Back to Program Three and Holding

It took me about an hour to sweep up all of those Goldfish crackers from off of the floor

We have been back on Program 3 since Sunday afternoon and Butters has been doing great!  The best part is that the screeching is not happening quite so much lately. 

Despite our best efforts to introduce new sounds and key words and phrases, he is stuck on his old favorites:  "Mom Mom,"  "Ga Guh," and his lip-blowing, car sound.  That's the best way that I can describe that.   It's going to take time, but it's just that those blasted annual reviews you have to go through that describe where they should be with their hearing, and where they need to be heading drive me up the wall.  Right now, Butters is around 3-6 months with a majority of his language skills, and between 6-9 months with a lot of his language associated motor skills.   It's still really hard for me to answer a lot of the questions on the surveys during this past review.  He sometimes responds to his name, he sometimes responds to commands, he always responds to his toys that make sounds or music, he sometimes waves when we say "Hi" or "Bye," and I could go on and on.   There's nothing like an official assessment on your child's hearing progress to make you feel like the worst parent in the world.  I spent most of last week wondering and fretting, "Am I doing enough?"  I think a lot of it depends on when your child is ready.  Butters has come a very long way, but I have to realize that we can both reach a point when we have had our fill.  He is very interested in his walking abilities which have also come a long way.  He babbles all day long, and his receptive language is emerging.  I am hopeful that our insurance will come through for the second surgery, and I just keep thinking about how much his language will really take off once that second activation happens.  It's been a huge difference with just the first implant!