Off and A Little Conversation

There are many times during a day when one (if not both) of Drew's coils fall off through play. Either from falling down, rolling around or running, it is inevitable that coils will fall off, thus leaving Drew with only one ear to hear from or in silence. In the past, we have relied on the little flashing lights on his ear level piece to tell us that Drew is not hearing. I find myself constantly looking at his ears to make sure that everything is working correctly. Now, we have a new way of knowing: Drew!

Drew now tells us when his ear(s) is off. He can even tell which ear is off, as he will bring his hand up to the ear that is off while saying, "off, off." While driving in the car yesterday Drew said, "Mommy." I turned to look at him while saying, "Yes, Drew." He then pointed to his ear and said, "Off." Drew actually knew to get my attention and then tell me that his ear was not working correctly. I found that rather amazing.

At dinner this evening, Drew kept pointing to his left ear while saying, "Off." I kept telling him, "Drew, you ear isn't off," because I could plainly see that the coil was attached to his head. Upon further investigation, the flashing light was off. I found that his processor had indeed turned off and that Drew was not able to hear. I need to learn to listen to him and investigate more thoroughly!

On another note, Drew is having fantastic conversations with us! I feel like he is really understanding what we are saying and he is conversing with us appropriately:

Me: "Drew, please stop pushing your sister."
Drew: Continues pushing her.
Me: "Drew, look at me." [Drew turns his head and looks at me] "Will you please stop pushing your sister?"
Drew: "No."
Me: "Drew, you need to go to timeout."
Drew: While walking toward the timeout chair, "Okay."

And a conversation with his sister:

Drew: [Calling sister's name while running after her]
Drew's Sister: "Drew, do you want the vacuum?"
Drew: Shaking his head, "Esss."
Drew's Sister: [Hands him the vacuum] "There you go, Drew."
Drew: "Thank you."
Drew's Sister: "You're welcome."

The expression of "normal" is often over used and mis-understood. And seriously, what is normal? But I can't help feeling that whatever "normal" is, we're there. Sure, I have to talk to Drew all. the. time. And do "therapy." But I love to talk, so I would talk to him all the time even if he wasn't deaf. It feels natural, not forced and has become part of who I am and who we are as a family.

We're having a lot of fun. Drew is becoming a toddler, exploring the world around him and becoming more and more independent. Drew can have conversations with his sister, his Daddy, his aunts and uncles. Can it get any better? Knowing Drew, I'm sure it will!