Hike in the woods

Talk about a new language and listening experience! It was so much fun and we listened for birds. We listened for the running water. We listened for rustling leaves and tried to find what made the noise. And they never knew they were learning. The best way of teaching! We brought along magnifying glasses and binoculars.

Apparently my children did not know the word "stump" as in tree stump. They knew log but not stump. As they each stood on the stump for a picture they asked what it was. Cormac called is a tree "stunk". I corrected him and we said it a few times. The next day I asked him what the word was and he said "stunk" and gave me a devilish look. Then quickly said "stump" with LOTS of stress on the final "P". He is a buster!











 
 
 

 

Adventure Aquarium

We spent MOnday at The Adventure Aquarium in Camden. It was an awesome experience. It was a far ride for us. My Uncle Bill treated us for the day and it couldn't have been better. The boys enjoyed every moment. We did get kicked out of the shark petting area. Someone get a little over enthusiastic while touching the sharks. BUT we learned in that moment that these Sharks don't have bones and can be squished. Don't worry, the shark was fine!

We saw two Hippos who were by far my favorite. It was the only exibit the boys asked to go back to again so I am guessing it was their favorite as well. Cormac LOVED the jelly fish. He was talking about them the whole ride there and back. He is fascinated by them. We tried our hardest but did not find any mermaids. (LOL).

We got to see the Caribbean fish being fed. The nice guy feeding them explained how much they eat and what they eat. The fish splashed the boys in their feeding frenzy and it was quite the delight for the boys. Cormac said at one point "Mom, that big giant fish is swimming towards me". I was very impressed with that sentence. I never really heard him use the word toward before.

It's funny because I constantly look for language opportunites. I try and make every moment filled with language. But I seriously am running out of things to say! I swear they knew every animal name already before we got there. They seem to know everything!! I find myself telling them very complex information to keep them learning. I guess we are just in a good place. They ask all the right questions. THey want to learn more. They are interested in everything. Cormac does call the Aquarium the "inquarium" until you say "what is it called?" and he can correct it.

Maybe we need to take up new hobbies so we have different language opportunites.(LOL) That's why I love books. We can learn about anything we want with just a touch of our fingers. We don't need to go anywhere but right here. The boys are starting tennis so that's something new and different.

We also got our faces painted.
Ciaran the Sea Monster



Colin the Skull Man


Cormac the Shark. I was shocked he didn't pick the mermaid

Cormac listening to letters

Check out Cormac writing his letters. But what I thought was amazing was how he can just tell the difference between "B", "P" and "T" EVEN with all the noise in our house. (dog barking, kids yelling!)

My first "Mother's Day Surprise"

Since this was the first year of preschool I was treated to the Mother's Day Surprise on Friday. To say it was adorable is an understatement. To say I was overwhelmed with emotion is also an understatement.

It began with two songs. All the kids came in wearing their "Mommy and Me" signs around their necks.
Cormac

Ciaran

Colin


I was seated at a table with a homemade dessert. And had beautiful presents around me.





These were butterflies made with their handprint. Just precious. Then they were allowed to give me my present. Each of them made me a flower pin. They painted and decorated it.

Two more songs followed. They also had to tell their father why I was special. He wrote it on paper and I didn't know what they said. Here is what they wrote...





I swear I was crying like a baby. I loved Ciaran's "she gave me my baby sister". I mean, he just LOVES her and to think he thought of that is just so touching. Ror Cormac to say " She took me to the city so I could hear". Well, are there really any words to say after that? He loves to go the NYC with me. He calls it "his city". The fact that he can comprehend his trips to the city are for letting him hear is amazing. That he thinks it makes me special, well it's beyond anything I could ever imagined. He values his hearing and appreciates it. Pretty mind boggling for a kid who just turned four.

Next came the video...yep,, a video. The teachers sat them down and asked why I was special. Some of the answers overlapped but new answers appeared. I have it on video and will attempt to upload it. My favorite on video? Colin saying "My mom is always tricking me. I love when she plays tricks on me". I don't really know what he is talking about but he is so stinkin cute saying it. Cormac said because I make him ravioli and Ciaran said because I give him lollipops and marshmallows. Priceless.

I will work on getting the videos up.

Inspired

I returned Sunday from my trip to California for Mentor training for the Bionic Ear Association. Never in my life have I been so inspired. To be surrounded by so many people all with such amazing stories to tell was literally life changing. Everyone's experiences were different. Everyone was implanted at different times. But regardless everyone has been on a wonderful journey.

I knew many people online but none of them in real life. To put faces to names and to connect on such a personal level was priceless. Since Cormac was born and we found out he was deaf I often wondered what the greater purpose was. Why were we chosen for this journey? I can honestly say I would NEVER change this. I would never go back. I now know I was meant to be part of a very special group of people. People who I know will be friends for life. Our paths might not cross in person but with the wonderful world wide web we will be able to stay connected. To continue to follow each others journeys.

I have spoken to many parents of recently diagnosed children in the past. I only hope they find some small amount of comfort by hearing our story. By realizing what is possible for their child. I have never met any adult recipients before but now I have seen adults functioning in the world. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers all in the real world doing things just like the rest of us. I knew Cormac's future was filled with endless possibilities but now my confidence is through the roof.

I am so grateful for meeting each and every person that participated in this training. The mentors as well as the Advanced Bionics staff. The staff cares. They truly care. To see managers shed tears as they hear stories of success. To see how invested they are in the future of recipients is awesome.

We learned a great deal but also had lots of fun! Advanced Bionics truly showed us a wonderful time.











These people are ACTUALLY making implants. Only four people in the world can make the internal implant Cormac has in his head. If we go there with his serial numbers they could pull a file and he could meet the people who made them! How cool is that???










The boys sent me on a mission for my trip. Colin sent me with a mini Batman, Cormac sent a little Flouder figure and Ciaran sent "blue man". I had to photograph them where I went. Stay tuned.... I will publish their journey tomorrow!

I'll leave you with some of my latest quotes....

This morning Colin takes his "you know what" and sticks it through the flap on his underwear and says "Hey, this is my penis pocket!" To which Ciaran responds "Are you kidding me? (with the perfect inflection)

Ciaran told me yesterday "Mommy, I love this baby so much. Do we get to keep her forever?"

Cormac came in from outside and says "Mommy, I forgive Colin for squeezing my eye and he is still my best friend in the world." To which I said, "How exactly does one squeeze someone's eye?" He wanted to demonstrate but I declined.

I will be boarding a plane to California bright and early tomorrow morning. I am heading to mentor training for Advanced Bionics. I am very excited to meet lots of online friends in real life. Very exciting. On the other hand, I am a little nervous leaving the whole clan at home without me. I have such guilt about missing one little moment of their lives. Frank will be hanging with the kiddos tomorrow. HIs Mom and my Mom will watch them on Friday while Frank goes to work. I will be home on Sunday. YIKES!!

Someone asked me if I was going to write a book with all the things my kids say. Have to say it's not bad idea. "The things you never think your children would say..." I could collect quotes from other parents. It would be a good gift for expecting parents, don't ya think?

The Log Cabin

We picked up this log cabin off of Craigslist. I should have known they would spend more time ON TOP of the than inside :)
This is one of my favorite pictures ever. Just look at the love on Colin's face as he looks at Cormac.

 
 
 
 

Any bright ideas?

Calleigh is doing phenonenal. Her lip looks just amazing. It gets better everyday. It's only been two weeks. She is just moving along. We also got some more good news. She has Kidney reflux. It was grade 3 out of 5. This would indicate surgery would be needed to correct it. We just went yesterday for her ultrasounds of her kidneys and bladder. Her left kidney is showing NO reflux and her right kidney is only showing trace. It could not have been better news. Calleigh doesn't really catch breaks it seems. If it can go wrong it usually does with her. But she finally caught a break! It seems the reflux is correctly itself. Now, we just have to get her acid reflux gone and she will be good to go! I am assuming she will come off the daily antibiotic she has been on to prevent kidney infection but we will wait to see what the doctor says next week.

She has also made great leaps in her motor skills. She can sit on her own for a while. She can roll over in both directions. She is totally making huge strides. To put in in perspective. A month ago she was showing the skills of a 4-5 month old in her motor skills (she was 8 months at the time). Today she is at about 7-9 months and she is 10 months old. I realize she just wasn't given the opportunity to develop her motor skills due to her surgeries and not having access to belly time and sitting in a chair. My underlying fear that she has something else going on with her has seemed to ease. I still worry but now when I look at her I see she is just catching up. She is so smart and alert. She just had a hard time teaching her body to do what she wants it to do. Her body was focused on healing for so long that her development was secondary. Now that her body is healing it can focus on developing and she is flourishing. :)

I am looking for some advice and ideas about Cormac for the summer. He is in school until June 20th. I am not sure what services he will receive over the summer because I have yet to hear back from the school district. Considering they just shot down the school budget I can just imagine where the cuts will come. It's so frustrating when a town doesn't put education first. The future of your town and country depends on the children in your town. How can people NOT understand this? So aggravating.

Anyway, I need some inspiration. I need some fun activities I can do with all the boys that focus on language and hearing. I am in a rut and could use some bright ideas from all you wonderful folks. I use The listening room ideas. But with the nice weather we are outdoors much more.

Cormac has decided he wants to read. We were playing blocks and building towers and the blocks have letters on them. I put together the word POT. I said what does this say? He goes PPP OOO TTTT , you know made the sound each letter makes and then said "Oh, pot!" I switched the P to H and he did it again and said Hot. I am pretty sure this is the start of reading, right?? We read ALOT in this house. I mean sometimes like 20 books a day! I guess it is paying off. Lots more to update and I will when I can.

I am leaving for California a week from today....

Suture Removal Tomorrow

Calleigh is supposed to have her sutures removed tomorrow. I say "supposed" to because it requires general anesthesia again. She has a cough and a bit of a runny nose. I explained this to the nurse who called at 4pm with her instructions. We have to be in the hospital by 6:30am. Which will require us leaving the house by 5:30am. They said I have to come and the anesthesiologist will make a determination. I just know it will not happen. UGH!

Melanie, things have gotten a lot easier recently. I would have never thought of lighting a fire last year with three just three year olds. But three who just turned four (someone asked how old the boys were I think the Brights) are a big difference. You will be amazed at how much easier certain things get. BUT they also get their own opinions and attitudes so with each thing that gets easier there seems to be something that gets frustrating!

I have a lot to talk about regarding actual hearing loss but have not had the time to do it. I have found some great websites, the AG Bell Convention and my trip to California for Advanced Bionics. In time I will get to it.

I forgot to mention the boys turned 4 April 6th! I am still in shock. WHere did the time go? I have some pictures and videos of the Spiderman filled celebration. Promise to post more later.

All is well

Calleigh is the most amazing baby to ever grace our planet! The surgery wound up taking about 5 hours total. First she had the bronchoscopy and when the ENT was done the plastic surgeon took over. She really never cried. Today she really isn't too swollen and you can really see the difference. She has a different smile now and it has been sort of freakin me out. Her cleft was so tiny that when she smiled it disappeared and almost looked like a litte dimple. Plus it was so wide. Her smile is just as beautiful but different now. It is a weird feeling to alter your child's appearance. I know it had to be done and wouldn't change it for the world.



This is her in the recovery room. They wound up doing a little work in her nose so there is some yellow packing in it. The stiches look nasty and she is swollen but pretty good considering how long the surgery took.



We go back in to the hospital on Wednesday for suture removal. SHe has to be sedated again but it's the only option.

As for triplet news. Let's see.. I'll leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from the last few days.

I was brushing Colin's teeth before bed on his birthday. He says "wait, wait, Mommy, I have to tell you something". I was thinking it was a stall tactic. He says "mommy, you are my best friend and I had the best day for my birthday" Insert cruomg mommy. He says "mommy, those are happy tears, right?" Love that kid.

Last night I was reading our Bedtime Blessings for boys book and it was teaching about unselfishness and sharing. I ask the boys "can you think of a time when someone was unselfish and shared with you?" Cormac says immediately "My girl, Kennedy, shared her sand box with me" His girl?? Really where on earth would he hear that phrase? Not in our house but obviously it is incidental language! I nearly peed my pants.

Ciaran, well what is there to say about Ciaran. He is a trip and a half. He learned to wink. Yep, not blink, he has mastered winking. And he knows how to use it! I can see the ladies falling to pieces at him. Those slate blue eyes, dark hair and long eye lashes add to that the dimples and a wink. The girls don't stand a chance!

We had our first marshmallow roasting in the yard this weekend. Lots of new language. It was the perfect night to light a fire in the chiminea (how's that for a new word!). To say they had a blast is an understatement.



What a difference a year makes. Last year I would have been freaking out with a fire in our yard. This year they get it. They are old enough to understand to stay away from fire. They understand it hurts. They cooperated and had fun. I was able to sit and hold Calleigh while they just did their thing with Dad's help. I think they each ate about 10 marshmallows a piece!

Today we learned some interesting words:
wood chipper
stump grinder
harness
dangling

Can you guess what was happening at our house? We had four trees taken down. The boys have been fascinated by it since this morning. It has taken all day. The big tree in the back was a monster. Our yard which is already pretty big looks ginormous (another new word LOL).

Calleigh is in surgery

Calleigh`s surgery is underway. It started around 9am. The bronchoscopy was complete by around 9:45 and she was given the all clear to start the lip repair. The bronchoscopy was done to make sure she didn`t have any breathing issues like after her colostomy reversal when she stopped breathing twice.

The plastic surgeon said her part will take about 3 or 4 hours. The called from the OR and said she is doing great so far. When the plastic surgeon saw her scar on her belly from the colostomy repair she called from the OR to ask permission to inject the scar to reduce the redness and flatten it out. Her scar is a keloid (sp?) and this will make it flat instead of raised. We agreed and are thrilled they can do something for it. We didn`t even know they could do anything.

That`s all we know now. I`ll update when = can. We should be home tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

With Calleigh's surgery being cancelled and hopefully happening this Thursday we decided not to go anywhere for Easter. Better to stay away from people and when I say people I mean germs! It was nice to be home by ourselves and just relax. We started out with the a 6am wake up call by Ciaran and Cormac crazily yelling the Easter Bunny had come to the house. Maybi it was those bunny footprints leading out of their room that tipped them off....



The bunny prints lead to the goods......



Which made for three happy boys.....


We headed to the park to ride skooters for a while. And then we headed home and cleaned ourselves up...



That's my mom and step father with the kids.



My Mom hasn't been home on Easter in 4 years. She has a time share in Aruba and it always falls around Easter. Since she was heading out bright and early this morning she came over for Easter dinner. It was nice to be home for a small holiday for once. No pressure to be anywhere. Just lots and lots of fun with our kids. They had a wonderful day. We spent the last of our day outside playing with our "easter egg chalks".


Love how he says "no, mom, I am writing my letters" Like "DUH" to me.

And the boys making fun of Daddy....