An update on Alex:
Alex is doing super duper with his 2nd implant. I decided that I should start writing down all of his words that he uses. I was surprised that it is about 30. I realize that some of his words are only intelligible to our family, but they have meaning for him. His speech development seems to be right on track with what I remember from my other 4 children, if not slightly ahead of some of them. He also speaks with a natural-sounding voice. I am also pleased to see him now being able to localize sound. This has been a nice improvement since he had his second implant activated. One note about activation...it was not the happy experience I envisioned. I had thought the second one would go smoothly, since he was already doing well with the first. However, it was not a happy hour for him. That being said, he did great with it as soon as we left the office. I am very grateful to the people with the insight and imagination to develop cochlear implants. I consider them to be a miracle. I realize they are not a perfect miracle, but Alex enjoys hearing birds, laughing with his family, figuring out where someone is in the house by listening, and knowing when to come help unload the dishwasher because he heard me open it up. I'm a happy Mom!
