First Day of School

No tears, only smiles and words of excitement from the kids about the first day of school. I only teared up when I walked away from Sidney's locker this morning.

Sidney gave the day a 9.5 out of 10. She made a couple of new friends and was able to reconnect with a friend from church camp during recess. She jumped right into her new school environment and didn't miss a beat. Mama bear was worried all Sunday and today for nothing!

Thomas was quite anxious for the bus following an early lunch late this morning (as you can see from this photo). His auditory/oral inclusion class has 9 hearing peers and 1 bilateral CI kiddo. I received a call from his TOD after school to tell me that Thomas jumped right back into the classroom and was ready to make new friends. The best comment EVER that she told me today...If you didn't know Thomas and walked into the classroom today, you wouldn't know that he is hearing impaired.

Big smile from mama bear and a HUGE thank you to our Lord above...He has covered us with more blessings than I can count...we will stay on His path, not ours; and keep faith in His direction.

A Simple Question...

Cook Children's Rehab is doing a promotion during Rehab Week. So, the cert-AVTs asked parents to answer one simple question and provide a photograph of their child.

The question was this:

What are some accomplishments your child has made/done by having a cochlear implant you thought he/she would never do?

I thought about this question long and hard for several days. While the question seemed quite straightforward, I struggled with defining Thomas' accomplishments without writing a diatribe. I couldn't pinpoint "some accomplishments" without those accomplishments leading to ten others.

So, here is what I wrote:

Following activation just over 3-years ago, we had one simple goal for Thomas. Sean and I wanted Thomas to be a typical child. Today, he is that typical child and so much more. He is a 4-year old that loves to argue with his sister, thrives on negotiating nearly everything, adores going to school and learning new things, holds many friendships dear to his heart, and wants to play every possible sport. So, his greatest accomplishment is being "normal." No, he is exceptional, just with bionic ears.

And, this was the accompanying photo: