my boy got a buzz
As we learned at JTC, there are 4 levels of auditory development: detection (presence/absence of sound), discrimination (difference between 2 sounds), identification (recognizing/labeling sound) and comprehension (understanding meaning of sound). Since Lucas is speaking in 4 & 5 word sentences, he has made his way through those 4 levels pretty well by now. But, we still always revert to identifying sounds, like any good AV parent. I still always point to my ear when I hear a new sound and say "I hear that". Lucas now points to his ear and says "I hear" when he hears something new too.
I do have a point here.......... Lucas detected, discriminated, identified and comprehended a new sound the other night, when he heard the little creaking of crickets outside on a balmy summer night. He laughed his giddy little giggle when I explained to him what he was hearing and that they were little bugs "singing" in the bushes. Then, when we were driving home from my parents house, Lucas asked to "hear crickets", so I paused just a little longer at a stop sign, put down the windows and just sat and listened to the crickets with him. In that minute I paused and let it sink in that Lucas can hear the crickets and he loves it. It makes it all worth it. It's the little things that we don't take for granted anymore.
We haven't forgotten where we've come from with Lucas, and we're oh so happy about where we're going. The journey to hearing with a cochlear implant is constantly changing, evolving, moving. It's never stagnant. And it's oh so exciting.