Joshua has "no" down pat now.

His teacher said he was doing GREAT at school yesterday! He has a buddy, Julia, and the two really interact well together, too. She commented on how well he has "yes" and "no" responses down. Man! Overnight I think he's perfected the "no" response! Isn't that typical for a three year old? No this no that, offer candy and it's "YES, NOW!" Josh is getting very selective in his eating, too. Picky, picky, picky. Chris went through this at about the same time. Chris knows better now, has to at least try what's put in front of him. I'm too tired to enforce that with Josh right now. He LOVES fruit and some veggies, not hogging down Snickers and M&Ms (except for therapy, but that's another post...), so we're okay for now.

The kids are fighting. Always fighting. Matt and Chris can't be separated, but they're always fighting/competing over one thing or another. A hint of things to come? Josh is getting involved, now, too. Chris was sitting on a stool in the library, Josh wanted it and pushed Chris off. Just like that, kind of took us all by surprise. Chris let him have the stool.

If there is one thing I would share with other CI parents it would be read, read, READ to your CI kid. I'm doing this with Josh, and it's helping his vocabulary grown. His receptive language is doing much better. When they tell me at school which words he recognized and which he didn't, I KNEW that the reading was paying off. The words he was familiar with were in the books we had read. The words he doesn't get yet I haven't shown him in books. This is true even with Matt. Although the kid is a typical seven year old and drives me nuts at times, I still have to sit and listen to him read. He gets tired and lazy and starts "mushing" his words together, I correct him. When he comes across words he doesn't know, I ask him about them and try to help him learn them. I think even parents of perfectly hearing kids should be doing this, too.

And along those lines, I'm tired. Not just of "therapy" with the boys, but just of being a mommy. You can read more about that at: (other blog--name removed), if you're so inclined. I'm working hard right now to do the best by my boys, but also to provide some sort of balance in the home, too. Tomorrow is the deadline to sign Sean up for full day Kindergarten, you bet I'm making sure the papers are in on time! Even if Josh is still two days a week next year, I think I'll be able to concentrate more and provide a better home environment for them, too.

Boy, things sure have come a long way since we were told we were infertile. No kidding. I don't think I'm a natural "Mommy" who thrives on time with the kids, but I'm working the best I can to give them the best opportunities possible. There's nothing in those cute books I bought when first preggers about deafness, cochlear implants, therapy and millions of doctor visits, sleepness nights of worry and even more days of screaming kids, but I love my boys. Wouldn't trade them for the world. :)