Mummy what are those??

I remember in the early days wondering if people would stare at Savannah's hearing aides, or whether kids would pick on her, or if people where talking about her wearing them behind our back. Along the way i have definitely noticed whispers & stares from onlookers, most probably curiosity more than anything. Funnily enough people always seemed to admire that darned pilot cap she wore (goodness knows why LOL) & where always asking about it, of course i would always tell them what it was for. I knew that one day, someone would wonder about them & ask why shes wearing them...And this day was to be it
I guess as time goes on, i become more & more & more forgetful that she is even wearing them (LOL) i honestly do. Last week i took the kids to the Tesselaar Tulip Festival. Spring is upon us & i wanted to enjoy as much of the nice weather (back to rain now) that i could.
We where waiting for Savannah & Blake (my middle son) to go into the Petting Zoo & i noticed this young girl (no older than 5) buzzing around Savannah like a little bee (lol) didn't think anything of it of course until after a few minutes i had noticed the little girl trying to touch her hearing aides. Savannah had obviously been aware by this stage & was pushing the girl away, I stepped over to grab Savannah & before i could the little girl blurted out "Mummy what are those in her ears!!??"
The mum looked embarrassed & quickly told her daughter that they helped her hear. The little girl being so inquisitive continued with "but they are weird, i don't wear them"
Her mums response was "well she thinks your weird wearing a headband" her mum turned to me apologized & walked off.
Kids are so honest & i love that!

By this stage i had grabbed Savannah & picked her up, but was so annoyed at myself that i didn't say anything! it was almost like my mouth was glued shut LOL and if you know me that is very rare.
I would have loved to explain to the little girl what they where for & why they helped Savannah, it made me realize that I'm bound to get more of this as she gets older. Kids are interested in things they haven't seen before, and of course once interested ask lots of questions.
Of course this got me thinking about Hayden going to Kinder next year, he will start having new friends & of course they will be interested in why his sister wears "those things" lol. What will i say to them? And do they need to be told before they notice her wearing them?
Oh boy, ive just realized this is new territory for me. Might be in for some interesting times ahead..lol

LOUD SHIRT DAY!

Show your support for such a wonderful cause LOUD SHIRT DAY 21st Oct 2011, and a cause so close to my heart!
Wear you loudest & Proudest Shirt & Raise money to help Deaf kids talk!
I have been fundraising myself in support of Savannah's School Taralye. You can easy donate to this wonderful fundraiser or There is still time to register to hold an event at your workplace, school or Childcare centre & most importantly all the money raised helps deaf kids learn to listen & speak!


Loud Shirt Day Link

My fundraising page

Savannahs First Concert

Savannah went to her very first concert today. I was a tiny bit worried how she would handle it, wasn't sure if the noise would be too much for her with the hearing aides. Surprisingly she did amazing & enjoyed the concert more than her older brothers did! LOL she was up the front dancing away with other kids the entire show! Not sure she could really hear everything but she definitely felt the beat!
Justine Clarke is a child Performer in Australia on the kids TV station called ABC. She is amazing & Savannah LOVES her! here is a clip of one of Savannah's favourite Songs & a video of Savannah dancing.

Her Favourite Song & Singer :)

Savannah talking

Here is a tiny snippet of Savannah saying a few things. It was pretty late & she was pretty co-operative which was nice...But she had to hold the music frame otherwise she wanted my iphone lol

Learned My Lesson

After Savannah's Nap today, just like any other day i put her hearing aids straight in.
Today was not different.

We wandered over to visit Nana & Pa at home & show them Savannah's new stylish shoes. My Mum was on the laptop & Savannah was on her lap playing around with it. My Dad called out to Savannah numerous times & no response. I had to chuckle thinking that she was ignoring him.
He continued to call her name & still no response.
So he clapped his hands really loud & Savannah turned her head, so i didn't think much of it.
I commented on how it was strange she wasn't reacting like she normally would & especially not to her name.
I noticed she had started playing with her mould & digging her finger in, so i decided to take the hearing aide out & check that it wasn't full of wax. I grabbed it & checked it & then put it up to my ear.

Oops. I had just realized that the battery was dead. The hearing aide battery must have died before we had come over.
No wonder she wasnt replying to her name! The wasnt going to be hearing her name from the Profound ear!
I cant even remember the last time i changed it either :/ How bad is that!!
I learned my lesson today! complacency=bad mama!

Happy with the road we are on..

As of today i realized that right at this point in Savannah early intervention I am Happy with the road we are travelling on.
Let me tell you though, it hasn't been an easy one so far. Savannah's Hearing Loss is just so borderline that questioning the CI is only natural.
The decision to step back from the CI clinic for the time being was actually made by me but i decided from their response. My last post made me realize that i wasn't so much focusing on Savannah's learning anymore, but worrying about the what ifs & the things that have no yet even happened.
After speaking with the CI clinic to try to book an appt to be re-evaluated i was pretty much point blank told that their decision has not changed & unless Savannah's hearing loss has dropped they where not going to give me an appt.
You would think after ALL of this i would have been angry, livid almost, but strangely i hung the phone up with ease.
I just felt like at this stage i needed to refocus on Savannah & getting her to listen & speak & not worry just yet about getting an Implant.
After a routine visit with our audiologist, i asked her if the volume & settings on her hearing aid where able to be tweaked to try give her more access in those high frequencies.
She figured it wouldn't hurt so she changed them for us. We are due back for a set of hearing tests & assessments to see if this has given Savannah anything more in those HF sounds & to see if we are able to shift her booth test down to 30db in those frequencies also.
Long shot i thought but hey what did we have to loose? I figured we need to try EVERYTHING before we turned back down the CI road.
So far we are 4 weeks into the new setting changes & let me tell you, i am just BLOWN away by how Savannah has been doing. We really hadn't had many new words or anything exciting to share but this past 4 weeks has just been CRAZY.
How strange to say that my deaf child does not STOP talking! lol All day everyday Savannah whether it be talking to me or pointing her finger & yelling at her brothers she is constantly showing us that she is absorbing EVERYTHING!
to date her new words are:

Apple
Banana
Flower
Shoe
Cheese
shhhh (puts her finger up to her mouth)


She also can sing the old MacDonald song " eee iii eee iii ooooo" LOL
Sings twinkle twinkle in the cutest little voice lol

I'm sure Ive heard a few more in there but we haven't heard them again so ill keep those for when shes really saying them :)

I'm starting to get a little more reassured that right now for us & Savannah we have chosen the right path with the Ha's and are happy with the road we are on.
Its nice to actually say that, to not have to worry about anything other than focusing 100% on teaching Savannah language.
I'm feeling excited, but again keeping our options open for the near future. She has a wonderful team of professionals keeping an eye out on her progress & making sure she is where she should be.
I may not be able to put my feet up just yet, but i can sleep much more soundly at night :)

Water proof Ha's!

How absolutely AMAZING is this! A trial conducted in Australia on the new Siemens Aquarius Ha's! just brilliant! i Hope phonak bring in something like this because I LOVE our phonaks!