THE BEACH

There's something about my parents that just turns Christian into a little parrot. Every time that we are around them, the kid picks up a bunch of new words. I always said that in my family, you couldn't get a word in edgewise. We are a bunch of talkers. If my Mom wasn't singing to him or telling him a silly story, Uncle Nick and Aunt Sarah were playing games and being silly with him. I think it's safe to say that he definitely got ALOT of auditory input on this trip! Before I get into my re-cap of our amazing vacation with my family in Dewey Beach, I have to brag and post the 6 new words Christian learned this week and is using consistently and in perfect context. Go BABY!

The Beach (Pronounced by the monkey as "Da Bee").
By day 3 of the vacation, we'd ask him where he would want to go, and he would respond Da Bee. We asked him where the waves were, and we got Da Bee. He would point to the dunes and say Da Bee. I love my little beach bum.

Moon (pronounced Mooom)
Mister Personality decided to wake up at 5am SEVERAL days on vacation. Chuck would wake up to a little boy staring out of the crib screaming for Daddy, while the rest of the house was still asleep. On their early morning walks, Christian saw the moon in the daybreak sky, and constantly looks for it and asks for it now.

Spoon (pronounced Poom)
Let's just say he ate ALOT of ice cream on this trip.

Na Na (pronounced just right)
My Mom's dream come true...she finally heard her name this week.

Nick (pronounced Nih)
Christian LOVES his Uncle Nick, who was a constant source of amusement on the beach and in the house. AND CHECK OUT THAT AMAZING "N" sound AGAIN! WAHOO!

Sarah (pronounced Rah Rah)
His Aunt Sarah is the one who spoils him rotten.

Sammy (AMMEE)
I guess his stand-off with our siamese is over. The moment we walked in the door today, he pointed, laughed and said "Hi AMMEE". If only we can get that S sound.

Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose...

I HAVE TO GET A VIDEO OF THIS!

Christian is now pointing to his body parts and even attempting to say them. When I ask (and of course sign!!!) to him "Where is your Nose?", he points to his. When I ask him "Where are Mommy's Ears?", he sticks his cute little finger right on my ear.

Seriously, he is amazing. How is my profoundly Deaf son who is only aided with ONE aid right now doing this? Prayers are being answered.

xoxoxox

Colors!

Our good friends are getting married this weekend in Florida, and we are SO EXCITED to get out of town and celebrate with them. I need a vacation. Big time. Chuck and I haven't been away on a trip together (just the two of us) since our Honeymoon. Sure, we had our little weekends here and there to Dewey. And we did have an amazing family vacation last summer. So, we are looking forward to spending some time together, and with our friends. It's going to be a bit of a Dewey Beach reunion, and I know we are going to have some fun together.

I pulled some dresses out of my closet today to get ready for our trip, and I heard these little footsteps behind me. Then I heard his very serious, and very sweet little voice say:

OLORZ! OLORZ!

Christian was standing behind me, pointing with one hand, and doing the sign for "Color". I was trying to figure out what he was checking out. And then I looked up:



Can I just say I'm super stoked that my kid gets a kick out of Madras and Lilly already? I definitely am hoping that he is going to be an adorable preppy Gonzaga boy.

Al Gore Is Onto Something....

What do Washingtonians do when it's 71 degrees in January?

For the past two days, DC has been feeling the effects of Global Warming. Christian absolutely loved getting into his stroller without his wintercoat that makes him look like Randy the kid brother from A Christmas Story. Be sure to disable the music at the bottom of the blog before watching the video.

Melting my heart...REPETITIVE CONSONANTS!

Christian has ALWAYS been very verbal (surprisingly enough), even before he received his aids. Due to his loss, he obviously hasn't been hitting ANY of his language milestones (which even though I know he's deaf, it still bums me out).

It just so happens that after his aids were readjusted with a 4db gain (he's hearing in the 60-65 db range with his aids now) that we now have the MA MA MA MA MA MA sound. It's loud. It's clear. Is it him experimenting with his mouth? Is it a fluke? Is he really babbling? Whatever the reason, I'll take it. I started crying today I was so happy and emailed our EI teacher immediately. I think he is LEARNING TO LISTEN!