Two Year Hearing Anniversary

July 21st was two years since Cormac's activation. I can't believe two years have passed. They have flown by so quickly it's hard to remember everything. I am glad I have this blog to look back on to help me remember. Cormac's initial activation was by far one of the top days of my life. It could not have went any better. He was happy and smiling and asking for more sound. He was never afraid and he has never looked back a day in his life. He has worked hard. We have all worked hard. It's a daily, hour by hour, minute by minute job to have Cormac accomplish what he has accomplished in two years. I can't even remember what our lives were like before we became this AV family :)

I don't even like to think about before he could hear. Makes me too sad. Makes me wonder what he was thinking all that time. Was he scared? Was he bored? But when I look back at pictures and videos Cormac was always just a happy kid. He always smiled and was never upset. To this day, he still has the same personality. Although he is now your typical three year old. He has lots of ideas, lots of opinions. He might be the most inquisitive child around. He craves knowledge and loves to learn. He is very independent but when he wants to he is part of the crowd. He is confident. I hope he continues to be confident. I never want him to think he is any less than his peers. (well, if you know him you would know he is smarter than most of them :) Ok, I know, I'm his Mother but he really is very smart.

I still worry about him but not as often. I still wonder if he will continue to progress as nicely as he has in the past. BUT I have a different amount of confidence in his abilities. I see him succeed each day. I watch him make sense of the world around him. It's not always as easy for him but he manages just fine. I am still amazed by him each day. I hope I never take for granted the wonderful gift we were given by Advanced Bionics. They changed our lives forever. We can never thank them enough.

Today, on the way to school Cormac said the Pledge of Allegiance, he sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame, he had multiple conversations with his brothers and he also heard the bell on the car go off when I needed more gas and he was sitting in the third row of the Suburban. He has no problem saying "i didn't hear you or I didn't understand you". This is great because he needs to be able to make his teachers aware if he can't hear. He can tell me if only one of his implants is working. (HUGE step). He also will say "what are you talking about?" Not sure where he picked up that phrase but it means he didn't understand what you said. He will usually say it when I am talking in another room to someone else and he overhears it. (remember Different Strokes, "what you talking about, WIllis?) It reminds me of that!

I could go on and on but I will stop. Here is some of the celebration we had for his two year anniversary. We had some cake









We head into NYC on Wednesday for his two year evaluation. It's right smack in the middle of nap time so let's hope he survives!