I am a bad blogger!

We have been pretty busy here at the Butterfield household. I am going to try and update more regularly about what is going on in our little corner of the world. I just feel like blogging is the last thing I have time for in our busy lives. I also know I still need to post pictures of our house, but to be honest we are not all settled and unpacked. I just got Zeke's room all done so I will take pictures soon. Unpacking is not my favorite thing right now!

Anyway, Zeke got his tubes in his ears about 3 weeks ago and he did really well with the surgery and has recovered just great. It did not however change his hearing. Maybe a tiny bit, but not enough to matter.

So...we ordered his Cochlear Implant and all the colors for the implant and we are now just waiting on our insurance. If things go as planned, Zeke will be getting the implant on June 5! I am so extremely nervous, excited and scared, but this is what we want for Zeke. We want to let him have the opportunity to hear and be able to get speech so he can communicate with all our family and friends. I am so amazed with the technology we have these days, it is absolutely amazing.

I know that once he gets the implant he won't hear right away and be able to speak right away, there is a lot of work involved. We will be very busy helping Zeke learn to listen and identify different sounds.

I am excited to take this new journey with Zeke and teach him more and work with him constantly, he is so smart. He already makes it very easy for me to teach him ASL. He picks up on things very quickly, I mean, he already knows over 40 signs and uses them and understands all the signs he knows. He always tells me what he wants, whether he wants something to eat, what he wants to eat like ice cream or candy, if he wants to go outside, go in the car and even go in general. In church on Sunday during Sunday school we were out in the hall and he kept signing 'go' and walking towards the door. He had enough church for the day and was ready for his nap. He tells me when he is all done, when he wants a bath, when he gets hurt, when he wants to watch signing time and even when he wants to color. I feel like he throws less tantrums because he can tell me what he needs or wants. I will definitely teach all of my children to sign even if they are not deaf.

Here is a picture of what Zeke will have once he gets activated with the implant. This is the bodyworn processor, he will only wear this one for a little while until Advanced Bionics gets their new Behind the Ear processor approved from the FDA. The new one that they are coming out with is more kid friendly and smaller to go behind Zeke's little ear and I am so excited for it to get approved. The black round thing is the magnet headpiece that will attach to his head where the implant is located.

When Zeke is a little bit older and his ears are a little bit bigger, he will wear a Behind the Ear processor like this. We actually ordered this color, blue and green. It comes with purple but I don't think he will ever wear the purple! If you want more information on the Advanced Bionics Harmony Implant you can check out their website at this website: http://www.bionicear.com/?langid=1