Celebrating 3rd Hearing Birthday

I know I say this every time but WOW it has been awhile since I have written about Miss Chloe Jean - guess that means things are running smoothly and that is exactly right.


Chloe ended the school year by running into the classroom, hugging goodbye and off we went our separate ways.  We recently had her 3 year check up at Boys Town NRH - yes you read that right - Chloe has been enjoying her hearing journey for 3 years now!  She rocked the language and speech evaluation appointment - well she did have some moments of "I don't know" but with encouragement with stickers and stacking monkeys - she was able to complete her evaluation.  At almost 4 years old, with only hearing 3 years, Chloe's language skills averaged above her normal hearing peers.  All that hard work with her service providers really shows when you see results on paper.  It shows even more when you watch her hold a conversation with an adult in a store, church or activity all on her own - no interpretation from parents needed!  And trust me she is very good at communicating what she wants!  Remind you she is still my very strong willed and independent child!

And speaking of hard work - we received some great news from Chloe's private speech therapist.  Chloe will actually get to "Graduate" (be dismissed) from her private speech services mid-August.  I am going to be honest, I had tears in my eyes listening to this news.  And initially they were not tears of joy, but rather tears of fear.  I know in my mind that Chloe is ready for this change - but her Mom is NOT.  Those weekly trips to Lincoln for the last 3 years are like my security blanket.  I have adjusted to this change of schedule and accepted that "wow, look how far she has come in just 3 years."  Think of it, she has gone from not babbling at all to bossing us all around!!

Chloe will be in preschool again this year (and next year too) with a new teacher.  She will continue to receive services from the district to help her advocate when she can not hear in the classroom and work on hearing and communicating during group activities for example.

All the news I have for now - feeling blessed - God is so Great!

Checking In... Mid Year!!

So, wow... it has been awhile since I have updated... guess I'll blame that to just being busy!!

As you may have read, Chloe Jean struggled quite a bit at the beginning of her preschool journey.  It may all have been a bit over whelming for her.  She has several changes that all happened within a matter of a week.  She turned 3 (yea, that should be a happy note, which it is, but with 3 comes being "the boss"), had to change daycare providers (again, change might take awhile for Chloe to adjust to -she's enjoying her new home away from home) and then there was preschool.  Chloe was used to being in a quiet home away from home and needless to say - preschool added some extra noise.



Chloe was asked to join preschool early for a challenge and a challenge it is!  Chloe was excelling off the charts with her service providers who worked with her in a one on one environment.  We all know working the ins and outs of school (academically and socially) is a learning process for any child.  However, for Chloe Jean - learning to listen to the teacher in a classroom setting is a struggle.  She needed (and still is) to learn how to use her FM system properly (teacher amplified with microphone that directly feeds into Chloe's CIs) and advocate to her peers and teachers when she doesn't hear what is the conversation is about.  Chloe's CIs have proven to be a wonderful asset for her to thrive in a listening spoken community - however, she hears the pencil tapping or the chair moving across the floor at the same level of her peers/teachers talking.  I think this was a bit much for Chloe to all digest and was the root to her separation anxiety at drop off.

I am happy to report that for weeks maybe months now - Chloe is back to running into the building, walking into her classroom - and after a short hug and sometimes a kiss - she is on her happy way to learn.  I do have to say that it was probably just as hard for this mom to go through that every day.  It made my heart hurt leaving her - even being told she recovered quickly.  It adds an extra bounce to my step each  morning having her dropped off with a smile!

With lots of hard work from her service providers - they helped work through her emotions and continue to monitor her progress and growth in the classroom.  We recently made our routine visit up to Boys Town NRH for her 2.5 year check-in.  Can you believe it, it has been that long.  I recently watched the video from her activation where she turned to the sound of a bell - seems just like yesterday.  Chloe worked hard that day and made us very proud parents.  She gave her attention to her Audiologist for full two hours so they could make modifications to her programming.  This is very important as without the proper programming, who knows what she could be missing.

Then after a lunch (which I am not sure if it is the cookie Holly gave her or what, but she was on some goofy sugary high) she had her speech and language evaluation.  She was crazy wild, in a good 3 year old way this go around.  She had the gal at Boys Town smiling and laughing at her spunk and of course language skills.  Chloe again worked hard and gave them two hours full of testing.  Granted there were breaks for M&Ms and stickers - but she did amazing.  Chloe is testing above her peers with normal hearing.  This again made us very proud parents.  It is a blessing to have the technology in place and great "team" members pushing her further and further on her hearing journey.

Now only if we can keep her healthy.  Ugh.  Ear infections after ear infections, and this mom is D.O.N.E with them.  Chloe will be getting a tube in her right ear (left has perforation and doesn't appear to need one) and her adenoids removed toward the end of April.  It is hard to explain but those darn infections and fluids cause disruptions to her programming/hearing and I can't imagine how stressful that has to be for her.

And at home... well.... she tests my patience on a weekly - if not daily - level.  She is very strong willed and gets the best of me.  But then, after thinking of where she has come - I am very blessed she can vocalize as clear as she does what she wants and demands.

The journey of Preschool...

So we are wrapping up our third week of Preschool.  And I really don't know how to respond to how it is going.  Little Miss Chloe Jean wakes up in the morning and once she realizes it is a day for Preschool - she pops up right out of bed.  Gets dressed and continues through her morning routine - without any fits and usually in her own way of getting it done.  She is just so darn excited to ... until... it is time for her to enter the building.  It is hard for this mom to watch her shut down and have so much anxiety about leaving one of us for her to start her day.



If you ask her how her day was... she says how excited she is to go to preschool.  You may get a little bit out of her about her day.  She will show you how they taught her to brush her teeth and what Alle the Alligator says.  I have even been told that she is great at "being responsible" for her FM system.  She is always excited to talk about Preschool - never any "I don't want to go".  If you ask her Teacher how her day was... she will tell you "she had a great day!"  If you ask her Service Providers how her day was... they will tell you that she is doing well in the classroom and having minor issues when it comes to time for them to leave her.


So it all sounds great - but walking away from her with tears and crying she just wants you to stay... makes it a hard to start my own day on a happy note!  I am just lost on what to do.  Granted she just turned 3 and we had so many changes all within a few weeks.  I will give it some time... help her have the confidence to grow and learn through her Preschool Journey!!

Until then... please say an extra prayer or two for Chloe Jean and Mom too!!

Chloe's Journey - Look out Preschool, here she comes!

I shared this video on my Facebook page - but thought this would be another good place to share it with other team members.  We can't thank our team members enough for all their hard work (and patience) when it comes to Chloe's services.  Without you - her journey wouldn't be the same.

Another six months in the books...

As a recap since my last post - Miss Chloe Jean experienced a change in her hearing and had a case of the "whats" - I could tell that she wasn't hearing us as well as she was before.  She was asking you to repeat words and got extremely upset when you tried to cover your mouth to talk to her.  Might ask why we would do this - but it is to test to see if she is hearing us or reading lips.  Yes, even at 2 years old, Miss Chloe Jean can read lips.  Although she doesn't normally depend on reading lips in her everyday environment.  She was in tears, Mom was in tears and away we go into troubleshooting.  Did her programming change?  Is her cochlear implant(s) working properly.  Well... a long story short - it turned out that Chloe had a middle ear infection.  VERY THANKFUL for the Staff at Boys Town and Dr Lusk himself - they went above and beyond during the Christmas / end of the year rush and helped us through.

Last week Miss Chloe Jean had a fun filled day at Boys Town for her 1.5 year check up.  Time sure does go by fast - she is growing and thriving well in her hearing journey.

Chloe was scheduled for a FULL day of appointments.  First was a speech evaluation and second was a audiology appointment (testing her programming of her cochlear implants) and third was a trip to see Dr. Lusk (ENT).  I am always a nervous Mom heading into these appointments.  Don't get me wrong, I feel extremely blessed with how far she has come with her verbal language and adapting to her "normal" - I don't know how to explain the feeling...

Chloe really needed a good day in the booth - to check in on her programming - and since this appointment was in the afternoon, I was a little leery how Miss Independent would do.  But she proved of us wrong - she rocked both of her appointments.  Chloe had fun "playing" with Katie - and was eager to show them how much she knows, especially when it was for a sticker!  Chloe is doing extremely well in her hearing process - she is testing above anywhere we had dream she would be in a year and half time... she works so hard and loves to learn (reminds me of her older sister)!

After a break for lunch - off to see Jacquelyn - her audiologist.  Once again, Chloe proved me wrong and was a rockstar - sat through a TWO hour appointment for programming.  Gave them reliable information so they could make the needed programming changes.  I have always said that her right ear is her dominate ear.  It was her first ear - but by only a few weeks.  Testing proved my theory and they made changes to try to decrease the gap between the two cochlear implants.  She does well with her left side - but could she do better if programming was changed.  Time will tell...

As far as her appointment with Dr Lusk - since she had another ear infection since Christmas - we are now back on the fence about getting her third set of tubes.  Hopefully she will out grow the need - but if she needs them, I am okay with that too.  Especially since her one ear infection affected her hearing - she was so frustrated, Mom was so frustrated, tubes are worth it.  (If I can sit through two cochlear implant surgeries, another set of tubes seems like nothing)

Chloe picked up yet another word this week - reminding - she now tells me that she is just reminding me... needless to say I have to tell her that often when she informs me that "I AM" doing... whatever it maybe that I ask her to do or not to do... she's something else that is for sure!  A little more independent than her sister ... okay.. much more independent!!

That's just a little news from our house to yours - we have a team meeting coming up to discuss her upcoming goals and preschool.... sigh, can't believe she is ready for preschool... but again.. another adventure with more concerns for this mom.  Praying she can adapt once more to thrive in a different and more than likely a noisy environment....

Merry Christmas!

There are too many blessing of 2013 to say them all - but here is a recap of a few of our blessings:

*** Chloe Jean has gone from saying about two dozen different words (Feb 2013) to using 3 or 4 or 5 words in a sentence (October 2013).  She easily expresses what she is thinking or what she would like by putting words together.  She loves her big sister - and plays so much like her big sister.

*** Chloe gets so excited to tell us about all the fun activities she gets to do with her service providers, Holly and Casey.  Pictured is Chloe as a Santa Claus.  Thought I would also include a video of Chloe telling me about an activity she did with Holly.

*** We celebrated Chloe's First Hearing Birthday with awesome results from Boys Town.  Everyone is pleased and excited with how far she has come in her first year.

*** Within this short time, Chloe has learned how to also advocate for herself when a CI isn't turned on or needs a new battery.  Right now we are trying to troubleshoot with her equipment - it seems as if she has something going on with the devices and/or programming.  She is saying "what" all the time and looking at your lips to get a better understanding of what she is hearing.  So off to Boys Town we go - but very thankful that they were able to squeeze us in during this busy holiday/end of year time.

*** Can't leave out big sister Sydney.  She is loving the life of Kindergarten.  Surprisingly she enjoys most of the school lunches as well! She is excited to report what they are learning in reading, language, math and science.  Her best friend Kennadee is still at the top of her list of things to talk about - those two are just fun to be around, doesn't matter what they are doing - there is a smile on their face.

May your days be Merry & Bright - Looking forward to what 2014 may bring our family.

Little Miss Independent Chloe

Things have been running pretty smooth in our house lately - which is good to report.  Chloe is putting three to four words together to express her thoughts.  They are working with her on completing the endings on words... like ing or ed or even an s.  Also working with Chloe to understand two step directions - whether it be following two actions or getting two objects.

At the end of August - she had her 1 YEAR speech evaluation - went from barely babbling at all to hitting age appropriate milestones.  We feel blessed that Chloe is a smart little girl who wants to wear her cochlear implants and grow in her hearing journey.

Right now we are working hard on potty training - such a different child from her older sister - we are getting  closer, but really it is a matter if Chloe wants to participate or not! :D

Here are two videos from the other night.  She loves to read her books (which is exactly like her older sister) and wants to "I read to you" to show you she knows the book.