The Great Oregon Stream Up

Today we went to the Great Oregon Steam Up in Brooks. We saw cars and motorcycles, trains and trolleys, tractors, trucks, a saw mill, a blacksmith, hot air engines, steam engines, and lots of heavy equipment. Most of it was running and working or being driven. Needles to say, Ben was in Heaven!

Just one of the many!

Ben and Mommy rode on a little train. It was fun!

Grandma Mary's friend Katie brought us a yummy lunch.

Addilyn enjoyed this part the most.

Ben got to drive a real firetruck.

The hoses were extra cool.

Ben and Daddy added to their Christmas wish lists.

We all rode on an antique trolley.

Ben loved lurching through the park.

Grandpa and Addilyn enjoyed the scenery too.

All in all it was a fantastic day!

The highlight of the day for Mommy was meeting a 24 year old man with a Cochlear implant. He got his at age 7 after losing his hearing at 5. He and his mother told me about his public schooling, how their whole family learned to sign, the controversy they encountered when they decided to implant, hearing in noisy places, and his balance issues. He still wakes up nearly every morning nauseous- what I think is happening to Ben, he just doesn't have the vocab to describe it. I learned so much in just 15 minutes. Ben loved seeing a guy with an 'ear' just like his!

We talked as the tractors sputtered and he listened with his 17 year old implant ( a real antique!) I asked if he thought about getting his second ear done. He said, "No. This is just the way I am. I do fine."

And on the way home, as Ben screamed with his ears off, taking them apart into tiny pieces to fling throughout the car, Grandpa and I said, "He'll do fine too. God help us all!!"

Oh, and that mom was a fighter. I could tell. Her kid is fine because she was his advocate. Hmmm....

Berries and Swings and Gators. Oh My!

Yesterday we went berry picking at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Ben loved the blueberries.

Addilyn loved watching.

He carefully picked only the ripe berries for his bucket.

Grandpa gave Ben, Tanner and Mickey a Gator ride down to the cherry trees.

Ben picked and ate lots of cherries.

Grandpa made a special swing for Ben.

It was a great day.

Swimmer!

Today was Ben's first day of swimming lessons. This is his third year of lessons, but his first as a hearing boy. Last year Ben had both implants, but we took them off and he swam without hearing. He wasn't happy in the water at all. So, this year I did LOTS of research and bought a silicone swim cap and a water proof bag.

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We practiced wearing the swim cap around the house for a few days.At the pool, Ben walked around and assessed the situation.He decided he was ready to go in and the work began!

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I put his processor in a waterproof bag and folded it up.

Then I tried to get the magnet to connect through the bag. As long as the magnet is connected, he is able to receive sound. It doesn't matter at all where the rest of the contraption is, just the magnet (the circular portion pictured at the top of the bag- technically called the coil). Part of the cap's job is to keep the magnet in place, as long as I can keep it in place AND pull the cap over Ben's head.

He could hear me even with the microphones inside the bag when I stuck it on like this.

The hard part was keeping the magnet in place while I slipped the cap on over the bag and his head. Addilyn looks worried for a reason.

Grandma and I tucked and stretched.

And pulled. Finally, Grandma talked some sense into that cap and we prevailed.

He was off, lookin' as sharp as ever, ready to swim.

The whole time we swam, I asked Ben if he could hear me and he always answered. I did have to talk much louder.

We didn't go underwater, but the cap got pretty wet.

When we got out and uncovered the bag, the outside was wet and the processor on the inside was DRY! Yeah Ben!

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As we ate dinner that night Ben said, "Where's tongue?"

Me: "Your tongue? In you mouth."

Ben: "No my tongue. Silly Mommy. The man in the water. Tongue."

Me: "Your swimming teacher? Tom?"

Ben:"Yeah. Tongue. What he doing now?"

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I realized I had only talked about TOM, the swimming instructor, while we were in the water- with the swim cap on.

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Tongue. Of course.

How else would 'Tom' sound through a waterproof bag, a swim cap, and a cochlear implant?

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Silly mommy.

'Never Forget Ems'

Ben hopped on his firetruck tonight and said, "I go to da store Mommy."

I said, "Why? What are you getting?"

Ben: "Apple juice and teeth."

Me: "Teeth? Why?"

Ben: "Addy no have them."

These are the things I hope I never forget.

Mother's Day X 2

My first Mother's Day as a mom of two!

I got smiles,

a little sunshine,

and a few beautiful words from my best little boy!

(hard to see him in the dark car-sorry)

Can't beat that!

Easter

Ben and Addilyn had a great Easter at Grandma Mary's house.

Addilyn wore her fanciest dress.And Ben went hunting for Easter eggs outside.

Ben was thrilled to find an Easter basket filled with books, an airplane, bubbles, noise makers, fruit snacks and delicious marshmellow peeps.

The Easter bunny left Addilyn a book, yummy Gerber peaches, and a new hat in her basket.

Ben enjoyed the stuffing in his basket too.

After a busy day of hunting, ham eating and candy stealing, Ben put on a lovely demonstration of what a two year old, after lots of candy, looks like.

Burbs!

Ben's latest phrase is: "Oh! Hear dem."

He says it about everything he hears: the door closing, the radio, my squeaky rocking chair, the baby crying, everything.

And every phrase now starts with "Oh!" - "Oh Mommy, Ben hungry", "Oh, Otis barking!" "Oh, whoopie!" (My personal favorite) It is a little word, said with such excitement, in a sweet little tone you can't help but smile.

Today the rain stopped just enough we could go outside for a walk.

Ben kept stopping, pointing and saying, "Oh, Mommy! Hear dem?"

It took me a minute to realize he was hearing birds squawking.

As one flew by I pointed out (with tears in my eyes) and said, "Those are birds. You hear the birds!"

His response: "Oh Mommy! Hear dem burbs!"

and again: "Oh! Burbs!"

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"Oh! More burbs!"

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I think Addilyn heard dem burbs too!

Snow Day

We had a snow day today. No school for mommy and lots of time to play.

Ben wasn't quite sure about all this white stuff. Walking in it was super tricky
and a little frustrating.

Frank tried to help.

Daddy made a sled out of a garbage can lid.

I know, we are terrible parents. We live on a hill, with a toddler, get a forecast for snow, and don't buy a sled!The lid didn't work so well.

Even with Frank trying to push.

Throwing sticks and snowballs for Otis was fun.

Sitting on top of Daddy's snowman and watching Daddy throw snowballs at Mommy was even more fun!

Mommy's Helper

Ben loves his baby sister and loves to help mommy.

Lately he has wanted to hold and feed Addilyn.

He's a hard to understand so I'll translate:

He says: Hi Addilyn, asks for a bottle, then a pacifier.

When neither of those work he asks for help.

Love this kid!

Valentine's Day Mommy's Way

Valentines Day, to me, is like a Mommy's birthday and Mother's day: She should have whatever she wants without anyone else complaining.

I'm not picky. I just want my family and my choice of food.

This year I chose Sushi (not Adam's favorite food) or, "Doo-di" if you ask Ben.

Ben loved making his own sushi rolls.

First he sampled the rice.

Then, he put the rice on the nori and smashed it down.

A bit more sampling the ingredients and he was ready to roll.

This was difficult because he insisted on lots of carrots in his roll.



The final result:

he picked off the rice, pulled out the carrots and salmon and ate each piece one at a time.

Then he sang Happy Birthday Mommy!

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I couldn't have been happier.

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Happy Valentine's Day