Tuesday,
May 17, 2011
FIRST EASTER, BIRTHDAY, HAIRCUT, BIKE RACE . . . AND EARS!
We pinch ourselves everyday! I know every parent says
how fast their children grow up, but I seriously can say Qwinn
changes daily. Its almost overwhelming, in a very joyful way, to
see what each day brings us. Qwinn really is a very happy boy
every single day. We have had 'off' days, mornings and nights,
but for the most part he wakes up every day wanting to soak it
up. He is simply breathless! Ok, ok, enough sappiness....for
now. What about those ears!
As you may know, Qwinn had his cochlear implant surgery in
January, and was activated (turned on) on February 11th. We were
one of the very lucky families to have an insurance company
approve 2 ears, so we have double everything. We literally have
two big boxes of equipment needed for 4 ears. We get an extra
set just in case our toddler damages or looses these precious
and fragile bionic ears. In anticipation to the big day, like
most parents, we wondered if he would respond to sound, and then
we wondered, how in the world are we going to keep these things
on! Thankfully, he responded the first day, AND he kept them on.
We had some ups and downs the first couple of months, not
wanting them on in the morning and after naps, and not to
mention a throwing phase, but for the most part, he keeps them
on all day. We have had a couple sound booth hearing tests since
his turn on, and the best news is, he is hearing all speech
frequencies at a normal loudness level! God is good!
So speaking of losing or damaging these precious pieces of
technology. Most people can probably admit, you have lost a cell
phone, an ipod, a remote control etc. We are adults, and we
still can't keep track of these things that we can't live
without. I am not wanting sympathy, but we do have a story for
you related to a very active toddler that can admit the same
thing. We were so excited to take Qwinn on his first running
race this spring. It is an annual event for Ben and I. We are
typically competitive, but this year we decided to walk with
Qwinn in the jogger (Ben just had knee surgery too, remember
this while I continue to tell this story). As we were getting
ready to start, we needed to put Qwinn in the jogger.....but to
our surprise, he didn't want to. As the gun went off, we were in
a panic, so Ben started to carry him. First on a hip, then his
shoulders and then finally on his back. We continued to try
putting him in the jogger, with no success. Ben ended up
carrying him on his back the whole 3 1/2 miles. It made for a
good story we thought. We did put him down to cross the finish
line, participated in the awards, ate some fruit and headed for
the car. As we were packing up, we discovered we LOST AN EAR!!
We were speechless. We looked all around us, in us, on us,
nothing. We both knew what this meant. Lets just say, Ben has
officially won the "Greatest Dad" award. After he ran through
the race 2 more times, there it was. A tiny black Nucleus 5
Cochlear Sound Processor laying on a very dirty trail minding
its own business. Now that makes for a good story! Lots of
lessons learned there.
I may start to brag, and go into a lot of professional ramble
now, but it is now going on 3 months since the activation, and
we couldn't ask for better progress. Qwinn is basically at a 3
month old listening age, but when informally evaluated he is
actually at about 10 months old. He is so smart, so attentive
and quick! He is understanding most of the basic vocabulary we
use for everyday play and home routines. He is attempting to
imitate most of those words, and independently uses at least 20.
He uses mostly intonation and vowels, but he sure is
understandable by us! We have continued to use sign language to
bridge the gap, and he uses it to communicate with us. He is
just the cutest thing you ever seen!
The good news list just keeps growing. As you may know, I was
going to take a 3 month maternity leave, and then return to
work. We thought we had the perfect schedules, with Ben off in
the winter, I off in the summer with lots of breaks in between.
Well, we thought that was the perfect schedule. As soon a I went
back, Ben's business quadrupled, sending him back to work, and
our perfect schedule went to the dogs. My mom stepped in to help
with part-time child care, with Ben filling in part-time in the
day, working nights and weekends. Not so perfect. Qwinn didn't
think so either. He started to regress a bit with his sleeping
and security. It was enough for us to take the leap, and put
mommy back home! Yes, I am a stay at home mom now. I never
thought I would love something more than my job. But Qwinn has
matched it 10 times over. Ben and I are so very thankful we are
able to do this right now. Blessings sure do come at the right
time! All three of us are so much happier, and sleeping much
better!
The other big news.....our baby turned 2! We had a wonderful
celebration with family. We didn't know how much he would
understand, or care to participate in. All of his cousins were
going to be there, playing with his toys, and he really doesn't
do that well with sharing. But, he amazed us again. He
graciously and patiently shared toys, played a party game,
opened every card and present, hugged and thanked every family
member and said his goodbyes without much prompting. It was as
if he had done this 10 times. Every time Qwinn amazes us, Ben
keeps asking, "is he supposed to be doing this?". We both think
he is extra ordinarily smart. Please don't tell us otherwise, we
are just so in love!
As Qwinn has evolved into this beautiful butterfly, our family
has grown deeply in love with this little angel. He is, always
has been, and always will be the perfect son, grandson,
great-grandson, nephew, cousin and friend. Our very normal 2
year old does throw us a couple curve balls. But honestly, we
think God had this all planned out perfectly, we just trusted
him and did what He led us to do. |
Go Zags!
Our first Easter.
Qwinn's first bike. Our baby is now 2 and very fast.
Our first warm day, playing in the water.
Qwinn's second bike (Q looovvesss bikes).
Hiking the Dishman Hills.
Our favorite day hike close to
home.
Enjoy our favorite song and video!
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