Yes and No.

Big change in Josh this week. Instead of mostly parroting what we ask him/say to him (he repeats the last word), he is actually vocally answering Yes ("yeah" w/headshake and sign) or No ("mo" with headshake and sign) to questions.

Dad: "Josh, do you want to do laundry?"
Josh: "YEAH!" (with headshake and sign)
Dad: "Josh, do you want to go upstairs?"
Jsoh: "Mo." (No, with headshake and sign)

This might not seem too great to some folks, but a huge improvement in Josh's communication. Before if asked to do laundry, and I kid you not he is obsessed with doing laundry now, he would repeat with the sign for washer. Then it's still cool because he'd add "water", "wet" and "dry machine" (dryer) signs, sometimes vocalizing "wawa" for water. So he was talking about what was asked, which is cool. But now he's simply answering questions AND expanding on the communication. His receptive communication is improving nicely, and I'm very excited in his expressive gains, too!

Seriously, when I spend consistent time with him, reading books, talking, etc., it is just opening the chatter box inside of him and he is really clicking with vocalizing, etc. This is really exciting for us. Matt was just so quick with the post CI habilitation, I've been discouraged by Josh's slower progress. But on a positive note, and as encouragement to other families that may experience similar issues, I am REALLY happy to see good progress in Josh. He is a tougher cookie to work with, but days like today remind me how much we really are blessed. Even with all of the "therapy" and work that we've done with Josh, the cochlear implant has made communication much easier for him. While Josh can use sign, I feel like the world of sound is really opening to him, too.