Change in plans

We just found out today Dr. Molony will be out of town the week Landon's surgery was scheduled so now it looks like we'll be having surgery Oct. 1. Hopefully it won't get changed again.

Update for surgery

We have gotten a little more information on the surgery schedule. We have a pre-op appt on Sept. 26, surgery on Sept. 27 and a post-op appt on Sept. 28. We'll probably be sick of the car after that much time in it driving to New Orleans. It could be worse - I've seen where some families have traveled over 10hrs to get to a surgeon. Hopefully there won't be a lot of traffic everyday (who am I trying to kid - it's New Orleans - it's always a parking lot :) We also have a post-op Oct. 5. Landon will be a first for the surgeon - he hasn't done simultaneous bilaterals before. He said it only takes him an hour for one ear so it shouldn't be that long of a surgery doing both.

Landon's activation is set for Oct. 29 at 9:00. We are hoping to take video of it so we can post it on the website so everyone can see his first reaction to sound. We've been warned that most start crying but we have also seen some where the kids either show no response or are happy to hear. He smiles every day when he sees his hearing aids coming at him so hopefully he'll like the sound he'll get with the CI's.

New Rooms

Connor wanted me to put pictures of their new rooms so everyone could see. He picked the paint and wall decorations. It's a combination of Star Wars and outer space. Luckily Garrett is still at an age we can appease him pretty easily. He wanted a lime green room while Connor had to have blue so the compromise was green sheets for Garrett. The ceiling also has planets and glow in the dark stars - it's pretty cool looking at night.We made Landon's into a listening room for his therapy. We put pictures of the learning to listen sounds all around. We are still trying to find a couple of them but it's a pretty good start.

What a present!

We have a date. Landon will receive bilateral cochlear implants on his first birthday - Sept. 27. What a first birthday present! Let the countdown begin.

Connor had his first day of Kindergarten today. He was really excited to get started. We have decided to homeschool the boys. We are starting Garrett on pre-K activities and Landon will be having his therapy so all the boys will be having "school" every day. We can already see the benefits of having older siblings in Garrett - his vocabulary is great for someone his age (now we just need to get him potty trained!) He is like a sponge - soaking up everything that we are working on with Connor. I'm sure we will see definite benefits for Landon with his therapy by having older brothers to play with and learn from. He'll be getting extra learning time just by sitting at the table while I'm helping his brothers on their school work. I think the only trouble I'm going to have with Connor is keeping him on a schedule. As soon as he was done with the assigned pages of work he wanted to keep on going in the books. He probably would have done all of this weeks assignments today if I would have let him. I'm going to try and find some worksheets on-line that correspond with what he is learning so that he'll have enough work to keep him happy but will keep him building the skills and concepts at the appropriate rate. If I let him go at his own pace he'll be done with Kindergarten by Christmas.

We have approval!

We received an email from our case mgmt at the insurance and Landon has been approved for bilateral CI's! Now we just need a surgery date from the doctor and the countdown can begin.

Typical day - putting ears back on, and on, and on...!

Still waiting

We're still waiting for insurance to approve the surgery. I received an email from our case management worker at the insurance yesterday and they have reviewed the material (we gave them an expandable folder full of info on bilaterals) but the request from the doctors office for the surgery did not include a letter of medical necessity which they need. Of course when I contacted the doctors office he was on vacation this week and won't be able to get it to them until next week.
We had a speech therapy session this week. Landon is doing great on everything and meeting all of his developmental milestones - except for sitting. He's doing better then he was - has a lot better head control and is sitting in the tripod position. One of the physical therapist stopped by the room to get something and started playing with him so we asked her about the sitting. When she checked him she said it looks to be all a part of his balance and vestibular system being off because of the hearing loss. The back arching seems to be what is hindering him so hopefully he'll outgrow that soon. She said to just keep watching and make sure he keeps improving and if we decide we want to that she would work with him. His brothers didn't sit until 9 months and that was still with the boppy pillow to help balance and catch them. For right now the consensus is that it is a combination of just late sitters in the family and balance problems from not hearing. We'll see how he is doing in the next couple of months and go from there.

Boys check-ups

We went Monday to the doctor for regular check-ups. Landon had his 9mth visit - time has really flown. He weighs in at 18lbs 5oz and 27 1/2 in long. They started him on vitamins which he gags on every time you give them to him. Garrett had his 3 yr check-up and is 29lbs and 35 1/2 in tall. We went this morning for new ear molds for Landon. He is no longer the quiet baby who used to fall asleep while they did it. Now he fusses because he hates to be held still for any amount of time.