And here we are...

We have finished our third day at the John Tracy Center in LA.; 18 more days to go. I have teasingly called it "deaf toddler boot camp" and have found out it is really "deaf toddler parent boot camp". We have a team of audiologist, speech therapists, and other related professionals working with us to make sure we as parents are up-to-speed on Aly's auditory and verbal needs and that we are her best advocates and cheerleaders. We are being supported to be very hands-on in her development. After only two days, Aly is doing amazingly well wearing her cochlear implant processor and hearing aid (new as of last Wednesday) all day. She is even asking to have them put on. K-sister is in a class/camp for grade school-level hearing siblings. She too is having fun and learning a lot. If anyone has a hearing impaired child under the age of six, I would highly recommend this program. The three weeks at JTC will make a huge difference for all us individually and for us as a family. Below is a recent picture of Aly. She is such a fun, loving, funny, cute, and stubborn little girl. Being deaf/profoundly hard of hearing will not define who she is; it will be one more culture that she will work into her personal web of life.

Lalalalalalala

And the time has finally come. We are on our way to Lalaland to see the wizards of the John Tracy Clinic and to visit the magic kingdom of Mickey Mouse. R-dad and Uncle-W are driving the girls down to LA, and K-mom is flying down two days later. "Deaf toddler boot camp", here we come.

And Life Goes On

Boy, time flies whether you are having fun or not. In our case, the tragedy that was Alyson's hearing loss diagnosis has become part of our everyday lives. Aly had little to no discomfort after the surgery, other than the head bandages which were removed within a few hours of getting home. After a week of bedhead (not getting the surgical site wet), her life returned to normal until the beginning of September, when her implant was activated. We know she is "hearing" sound (although we don't know how much) because she turns her head when we speak to her and is much more verbal. When the processor's program is not working for her, she lets us know with a scruchy face cry. The fine tuning of the implant will take about a year. Our biggest problem now is keeping her external equipment all in one piece. Aly likes to pull it apart and leave it in different places, and we are talking about expensive pieces.

Aly continues with physical therapy and has begun to take a few steps on her own; well make that steps and a dive. This is a very big deal because her balance was negatively impacted by the ear malformations. She has also started early intervention (with a focus on speech and physical therapy) with our local ESD. We hope that Aly is in a mainstream classroom by the first grade.

We may find ourselves in LA for three weeks this summer at the John Tracy Clinic, where we will all (K-sister included) attend deaf-related classes. K-mom is taking an ASL class, and Aly is starting to use them. She doesn't like the signs for "if you throw it, it goes away."

R-dad has been amazing in getting Aly and K-sister to all of the places they need to go. K-sister is in a new Mandarin program and is really blosoming. K-mom enjoys her new job (most of the time, which is to be expected.) And life goes on.

More pictures are on their way. We hope you and your family are doing well. Give us a call or send us an email when you have a chance.

One More Step Towards Hearing

Aly is home from the hospital after cochlear implant surgery this morning. The doctor decided to do one only side, after reviewing the results of the first implant and the formation of the second ear. We will know in about a month (when they start to program her implant) how much hearing the implant will give her.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and good wishes.

Aly, K-sister, K-mom, R-dad

As Time Goes By

We have been home six months, so here are referral, in-China, and home-six-months pictures of Alyson. Enjoy!

Our Dreams for Alyson

We have been on quite a rollercoaster since coming home with Aly six months ago. The ups have been as high as the downs low.

K-mom's job was eliminated the last day of her family leave, and she started a new job (doing what she loves) two months later. Unemployment put a dent in our finances, and we were together as a family for almost five months.

And our NSN (non-special needs) DD (darling daugher) was diagnosed in late May with a serious special need, congenital hearing loss. She is deaf on the right side and profoundly hard of hearing on the left. Aly remains the amazing little girl she always was, and our path with her has taken a sharp turn to places yet known. She will have bilateral cochlear implant surgery this Tuesday, so we ask for your good thoughts that the surgery is a success and that she is able to hear with the implants.

So, our dreams for Alyson are that she leads a normal and (un)eventful life and that that she hears us say "I love you" (and says it back.)

Two Sisters

Thank you for being so patient for more pictures.

As you can tell, we have two beautiful girls. We have been home three weeks and all (for the most part) is going well. Alyson is catching up on her baby skills, and K-sister is a great Jie Jie (big sister.)

K-mom and R-dad are still adjusting to two kids, finding that the work and the fun are exponential rather than multiplied.