Joyful Noise

I feel like two enormous weights have been lifted. Pia's surgery and subsequent activation are behind us, and both things went far better than I had imagined.

I am so thankful for the prayers and support of our family and friends and for our health insurance and the skilled surgical team. God has heaped blessings upon us.

All parents worry for their children; parents of children with special needs have worries and concerns on top of those regular worries. The feeling that you can't really ever let your foot off the gas, that every moment must in some way be related to a language experience or goal on the IEP (Individual Education Plan.)

Even though my fears for the surgery and activation can be laid aside we have years of work ahead as we help Pia learn to use her new ears. More importantly we have to be forming her soul, helping her grow into a mensch. Part of that will include continuing to sign to her and supporting she and Gianna in their communication decisions as they get older. I don't want them to be limited be their deafness but neither do I want them to feel ashamed of it.

I'm asking big things of my PiaBaby, but I am reminding myself now: Never learning to talk is not a failure. We will communicate; it might be with our voices or it might be with our hands. I will work hard to give her the gift of both, just like we are doing with Gianna.

For now, I'm going to allow myself some time to wonder at the world of sound along with Pia. For now, I'm not going to worry about Ling 6 sounds or localizing or prosody. We're just going to simply and joyfully  listen to each other.