Memorial Day Weekend

These days, Hunter in public can be hit or miss. Sometimes he will sit in a high chair for an hour, no complaints, and sometimes he wants out the minute he gets in. He is in constant.motion.all.waking.hours. Since our beach trip last summer, Hunter hasn't really been on a family trip so we decided to go to the Audubon Zoo and Aquarium of the Americas with our friends Courtney and Chris and their 2 year old James. Hunter and James get along very well and feed off of each other, so we knew it would be a good time with the two of them. It's still a lot of parallel play at this age, but they definitely know when each other is there and ask where they are when they are apart.

Saturday we started at the zoo around 11 and left around 2. There were a ton of people, but it was so big that you could hardly tell. There were lots of shaded areas as well, which was nice in the 86 degree weather.
Here are a few pictures from the zoo:

Here are a few pictures from dinner, and a video. We lucked out and picked a place with a completely empty ball room upstairs where the daddys took the boys to run pretty much the whole time we were there!

The boys found a mic upstairs, and while James was singing Life is a highway, Hunter was running, and running, and running and running. Until he finally got the mic, and broke out into HBDTY! Haha. They reminded me of Sophia Grace and Rosie, the male version!

And a few pictures from Sunday at the hotel and the aquarium. It's true, temper tantrums followed us to New Orleans, but overall we had a GREAT trip and are so glad we went!

Yes. Santa makes all trips.

After a great weekend in New Orleans, we spent Memorial Day by the pool at my parents' house. ALL Hunter has been talking about for weeks now is the boat behind Pappy and Nana's house that he saw. So Blair put his boat in the water to take Hunter for a ride, but he cringed as we walked towards the wharf, whined because he appeared scared to death, and he never set foot in the boat, after all that! We tried.... maybe another time :)

CI Mapping 05.10.13

Hunter, Blair and I hit the road Friday, May 10th for a mapping appointment with Mrs. Tanya at Ochsner's in New Orleans. Our last appointment was in January and she did not change any of his settings. She wanted us to go back in 3 months (which ended up being 4 because of tax season) just to check in on things again. The one piece of advice I will never forget when first researching Cochlear Implants was to have them mapped (programmed) as often as possible. So I am definitely not opposed to making the trip, even though we were most likely not going to change anything. She asked if we were having any problems, plugged his ears in to check to the programs, made Hunter say a few things, hit the sound booth for a minute and we were done!

Here is a of video from the sound booth after the appointment. They play a low sound from either the right, left or front and Hunter has to look. Once he looks they turn on the lights and a louder noise, like a rabbit playing a miniature drum.

Happy Mother's Day!

To all of my mom friends, and even my non-mom friends. Thank you for everything you have done for me since I have become a mom to Hunter. It definitely takes an army to keep our lives going and to keep it all together. So thank you to every single person in our support system, big and small. You all make numerous impressions on Blair, Hunter and myself and none of us would be where we are today without you. The people I surround myself with are who make me the mom I am today. I got numerous sweet thoughts yesterday about being a great mom to Hunter. But the truth is we start to take on the habits and attitudes of the people we surround ourselves with, and all of you have contributed to my strength as a mom. Thank you all! 

The following video was probably the 3rd time that day that Hunter sang Happy Mother's Day to me and it was the best part of my day! I got to sleep in while Blair took Hunter to an early mass (which is a task in itself) and I even got to shower and put on my makeup ALL.BY.MYSELF. That doesn't happen very often anymore. Well Blair and Hunter walked into my room with a plant and a card READY to sing, and I have to say it TOTALLY made my mother's day. For those of you who don't know, Hunter is obsessed with singing happy birthday to anyone at anytime. So singing Happy Mother's Day was just as satisfying to him to be able to sing it to me, his Nana, his Gammy and his Nanny yesterday. I caught this one on video after breakfast while playing at the gazebo in downtown New Iberia. 

And here is a picture of me and Hunter :)

And here were Blair and Hunter when they came in to wish me a Happy Mother's Day! Saying cheese of course..... ;)

Hunter's 1 Year Hearing Birthday 4/27/2013

To all,
We have reached the 1 year mark, the most exciting 1st year with so many milestones I can't even begin to express how grateful we are for Hunter's ears. It has changed his world while he has changed the world around him. The joy and laughter and words and sentences, yes sentences, bring a smile to my face that only the mother of a child born deaf can understand. Hunter still amazes us every single day. His memory blows me away. The things he picks up on constantly makes me wonder if we are challenging him enough.

Oh and a few things I don't think I ever addressed on here. We now just have to travel to Breaux Bridge for therapy on Wednesdays instead of Baton Rouge. The Chesney Center hired a therapist who drives to Breaux Bridge once a week to meet with their patients from the Acadiana area. Also, we switched out the color of Hunter's coils from tax to brown and they blend much better now!

Here are a few videos from Hunter's AV Therapy session last week. They just make me smile big big!

Blair and I tried to compile a list of new things he was saying last week and here are a few of them:

Good job buddy getting ball

Daddy where are you?

One, two, three throw!

Ready, set, go throw

Bye dogs see you later

Boat pass pappy house

Close door nana house

See you tomorrow

McDonald's french fry with Gammy

I love you more

Nice to meet you

Go get towel mommy

Get Icee Friday?

Mama play bubbles outside

Now this was probably two days worth of things from last week and I haven't even had a chance to write down new ones from this week, but he just keeps stringing new words together every day! He has even started saying Thank You without being prompted and his use of the word please has increased as well! 

Thanks to everyone who constantly works with Hunter, he has made progress like I've never imagined he would. We are so grateful to be blessed with such an amazing support system of friends, family and therapists. 

Here are a few recent pictures as well.

And one from his hearing birthday:

Hunter Live!

I have a few videos that I wanted to share from the last few weeks. This first one is particularly funny because I was in the car one day on the phone and I just heard Hunter saying this while he was pointing to the window, over and over. So I had to get him to say it for Blair. Obviously he hears this over and over at daycare :/

These next two are a testimony to the fact that Hunter LOVES to count! 

He has a particular fondness for the number 18! And no, we haven't hired him as a part time helper, but he can start to get an idea of what his chores will be like :)

PS. Hunter's 1 year hearing birthday is right around the corner, April 27! What a wonderful year it has been :)

Picture Update

So I feel super guilty for not having time to write on the blog, so here is a small picture update. Most of these pictures are with Hunter's daddy or taken by Hunter's daddy because Mommy is working late nights and weekends :( It's crunch time, but will return to normalcy in 3 weeks!

Cheeeese!

And here are a few family pictures from Hunter's birthday party! (thank you to my awesome family for helping with Hunter, especially during tax season)

Hunter and his CI friend, Mia!

Happy 2nd Birthday Hunter Paul!

I just wanted to post a picture from Hunter's birthday party this past Saturday. Of course it was a Barney birthday party, since Hunter is his biggest fan! Will post more soon!

And here are a few vidoes from the first time Hunter was able to hear Happy Birthday to him!

And here is a picture from this morning, on his actual 2nd birthday!

\

Happy Birthday to you my sweet angel!

Love, Mama and Daddy

I Love Mama/Daddy Video

Excuse the terrible video footage, bad lighting and 2 year old who gets distracted even by every little thing! The remote, the couch, the phone, etc.
But this is my favorite part of the night. We were reading books and he just started saying I love Mama/I love Daddy. Yes, he takes some prompting sometimes, and yes he takes some direction to get back on track. But there are times when he starts and doesn't stop, and it's music to my ears. So I just thought I would share! Enjoy :)

Eye on Jacob Fundraiser

All in the same week as this big press release and TV interview, Sonia Desormeaux, founder of Eye on Jacob (www.eyeonjacob.org) and her amazing son Jacob came to Louisiana for Mardi Gras weekend. Back in October, she came to town so that we could start planning a fundraiser in Acadiana to raise money for Usher Syndrome research. When she and I first got in contact with each other, she was telling me of all these fundraisers that she does in California, where she and her sons live. When I suggested doing one in LA, where Usher 1C is most prevalent, she said she had always wanted to do one here since this is where her family and friends still reside, but she never had the push to do it. So I was her push :)

The date: Thursday, September 19, 2013

The venue: The Victorian, Broussard, LA

Cocktail type attire, silent and live auction items with celebrity guest MCs such as State Senator, Freddie Mills, Scott Angelle, Public Service Commissioner, and former NFL player Jake Delhomme. We will also have some celebrity guest waiters and waitresses from around the Acadiana area.

We are in the process of getting everything together, but the when and where are set in stone, and those are the most important things!

I will be posting more about the event after tax season, but if anyone you know would like to donate items for the auctions or would like to be a corporate sponsor, please feel free to email me at ekatbab@gmail.com. We have a solicitation letter in the works, along with a donation form and sponsorship levels. It’s going to be a good time with good food, drinks and great people. Jennifer Lentz, from LSU- New Orleans, will be a guest speaker, along with a few people from the Acadiana area present who are living with Usher Syndrome.

All I ask for now is to spread the word, talk about it to people, introduce Usher Syndrome to your family, friends and colleagues. Word of mouth is a powerful thing and can have such a positive impact on finding a cure for Usher Syndrome!