Who ARE you?

Chance got his first taste of automated phone calls today. Chance had no idea what to make of it either.

The phone rang and Chance answered it. Then I heard Chance's muffled voice as I was in the laundry room so I could not make out all that was said. Suddenly I heard," Who ARE you?"
Not exactly phone etiquette so I started calling Chance as I walked toward him.

"Chance, who is it?" I asked.

I found Chance standing in the kitchen, a perplexed look on his face. The phone was still at his ear and he asked "Hello? Hello?"

I asked for the phone and Chance handed it to me in exasperation. "They will not answer!"

It turns out it was an automated survey. A computer had asked a question and then paused for an answer.

Actually, it would be kind of nice not to know what those annoying phone calls are about. But, alas, we have to teach Chance that these phone calls are part of life that we all deal with.

When I explained to Chance that sometimes people have computers call the house to leave a message or ask questions, his eyes got huge. I explained that the computer could not talk back, as it was not a real person, Chance's eyes kind of glazed over. I am sure that he'll have more experience with these kinds of calls in the future. None of us get to escape them:)

The worst thing that ever happened to Chance..

Chance got the assignment to write about the worst thing that has ever happened to him. Now, to me as his mom, I think he might have written about things like, " When I went deaf and nobody else knew but me for 2 years." Or perhaps," When I had to get stitches because I cut myself with a kitchen knife." Or maybe," When I got lost at Sea World and could not tell anyone who my mom and dad were." (That event would certainly qualify for one of the worst things that has ever happened to ME)

Chance did not choose those things. He wrote that the worst thing that had ever happened to him was when his kitchen chair broke.

I like to think that due to our amazing parenting skills, and Chance's fabulous friends and relatives and the fact that he is bordering on perfect, the chair breaking is the worst thing that has ever happened to him.

It should be noted that when the chair broke, Chance was not on it. In fact, he found out it was broken when he spotted it backless after school. So, Chance apparently has no stresses to write about other than the fact that one of his kitchen chairs broke. And several weeks ago I might add.

It is nice to know that Chance is in such a good mental state in his life.:)

What is life without skivvies...

Chance and I came across a new word that Chance really has taken a liking to tonight. We were reading along about a boy and his visit to the great grandpa house where his grandpa lived. While there, the little boy and his dog came across a pond and went back to get his dad so that they could go swimming. Well of course all of the great grandpas wanted to join in the fun and since no one had swimming suits on them, they went swimming in their skivvies.

Chance laughed and laughed at this great new word that he has discovered. He has told everyone in the house about it. I have a feeling that all of the kids in school will hear about it tomorrow. I am sure that we will all be using that word more around our house since all of the kids think it is great. I have to admit, it is kind of fun finding ways to use skivvies in your conversations.
If only all words were as fun to learn and use as skivvies life would be so much more fun.

Chance is distracted by little noises....

It is fun to watch as Chance is now distracted by the little noises that happen all around him.

When it starts to rain outside.

When water starts running off the roof at school during therapy.

When there is a sound effect on the radio in the car.

When the beeper on the dryer goes off.

Sound effects from a remote control car 20 feet away.

When his brother topples the block tower several rooms away.

When the microwave or oven buzzer goes off.


Chance perks up and asks what that noise is or goes to explore for himself now when he hears noises he can not account for or can not place what is making the sound.

Yesterday, Chance came into my bedroom and announced that he had pulled the clothes out of the dryer because it was beeping and they were dry.

These are seemingly little sounds that most of us hear and take for granted each day. For Chance each of these sounds that he hears is a little miracle.

Where to look for a lost deaf child...

I lost Chance yesterday morning. He had last been seen in the shower, but his towel lay crumpled on the floor. I headed to the kitchen but did not find him there. I asked his brother if he had seen Chance, and he said that he had been standing in front of the closet getting his clothes. Chance was not there either. The plot thickened. I was about to call out Chance's name, but Chance can not hear right out of the shower since he has not implants on.

We finally found him -- sitting outside, on the bottom front step.

When we inquired what he was doing, Chance replied peacefully that he was just listening to the birds in the morning. His implants were on.

Then he got up and started to come back into the house.

We looked at each other and then told Chance it was OK to sit back down and listen to the birds.

Our deaf son was listening to the birds chirping. We certainly didn't want to interrupt that.

Our pet Buffy....

Today I found a book that Chance had made about himself at school when he was 5. It was really cute. He had filled in what color his hair is, what color is eyes are and then he wrote that he had a pet named Buffy. It was very nice. Except, we have never had a pet named Buffy. Well, there was that period of time when we kept getting tadpoles that passed away just when they were on the brink of transforming into frogs. Unless I have forgotten that one of those poor souls was named Buffy, Buffy has not existed at our home.

I think Chance was telling people about our pet bunny, but they could not understand what he was saying and so Buffy was the best guess anyone had. Just this year in school, Chance was telling his teacher what the name of his dog was, but try as she might, his teacher could not understand what the name was. So, I sent in a note with the name of all of Chance's pets on it so that any future discussions about pets would go smoother.

As a general rule, people understand what Chance says. When you get to pet names though, when it could be anything, it is hard to guess if you don't know. We need to work on Chance's articulation when he says his pets names so that other people will always understand what he is saying. Pets are important to be able to talk about.