Lessons in Life
I am blessed with a DVD player in the car and as the kids were watching Kung Fu Panda and I was listening, I hear a scene that taught me a great lesson.
In the scene the Master Shifu and Master Oogway were discussing the Illusion of Control
Oogway: Look at this tree, Shifu: I can not make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time.
Shifu: But there are things we "can" control: I can control when the fruit will fall, I can control where to plant the seed - that is no illusion, Master!
Oogway: Ah yes. But no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Shifu: But a peach can not defeat Tai Lung!
Oogway: Maybe it can, if you are willing to guide it, to nurture it, to believe in it.

Wow....this hit me hard. Brooke and her hearing loss is my Peach Tree. No matter how I wish that her ears will heal and she will be an apple tree or an orange tree - I can not change it. She is a Peach Tree! And a Peach Tree can do anything, even defeat the biggest struggles. How? I will guide her, nurture her and believe in her! I have come to the point where I do not want Brooke to be an apple or an orange tree; she is my Peach Tree - and I love peaches!
It amazes me that Kung Fu Panda can bring me to tears!

Lessons in Learning

We borrowed two book bags from the Family Resource Center. Each bag comes with a book and puppets/stuffed animal to use as you read the story. We choose The Frog Prince and The Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Hungry Bear. I can't wait to use them.

Language Experience

Today we went to our first Play and Learn Session with Marna Holland at ACS Preschool. It is a seven-week free language based program. We loved it! Some of our activities were:

1.The kids were given 5 alligator finger puppets and we sang "5 Little Alligators Jumping on the Bed." Brooke knew the song and took off her alligator at the correct place in the song; she even sang along!

2. We also sang "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

3. We danced so some weird song that made us all look silly with the word 'toot" in it - Brooke commented, "You're not supposed to say the word" since "toot" is a potty word in our house! It was great to know that she could hear the words of the recorded song....a good auditory skill that we practice.

4. We watched a puppet show of "3 Billy Goats Gruff" while to story was read - this really held Brooke's interest

5. We also did a baseball craft. This is our baseball craft - lots of baseball vocabulary

Brooke and Kate each picked out a book to bring home - Brooke choose this one

Last Week's Lessons

Language Experience
We did some sorting and classifying last week. This idea can from A Mommy's Adventure. This activity was a great Language Experience. It gave us a lot to talk about as we sorted the pictures into two categories. Brooke named the object and the category and we talked about colors, homes, food, size and other topics. I think we will do more of these activities in the coming weeks as it really got Brooke talking and hearing a variety of vocabulary words.


Another great language experience was building, planting and hanging up a bird feeder. Brooke made the bird feeder at the Lowes Build and Grow class with her dad. They painted them at home, Brooke choose a tree to hang it, and then filled it with bird food. This was another great experience to allow her to hear a variety of vocabulary.


There were some great activities from the blog, Home Grown Hearts

Colors and Shapes
Brooke completed the shape puzzles as she matched the shapes to the correct umbrella. An opportunity to talk about colors and shapes.


Counting
Brooke counted umbrellas and marked the correct answer with a magnetic pompom. She practiced counting and colors while enjoying the magnets.

More counting as we counted the dots on the raindrops and placed them on the correctly numbered umbrella

Language Experience
We invited a couple friends and painted our own umbrellas. Listening to the four girls talk to each other was a fantastic language opportunity for Brooke. We used colors, stamps, and paint bottles on our umbrellas.

and of course....something princess related. We made princess crowns from a craft kit the girls got for their birthdays. It was a great time to talk about shapes, colors, and following directions as well as the polite way to ask for help.

Home Grown Hearts

Lowes

A Mommy's Adventures

Cruise favorites, by Valerie Miller

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

I have known about Brooke's hearing loss for almost 2 years and she has been in hearing aids for almost 1 1/2 years. Yesterday, it was time once again for Brooke's hearing test, which we repeat about every 3 months. We traveled to Chapel Hill to see our wonderful audiologist as the University Hospital. Brooke paticipated well and we discovered another drop in hearing levels. Though I have not noticed a big change in her hearing or her speech, yesterday's appointment confirmed my fear that her hearing loss is progressive and she will continue to loose hearing.

I have done some internet research on progressive hearing loss, but I was not able to find very much. I did find that almost half of us with a child who had an unknown cause of sensorineural hearing loss could expect that child to lose some additional hearing. It has been observes that this drop in hearing seems to occur most often before the age of 5. Progressive loss doesn't necessarily mean that hearing continues to drop, as some children lose some range but then achieve a new stable level. Others continue to fluctuate in their hearing. What might be the cause of progressive hearing loss in a child without a coexisting condition or known cause of her hearing loss? No one knows.

Once again, I am dealing with the grief over her loss. This is not what I want for my daughter; this is not my plan for her; this is not where I want her to be. The fears of what the future holds are frightening. But I trust in a God that is faithful - He has been faithful in the past and will be faithful now. I trust God with Brooke's life and choose His plan for her over any of my plans. The God that created the earth is holding my daughter and loves her. Whatever the future holds, my God is faithful and my God is good.

this video contains images of our family during 2009.