master lip reader

So, I guess I'm not keeping up with all of my New Year's resolutions (namely blogging 2-3 times a week). Some are clashing with others currently. But here I am, and here's a much overdue update. We, like most other parts of the country, have been experiencing some icy, snowy weather.  Lucas has had a blast playing in the snow with his daddy and aunties, while I stand around and take pictures. :)

On the ear front, Lucas has been making some progress, I believe. I am learning, however, that he is a master lip reader. I have to be really extra careful that he cannot see my lips when I'm testing his new ear alone, or else he absolutely knows exactly what I'm saying. It's best if his back is completely to me, because I think sometimes he sees my lips with his peripheral vision when he's not looking directly at me. You can tell that he's still just beginning to recognize some words, because he's terribly uncertain. He plays a guessing game when identifying objects, always looking for confirmation because he's just not sure. He's gaining some confidence though, and we continue to see glimpses, despite the 30 times a day (truly not an exaggeration), when he takes his ear off and we threaten him politely ask him to find his ear immediately as soon as possible. I can't wait until he's over that. One time last week, he even made it an entire 20-minute car ride without ripping it apart and throwing it on the floor. I was seriously thrilled.

I just think it's so interesting how well he reads lips, because he absolutely needs NO visual clues with his first ear. He does not rely upon lip reading one tiny little bit with it, but he's still good at it. I figure that because he is still technically missing one of his senses (even if it's certainly being compensated for really well), the other 4 are stronger, especially his sense of vision. I also think back to his entire first year of life without sound. I think he learned to use his eyes to gain information about his world, because his ears were no good to him. Whatever the reason, lip reading is a great skill for him to have for the future, and right now in the bathtub. Except for when he thinks "no pee pee" and "no mommy" are the same thing. 

We head back to CHOP on Wednesday for another mapping session, an auditory evaluation and an appointment with his ENT, followed by a well-deserved stop at Baja Fresh. Hopefully he'll show some progress since last month. If not, we'll just keep pressing forward. He might need a little extra time. And that's okay. We'll get there. Still thankful for that first ear.