Mapping

Yesterday I took Isaac for his third mapping. He is doing really well with his implant. The audiologist said he is hearing at about 30-35 db with his implant. It seems to have improved since the last mapping. She also changed his programs giving him more exposure to sound. He likes having the processor on and notices when it falls off, but first thing in the morning he still struggles to adjust to sound initially. We have to start him out on a quieter program and gradually increase the volume. He also seems to notice when anyone touches the processor on his back. He will pull away and frown. I don't know why this is, but I think he may know that I am going to turn up the volume, or maybe it even makes a noise when I touch it. I just don't know.

Update

Isaac is making progress with his CI. We are so proud of him. It is much of the same thing, but the consistency is what we are so happy with. We are sure he knows his name which to some people may not be a huge thing, but we know it is a miracle. God answeres prayers....in His way and in His time. Isaac is very vocal now. He is signing up a storm, but knows that he can make sound now and that he can use it to get our attention and what he wants. We are working on having him make some other sounds other than the "muuummmm mummmmmm" sounds, and I think it is slowly coming. We tried to have him make a "la la la" sound because it is easy to see the tongue moving but he doesn't seem to grasp it yet. He sticks his tongue out like a lizard and then makes the "muummmm muuummmm" sounds. We will continue to work with him. We started making the sound "oh" with him and he kind of does it. It sounds more like an "ah" sound but he knows to keep his mouth open. It is really cute to see. When he wants something we make him sign what it is he wants and to try to make the vocalizations, however he does get impatient and mad if he can't do it and he really wants something! He is such a character. He just brings us more and more joy each day.

Baby Steps

Isaac is really adjusting to sound. He turns most of the time when we call his name now. It is really awesome. Another cool thing that he does, is that he talks to us. Whenever he wants something, he knows to vocalize. I have stopped putting my hand to my throat when I want him to vocalize and I just ask him to "tell me" what he wants, and he makes sounds. He also is starting to imitate us. When we talk he tries to use the same syllables as we use when we talk to him. When the dogs bark, he looks out the window or door. When I came home from the store the other day, I asked Isaac where the dogs were (without signing) and he made the sign for dog and then the sign for where as he smiled. It is such an amazing thing to see him connecting sound to events.

Happy Isaac

This morning Isaac is in a really good mood. He was running back and forth laughing hysterically! He then climbed on the wooden horse that Great Grandma Dory and Great Grandpa Dick made. He was just having such a good time.

Trick or Treat!

Last year for Halloween, we just passed out candy because Isaac was only 7 months old and couldn't enjoy candy. He dressed up as a pumpkin(like most other babies). This year, my friends Brandi and Randy and their two girls, Genavee and Olivia came over. We only walked a small loop in our development, but Isaac got TONS of candy. He caught on pretty good to the whole idea of Trick or Treating very quickly. He would go up to each door and hold out his bag. He even signed "thank you" to most of the people. Another cute thing is that he was giving kisses to lots of the people handing out candy! He is just so friendly! He got tired about halfway through and we didn't bring the stroller, so Daddy carried him from house to house and then we put him down on the sidewalk to walk up to the porches of the people. Isaac's bag of candy was getting so heavy....but he just wouldn't give it to anyone to hold! He had lots of fun.