Smile! You're on Candid Camera!

It took me awhile, but I finally got a pic of Peanut smiling! This was taken on one of the nice, warm days we had in March, and I was able to break out some of the cute dresses she has. Now it feels like winter again. There were even flurries yesterday! Oh well, guess we're stuck inside for a little longer.


Medical update ... Peanut went in for her second ABR last week and they found the same results as the first test - borderline moderate/severe hearing loss in both ears. The doctors and audiologists were very adamant about her getting hearing aids as soon as possible so that she doesn't miss out on too much. So, we have an appt with Easter Seals next week to have a hearing aid evaluation. Hopefully by the end of April she'll have both hearing aids. I'm anxious to see her response when she finally has the aids. Will she be scared by all the noises, will she be curious, will she try and turn them off when I talk? We'll just have to wait and see.


One of the big challenges we'll be facing is keeping the hearing aids in her ears. She's getting to the point where she realizes she can pull the tape off of her oxygen tubing, so she's not too far away from being able to pull a hearing aid out of her ear. The state is sending over a DTH (Developmental Therapist for Hearing) twice a month to help us by offering techniques to keeping her hearing aids in and to give us some general guidance on how we can help Peanut to handle all the new sounds she'll be experiencing. The DTH will work with Charlotte for the first year and then a speech therapist takes over for as long as needed. I guess the immediate focus is to work on the hearing side and then later work on the verbal.


This past Monday was another follow-up with the Ophthalmologist. He said her eyes haven't changed so we don't have to go back until next month and that should be our last appt! Yay! Nothing against the eye doctor (he's a very nice man), but I really don't like going to that appt. Neither does Peanut. The doctor has to pry her eyes open and then move the eyeballs around with this wand thing. Granted, they do give her numbing drops, but it's still traumatic for both of us. Plus she's getting stronger, so she doesn't just sit there and take it like she used to. She's starting to fight back. He also mentioned that she's near-sighted, so I'll find out at the next appt when we have to see someone about that. Hopefully not for awhile. I can't imagine they can do anything at this point. But then again I'm shocked at what they're able to do for her hearing so early.


I signed up for the Intro to Psych class, which starts in mid-June at the local Community College. When I went to register online I kept receiving error messages that they had already received my application. I thought maybe I was going crazy - did I already register and just forget? Turns out they had me on their database from a summer science program I did there when I was 12! So, of course, it took me days to get them to change my info on their system and finally get me registered.


That's all for now.