Adorable...

Chance's vocabulary is expanding and he is trying out new words in sentences on a regular basis. Sometimes he uses the words just right and sometimes it is not usually a way the word would normally be used, but he is learning more all the time. One episode of Chance using a "new to him" word occurred this past week when Chance exclaimed:

"I found the most ADORABLE shoes that I want for my play shoes!" Chance told his dad as he walked into the kitchen.
Chance's dad was in the kitchen making dinner and Chance was expressing his desire to own above shoes while reaching for some food.
With a matter of fact voice, Chances dad said, "Boys don't usually use the word adorable to describe things. Mom would, but boys usually don't use adorable. They may say something like awesome shoes, or cool shoes instead."
Chance said,"Really?" Then just shook his head as if to say OK and walked off with his dinner.
Chance's brother came up into the kitchen where his dad was cooking and said in a low voice,"I'm glad you told him that dad because boys really don't use the word adorable."

Chance may always miss this....

Chance's brother had a late, late birthday party where he took several friends and his brother Chance to a minor league baseball game.

The boys all went down on the field with Chance's brother while the stadium sang a birthday salute. Chance had his sunglasses confiscated by the owl mascot who just couldn't quite get the sunglasses to fit over his eyes which were as Chance put it,"huge!"

A good time was also had by all as they tried to catch foul balls in a field behind the first-base line.

On the way home, the boys all sang to the radio. As each song would begin, the boys would hear just one or two notes and then break into song in unison. But not Chance.

Chance would look around like,"How do they all know what to sing?"

Even after notes 6,7, 8, and 9, Chance wasn't identifying the songs. This may always be a struggle for Chance. He does not catch onto songs as soon as people with out implants, and it takes him more time to identify what song comes on. He loves music and he does learn the words after time. His chorus teacher said that he had good rhythm and she pointed out that not all of her kids with normal hearing had that.

This is not a huge tragedy. Chance can hear so well, but he is deaf, and his hearing is not perfect. We certainly don't mind his music delay. He may though, especially as he gets older and music becomes more and more important to kids his age. I hope he does not let it bother him too much.

Maybe we'll have to teach him to say something like,"Hey, I may not know as many songs as well as you do, but I have learned to hear again after going deaf. I'm doing just fine!" He could even say something along the lines of,"My mother thinks I am fabulous even if I don't catch every song on the radio. She told me so:)

Chance and wake boarding

A few weeks ago, we had a big family outing at the lake with grandparents, cousins, and various aunts and uncles. One uncle generously brought his boat so that we could engage in water activities like water skiing, wake boarding and other various fun water sports.

Chance decided that he wanted to try wake boarding for the first time with his brother so our family headed out to the middle of the lake to give it a go. Since Chance does not wear his implants in the water and they were snuggled down in a bag on shore, he could not hear anything so his brother went first to show him how it was done.

Chance is a good learner by just observing, but even still, Chance's dad sat on the edge of the boat motioning and signing to Chance on how this activity was done. Chance nodded and got ready to succeed as his brother had done.

Chance was SO close to getting up several times, but like his mother, he didn't quite make it this time but is highly anticipating the opportunity to nail it next year:)

When we got to back to shore, Chance kept repeating a phrase that I did not understand.

Since Chance did not have his implants on, I had to wait a bit before I figured out what he was telling me since he would often say the phrase, and then turn his head so he could not see me asking "What?"

Finally, after looking around for Chance so we could walk up to the bathrooms which were located up the beach and through the parking lot, I asked Chance's dad if he knew what the phrase was that Chance kept repeating.

After repeating what Chance had said, Chance's dad smiled and said,"It means 'I am about to pee myself' in Spanish."

Really? We have taught our son to say I am going to pee myself?? Or should I say, ONE of us taught Chance how to say that? And rather loudly too, since Chance tends to talk louder when his implants are not on.

(Dad's claim of innocence: I had told a story where 'Me meo' is part of the punchline - I just had no idea he had retained the phrase.)

I looked up towards the bathrooms and saw Chance shimming over the sand to get to the bathrooms.

"Does Chance know exactly what he is saying?" I asked.

"I don't know." His dad replied.

Maybe we should clarify how to say "I need to use the bathroom," before Chance takes off his implants near water again :)

How Chance affects the tires we buy...

Apparently, it was time to buy some new tires for our van. We now know this because one of the front tires was punctured by something lying in the road in our neighborhood and so Chance's dad took it in to be replaced as the tear was not repairable.

While he was there, Chance's dad was shown where all the other tires were worn almost to the steel rims on the side facing the van that we don't usually see. Good thing we got that message now before we had a blow out or something.

Since this was a somewhat unexpected expense, we were going over the options of which tires would do the job well, with out breaking the budget.

We have been going to this tire place for a while and have found them to be very helpful and honest. Chance's dad was shown a set of tires and told that "they will do the job, but they are a different rubber that will generate more road noise in the van."

More road noise in the van? That could be a big deal for Chance. So, we opted for the tires that were $150.00 more to maintain a quieter ride. We figure Chance is worth it:)