Hearing Aids, Potties, Haircuts and Smiles

What a week! So much good stuff to catch up on.

On Tuesday we had another appointment with the audiologist and I was amazed to find out that we could take home a loaner hearing aid! Nathan has been wearing a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) since Tuesday evening and it has been simply amazing to see him hearing us. The BAHA is a hearing aid on a soft headband, and it works by transferring sound directly to the inner ear using bone conduction. It is amazing! We found out on Tuesday that Nathan does have ear canals and ear drums, so it looks like he may be able to have ear level hearing aids that go behind his ears with a molded part inside his ear. We are starting out with the BAHA and we'll see how things go. Nathan loves to wear the BAHA, although at the appointment he did get so upset that he threw up on me. It seems like hearing for the first time has been pretty overwhelming for him as he has been waking up a lot at night, has been very quiet during the day, and has seemed pretty angry and aggressive again the last few days. I think this is just how he deals with being overwhelmed, and thankfully this afternoon and evening he was much more himself. This has been an amazing journey and we are so thankful for all the progress we are making. We have an evaluation for speech therapy in a couple of weeks and I am so excited to hear him learn some words! But for the record, I really think he said his first word already - he was screaming "MAAAAAMAAAAAA!!" last night from his crib while Brad was trying to get him back to sleep :) And yes, it worked, and he ended up in my arms!

In other big news, Matthew decided this was the week he was going to become a big boy. He has been showing signs for a while that he might be getting ready to use the potty, so on Monday I decided to just give it a try. He was diaper free for about 4 hours and used the potty 4 times without any accidents! Okay, then! He has not worn diapers for the last three days and has only had a handful of accidents. I did not see this coming but I am very glad it's been so easy! I must admit I was dreading potty training.

Other than doctors appointments and potty training, we really haven't been leaving the house much! It has been a fun week, though, and I am loving spending time together. There is really only one rough time of day, and that is right before dinner. The boys are always crabby, Brad and I are exhausted, and somebody has to cook food! Our solution - I make dinner while Brad entertains the troops. I laughed when I peeked in the living room the other day (all had gone quiet which is usually a sign of trouble!) and found this:

A good solution to the problem, I think!

Another problem we have had to solve - how to keep the BAHA from slipping off Nathan's head! He has gorgeous, thick black hair. Wonderful to look at or run your fingers through, terrible if you're trying to keep a headband on it!

We were fixing it every five minutes, and nobody was happy about that arrangement!

The solution: a haircut. I was so sad but at the end of it I realized it was a great idea. The headband stays put, and Nathan looks perfectly adorable!

Everybody's smiling now! And I'll be even happier if tonight does not involve two hours of awake time from 1-3am :)