Happy 7th brithday - and the past two years...

Today is Tommy's 7th birthday and can't help but being reflective on this day - with a side of upset stomach.  June 22nd brings me back to his arrival and shortly thereafter the "failed" newborn hearing screenings in the hospital and the then the quickly moving train than followed.  The unknowns of the early days, months and few years were enormous.  Did he hear us say "I love you?", Would he learn to use spoken language?, Where would he fit in?. Fast forward to today and we have a fully conversational kid who has managed to use his determination and smarts in tandem with technology to compensate for his significant hearing loss.  He can lip read like a secret agent, advocate for himself when he misses a deeper language concept, and is able to read, write and speak like a champ. 

Against some popular opinions we chose to do kindergarten year #1 as a half DHOH/half mainstream program at Rock Creek Valley and it was an incredible year for him.  Mrs. Strand and Ms. Thek were phenomenal and truly can't say enough about the oral program there.  Because he did so well, we made the decision to move him to St. Patrick's and jump into the mainstream headfirst with no floaties.  With all of his gains, he was desperately missing the social aspect of life that comes with being part of a classroom.  He wasn't able to get that at RCV because the kids came from all across the county and wasn't part of the "typical" homerooom.  He was increasingly growing aware that he didn't have many playdates or birthday party invites coming his way.  So, after agonizing for many weeks, our gut told us he was ready and knew that a second year of K would be the best shot for Tommy to feel socially confident with his peers.  He still wasn't quite up to speed (literally) with his expressive language and being in a class of 25 was going to be a huge jump for him in every way.  As intense as the public school program was, K at St. Patrick's was going to give him room to grow in his social language while already having the strong academic background from the county in place.  

Year #2 kindergarten - As he dressed in his school uniform for the first day of school this past August, it was a stream of tears for days that wouldn't let up - on my part, not his.  Never in a million years could I have pictured how emotional it would make me to see the two boys getting ready for school together and for Tommy to be "just one of the guys."  This past year in kindergarten at St. Patrick's was his time to shine and grow and he did just that.  For me it was back to the old feeling that I'm on my own again without a "team" behind him, I was the sole troubleshooter and advocate, but thankfully the ride was filled with our typical bumps and nothing out of the ordinary for us.  Tommy also had a great K teacher, enjoyed (mostly)being pushed by Patty MacTigue his resource teacher at St. Pat's to keep his writing and reading skills moving and liked hopping on the bus to the neighborhood public school for speech/language.

As the school year came to a close we entered another "be careful what you wish for" phase and now our biggest worry is getting him to understand that school is not the time to hone your stand-up comedy routine.  Save it for the cul de sac.  All kidding aside, I do have a pit in my stomach again as we await to see if he's able to get on board with keeping his silly side in check as well as not pointing out when teachers have made mistakes.  So far we haven't seen a lot of the social skills difficulties show up in friendships that are very common in kids with hearing loss, so we're thankful for that.  As 1st grade is approaching he will share the stage with a room full comedians and know that he has to work so much harder to hear every word, every instruction, etc. so time will tell on this one, but again in the grand scheme of things we are very blessed.   Tommy just had a big birthday party with all of his friends and let's just say he's definitely "one of the guys." 

Happy 7th to our not so little man.  You make us proud every. single. day.