And They Lived Happily Ever After...The End!

Kai Kai Sweetie Pie has emerged out of his cocoon a beautiful butterfly!

Bei continues to be joyful, fun and loving!

Well my friends and family I think it is that time that I call it "a wrap" and end the blog.   It will be two years in April since we adopted Kai, so now is a good time for me to end it.  Kai and Bei are both in such a good place, each growing and becoming the person that God meant for them to be. 

 I can't express to you how much fun it has been to write the blog. It brought alot of enjoyment to me.   As a writer I knew that I needed to find my voice.  How was I going to tell stories, what was going to be my theme, that type of thing.   My two influences were Erma Bombeck, who I think of as a mom who saw life events with her children in a humorous light hearted way and  the Seinfeld show which portrayed the humorous side of every day living.  Believe me, I am not comparing myself to either one of those people, but I sure like the silly side of each and wanted the blog to be light and fun.   I hope I succeeded every now and then in my blog posts to put a smile on your face.

I want to thank everyone who followed our journey over the course of the last 4 years. The people who commented on the blog have a special place in my heart.   Thank You!   To the 9 followers listed on the bottom of this page...thank you thank you thank you!   The people that I don't know who follow my blog...thank you.   It is humbling to know that people that don't know me at all would take time out of their day/week/month to read my blog.  So Thank You!   To my friends that have followed me...I am fortunate because I have the most wonderful friends in the world, thank you all so much!    I want to thank both Dan's and my family and this means the extended family too - All of you people have been the most amazing support to our family!  The prayers, the encouragement, the kind words the unconditional love for our boys...we are grateful that we belong to these two families.   We are blessed!

Peace Out and God Bless!

Communication and Braces

 How does a 3 year old communicate when he has no language?   Pulling, pushing, grabbing work really well for Kai Kai Sweetie Pie.  (Kai's hearing aid is broken again...ARGHH!!)

Kai is pushing Bei where he wants him to be and obviously he thinks it is a game.  Bei's is so kind to him and usually will go where ever Kai wants him to.   Kai has been randomly going up to Bei and hugging him and trying to kiss him.   Bei doesn't mind the hugging part but the kissing part he is not too fond of. 

 The dramatic pose!!

The running like a gazelle!

The sheer fun of an early spring!

Enough with the braces already!!

I know I am going a little overboard on the picture of the braces but I have to share what an incredible difference they are making for Kai!   The thing that I noticed most recently was that he doesn't curl his toes underneath his foot for stablity when he doesn't have them on.  That is huge!!!   It hurt me to see him walk with his toes curled underneath his feet and then his ankles bending every which way.   Eventually he was going to hurt himself.   The braces are doing more for him than I expected and the results are happening sooner than I thought.  The other good part is that he falls far less than when he doesn't wear them.  But the best part is he LOVES to wear them.   The negative is that he wants to be the one that puts them on and then threads the velcro through the metal strap.   And he doesn't want any help from anybody with a steady hand...oh no!  So I am very patient with him and he gets to thread the braces because in all reality it is one of the best therapies for him.     



The Connexin26 Connection

 Joyful, Happy Bei Bei!

 Sweetie Pie enjoying the 70 degree weather!

The protective older brother



 Playing together

Boys will be boys

Doesn't Connexin26 sound like a great hair product?   Leave in hair for 20 minutes and your hair is thicker, healthier and shinier.   Instead Connexin 26 is the gene that caused Kai Kai Sweetie Pie's hearing loss.   The limited information that I know about this gene is that it is a recessive gene and both parents have to have this gene in order for their child to be deaf.  Kai's birth parents probably did not know he was going to be hearing impaired.  The only way Kai can pass his hearing loss on is if he marries a person with this recessive gene also.    I was told that a protein is lacking and therefore the cochlear doesn't work.  The good news is that the gene is not associated with any syndromes and most people's hearing remains stable.   I am grateful that we know the reason why Kai is hearing impaired...knowledge is power!

 When we adopted Kai in 2010, I have to admit that I was extremely concerned about how Bei was going to handle not having my undivided attention.   Bei had been the center of my universe for 2 straight years and it had to be wonderful being the rock star!  So,  I just can't say enough about how gracious Bei has been about Kai and all his special needs and those needs taking me away from him to help Kai.  Alot of adults could learn from this little boy about "manning up" and handling situations that do not turn out as planned.    Bei has really been the unsung hero in many ways these past two years.   Let me just tell you he is such a joyful, kind, loving boy with a huge heart and huge capacity to love.   Yes, I am his biased mother but it really is true.   Month to month Kai's development level just progresses and he is finally at the point where he is more consistently giving back to Bei.  He is becoming his play partner, his friend.    Today Bei and Kai played on the stairs choo choo ( I still spot Kai in case he falls), up and down the steps they went.   Later on they danced together and Kai randomly would go up and hug Bei and try to kiss him.   Bei told me that he isn't going to miss his friends at school when he is home now because Kai is his friend.   As happy as I am for Kai's development, I am even more happy for my unsung hero Bei Bei Honey Bunch!

Northern Voices

 This morning play time with Sweetie Pie

 Everything we do has a therapeutic twist to it while still being fun

Stability!

A little bit over a month ago I was anxiety ridden with the thought of Kai Kai Sweetie Pie going to school at Northern Voices.   My inner fear was that he would be expelled...suspended the first week of attending.   I wondered if they would be able to handle Sweetie Pie.   What would they do if he passes out?  Would they call me and say "We're done, come pick him up."  It is a frightening thing to witness if you are not use to it.  Sometimes he likes to take a bottle mid-morning and just cuddle...something that I neglect to tell alot of the "educators and professionals" in my life because they frown on the little man still having a bottle.   Would they be willing to give him a bottle and cuddle him if needed?  Or what if he started one of his inconsolable cries?  Would they be willing to turn on music and hold him on their shoulder to soothe him until I got there?   I should not have worried one bit because the teachers at Kai's school are phenomenal people .   Kai has not passed out, nor needed a bottle or cried inconsolable.   Instead he has grown and developed into a happy babbling little 3 year old boy.    He walks around now and says "mom, mom, mom, mom".    Now he isn't associating me with the word but at this point it doesn't matter. It really is his first word!  God is Good!  His only consonant is the MMM sound.    In order for Kai to get a popsicle from our freezer he has to vocalize the word "open" to me.   It doesn't sound like open but he does understand that it is two syllables.  Every Tuesday I go with Kai to school for a parent/child class where the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) teacher teaches me the methodology how to teach Kai to speak and to listen.   This past week, I wept as she had Kai demonstrate all that he has learned...I am amazed....I see a bright future for Kai.    It is so incredible to be at that school and hear profoundly deaf children speaking!   Not only speaking but speaking well!   

I put another picture of the braces on the blog because I wanted to tell you how wonderful they are for Kai.   The braces provide so much needed stability for him.  Kai was doing an incredible amount of contortions with his body to stay upright.  Everything from curling his toes all the way under his feet to using his neck muscles to help balance his upper body.   The brace does the work now so Kai doesn't have to.  I am increasing the amount of time that Kai is wearing them and the good thing is I think he likes them. 

Lastly, an update on my Bei Bei Honey Bunch.   He began full day Kindergarten on February 6th and he is doing super.   Besides his teacher telling me how much Bei has come out of his shell since going full day, other mom's that volunteer in the classroom have talked about the difference they have seen in him.   I think it is real boost to his self-confidence.  Bei is also learning to be a really wonderful big brother to Kai.  The two of them are engaging in play together on a daily basis.   I feel so fortunate to be a part of both those little boys life.   Lucky Me!!!