The same -- but different

So as mentioned in the last post, Phineas and I took a road trip to Spokane at the beginning of the month. Here we are at Red Robin. He just had to have his picture taken with the carousel horse.

There we found out that he has a mild to moderate hearing loss in both ears. His loss is similar to George's in that he cannot hear higher frequency sounds. The ENT and audiologist were shocked that he can speak as well as he can. After hearing that he needed aids, I felt guilty for not catching it before now. I've always considered Phineas my "challenging" child, and here he was compensating for not being able to hear well for four years. What a strong kid. He has definitely shown that he can adapt well to nearly anything (except being told no). And because of that, I know that he has incredible potential. I have no doubt that whatever he decides to do in life, he will accomplish it. He's one of my heros.

Here he is with his new aids (he picked purple and blue ear molds and loves them):

He's been good about wearing them most of the time, only requiring short breaks here and there. They have a clip that attaches them to his shirt, so even if he takes them out, they are not going anywhere. His adjustment has been quicker than I thought it would be.

At the park with his rock "baby"

Although we went through this with George and much of it is the same (cost, doctors visits, audiograms, school IEPs, etc.) some of it is different. There wasn't that wonder in George's eyes when we put his hearing aids on for the first time. With Phineas, we had a hard time keeping him quiet to try and test him with the aids in the sound booth. It was like, "hey, I can hear myself! I think I'll just keep talking, making noises, whatever." With George it has been the way of life. Wake up, get dressed, put on the aids. He takes care of them himself and except for changing the batteries or occasionally clearing out any moisture, I don't even touch his aids anymore. With Phineas, I have to remember to put them in a safe place when he is not wearing them, check the batteries, put them in his ears, watch that he is not taking them out. I've also seen the benefit of them almost immediately. He is more precise in saying his words (the blended "L" sound making an pretty consistent appearance, as in "bLue" "famiLy" and "pLease") since he put them on two days ago. He will start speech therapy again next month and I think this time will get so much more out of it. We are excited to see his progress and amazed at his ability to "make things work" up until now. What a trooper.

And speaking of troopers, had to share this photo of Colin, who was just so tired.

Poor kid has had a cough or congestion for 3 months. Older boys keep bringing home stuff and he gets it all. Thank heavens for nebulizers and albuterol.