Monday, January 9, 2012

three years


Happy 3rd Hearing Birthday, Lucas!

It's been three years since Lucas's hearing journey began. We were told that day to keep our hopes high and our expectations low, but we learned quickly that he would far exceed our expectations. We did, however, have no idea that we'd be where we are today... with a little boy who never stops talking, who is ahead of his hearing peers in terms of language, who very successfully attends a mainstream preschool, who is very social and makes friends easily, and who is just a typical kid. 

Life is so normal, and easy (ok, minus the newborn...) right now, that sometimes I forget how far we've come. Today I sat down with Lucas and watched all of his youtube videos from his first year of life. I'm so thankful that I chronicled his listening/speaking/communicating milestones in this way, because I forget about the baby steps and the joy in the little things that first hearing year. Lucas got a kick out of the videos, and I cried a lot. He kept wanting to know why I was crying. My response? "It's complicated." It's tough to explain to a 4-year-old the sorrow, joy and relief that those videos evoked. 

I forget sometimes that he went from beeps and buzzes to coherent receptive language in less than 3 months... that by 6 months he had 11 words/approximations... that by 12 months he was caught up to his hearing peers. I forget sometimes how incredibly hard we worked that year. The messy house you see in all of his videos? Totally worth it in exchange for more mommy therapy. That 7 month hiatus I took from my job to teach Lucas to listen and speak? It was worth every moment spent and every penny lost. 

We have been incredibly blessed by this journey. We are forever grateful to Graeme Clark, the inventor of the cochlear implant, Dr. K. for his skillful implantation, and all of his therapists, who have helped teach him to listen and speak. We can't wait to see what this next year will bring for him. Enjoy the video from his activation day!

10 comments:

Emily said...

Oh my gosh, I bought Sophie that same shirt (in pink)! It's cute, isn't it? I hope Lucas had a great day today and your family is doing well. I can't wait to see more pics of baby Nora! :)

Susannah said...

Happy hearing birthday! so glad i was along the journey from afar!!

Hunter's Mommy said...

Thank you for your inspirational post, it really makes a mommy awaiting the cochlear implant have so much hope. Happy hearing birthday Lucas!

Amy said...

what a beautiful tribute. it was Lucas, who is a few months ahead of Ava in this journey, that gave us such hope and inspiration for her. God Bless!

Lily's Mom said...

Happy Hearing Birthday Lucas! What an amazing journey it is, right?!

dlefler said...

Happy Hearing Birthday, Lucas. January 9th is a wonderful day! Beautiful post.

monica said...

Time has passed quickly! It sure is awesome to be a part of the miracle, especially when it is so obvious and amazing.

Way to go mama!

Lone Star Family said...

Happy Hearing Birthday Lucas!!I have learned so much from you and your mommy. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work! ;)

tammy said...

Happy Hearing Birthday Lucas! It was your mommy who I walked hand in hand with throughout and I hope we can all continue to walk hand in hand! So proud of you!

TJ Buttrick said...

Hi, I ran across your blog on a google search. My daughter just today got her hearing aids for 6 months of testing before they will do cochlear implants. We noticed that after having them on about 2 hours, she crashed bigtime and slept very soundly for about 2 hours. Erica rarely sleeps much during the day, and when she does, never more than 30 minutes or so. Did you notice any extra tiredness when Lucas got his at first? Im inclined to think the sensory overload on day 1 may be a contribution and if so, I am very happy. If you could email me at tj@buttrick.net I would be grateful!

Thank you!

-TJ