Hearing birthday #4

February 11th we celebrated Kemper's 4th hearing birthday!

We like to take this day every year to thank our family, friends, doctors, therapists, teachers, and all those that have been with us throughout this journey. It really does take a village. When K was first activated I would watch tons of YouTube videos of other children with cochlear implants and I was amazed to see them listening and speaking so well. It was so hard to imagine that K would be doing the same one day. I'm so proud of how far he has come.

 K's hearing birthday celebration started off at school where his awesome teacher made him a happy hearing birthday hat to wear at school. He just loved it and even wore it the rest of the day.

 At home I can't get this boy to be quiet. He's a talker. He has no problem telling us what he likes and doesn't like, but put a camera in from of him and ask him a few little questions and he turns into a silly ham that can't remember anything. Here's my attempt at an interview with him.

Later that night we did our annual family celebration over at my parents house. Kemper had the privilege once again of deciding on the menu:  pizza and cupcakes. Surprised?
 My older sister can never resist getting K a present. This year she bought him the soundtrack to the movie Frozen. If you don't know the movie Frozen A. You must not have small children. B. You live under a rock.
 We Kemper has now memorized every song on this album.

Pretty much everyday after school K goes to his playroom upstairs and plays his CD's. We bought him a karaoke machine for Christmas so he loves to sing with the microphone. Its amazing how much he loves music. He's always asking for some type of instrument or CD. How ironic is that?!!
Like I said before Kemper is not a huge fan of being filmed so he would never agree to me video taping him singing. I had to get a little sneaky and hide the camera behind his toys to get this shot of him singing "Let it Go" from the movie Frozen. Keep watching and you can see him really get into it.

Thank you Cochlear Implants for our happy boy!!

Happy 3rd hearing birthday!!

February 11, 2013 

Three years ago today my baby boy heard his  first sounds  ever through the use of cochlear implants. We always take this day to say thanks to our family, friends, doctors, therapists, and teachers that have helped us along the way. K is doing awesome, far better than we could have ever imagined. If you didn't see his C.I.'s behind his ears you would never think this child was born profoundly deaf. While our journey is still not over, we are forever grateful for the love and support we continue to receive.

To continue his traditional hearing birthday we did our usual big family dinner followed by cake and ice cream.

Kemper insisted on going to the store and picking out his own cupcakes for his "ears"
He also insisted on having his own grocery cart. Thank you Kroger for supplying mini carts, they make shopping so much easier :) When we got to the cashier to checkout I asked him how he was going to pay for them and he replied "With the money in your purse!"

Time to blow out the candles with a little help from his cousin Nolan.

Enjoying his cupcakes and being silly with his cousin Nolan.

My husband and I try and keep it simple just dinner and dessert, but his grandparents can never resist getting him a present.They got him a garbage truck with all the lights and sounds of a real one. It even picks up trash and dumps it! It's such a boy toy & he loved it.

Cheers to many more hearing birthdays!!

Happy 2nd Hearing Birthday!!

This past weekend on the 11th we celebrated the second anniversary of Kemper's cochlear implant activation. Two wonderful years of hearing. If only I could have fast forwarded to this day when he was first diagnosed  I could have saved myself sooo many tears. He's doing great .He's just your typical toddler boy!

 

I love being able to celebrate his hearing birthday. It gives us a chance look back at all of our accomplishments and thank all of the people that have helped and supported us through this journey.

  K loves birthday parties, so the day before I told him we could make his favorite chocolate cake and invite our family over for dinner & a party for his ears. The morning of the party he woke up so excited, he didn't even have his"ears" on and he said " Mommy I wake up! I go to Target and get chocolate cake?"
He had fun decorating his cake with sprinkles and M&M's.

My side of the family over for dinner. I cooked K's favorite spaghetti dinner. K and my dad had us laughing as they waved their hands talking with an Italian accent " It's a spaghetti!"

yummy!

Cake time!!

We normally don't do presents for his hearing birthday but his aunt Maria couldn't resist. She got him a Mickey Mouse and friends t-shirt and underwear and also a huge cookie!

He had a great time. He kept saying "Everybody at my house!" he loved having everyone over.
We are all so very thankful for this day and the many more hearing birthdays to come!


Here is the video of Kemper's hearing journey I posted last year. I updated it a tiny bit. Enjoy!

1st Hearing Birthday!!

Today we celebrated K's first hearing birthday. I can't believe it's been one year already! It seems just like yesterday we were bombarded with all this new information and equipment.We were scared and had no  idea what the future held. Flash forward to a year later and we have a happy, hearing, talking almost 2yr old boy. We couldn't ask for anything more.

 I made a little video about Kemper's hearing journey. I guess you can call it my therapy. It took quite some time for me to come to terms with K's deafness and I will admit I still struggle with it at times. When he was first diagnosed I cried everyday for the first three months. The crying gradually decreased but never went away.  I still cry sometimes, but more often than not they are happy tears. I am so thankful for his cochlear implants and their gift of hearing. I am so proud of my little boy and all that he has accomplished. I am so thankful for our family and friends. I was so scared in the beginning, but today I was finally able to say "He's going to be okay!"

It seems so exceptional
That things just work out after all
It’s just another ordinary miracle today.
~Sarah McLachlan - Ordinary Miracle

Happy 1st Hearing Birthday Baby K!!!

We love you!!!