My Deaf Weekend

Other than occasional times when Noah will notice an ASL conversation nearby or someone sees Noah's CI and approaches me, I don't pay particular attention to the hearing status of the people around me. This weekend was different.
On Friday Noah and I were at the mall when a man came up to us and shoved a paper in my hand. It said something like "I'm Deaf and I support myself by selling these ASL fingerspelling cards. Please give as much money as you can." I make it a rule not to hand out money to strangers unless I know what it'll be used for so I didn't buy his paper but it led to an interesting conversation. He eventually noticed that Noah responded to my signs close to Noah's face and not his 4-6 feet away. When he realized that Noah was deaf-blind he went away feeling sorry for him. I was struck that the seemingly intelligent and mentally stable adult supporting himself by begging for sales at the mall deserved more pity than my son. I don't know what Noah will accomplish, but it certainly won't be that.
Today we spent part of the afternoon at Noah's favorite place: King's Dominion (or as he calls it "Queen Dominion"). The difference today was that it was Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Day. I was certainly aware of a lot of people that were using ASL, although I was disappointed that there weren't any other CI users (that I saw) or any information about oral language or CIs at the information tables set up. Maybe they should call it Deaf Cultural Awareness Day instead? I was afraid that Noah might be harassed by someone who is anti-CI (surely there was one person there somewhere!) but he was nice enough to cover himself from head to toe in vomit shortly after we arrived and overconfident mommy didn't bring an extra harness so he was CI free for most of our time. He switched easily to ASL, though (I assume because there were so many other people using it), so it didn't have a negative impact on his day. I had wanted to go to one of the interpreted show performances, but a rather nasty thunderstorm found us huddling in the build-a-bear store and we were about done for the day after that.
I'm intruiged by deaf adults. I try not to stare, but I'm sure sometimes I do - I want to take in as much as I can. We get a lot of stares too, and I don't mind. I know everyone's just jealous that I have the cutest sweetest 3 year old ever.

Noah's 3!

No nebs!

Today we went to a pulmo appointment and the verdict is:

No more nebulizer treatments until September!

In spite of the fact that Noah was hit hard by the flu, he didn't need steroids or need to be hospitalized so I guess that's considered a good outcome. Mollie said that based on his history he's doing much better at (almost) 3 then she could've predicted. We'll go back on .25 of Pulmocort once a day in September to strengthen his lungs for preschool germs. In the meantime hopefully Noah can learn to fall asleep without his nightly nebulizer - that would be a huge step for us.

Bedtime Prayers

Sorry this is so dark. It's too sweet not to post!

Noah: I want to say the prayer.
Daddy: Yeah, say the prayer. Ok.
Noah: Now I lay me down to sleep.
…
Now I lay me down to sleep.
This one.
…
Now I lay me down to sleep.
I do this one?
…
Now I lay me down to sleep-away.
Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord. Lord my soul to keep. Thank you God for Mommy and Daddy. Amen.

Burning the Midnight Oil

It's almost midnight. Is your 2 year old still awake?

Mine is.

He went to bed at a really nice time but had a huge vomit in his sleep at 9:30. This involved changing his bed, cleaning the floor, giving another bath, and refeeding dinner, all while he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Noah always falls asleep to his Xoponex but since he didn't need another dose we tried a saline neb. It didn't work. We're still up and he's not acting remotely tired.

Too bad crying-it-out would lead to a repeat of the 9:30 vomit or else I would seriously consider changing my parenting views.

Potty Training

The good news:

• Noah knows when he is going and has a very predictable peeing/pooping schedule
• he doesn't mind sitting on the potty chair a million times a day to "try"

The bad news:

• the predictable schedule involves him going 10 minutes after every meal
• peeing outside of a diaper makes Noah vomit (especially if it lands on his feet)

The conclusion:

• Mommy's not ready for potty training. Ask me again in a year or two.