The zebras are here!!!

The Zebras have arrived!
We decided to call the new hearing aids his "zebras". Its easier and more fun to describe them like that versus calling them his "ears" or his "aids" or his "speakers".
They fit perfectly.
He is adjusting really well to them.
We are already noticing improvements.

We went into the office on Friday to get them and learn all about them. Owen was a little hesitant at first to put them in his ears. I had to hold his hands down as he tried to block his ears. But once they were in, they were in. It was one of those moments that brought tears to my eyes. The look on his face was unforgettable. He could hear. We showed him the mirror and he kept turning his head to get a good look. And the way he was talking was like someone flipped a switch. His volume went up 5 notches and he wouldn't stop. Just kept making noises so he could hear himself. Then we made our way outside into the street with all the chaos of background noise and again he had this look of surprise. Like he had been missing out on all these sounds. He just kept gasping with eyes wide open. It was AMAZING!

 And now at home things are going really well. He has asked to take them out a few times and pulled them out a few times but he wore them for 90% of the day on day 2.

Tomorrow we venture to daycare and school.

From the front you can barely tell they are there.

Here is the side profile. We chose zebra print to make them fun. And the orange strap is attached to the back of his shirt so we do not lose them if he pulls them out. However, we were on a hunt for one of them today in his room. Lesson Learned already on how to attach the clip better!

A new phase

I often wondered if we would ever get past the constant fighting stage. And then one day they decided they could be in the same room with each other without everything being a battle. So we take this stage in baby steps as they get to know each others boundaries.
I love the days when they make little activities to do all on their own and they can play so nicely without adult intervention. One of the favorites lately is to lay on the steps covered in their blankies.

One of the best parts of watching them is their affection towards each other. They ask each other for hugs. If one is hurt or sad the other tries to comfort.

And then we get into the category of "big sister" for big brother. I have noticed lately on certain occasions Olivia doing things to help her big brother. The first time it caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting to see it so soon. But there it was. She was carrying his toy chair to the couch for him and says "Here you go Owen". It's probably just one of those simple things of kids helping kids. But it really hit me that this role shift will become more and more apparent as time goes on. But I know she will be a great helper for her brother. She's only 2 and does it with great pride.

Oh my goodness!

Picture this...Owen sandwiched between Jason and I in our bed with a big Toys R Us Holiday add on his lap. He was supposed to be napping like his sister but he is trying to ween off of that. So we went page by page. He looked at each page and pointed out different toys that caught his eye. He'd finish looking at a page and then say next page please. So I would flip to the next section of toys. UNTIL I landed on the page with this...

And the let out a huge gasp, put his hand on his chest and exclaimed "Oh my goodness". He proceeded to stare at this page for over 10 minutes. He didn't want to continue looking through the add. He found what he wanted.
He has been carrying this page around with him since he saw it.

It is very hard not to go out to the store and get this for him. It is the first time he has ever identified something he has wanted. But guess what he has a birthday coming up and Santa may already know this is on his wish list. He will have to wait.

Happy Halloween!

Seems like a boring title to signify what great fun we have had. I think we can safely say that Halloween is Owen's favorite holiday so far. The idea of wearing a costume on purpose is the perfect reason for a holiday. We picked Jesse and Woody for Olivia and Owen this year. They both loved dressing up in them I had to hide the costumes so they wouldn't get destroyed before trick or treat time.

The wagon was parked and ready to go. The sun finally set so Jesse and Woody were on their way. They did so great this year. And dad of the year Jason wheeled them around the neighborhood collecting candy. When they got home Owen was sooooo proud of his bag full of candy. He didn't want to put it down. I think we will be playing "trick or treat" for the next 365 days until it is time to do this all over again.

Happy Halloween everyone!

All in this together

There are times when we get wrapped up in the daily schedules of get there, do this, remember that, and try to make it through the day kind of days.

It is those kind of days that help make little moments stand out and make us remember how lucky we are, lucky to have each other.

Surgery Day...

On the way in to the hospital. Jason tried to carry her but she wanted her mommy. So that is why you get 2 photos of our sweetie from our walk in. (it is a long walk so we aren't that crazy)

 

If we didn't love our dr. I would say we need to find a new hospital to go to. The organization and issues we have had over the years have driven us a little bonkers on surgery day.
Today's adventure had us sitting in the non-kid friendly registration waiting room for over an hour and a half until we finally asked what was going on. Oops instead of calling Olivia 10 minutes into our wait they accidentally called a different kid and gave them our time slot!! Frustrated is an understatement.

But we finally made it to our room and got her all jammied up. By this time she had gone potty about a dozen times. (and not in her pants, woo hoo) Now the trick will be to teach her she doesn't need to be sitting on the potty to pass gas....

And then we sat in the room for 2 hours waiting for surgery. She was getting a bit impatient by this point. 

And then daddy got all dressed so he could escort her back. Where she fell asleep without a fight and the procedure took just 10 minutes.

She was happy until she woke up from the anesthesia. She cried for 20 minutes straight, poor thing just didn't feel good.

Dr. said her ears looked good right now. No fluid (shouldn't be we just finished a round of antibiotics!). But they could tell she has had lots of ear infections - not sure what that meant...We go back in 3 weeks for a hearing test for her again.

school

Can you tell it is blog catch up day? Sorry, it has been a busy few weeks!

Owen's regular preschool had their conferences a few weeks ago. They told me not to worry about going since I would be meeting with his full team in a few weeks. But I never miss a chance to check in with teachers when they give us the opportunity. So I went. But now thinking back, I probably shouldn't have!
It was a disaster to say the least. Jason was out of town so I attempted it on my own. The session before me just got there when my time slot started so I had to sit an listen to their conference first. The teacher went on and on about how great that student is and how ahead of everyone they were, etc. Then came my turn and she had very little to say. Told me that academically Owen was doing well and proceeded to show me the assessments she has done so far..colors, body parts, shapes. (warning #1 went off in my head) I asked her how he was doing socially and she couldn't really answer my questions (warning #2 went off). I could tell she really hasn't engaged with him. I also noticed Owen's booklet she was going over with me had "threes" on the front cover and there was a whole other table with "fours" booklets (warning #3 went off).
Then as we are talking she just stands up and comes around the table to stand next to me. I guess that was my cue to get out. So I left. Pretty disappointed. But I didn't want to bring it up there. I needed to cool down and process what just went on.

After talking it over with Jason he agreed with my suspicion. Owen was placed in a younger class. The things they are focusing on are things he learned 2 years ago. He aced his assessment because he learned those things the first year he was in the program. It is like he is starting pre-school where he was 2 years ago. Not the expectation I had going into this year. We would want him pushed harder right before kindergarten not a review of what was done before. Ugh.

Needless to say I called his school on Monday morning to have a chat about the situation. His Special Ed teacher is sort of like the team lead for this kind of stuff so she called me back after she learned I left a message with the director :) (turns out the director is her husband) She told me she completely understood why I would think that he was being held back. Thanks. But he wasn't really moved back a level, he just happens to be placed in a class with mostly 3 year olds. We went back and forth quite a bit here as I explained I don't want him learning the things he learned before. She made sure to let me know they will be focusing on the goals we have in place for his IEP. He was placed where he is mostly because of where the other ECSE kids are at. He has to be placed with them first because that group goes into the regular classroom together. And they happen to be younger but they are a good group based on behavior and social needs. But we will go over everything at his IEP meeting to make sure that we all agree that Owen is in the appropriate setting.

Yes. I am glad I went to the conference because I feel like I know more than I have been told in the past. I know to be more aware now of what is going on. I just wish they would have included us in the decisions about placement. I should know more after our big meeting on the 5th.

Just wish everything didn't have to be so challenging!