A teenager is born

I don't know how it happened, but CHANCE IS A TEENAGER!!

Yesterday he was shoving his hearing aids behind the couch and refusing to wear them as his startled grandparents watched, and today he was trouble shooting implant batteries that had not fully charged overnight with his dad.

A teenager.  Chance has crossed the line into........well into teenager hood. I didn't notice any sudden changes, but I am keeping my eyes open.

As a tribute to Chance's birthday, I would like to reflect on some of my favorite memories through the years.

One hot summer day when Chance and his brother were in the midst of some deep creative play, I realized with a panic, that Chance was supposed to be at the doctors office for his kindergarten shots. I literally just gathered kids from their various places of play and loaded them into the car.

It was at the doctors office as I panted from the sprint of arriving on time, that I fully realized that Chance was in his cowboy gear.  Including a holster with a cap gun inside.  At about the same moment I realized this, the nurse came to call us back.   At this point in Chance's life cycle, his language skills were still behind and I could not explain things in much detail in many cases.  Although Chance didn't fully understand what was going to happen, he must have had some sort of a premonition.  He started telling me "no" and as the two nurses talked to him as he lay on the exam table, he told them no too.

Then he pulled out the big guns.  Literally.  With a shaky hand and a dead serious expression, Chance pulled his cap gun out of its holster and pointed it at the nurses.  He meant no, and if he needed to use force, he was ready.

Thankfully, the nurses all thought it was adorable. They held straight faces through out the ordeal, but I heard them in the nurses station laughing and telling the other nurses how adorable the boy in room two was.

Then there was the time Chance had done something for which he knew he would get into trouble.  This was pre-cochlear implant days at our house and Chance could not hear us if we called him down the hall, so I was on my way to get him when I was met with this:

Chance was running up the hall smiling and  flashing "I love you" with both hands.  I have to admit that it worked a little.  Whatever he was about to get into trouble for, was diffused with those gestures of affection.

For years Chance attended school with the same group of deaf kids and they all became really close.  They went to school together,  ate lunch together , played at recess together and then wanted to play at each others houses after school.  They were like family.  One day at school,  one of the kids wanted to tell the other kids that they had bought new underwear.  Not having the language to fully be understood by their hard of hearing friends, they decided they should just show the others how wondrous their new underwear really was.  This led to Chance wanting to show off his way cool underwear as well.  At about this point, the teacher came out and it just didn't look good.  I'm not sure how many of the kids were flashing at this point, but the teacher thought she should tell her supervisor.  Thankfully, the supervisor was able to see the situation for what it was and with encouragement from the School for the Deaf and the parents, we prevented a mass flash of undies again.

Kids who have seen Chance's underwear. Chance is on the far right.

From the beginning, Chance has had a soft heart and one of his teachers told me of a touching incident that happened on the bus.  Chance attended school with a little girl who was in a wheelchair with a breathing tube.  Because of this,  she was not able to run outside and play at recess like the other kids.  Chance's teacher told me that Chance noticed this and started holding back sometimes and would play with her inside doing puzzles or other things she could do.   He would also try to make sure that she was included in activities the kids were doing.

One day on the bus as Chance passed by this little girl, she was overcome with emotion and grabbed him and planted a kiss on him while giggling.  Chance was taken by surprise and the bus drivers were touched.

I have just loved all of the stages of Chance.  He is one of the greatest joys in my life, and I look forward to many more happy memories that we can share.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEENAGER!!