Chance continues to progress really well with his implant. It is early in the process, but all indications are the implant was the right choice for Chance. He is thriving. He is hearing things that he just could not hear with hearing aids, and he is picking up things every day. He has a lot of questions, and is constantly asking about his environement. It is easier to explain things to Chance simply because he seems to understand more.
Our focus now is on pronunciation. Chance is acquiring vocabulary and his sentences are longer with more words. Now, we just need to help Chance know the correct way to say words that he has not been hearing quite right for a while. When Chance says something that is not quite right, we will say the words back to Chance with the correct pronunciation. Chance is quite good at saying the words back to us, and he really tries to say it right. Chance has a great desire to learn and communicate with words. Chance is also quite patient with us quiding him in his pronunciation. There is a delicate balance. We don't want to frustrate him or drive him crazy with constant nagging. You already feel as a kid sometimes that your parents are nagging with telling you to clean your room, wash your hands, and don't investigate too far into the bathroom electrical outlet. (Parents are just kill joys sometimes aren't they?) We don't correct him every time he is off on a word, but we try to make him aware of the way common things are really said. Some sounds are still hard for Chance to pronounce of course. Some sounds Chance says back to us, come out the same, even after 3 or 4 attempts by us to show Chance the correct way to say them. This indicates that to Chance, he is saying the words the way we are saying them. Sometimes he will even tell us "I know!" or he'll say the word slower or with more emphasis to let us know that he is saying it.
We are impressed with our little boys dedication to hear and his cheerful disposition as he continues his journey.