I just caught up on a fellow CI mom's blog that I follow and finally got the update I have been looking for since before Harrison was born. This girl was pregnant for her 2nd child and (like me) had not had much time to post after the baby was born. Finally, the update I was looking for. It wasn't the outcome I was hoping to read, but it made me even more grateful to know that our sweet baby Harrison can hear. Her second child did in fact fail the newborn hearing test and the ABR test two weeks later. Wow. What a rush of memories that came over me from when Hunter was born. I can't imagine going through that again. It's a long hard road with a deaf child, but Usher Syndrome on top of that, the dark unknown future that lies ahead for Hunter, that's what would have killed us to have to face with Harrison. Knowing that another child's vision could be compromised would have been devastating. But we went into it knowing there was a 25% chance, so we would have welcomed him with loving arms, just as we did with Hunter. And the second round of CIs would have been a breeze compared to the first with Hunter. But again, we are forever grateful.
To say things have been busy lately is an understatement. Harrison had 2 cousins born within 3 weeks of him, so we have been visiting a lot, and everyone is getting baptized right now, including Harrison next weekend. Going back to work was not a huge adjustment for me. I work better on schedules and wasn't great at getting myself up and presentable when I was on maternity leave.
Here is a picture of Hunter and Harrison on their first day together at the sitter. Hunter was so proud to have Harrison at "work" with him! (He always says he's going to work at Nini's since Mama and Daddy have to go to work!)
Everyone wants to know how Hunter is adjusting to not being an only child anymore, and knock on wood, we couldn't ask for a better big brother! The first month or so he didn't pay Harrison much attention, and we were perfectly ok with that! We didn't force Harrison on him, and he warmed up in no time. He wanted to help feed and now every night when I ask Hunter if he's ready to bathe, his reply is always "I take a bath with Harrison?" So he has done really well. We still have our normal overly dramatic moments with him, but for the most part they are few and far between.
(Hunter loves playing with the phone at my mom's house and didn't want to leave Harrison out!)
Here are a few other recent pictures of the boys.
Hunter turns 3 in exactly 2 weeks. I can't even wrap my head around that! It is so true that some days seem to go by so slow yet the years seem to go by so fast!
Harrison will be baptized next weekend at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Milton near our house. We have an heirloom outfit that my cousins and I wore for our baptisms, and now all of our children are wearing it too. Harrison is next and I'm so grateful for this tradition :)
The following is a video of Hunter showing Harrison how to sign the ABCs. And this video is the ultimate preview of a beautiful sibling relationship in the works. This is why we had another baby, this is what it's all about for us as parents.
I will continue to try and post to the blog more updates about Hunter's progress, but we haven't had any real news to share lately except that he is still soaring with his language and vocabulary skills. We are in the middle of trying to sell our house and closing on the construction loan of our future home in New Iberia, so we are keeping ourselves pretty busy these days!
Hunter did go for his evaluation to transition from Early Steps (which ends at Age 3) into the school system. He went to big boy school and played in a classroom for 2 days, an hour each day, while 3 different ladies evaluated him. He was ALL over the place because there were SO many toys all around him, but did pretty well for the most part. We have a meeting tomorrow to get the results from the speech therapist, so I will relay that information as well.
And my daddy, Hunter and Harrison's Pappy, turns 60 this weekend. My daddy is the perfect combination of patience and motivation. He has worked tirelessly for everything he has and always made time to support everything my brother and I pursued.
Happy Birthday Pappy!
