I ran into a quote last week that really struck a chord with me… “Isn’t it funny how day by day, nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different?” I’m not sure who said it, but it is so, so true. I find myself weekly, even daily, looking at my Read More
Author Archive
Pancake Love
August 29th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Both of my boys are pancake lovers. That’s almost too weak a word for it; the boys would both live on pancakes if I let them. Any time we go out for breakfast, Eric wants a “pancake restaurant,” and he asks for it half of the time if we go out to eat at any other time of day. Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Baby Steps
August 24th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Someone asked me today if being home with Danny has led him to make a lot of progress. The only answer I had for her was “maybe.” The truth is, I’m not sure there has been much progress at all, but rather, I’m noticing more of the little things I didn’t Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Starting School
August 21st, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
In a conventional way, it’s far too early for Danny to start school. I mean, the kid is only 2! Never mind that, though; since when do we stick to conventional, especially with Danny? Our deaf school has a nursery class for 2-3 year olds, and Danny’s first day was Wednesday! We Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
A Trek Through Time
August 16th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Despite the ridiculous heat we’ve been having lately, on Saturday we went to check out something that’s been on our list of things to do all summer. The Botanical Gardens here in town have a pretty cool exhibit set up in their dome – and since it’s in the dome, it Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
A Whole New World…
August 14th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Staying at home has definitely been a whole new world for me this week. As expected, it’s not exactly a lazy-day, sit on the couch eating bon-bons and watching the Price is Right lifestyle. I’ve been busy. Heck, we had Eric’s 4 year well checkup, Danny’s visit with the Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Deep Thoughts in Mid-Air
August 3rd, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
There’s something about flying that makes me think. I look out the window over the clouds, laid out so much like fallen snow over a vast field, with bumps and dips and tracks tread through them in every direction, and my mind begins to wander to the bigger, deeper things in life. I’m Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Sleeping like a Big Kid
July 30th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
We decided, yesterday, to try Danny sleeping in a bed instead of a crib. With a convertible, this essentially came to taking the front rail off, which transforms the crib magically into a toddler bed. It’s quite handy, and awesome that we didn’t have to buy a darn thing new – Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Little Opportunities for Big Language
July 29th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Working on language opportunities with Danny is a constant challenge. We try – boy, do we try – but with an almost-4 year old that likes desires needs to be the center of attention, it seems like more often than not I try to engage Danny in some play therapy and end up with Eric in my Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Monkey See, Monkey Do
July 28th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Allow me to introduce you to my two children, Monkey #1: and Monkey #2: More and more these days, my children are the living incarnate of monkey see, monkey do. Eric does something, Danny mimics it. This morning, Eric was sitting on the stairs and, being a goof, shaking his head back and forth. Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Moog Workshop Recap
July 15th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
I have to say, after spending 4 days at the Moog Center, the workshop was everything and nothing like I expected it to be. It was certainly a well spent and worthwhile 4 days for the most part, and I’d highly recommend the workshop to anyone who is receiving limited services for their oral-deaf Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
How Can You Refuse This Face?
June 18th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Because I have to do it all the time. I’m very much a “follow their lead” kind of parent. I don’t go to extremes – my children have limits, boundaries, rules, etc – but when they were babies I learned that everyone is happier if I pick up their cues and Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Those Gut Decisions are Killer
June 10th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Many days, I wish I could just insert myself into Danny’s head and hear what he hears, understand what he understands. It would sure clear up a lot of the grey areas as far as knowing how well his cochlear implants are working, and how well his brain is working. We have no reason to think Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Language Recap – 15 months post-activation
June 2nd, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
As I get ready to call AB and spend another $400 to replace another headpiece that my son has lost (this time in our own house!), I figured I would do a bit of a recap of where Danny’s at with his cochlear implants to help justify all this expenditure. There are days when I get weighed down Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Pity These Children
May 23rd, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
These poor children – who obviously are miserable and have no fun at all – are going to be stuck with me a lot more starting this summer. I am the first one to say that I never expected I would become a stay at home mom at this point, but here I am, counting down the weeks until it happens. Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
A Week of Unilateral
May 13th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
I have, I think, 3 different blog posts all bouncing around my head right now and haven’t been able to put words to paper screen. In the mean time, Danny’s headpiece is still missing. Not only have we turned everything upside down and sent letters home with parents, but they actually Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
A Big Deal Over a Small Part
May 8th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
In a way, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened until now. I can remember as far back as Thanksgiving fighting the battle of the headpiece, where the small (not much larger around than a quarter) microphone/magnet/trasmitter of Danny’s cochlear implant randomly falls off and gets Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Books and e-Readers
April 30th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
It is no secret that I love books. Just look around my house – my husband and I are both huge readers, and we may as well have a library of our own. I spent every summer for years at the library participating in the summer reading program; I remember walking down to the library with my mom so Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
I Must Be Hearing Things
April 20th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
So what does it mean when I go to the door at daycare to leave, and my younger son pipes up and says, “oh-en?” I’m pretty sure it means that I am supposed to start crying. Or cheering. Or cheering while I cry. For weeks now, before opening the car door or daycare door, I’ve been Read More
Posted in Auditory/Oral, Hearing Loss, Speech |
Closer Than I Thought
April 11th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
I always told myself, I wouldn’t call it a first word until I knew it was HIS word – not him echoing something back, even if he only did it in the “right” circumstances. It had to be clear, and obvious. Definite. Sitting in his high chair, Danny was playing with his empty plate, something Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Closer to a First Word
April 11th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
That’s my goal: first word. Danny is doing a lot of mimicking these days in his vocal play; if we say something, he’ll echo back the vowel sounds. Usually he won’t include any consonants, those are still quite elusive, but he’s getting the idea of communication more and more! With our Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Lend a Hand for CMV Awareness
April 6th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
There has been a lot of buzz this past month in the CMV online community! A push for awareness and support – especially in the UK – has been going on, the Brendan B McGinnis foundation announced their Making Tracks Together gathering for families coming this summer, and the US Department of Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
A Moment to Dream About
April 5th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
It wasn’t too long before bed on Easter Sunday, and as is quickly becoming the norm, the boys were up in the living room playing together. Seriously, these two are becoming inseparable. I worried that Danny’s language delays would hinder their relationship, but with the pure Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Eggs, Eggs, Eggs!
April 4th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
It seems like, by the time Easter is actually here, most of the excitement is past. Of course, there is still the key aspects of Easter itself, from the Bunny’s basket to the religious foundation for the day…but so much happens the Saturday before! I’m almost hesitant to post Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Sharing a Love of Music
March 27th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
I have no idea where I read or heard it, but when Eric was just a tiny baby I remember a line about kids and learning. “Listen to your favorite music in the car. Singing along will teach your child to enjoy and appreciate music, because you do.” I have my share of “kids music” in the car Read More
Posted in Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss, Music |
The Wild Ride
March 26th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
I decided this morning that having a special needs child is basically like being on a roller coaster ride that never ends. There’s no real final goal or destination; it’s just endlessly going, sometimes rolling along up high, sometimes plummeting down so suddenly your breath is taken Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
You Know You’ve an AVT Family When…
March 23rd, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
As Danny grows more independent, I’m giving him a little more time to play while…not quite supervised. I’m close, but I’m not right on top of him close like I felt the need to be for basically 2 years. This new found freedom is allowing some excellent brotherly bonding. Eric had half a Read More
Posted in AVT, Hearing Loss |
Narrating a Parade
March 10th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
The circus is coming to town, and in this newly beautiful weather we’ve been enjoying, it was a perfect day for a parade! Now, the actual circus isn’t for a few weeks, so there were no animals like you’d expect in a circus parade. However, there was music, and there were Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
We Love Spring!
March 10th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Yes, it’s true: we love spring. Fall is pretty good too, any of those days where the weather is truly nice and not either miserable cold or miserable hot. Summer is not a favorite, because the heat makes it SO hard to do anything outside for very long! But in the spring – oh, the Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss |
Learning Body Language
March 5th, 2010 by Ordinary Miracles
Danny is starting to gain all sorts of awareness of himself and his body. He seems to be spending a lot of time lately discovering what he has, and what he can do with it. His hands are prime examples; there are times he will just stop and watch as he opens and closes his hand, or points and Read More
