Olympic Opening Ceremony

Did you watch the London Olympic's Opening Ceremony? We did. Rarely is Katelyn allowed to stay up past 8pm, but this was a special exception. With the ceremony occurring once every two years (if you watch the Winter Olympics too) it was a special treat to have all six of us watch the ceremony together. The night was full of commentary about the outfits, songs, flashing lights, etc. Each girl had a different favorite part. 

Eric, Jessyca, Sydney, and Katelyn all sharing the couch during the ceremony.

Imagine if you could not hear the ceremony. The wonderful thing about the event is the lights and dancing are visually stimulating. Lucky for us, Katelyn's hearing aids are making a big difference and helping her understand her surroundings. Loud drums and lots of bass moved Katelyn to do lots of tribal-like dance moves. Although the photo is of her sitting on the couch, she was barely able to contain herself. She LOVED the ceremony -- well the portion she was allowed to stay up for anyway. 

It was wonderful to be able to sit down as a family and experience something with all of our senses. Nights like these are the ones that make all the hard work of raising children worthwhile. 

Sign A Day - Olympics

Rather than try to explain the sign for "Olympics" through text, I posted the video below. It is a simple sign, however, explaining it through text would over complicate things. We are using this sign around our house right now. How about you??

Groupon for a Cause

Doesn't everyone like a good deal? I know I do! Each day I receive emails about things that are deeply discounted. Each day I scan through them to see if they are relevant to our current life. I have saved on oil changes, Christmas gifts, and camping sites to name a few. I had not seen a discount site offer a discount on donations until now.

Groupon is offering $10 for a $20 donation to the John Tracy Clinic.

I recently learned of the John Tracy Clinic through the book Choices in Deafness that I wrote about last week. It is a clinic based in Los Angeles that works to reach out and improve the surrounding community by offering hearing loss services. They provide a preschool, do hearing screenings, and have online courses for parents that do not life in the LA area.

Since I do not live in California, I am taking advantage of their services with the online parent course. It is full of information about options you have as a parent of a Deaf child. Courses are tailored to the age of the child, and there are people available to chat and answer questions as well.

Basically, they do great things in LA and try to extend the knowledge base as best they can through the internet. I really appreciate their efforts.

So bravo to Groupon and Chris Malling and his team at Colliers International for making this happen!

CLICK HERE if you would like to donate $10 toward the purchase of an Audiometer deal ends on July 29th.

**Disclaimer: None of the above links are in association with my Groupon account, nor will I receive anything for your donation. I just want to share about a big company doing a great thing!

Sign A Day - Book

Lots of ASL signs are based on common sense gestures. Luckily, "book" is one of them. We read books all the time! "Book" is one of the signs that can help us get Katelyn what she wants while eliminating the frustration that leads to tantrums.
The American Sign Language sign for "book" is made by placing both of your palms together just in front of your waist. You open your hands on a hinge to finish the sign. Just pretend that your hands start as a closed book and move on to an open book. Easy as pie!

Photo Courtesy: http://www.lifeprint.com/

Book Recommendation: Choices in Deafness

Have you heard of the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting"? If you have then you'll know that that series of books is considered a parenting bible. I began reading them when I was pregnant with Katelyn but quickly put them down. I felt as if they were turning me into a worrier and an alarmist. They were so thorough that I began to worry if every symptom I felt during pregnancy was connected to one of the horrible diseases/conditions they were making you aware of. Many people do not experience theses books in the same way, but once my mindset had set in, there was no stopping me from worrying, so, I put down the books.

Now, I have found a book similar for parents of Deaf children. "Choices in Deafness" takes you from the process of the initial hearing testing all the way through high school graduation. It talks about the many disorders related to deafness along with the teaching strategies for Deaf children. Although no two deaf children are alike, it strives to cover the entire spectrum to give a broad approach to possible solutions.

Book available for purchase at Amazon.com

There were two chapters that I knew did not pertain to Kate, so I skipped them. Knowing myself, they would bring out the worrier in me. Luckily, I know Katelyn's condition is caused by a genetic abnormality, not a symptom of a larger health issue. This has helped my worrying self stay at bay. 

Overall, after completing the book, I feel much more able to research her hearing condition and be a more engaged parent. Each chapter contained several testimonials from real parents telling the story of their journey with their children. It felt good to know that we are not alone. This book talks about hearing aids and cochlear implants as well, making it relevant for any parent/family member that has a child with a hearing loss. 

This book was recommended by my Aunt Ruth who learned about it from a friend. After searching the internet, I have had difficulty finding resources for parents of children that have hearing aids. Cochlear implants are much easier to research. It was great to read this book and get the information I had been looking for all in one place.

Now I am armed with a baseline of knowledge to start our journey together. Hoping this recommendation can help someone else as well!

Sign A Day - Break

With the untimely "break" in my laptop's screen, it was time to learn the word "break" -- there is no sign for broken because it is just a past tense of the word break.

Break is made by forming your hands into fists. Place your fists side by side in front of you with your index fingers and thumbs resting against each other. Then pull your fists apart and down as if you are snapping a twig. This is just one motion and stands for "break". See the illustration below for further explanation:

Photo courtesy: http://www.lifeprint.com 

Bed Jumper

Katelyn loves to jump. When she was an infant she spent hours jumping in her doorway jumper and her exersaucer. Now she jumps around rooms, jumps in place, jumps into your lap, and LOVES to jump on the bed.

Her jumping has always been over the top, but never a real issue until today...

The picture above is my laptop. You can see that the screen is completely ruined. Thankfully, I have a 3 year accidentally warranty to cover any and all parts of this machine. Unfortunately, it is still a frustrating issue.

So, what is the connection between Katelyn's love for jumping and my broken laptop? It is cause and effect. I carried my laptop upstairs and set it on my bed (lid closed). Katelyn was playing in her room and I used the bathroom while I had a moment of peace. I came out to find her jumping on my bed. I told her to get down and we went to play in the family room. Hours later, I put her down for a nap and open my laptop. Serious bummer.

I did learn my lesson on putting electronics on anything other than a table or countertop! Luckily, we have another computer so I am not completely without. Mine should be fixed in the next week or so. Life with a 2 year old is never dull...

Sign A Day - You're Welcome

Although I have not been faithful to the "Sign A Day" project until just recently, Katelyn and I have been progressing in our learning ASL. So I have posted about the following words:

• Duck
• Boat
• Music
• Dad
• Rain
• Mom
• Help
• Bath
• Please
• Thank You

Similar to other languages, ASL instruction is typically done by topic. That strategy sounds wonderful for me, but being a parent trying to learn and teach simultaneously, it is easier to teach Kate words she needs to communicate. Rather than going by topic, teaching on a need basis has worked well. This has led to an interesting spread in the types of words we have learned. 

Today's word: You're Welcome

Although in English it is Three words (or a contraction and a word), there is much controversy over what the sign for you're welcome is. Most people say there is not a sign for it. Therefore, we will not be using "You're Welcome" as a part of our ASL at this time.

The reason I am sharing this, is that I was misinformed that "Welcome" could be used to express "You're Welcome" but it cannot. So, don't fret that you don't know how to tell someone "You're Welcome" when they say "Thank You". Just smile, thats all you need to do :)

Interesting Article

There are an infinite number of ways that hearing can be lost. While Katelyn's was not preventable, I found this article interesting:

http://www.parents.com/baby/safety/toy/kids-toys-causing-hearing-damage/?page=1 

It discusses how most children do not play with toys correctly and that many popular children's toys can damage a person's hearing. The thought had never crossed my mind.

Just wanted to share the information!

Sign A Day - Duck

The American Sign Language sign for "Duck" is a variation of the sign bird. The difference between "duck" and "bird" is minimal. With "bird", you use only your pointer finger and thumb. With "duck" you use your entire hand.

For illustration purposes, the graphic below is for "bird". Don't forget when saying "duck" you use all four fingers on top and quack twice with your fingers and thumb coming together to represent a duck's beak.

photo courtesy: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-sign-songs-with-your-baby.html

Duck is made by placing your right hand to the side of your mouth with your thumb parallel with the ground and your four fingers closed against your thumb as illustrated above. You open and close your fingers/thumb twice in order to "quack" like a duck.

Sesame Place

Have you ever stood in line at an amusement park with a 2 year old? Until last week I hadn't either. I cringed at the thought of entertaining Katelyn in lines. Our waits to check out at the grocery store typically go horribly wrong. I couldn't imagine how she would do watching something fun while waiting for more than a minute or two. 

Kate, Mom, and I with Bert & Ernie - July 2012.

Last Monday we visited Sesame Place for the day. I thought Katelyn might last 3-4 hours before total meltdown time. My mom didn't tell me, but she was expecting about an hour or so of fun before we would need to leave. Katelyn shocked us all. She made it from 11am until 5pm. Six hours total. Sesame Place is half water park/half carnival rides. We started in the dry portion and then moved on to the water park in the afternoon.

The first ride had a rough ending. She had never had to leave something so quickly. With the language barrier we still experience, plus being 2 years old, she cried & cried. The more rides we went on the better she got. Although she was antsy to get on, her behavior got better and she knew there was something else to look forward to as the ride ended. Tears did not continue. In the end, this is the #1 reason I am happy we took her. Patience is key in life. Being an amusement park primarily for toddlers, this was a great place to teach this lesson since everyone (at some point in the day) had a crying toddler as well. She learned more about patience at Sesame Place than I can teach her at home.

 Just before visiting the water park we were lucky enough to see Bert, Ernie, and Abby Caddaby. Seeing the characters in real life was surprising and exciting to her. We also saw a parade that included all of the characters from the show singing and dancing down Sesame Street. She had her typical concerned/overwhelmed face on the entire time. With sensory overload, many times I would expect a child to be laughing and dancing, Kate has concentrated and statue-like body language.

Kate's favorite was the water park. My Aunt Kathy and cousin Sam went with us too. Sam was great with Katelyn in the water park. They went all over the place. He let her explore, and always saved her when necessary -- she knows no limits sometimes!

Katelyn's favorite ride -- Rubber Ducky

Her favorite ride in the park was the Rubber Ducky water ride (seen in the picture above). All five of us sat in a huge tube that went down & around in a big water slide. Lots of splashing and big dips. Being over 8 stories high at the top I wasn't sure how she would do. We practiced the sign for duck saying "quack quack" while doing the sign. After we finished the ride, she tried to walk back to the entrance. For the next hour or so before we left the park, she kept doing the sign and saying quack each time she saw it. I love when she gets excited enough to initiate signs and language all by herself. 

Kate Splashing around in the 1-2-3 Count Pool

Overall it was an amazing day. So proud of my little one for learning so much and having fun while doing it!

Blog Redo

What is the best time for a redo on your blog? Since I can't think of one, I decided now is the time to give it some sprucing up. New background, new email subscription capabilities, and a new header.

The blog is now officially dedicated to my thoughts about living life with our blended family. Sometimes the posts will be about Katelyn, sometimes about deafness, and other times about family outings. I do plan to continue the sign-a-day (for real this time) in order to push myself to keep learning. With Eric's daughters being with us half of the time, you will still see more posts that have to do with Katelyn due to the time we spend with her, but the other three girls will be included as well. The one thing that will be happening from now on is at least one post per day. Be sure to sign up for the email blog posts in the upper left hand column to follow along!

Here's to continuing to move forward and embracing our new life!

Music Lover to the Core

Can you imagine not being able to hear your favorite radio station? Last weekend we were at a family reunion in Pennsylvania. Katelyn was out at the pool, therefore she couldn't wear her hearing aids. My aunt has outdoor speakers that music was being played through. As an experiment, I took Katelyn up to the speaker and let her feel the vibrations. She instantly began to dance. Every so often she would touch it again or get very close to be sure there was still music. I really wish I had the sensitivity to vibrations that she does. It is clear in these moments that she experiences life in a different way than I do.

The next day, my cousin Jacob showed her his drum set. She had been quite curious about it, but no one had shown her how it worked. She was in heaven.

Jacob and Katelyn, July 2012

Aaron & Katelyn on Piano and Jake on Trombone & Drums with Sam looking on.

For about an hour or so, Jacob and Aaron played the drums, the piano, and the trombone with her. She ran from instrument to instrument while dancing in between. I cannot wait until she is older to see where her interest in music takes her. Will she be in the band? Work for a music group? Or just be a dancing queen? Only time will tell!

Sign A Day - Music

The American Sign Language sign for "Music" is made by opening your left hand flat and extending your left arm from your body in a curved "U shape". Using your right arm, open your palm flat and wave it above your left arm following the curvature of the arm, but without touching it as seen below:

Photo Courtesy of  http://mykidentity.com/

ASL vs Hand Gestures

How do you teach yourself a new language? I have been struggling with that recently. ASL is helping Kate to communicate with us. Her delay in speech is making it difficult to determine what she is trying to say. By saying words and doing an ASL sign we are able to give her a positive response.

The biggest issue? Real "American Sign Language" signs vs. our own made up hand gestures. It is EASY to make up a hand sign for something and have it be understood. However, since we are attempting to learn/instruct Katelyn in a new language the correct signs are important. One sign I know I have taught her incorrectly is "bath". I do a sign where a cross my arms as if hugging myself and then rub my hands up and down on the top portion of my arms. The true sign for bath is two fists held parallel on your chest. You motion them up and down to indicate scrubbing yourself for "Bath" as seen below:

Photo courtesy of   http://www.babysignlanguage.com/dictionary/b/bath/ 

At this point, we do not know any other children or families using ASL. However, I want Katelyn to have the opportunity to connect with others if she chooses. Using the correct ASL hand signs will be crucial to her communication with those who hearing aids do not help. In addition, if she goes somewhere with a large crowd (such as the Monticello Naturalization Ceremony) and has a hard time hearing the ceremony due to background noise, she will be able to follow along with the sign language interpreter standing to the side of the stage.

Adults do not learn languages as rapidly as children do. I thought Kate did not know many signs until this week. She has understood many gestures and signs that she would not perform until recently. This made me aware of the importance of teaching her the correct ASL sign from now on. Have you learned a new language as an adult? How did you make the time for it in addition to your every day activities? Do you have any helpful hints? I would love to hear from you!

Sign A Day - Boat

On our way to the boat, I realized we did not talk about a boat using a hand sign. We had just used the sign for fish, to indicate the lake. Luckily I had my handy iPhone sign language app and found the proper sign. Katelyn now knows the sign for boat.

The American Sign Language sign for "Boat" is made by cupping both of your hands just in front of your chest. You move the hands forward and then down twice as if doing the motion that a boat would when moving through the water as seen below:

Photo courtesy: http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/b/boat.htm

Katelyn the Dare Devil

If you know Katelyn, you know she is a kid with no fear. Celebrating a belated Father's Day, with Tim, proved just that. After a day of swimming at the beach, and staring at a dark cloud overhead, we concluded that the storm had passed us. It was time to get on the boat.

Kate, Sydney, Brandi, James, My Mom, and Tim all went on the second wave of boaters since we couldn't all fit on at the same time. We drove around and then went out on the tube. I decided it was time for Kate to have her first tubing adventure.

As we got farther from the boat I was unsure if she was enjoying the experience. I instructed her to hold on tight to the handles, but otherwise she just had a straight concerned face. Her lack of facial expression when she is being stimulated is hard to read. She often looks unhappy when she is just concentrated and attempting to figure out the world around her.

At one point, she gave me the sign for "all done". Tim stopped the boat and just as we were about to come in, she says "Ready? Set? Goooo!" which means she wants to do it some more. Silly girl.

Overall, she loved it. Glad we figured this out early so she can enjoy it multiple times this summer!