DO YOU HEAR THAT?: "Pe-Pa, Please!"

Friday, April 17, 2009

"Pe-Pa, Please!"

We went out to eat tonight as a family. Logan usually likes to talk to the waiter and order for himself, so I always sit next to him to "interpret" for him. Tonight when the waiter came to our table, Logan spoke up and had an entire conversation with the waiter...ON HIS OWN! Not only did he clearly understand everything the waiter was asking, the waiter understood all of Logan's responses. I just sat back and grinned from ear to ear.

WAITER: Hi, my name is Jon and I'll be your server tonight. Can I start you off with anything to drink?

LOGAN: I want juice.

WAITER: Juice for him, and for you?...

...WAITER: What can I get you to eat?

LOGAN: I want pe-pa please.

WAITER: Pizza?

LOGAN: Yeah, pe-pa.

WAITER: What do you want on your pizza?

LOGAN: Cheese, please.

WAITER: Do you want pepperoni on it, too?

LOGAN: No, cheese.

5 comments:

AJ's Mom said...: That's awesome!!! Way to go Logan!; April 19, 2009 at 12:04 AM
PolyglotMom said...: How cool is that? Be a proud mama!; April 19, 2009 at 9:54 AM
Melanie said...: Great job, Logan!!!!; April 19, 2009 at 8:42 PM
Life these days...... said...: AWW! so proud! He's doing so great!; April 20, 2009 at 4:10 AM
Dani said...: Hello,
My name is Dani Hallows. I have a 14 month old who is getting cochlear implant(s) next month. I live in Utah and I am LDS. I came across your blog while finding CI blogs. Your blog is so helpful to me, especially since Paisley has EVA just like Logan. She was born with normal hearning and now it is bilaterally profound. Anyway, I just was happy to find you. My email is jaredhallows@msn.com if you have any advice or more information I would like.
Logan is adorable and I really loved relating to you and your life with CIs.; April 21, 2009 at 11:02 AM

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LOGAN'S STORY...

Logan was diagnosed at birth with moderate to severe hearing loss, due to E.V.A.S, to hearing parents. It was a progressive hearing loss and we were aware that his loss would get worse over time. He was fitted for hearing aids at 4 months of age. At about 18 months old Logan seemed unresponsive to most sounds, even with his hearing aids on. We battled with his audiologist about our concern that he had lost his hearing completely. She reassured us that it was just his age and most likely he was "ignoring us." We still felt like something wasn't right and tried hard for about a year to convince the audiologist to do a sedated ABR test to get accurate results. Once those results were in, we received the news that Logan was now profoundly deaf in both ears. Our hearts broke, but peace came when we knew that Logan was now eligible for the Cochlear Implant. We rushed the process of having his first surgery done because he was almost three and at a critical time for speech development. He is doing far better then expected and just received his second implant in December of 2008.

The Beauty of Holland

"I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability-- to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...

"When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous trip--to Italy! You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelango David. The gondolas in Venice. You even learn some handy phrases in italian. It's all very exciting.

"After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The flight attendant comes in and says, 'Welcome to Holland.' 'Holland?!?', you say. 'What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy. I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.'

"But there has been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

"So you must go out and buy new guide books and learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you never would have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

"But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all talking about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, 'Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned.'

"But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't go to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland"

--Emily Perl Kingsley

Friday, April 17, 2009

"Pe-Pa, Please!"

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