OHSU Cochlear Consult

But first, can I get a Hip hop hop, hip hoppapotumus! Will I ever get that song out of my head? Or Paige's "punches" and Skylar's "hip hop face?" I hope not. :-)

This past Wednesday, we took S up to OHSU for an audiological evaluation, to determine her eligibility for cochlear implants. Miss S did an amazing job in the booth. Two audis tested her pure tone detection and speech recognition, aided, on both sides. As we already knew, S tests well in the booth. Although her hearing levels suggest eligibility for CI's, her performance in the booth shows that she is doing well with her listening and word discrimination skills, and getting very good benefit from her hearing aids.

The bottom line recommendation: no rush to CI's, monitor for any further progressive loss, do some further testing in noise, and meet the surgeon to discuss next steps (like radiology).

So proud of my girl. She was nervous on the way up, loosened up quite a bit once she was out of the booth, and thoroughly enjoyed the aerial tram ride back down to the car.

The view was gorgeous; the outlook sunny.

FIVE

I'm not sure how my babies got to be FIVE so quickly, but OH are they getting so grown up.

Just look at these beauties.

Five is a wonderful, curious, hilarious age. I have taken quite a lot of video trying to capture their utter adorableness. This May was especially packed with momentous occasion after momentous occasion.  Some highlights:

1. First Ballet Recital. This was a REAL recital, with tutus (see above), a stage in a real theater, and a professional video recording. Skylar was ready to go before, after, and during, soaking up every aspect of the experience with typical Skylar gusto. Paige was a little more reserved about it, but when she saw the tutu, all bets were off.  She did it, and I was so proud of her! She buried her face in my neck for five straight minutes after it was over - it took a lot out of her. But both of them did so well, and they have the best teacher in the world. Grandma Rotzie and Papa Tom got to see the recital and boy, was it a treat for them!   

2. My Dad's 70th Birthday. I made him a photo book for his birthday, containing many photos he took himself and some I took of him with his grandchildren. He LOVES it (see photo from two posts ago). This was also a special day because it was the day my parents got to Eugene after my dad finished some recent health treatments. It was so great to have him in Eugene again, spending time with Paige and Skylar. 

3. The Girls' 5th Birthday. Well, this was a big giant slew of parties, of course, including a school celebration (Friday), their party in our backyard (Saturday), and their actual birthday (Sunday). The party was fabulous, thanks to the efforts of all four grandparents in making things, cleaning things, buying things, and sprucing things up. (I know, I'm soooo lucky!) S & P also have wonderful friends, so the company was fine and a good time was had by all.   

4. Skylar's Transition to Kindergarten Meeting. We don't have her draft IEP yet, but the meeting went really well, and I like the Kindergarten teacher quite a lot.  Skylar's eligibility for special education services is good for another year, or we might be looking at a 504 plan instead of the more comprehensive services she's getting now as part of her IFSP. So I'm optimistic about the Kindergarten year - she's ready, the school culture seems to be a good fit for both Skylar and Paige, and it's our neighborhood school so they get to ride the bus. :-)  

5. Hike with Grandma and Papa up Spencer Butte. We've gotta make this a birthday tradition - the hike is quintessentially Eugene! It was my girls' second time up, and my parents' first. It's so fun to actually hike with S & P! They are growing into good little walkers and hikers and able to do more and more difficult things every day. Fun times ahead including camping this summer and hopefully some day trips to lakes and waterfalls.

Next for us is a summer full of camp! Stay tuned!

Grandma Love

Ah, King Estate. Beautiful scenery, delicious food and wine, and happy children cavorting with their grandmas.  It doesn't get much better than that!