Another year on

I realise that it has been a year since I've updated this blog, but tomorrow is the 4 year anniversary of Matilda's surgery. It seems like so long ago - these miraculous devices are an integral part of her (and us) and I can't imagine what life would be like without them.

These are just some of Miss M's amazing achievements over the past 12 months.
- getting an award for leadership at pre-prep
- singing in front of 450 people
- mastering the 'l' sound and getting close with her 'th'
- Having the first meeting with the school in preparation for prep next year
- growing a few more centimetres
- swimming some strokes independently

My girl is pretty darn amazing. Each week the school that all of the kids for to has a chapel service. She likes to attend and we sit a few rows from the front. Most weeks, she will make her way to the front and sing her little heart out and do the actions in perfect timing. Most weeks I cry, but there are a few others who know some of our story and shed a tear as well.

The amazing Miss M strikes again

A few weeks back Miss M's pre-prep teacher asked of I'd bring her to chapel (the whole-school assembly) to accept a student of the week award. One child is each class across the school (pre-prep to year 6) is presented with an award. Miss M was super excited to hear her name called out and confidently marched into the stage and accepted her award. She stood with all of the other children (many of whom were twice as tall as her) and the entire school oohed and ahhed at her. The deputy principal commented about how everyone thinks that she is so cute. I shed a few tears thinking about jar far we have come in three years. Shortly after she was born, it was difficult to imagine that we would make it to this day. I am so proud of how hard my little girl has worked, and how determined she is already to succeed. Her teachers have said that she is one of the most determined children they have seen, and that they are sure that she will be able to do whatever she chooses to in life.

New headbands

Little Miss M's ears are still not quite big enough to keep her processors on without assistance. I've been getting a little bored of her lace headbands, so I found some sequined ribbon in the fabric store a few weeks back and created these little numbers.

They work really well because the ear hook slides in between the sequins.

A reality check

Miss M has been doing amazingly well. She is loving kindy, and has lots of great friends. She is recalling incidental facts ("Mummy, the baby we saw today was 4 months old"), and growing up everyday ("so, yeh, alright Mum, see you this afternoon"). While I thought she was going so well, a brief conversation with some of the staff jolted me back into reality. You see, Miss M is small; not just little, but extremely small ... Smaller than every other child her age. While she copes really well, it is becoming obvious to me that others find it a challenge. The staff at school say that they are concerned about her safety around other children; that they can be rough and knock her over; that she can't walk with them as they are too tall/too rough/too fast. It seems crazy to me that after all the work we have put in to getting Miss M's language on par with her peers, that it is her size (something we have zero control over) that might be a greater influence on school life. It is frustrating me to no end, and I am not really sure what I can do about it. I know that my little girl is confident, self-assured, assertive, and strong, and I believe that she will succeed at whatever she wants to. I just need to convince everyone else of this ...

Feeling blessed

I've been a little down lately, for lots of reasons unrelated to Miss M's hearing loss.  Because of this, I've been trying to make a conscious decision to look for the positives around me.  These are a few things that I've seen and heard.

- Matilda started pre-prep at a mainstream school in February (when she turned three).  The school has minimal (i.e NO) experience with deaf kids).  She is loving it.  She comes home singing songs that she has only heard at school.  She is talking about her friends, and her favourite things, and can spend 5 minutes just telling me what happened that day.

- While driving home in the car the other day, Matilda was singing a Letterland song that she learned at school.  One of her brothers joined in.  At the end of the song Matilda said "good singing Emerson, now let's give it one more try".

- Matilda now has favourite tracks on a few CDs in the car.  She can tell me the track number, and can pick the song just by hearing the first few bars.  Who said that deaf kids can't distinguish between tunes!

So, despite all that has been going on here, I am feeling amazingly blessed that my three year old, profoundly deaf child, is thriving at a mainstream pre-prep, and is just soaking up her surroundings.  We are fortunate that she will be able to attend this school until she is in grade 12 (so another 14 1/2 years).  I'm sure by then she'll think that she owns the place :)

Its been a while

Still haven't quite got this regular blogging thing going, but we've had some good times, so I thought that I'd share them.

Matilda turns 3 next week.  She has decided that singing is her most favourite thing.  Anything can be turned into a microphone - a cup, or even a toilet roll.  I get a tear in my eye every time I hear or see her sing.  It is truly a miracle that my little girl, profoundly deaf, can sing, and even in tune (as much as a three year old can be).

Miss M is also starting pre-prep in two weeks (our version of kindy).  She will be on the same campus as her two big brothers.  When we went for a meeting last week, Matilda sat down at a table, and chatted to one of the teachers about the play dough shapes she was making, just like any other kids - AMAZING!

It has been a tough three years, but we've come so far.

This is a pic of her after yet another trip to the Children's Hospital for another test to see why she is so small.

Wouldn't change a thing

We don't have Thanksgiving in this country, but we have lots of friends from the US, and some do a big celebration in our street.  It has made me think about the past few years and what we've been through with the kids.  Yes, I have a little girl who is deaf, and who struggles to grow.  Yes, I have a boy whose lung problems mean that he might spend a good portion of next year in hospital.  Some days are tough, but these are my kids, and I love them dearly.

This morning Matilda was playing the harmonica while dancing.  it was a simple thing, but I am ever so grateful that I could experience it.  The other day my five year old took photos of the insides of his lungs and an oxygen mask for show and tell.  It didn't seem strange to him at all.  He's got so many of these pictures that he thought it would be cool to show the other kids.

Life may be easier if my kids didn't have their little quirks, but I wouldn't change it.

Below is our Christmas card for this year.