Lack of Updates

The lack of updates is due to my crazy keyboard...takes me like 15 min to write a sentence or two, I will get a new one asap...

I've been subbing a lot this week and thankful for each day I get to go in. I love being around all the kids and seeing how different they all are and how individual each kid is. One kid said to me "Gage has tiny ears!" very matter-of-factly in which I quickly responded "and yours are big..." lol but then he laughed and said, "my daddy's ears are HUGE"...we talked about how ears come in different sizes...Gage was busy with a handwriting assignment and he never looked up...he must have missed that conversation or he is just used to it because he never mentioned it to me. The boy was not being ugly at all, he simply made an observation and stated a fact...no big deal at this point. Gage only lost 2  lbs since starting ADHD meds which is fine, he continues to thrive and do well on Concerta. He and I will go to U of Montevallo Monday to talk to the speech-language class. More later.

The Presentation

I'm going to have to keep this brief, my keyboard has went haywire...takes me a minute to type 1 sentence! The EI presentations went well, some therapists came up to me afterwards to tell me I should go into speech pathology...I smiled and said "I've had great 'teachers'"...a mom w/a CP kiddo told me she thought I was great at what I was doing, she was warned that she might make me cry, she saw tears. If I can encourage even 1 person, it is  worth me standing up there w/nothing but life for credentials.

I met some cicircle members: Maria and blogger Lisa , I love meeting all the families I connect w/online. Lisa  & I discussed which one of us loved a mutual friend Jennifer the most. Since I was "the veteran mom" I let her win (lol) but if  Lisa Lilly's mom had been there she would have really taken the cake because Jennifer is running on Lilly's behalf in the Mercede's Marathon to benefit The Bell Center where Lilly attends. Betty Bell herself was at my presentation again (click here for my first encounter w/this living legend) and she  actually said she learns something from me each time she comes, WWOOOOWW!!  I'm in awe that I even get to participate! Thank you all for attending.

Gage will go w/me next week to talk to students at the U of Montevallo...so exciting! Thank you Tamara for the hook-ups and for all you do/have done, would NOT be able to do any of it w/out you! You Rock!

Reading the CMAs

Gage was very excited the CMAs were coming on last night. His bed time is 8 so he got a full hour in before it was time to remove his processors and retire to his bed. His room does not have satellite access (yet) but I assured him they usually show it again as a rerun and it's usually on a Sat. night and I promised he could watch the entire show if we were to catch it on a non-school night! Gage is such a country music fan since his bilateral surgery a few months ago. I think he hears music so much better and can pick up on the individual instruments now that he can hear from both sides. Since country music tends to be more than guitars and drums utilizing fiddles, pianos, steel guitars, banjo, you name it, they use it, and sometimes all at once. A big change from his ACDC obsession! 

He went to bed and I continued watching the CMAs (they were better than the VMAs to me!) Then I hear a creak coming from behind me. It's Gage standing in the doorway with his blankets, not saying a word but the look on his face is asking if he can have just a few more minutes to watch. Knowing he can't hear a thing, he crawls in my lap and snuggles in to read the words Keith Urban is singing.  The closed captioning is a little delayed as I try to watch and read, realizing the words don't match his mouth because they are a sentence behind. So I tap my hand on his back to the beat letting Gage know the rhythm and so he can be assured this is indeed the song he knows already by heart, having watched the video a hundred times before.  We watched Sugarland, emotional as usual and Gage asked, "why does she look like she's about to cry?" and I explained that likely she was about to cry, I've seen her cry before singing, she's just got it like that *smile*.  On the second commercial break I assured him, he had to go to bed, and he agreed. He was tired, and reading the CMAs wasn't the same as listening to them. When he got up this morning, even though he was dragging at first, he had to watch a quick video before school on youtube...he chose Darius Rucker, a song he watched and heard last night on the CMAs...and it's alright by me.

Family Update

Okay, so Gage's meds are still doing fabulous! He is doing fabulous! This week, again, he got a 100 in conduct w/another note of how great he's doing! This week his lowest grade was a 96. His dad and I in no way want perfection here, but it's tough when your A student is bringing home F's, which was the final straw when considering meds for this child. He's doing great on the lowest dose of Concerta still and we go back to the doc on Nov 19.  Brook is still doing well in school also, with the occasional check mark, but we do believe that she's doing as well as she can in all areas. She is going to get check marks, no doubt but we are very proud of her improvement in behavior. Another note about Gage's adhd, I've had concerns for years about OCD, it runs in my family! His psychologist didn't have concerns with this and neither did his pediatrician. However, since he's been on meds, he's really really really focused. He's worked on this tractor for a solid week, for hours a day. He's out of school today for the holiday (a quick thank you to our troops present and past) and already put in three solid hours (it's 9 am)working on a tractor that semi worked before, he changes and re-changes and re-changes. It'll eventually be useless and not work at all and end up in the trash but wow, he's obsessively working on it. He'll put in another six at least until he eventually decides to do something else. We are still working on his weight, he's starting to lose and ribs are protruding, but I think a good fattening milkshake full of peanut butter, carnation, heavy cream, ice cream will do the trick.

Gage has been asked to come with me when I go on the 23rd to the local college. University of Montevallo usually asks me to come talk to the speech therapy class which usually has many deaf ed students as well. This will be the first time Gage has several hours of intimate time with students in a field related to him. Some of these speech therapists may not go into the deaf ed field but I feel it's important for them to know about hearing loss in any field they pursue. Whether they work with elderly or children, they are bound to run across someone w/hearing loss and this is their opportunity to learn from a child w/hearing loss first hand. I hope they pay attention, their final just may on Gage Blakely! I know the teacher!

HEAR Center at the Park

My Goofy Child

and my diva

love those press on nails

We had a great time yesterday when we FINALLY arrived (thank you Jennifer for answering your cell phone!) after I got us lost. But many families came out on the beautiful day at an area park. I met many of the families I speak to on Facebook and many families I seldom see unless we have one of these events which brings us all together. There were veteran families who have been in the hearing loss world for years and more just beginning their quest for information, comradery, and success. I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures and I had two cameras in my pocket! That's pretty sad, I know. You can find more about this on Bama Ears, so click here. Many of the Bama Ears kids were there!

I'm All Ears blog has the final details about the EI Presentation on Monday, click here.

Stuff

Gotta lot of stuff to update....

Brook got her new blue glasses

 

Gage's new obsession? WRITING and ILLUSTRATING his own mini books

You can check out his blog of all his latest creations by clicking link below

Gage's Blog

His weird ci episode I talked about yesterday seems to be nothing to worry about, just one of those weird things I guess.

And for all you local families here in AL, I hope to see you at the park Sunday if you go to the HEAR Center, details found here at BAMA EARS

Something weird w/his cochlear implant?

Back to the subject of ADHD and something else weird w/his cochlear implant...

Gage got a 100 in conduct this week! That is just unheard of here at the Blakely home. His teacher stopped me again this week while I was subbing at the school and remarked on his improvement. Yeah! You can tell from the picture his new hobby. He comes in every~single~day and colors and draws for hours. This picture is from this morning when he had a few extra minutes to spare before school, he sat (still) and drew in his notebook. If your kid has ADHD you know unusual this may be.

On to another subject, his cochlear implant. This morning he complained for the second time in a month that when he tilted his head a certain way, he felt a weird pop around his left ci (the re-implant side) and then a sudden sensation of warmth there. Then it would go away. Not sure what that means since it's random and weird and only happened twice. Will be emailing his ci nurse to see what she says.........

Going to pick up B's new glasses this afternoon. The kids have a short day today due to a Veteran's Parade in our county and my dad called wanting to keep Gage while we go to the eye doc. So that works out great! He'll likely just draw the entire time he's there anyway. Will post the new glasses tomorrow.