Almost Five 2/15/2006
Busy, busy, busy… birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and all sorts of other exciting things are occupying our time these days. Nonetheless, I decided I simply had to do at least a short update before last week’s news becomes ancient history. It seems to happen this way with children. They just change and grow so fast that any particular stage is truly fleeting.
Adelina celebrates her fifth birthday this Sunday. Having recently attended another little girl’s birthday party and then going through the process of planning her party and giving out invitations, we are pretty sure she understands at least generally speaking that her birthday is going to be a pretty special event. She has decided what she will wear and is generally a bundle of excitement. Much like Christmas, though, her excitement is somewhat contained because she isn’t yet fully aware of what it means to have a birthday (God help us next year!). We have been practicing the idea that she will change from being four to being five, but this is all a pretty new concept to her. Still, she seems to understand at least theoretically.
Adelina’s incision has healed beautifully since her surgery and she has recently resumed wearing sunglasses (a must in always-sunny Arizona) - and a good indicator that she’ll be ready to wear a speech processor on that ear when she gets it next week. There has been no sign of any more swelling for awhile now, so she shouldn’t have a problem keeping the headpiece on her head either. Oh, for those who are interested, the implant Adelina got is called the Advanced Bionics Hi-Res 90K implant and she will be wearing the Auria BTE (behind-the-ear) processor and headpiece. If you want to learn more the AB website has excellent overviews about their implants and processors: http://www.bionicear.com/.
As far as her speech and language development, Adelina has been truly amazing us. She continues to improve in her signing abilities, but is also wowing us with her rapid acquisition of spoken English. The conclusion we are drawing from this is that her audiograms from Ukraine were likely accurate, and her hearing in the right ear deteriorated more recently - probably in the last year. The good news in this is that she will likely learn to use her cochlear implant more rapidly than a child who has not heard sounds or speech prior to implantation and activation. And given that she is currently attending to speech sounds with just one hearing aid, our hopes are indeed high that she can someday participate fully in the hearing and speaking world. We do not place this upon her as a demand or an expectation, but she has the right tools and personality and has demonstrated of her own initiative that she desires - and is capable - of communicating through speech. She just needs the right people to guide and assist her with acquiring the language she needs to express her thoughts, feelings, and understandings of the world around her. What an exciting time this is for Adelina and for us!!
I am so thrilled for you all–this is really an exciting time! I have chills reading your entry. I met Adelina in Ukraine and I know she is a very special little girl. I’m looking forward to seeing some new pictures of your beautiful daughter (hint!) —Laura (Tara’s mom)
Count me in as someone who was delighted to get the update. I am an adoptive mother, also. I happened upon your blog one day and God has placed your family on my heart from time to time. I do admire your strength and ability to forge ahead in a world so unfamiliar to you (hearing impaired). I agree completely that equipping her as you are is the right choice. Then,when she wants to, she can choose which way she prefers communicating. She is an adorable child and looks like she has a winning personality. My dd is 5. Somedays I think there could not be a more perfect age and then other days, I reminisc about the fours! A party will be so much fun for her. We have always overdone it and I have never regretted it! May God Bless you as He already has.