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Monday, July 7

Music Appreciation?

Drew continues to amaze us.


We decided to take the kids to the Zoo on Sunday. It wasn't a planned trip, but we woke up and had eaten breakfast by 7:30 am, and decided that we needed to come up with a fun activity for the day. The Zoo is always a great choice because it is "free" to get in to with our membership.


We quickly dressed, packed lunches and loaded the car. Drew's Dad and I were quietly talking in the front of the car as we pulled out of our neighborhood. As we continued to drive we heard Drew from his car seat saying, "Wiggle, Wiggle." We noticed that we did not have any music playing in the car. Isn't it amazing that Drew knew there was an absence of sound, and had the expressive language to tell us so?


We honored his request by turning on the CD player. The Doodlebopps began playing, and Drew's Dad and I continued our conversation until we heard Drew saying, "Mama, No. No. No." Drew knew within five seconds that the CD playing was not The Wiggles and was using his expressive language to tell us that this was not the CD he wanted to listen to! I find this very interesting on two levels: 1. There is little known about how a cochlear implantee "hears" music, because of the way the implant electrically stimulates the auditory nerve, but clearly Drew could instantly recognize that the music was NOT something the Wiggles sing; 2. Drew is clearly developing an auditory memory for music, simply by listening to it in a noisy car.


We changed the disc in the CD player to The Wiggles and Drew was finally happy, listening to The Big Red Car as we headed for the Zoo.

Being at the Zoo, the fun continued. We heard Drew say the word "elephant" for the first time. He also said "duck", "bye, bye" as we would leave each animal exhibit, he growled when we saw the tigers and pointed to his ear to indicate that he heard the lion's roar. (The lion was roaring like crazy. This was the first time I have heard a lion's roar in person and it was rather scary!)

Another fun day with Drew and his Sister. This technology never ceases to amaze us. Drew never ceases to amaze us.

6 comments:

Bill and Shelly said...

This is so great!! Great Job Drew!!

Allison loves to sing, not always in tune, but it is music to our ears.

elizabeth said...

WOW! That is incredible! Congratulations on another skyrocket day!

Laurie said...

Wonderful! I love CI moments! Sounds like you had a great trip to the zoo!

Cyborg Queen said...

That's just too cute! :-)

tammy said...

Way to go Drew! Wiggles rock ... fruit salad, yummy, yummy! ; )

Anonymous said...

I'd say how unbelievable that is, but I've experienced it too with Ethan! I think the technology of the Ci is one of the most fascinating modern medical advances!