of days "back at home". They sure enjoyed playing with their Dad (the picture of them laughing was taken when they were bouncing up and down on his chest :>). You can see a bit of our frustration in action in this picture as Aiden's behind the ear mic is dangling down around his back because he is bouncing around. I also took Noah and Aiden to see the Christmas Train at the mall (the second picture). The train really captured both of their interest - and we made lots of "train" noises for Aiden's benefit! We're still keeping up everyday with Aiden's "learning to listen" sounds therapy - and he really does seem to respond to all of the sounds that we make.