One on one...

Today, Lotte has been with a friend from school almost the entire day.. Away from our house..

It went well. She's been with friends before, but never this long. At the end of the day she was tired...

And that's no surprise.

Think of it.. In a situation with many children, it is easy for her to camouflage that she doesn't understand. She watches the other children and whatever she hasn't understood will be filled in by the action of other children.

Playing 1 on 1 - like today - changes that completely. Any communication from her friend is towards her. So, Lotte will have to be more alert. Will have to focus if she doesn't want to ask too often to have a question repeated.

Apparently, it went very well. They played for a very long time, and at the end of the day they were still friends.

Lotte' s mum called the girl's house, and got the girl on the phone.

On my wife's question as to how it was going, the girl said "It is going very well. But we did fight a bit just now, but that is over now.."

Lovely !!!

Rhyming

Christmas time, with very, very good friends visiting us.. Family realy...

Lotte showing her skills. :-)

( And proud father showing Lotte showing her skills )

New way..

With the pouches on the shoulders, it can be awkward when the straps are thin.

The red elastic band with two clips on the end is actually used to clip winter-gloves on the manchettes of coats... But this is much more practical.

Here I used the safety-pin to put it on the elastic band and the straps... but since then I sewed pouches all the way at the end.. no more safetypins..

Swimming....

.... that has been the thing this week.

School is finished, and the "After-school organisation" (No idea how I had to translate the Norwegianterm "SFO" ) send the children that enlisted to a 2 hour per day swimming course during the week. For free, payed by a fund that wants to make sure more kids know how to swim. A wonderful initiative

Having Lotte in a structured environment in order to teach her to swim has not been succesfull, up to now. (See this post.)

She didn't want to have the CI on. We have used the CI while swimming by putting it in a sealed plastic bag (which worked well..) but Lotte made clear that she did not want it. After some asking she indicated there was too much noise. And I can imagine that in an inside swimmin

g-pool the sound must be horrible. I dislike it with two ears, with 1 ear (we only gave her 1 ear under the swimming cap) it must be awful..

So.. No CI.

After the first day she said something like "It was nice. Not going back..".. And that even with her being proud to be on Norwegian (local) TV in the pool..

But we told her she had to. The following day she was in tears.... but she did go, and it went fine.

The promise of a bikini (A "Hello Kitty" bikini.. ) at the end of the week might have had something to do with it, but even so.... she did go.

And still enjoyed it. Mind you, 2 hours of swimming every day is quite a task for a 7-year old.. (OK.. quarter to 7)

The end result.... She did all 5 days, all 10 hours and got a bikini. (Picture will come later.. sorry)

No big information when her mom asked how it was... Just an OK...

That is, until dinner. The she suddenly stopped eating. Crossed her arms and said "I can swim.! I can swim to the other side without the floaters on my arm.."

Wonderful.... !!!! Now we still have to confirm this.. but knowing Lotte.....

Update:

(btw.. It was Lotte's idea to wear the swimming-cap and inflatable tube... we had nothing to do with that. )

Time for piano- and singing- lessons.!

Thought to show Lotte's musical side coming out.

We asked her if she would like to learn to play the piano.... Of course she does :-) She started practicing immediately...... Any pianoteachers out there..??

Otherwise..... singing is another of her passions.... Any language will do.. This one shouls sound familiar..

Enjoy.!

Visiting Dutch friends in Norway..

Pictures now, stories later.. if needed..







...

"I have to talk to you.."

Problem....??
Early this morning, a recurring subject came up again.
Sanne, Lotte's sister, same school, 3 classes ahead, complained that Lotte was playing with her and her friends, and not with her own friends...
Lotte was confronted with this, and said that sometimes the girls from her class told her she could not play with them...
Ouch...!!! that hurt.... so we contacted the teacher and asked her to check out the situation..

Several things are happening.
One thing is that Sanne is visiting Lotte's class as well. Paying a social visit, but obviously Lotte can do the same. So we had a little talk to Sanne and agreed that she would not visit Lotte's class for the time being.
Lotte was also confronted with her behavior of going to Sanne to play and leaving her own friends behind.
We called Lotte: "Lotte, come here, I have to talk to you.."
She was told that she shouldn't do this any more. Lotte listened, repeated, and went straight out the door to the trampoline..
A bit later she came in again, and said to her mother: "Mummy, I have to talk to you....
Why can I not play with Sanne??"
We gave the sophisticated answer "Because the teacher had said so..." (More authority than we.. :-) )
"Oh... OK" was the reply... and life continued...

Another thing that was observed is that actually kids did ask her to play, but Lotte chose not to participate..
This can have different reasons. Perhaps she really doesn't want to play with them, but more likely, she anticipated that she will not be able to follow the games the children play and therefore doesn't start..
With the delay she has - cognitive - I can imagine that this creates a problem sometimes. A lot of things that are second nature to those children are new to Lotte. And it will take time before that gap is closed.. She will catch up but it will take time....

Patience - I guess...

Lotte started dance-classes..

As shown earlier in the blog, Lotte loves to dance and sing. Together with her sister, they have given quite a few performances.. (See here for example.)

A friend of us teaches jazz and ballet at the local music-/culture- school... and when we asked if Lotte could have a look one day she was very happy to invite Lotte.
Our experience before with these kind of activities - before she went to school - was that she is very shy entering an unknown group and joining. Difficult for her to understand what's happening...

Bought the required clothes to make sure Lotte would feel like part of the group, and little ballet shoes. All very much to Lotte's taste.. After all, dressing up is one of her favorite activities.

So, with mixed feelings and not-too-high expectations Lotte and her mom went to the class.

And there the miracle started.....

No problem getting into the classroom. She felt totally at ease, as if she had been there before. No problem that there were 7 other 6-year old girls there that she didn't know. She chatted with the teacher (who - as mentioned she knows a bit ) telling her what happened at school. But she was there to dance, and that's what was going to happen.
She understood the instructions, and was very able to do it.. Looking at what the other children did helped as well.. Total commitment, whilst carrying a radiant smile on her face!!

The teacher, our friend, is English but speaking mainly Norwegian to the class... Suddenly there was counting in English... and Lotte understood that as well.. (Has had it at school..) and when some colors were mentioned Lotte got in the discussion with mentioning "Pink"... in English...
So... understanding the context and not afraid to put in a word herself.

The class went extremely well.. Lotte floating on a cloud due to dancing.. Totally in her element.. It is wonderful to see how she as grown. Getting confidence in herself and the outside world.
Without CI it would have been impossible to do this to the level she is doing it now.

The way she feels secure, and is totally open for new challenges. The way she claims part of the world.

She was still on cloud 5 when going to bed...

A peek in Lotte's world...

Imaging this....
Early in the morning... Kids got up and the discussion is about being able to sleep, or about waking up.. Not sure..

But suddenly Lotte says "I can't sleep because I can hear Jelle speak when I try to sleep, he wakes me up..."
So we smile and say "You cannot hear when you are in bed because you have no CI on. You cannot hear."
Long silence, and then a big smile. She realized that she needs the CI in order to hear.

This morning a similar incident.
When she wakes up, she needs to come to us in order to have the batteries inserted (rechargeable) and the BTE pinned to her shirt.
She knocks... and waits.. (for nothing.. she's deaf) and then comes in.. We pretended to be asleep... She goes out, knocks again (harder) and comes in again...
Then she tells us: "I knocked, and then you should say "come in" !.."

She is tuned in for hearing.. With or without CI...

Trampoline time..

Well... we finally have one.... and the effect is there.... From 0 to 1 kids in the garden it grew to 9 in the first days.. slowing down to 2-3... Our own...But the appeal is there.. Even straight out of bed, before they got dressed they went out... That was reason for one of the many rules... Not before 11:00...

For Lotte it is wonderful, not just for her physically, like all kids, but because her classmates now come to Lotte's trampoline.. Visiting Lotte. A great experience..

For those that are wondering about the pouches on the shoulder, I attatched a video of Lotte on it. (.. well, pouches, these are "bags" really... These are pouches..)
Just wanted to show how Lotte is not thinking about being careful with her CI... They hang on the shoulder, and will be fine while playing. The coils stay on the head.. OK, helped by the hair keeping it there... but even without the hair they will stay on, or Lotte will have them on there in no time..
The wire will sometimes get around the ear-hook. Thought about just removing the complete hook, but putting the wire through the safetypin works as well..

Water-rat with wings..!!

Nope.. she's not afraid any more to jump into the water..

took a while for her to get this free, but then she went for it 100%

As long as she remembers to put on the little wings... she should be fine..

Enjoy her show...!

Survival skills - or just other senses getting trained?

Mmm.... Here's a tricky one..

Friends of us were away on holiday.. We're not sure if Lotte was aware of that. We didn't tell her... We definitely didn't tell Lotte when they would be back... We didn't keep score ourself..

Anyway... Lotte said to her mother "3 days and uncle and aunt will be back.."
Where did that come from..?? He mother counts... and Lotte is right.. It IS 3 days...!!

At the time I was offshore, with a very good possibility that I was coming home a week early. Bad progress requiring other operation made it likely that I would be send onshore for a couple of days..
.... but no mentioning of me coming home from Lotte...
And for the right reason... I was not send home..... Turned out things changed, and I did the normal 15 days offshore..

SO.... what's happening here.... ??
Any idea's anyone? LOL..
Our friends said "We would require more data before we draw a conclusion.."
Think we'll just do that..

Vacation - looking back

3 Weeks ago we went to a warmer climate for a week. We had been there before and we were all looking forward to go again. One week with nice temperatures is great after the cold weather of Norway.

Lotte was hyper from the day we told her... Turned out we did that way too early, but what's done is done. So, she started counting down. She's fanatic with that, and keeping good track of it as well. Going to bed with it (Mommy.. tomorrow it's 15 days before we go") and it's the first thing she'll tell us when she wakes up, and enters our bedroom to get the CI's.. (Mommy, today it's 15 days and then we go on vacation") All this before she starts to hear.. ;-)

But something else seemed to happen as well. With the vacation in her head, the excitement, anticipation, she lost focus.
Homework which she loves to do becomes tiresome for us (not for her) since she is no longer dedicated to it. No concentration, no trying to do a good job. Taking the easy way out.
This was especially in the last week before we went..

When finally on the move, and on vacation, she did great. She has grown so much in the last year that it's great to travel with her. Not that it was difficult before, but as apposed to previously, she required hardly any attention. Especially on the way back, she and her brother and sister were sitting on the row behind us, and we hardly noticed them. First time for everything..

All the kids loved the sun, sand sea and pool. Last year we used the CI under the bading cap every time she swam. For our sake, but also at Lottes request.
This year we did it once, but Lotte didn't want it again. She saw no need for it.. She's comfortable not hearing anyone, and we're comfortable with her floating around with her inflatable wings. For her it's just the rule. "When swimming, you put on the wings." and sometimes the rigidness the little lion works in our advantage..
Of course, another possible reason why Lotte doesn't want them is that now she can tell everyone what to do.... but she doesn't have to listen to what they say... ;-)

We had a great time. Morning buffet and dinner buffet, with possible unlimited desert was true bliss for the kids, and for us watching the downing it all... (Well, they had one day with unlimited deserts.. It's vacation after all..)

So much more to tell... but I'll add that later.. perhaps..

Bi-lateral CI... any doubts?

.. well, go to this post in the blog of Ethan..

Singing and dancing

Tonight our two daughters gave another sing & dance performance..
Life is great!


Btw... here a dance from last december..

Survival

.... techniques.... She has so many of them.
Lipreading is well-established, but I have a feeling there's not that much relying on it. She hears well and is more able to understand sentences... Without CI on she will use it, and will still amaze us with how well she can lipread.

Last week I saw another survival technique that we know for long, and avoid automatically..
The speech therapist asked Lotte this question "Lotte, after school, do you go home by yourself, or will daddy or mommy pick you up.?"
Alarm-bells rang with me... Too long a sentence.... Lotte wouldn't get it.. I kept quiet.. since Lotte sometimes has a way to surprise us.
Lotte looked as if she was thinking..... and then said "Yes".
The speech-therapist interpreted the answer... "So your walk home alone".... and Lotte said "Yes".
She really didn't get the question. It was too long, too complicated, so by answering "Yes" she made the adult happy, and as far as Lotte goes she got the right answer. (btw... It was the wrong answer, she never walks home alone.)
But it shows how she sometimes survives.. and people should be careful with how they ask questions...

Sort of the same in the classroom. The teachers are very good and Lotte is doing very well. They look at the children when they speak (Not to the blackboard) and there are more things that help Lotte. And the rest of the class.
One is that a message given to the class, is repeated to Lotte. To make sure she understands what's ahead.
Normally, Lotte will closely look at the other children and figure out what to do, but sometimes extra guidance is needed.
I told them that they should NOT repeat the message to Lotte personally. In no time she will ignore the first message to the classroom. After all, why bother when you know it's going to be repeated just for you.
I suggested to the teacher that she would not repeat it, but that she would ask Lotte what just had been said. That way Lotte will focus on the first message in order to make sure she can repeat what has been said..

In all, these survival skills are OK. I guess we use them at well at time...
But for Lotte it's important that she learns to listen well... So, at times we let it slip, being aware how much she does and does not understand, at times we make sure that she gets it.

But also the people around her should be aware of all of Lotte's survival skills..

Drawings and numbers..

Parents will identify with this...
It looks as if nothing happens, and suddenly you notice the change. Actually, you don't notice the change. You remember suddenly that something is completely changed since a while ago.
When it happened, how..... you have no clue when it happened, but it's there..

We noticed it with drawings. Suddenly the pictures she made had changed. She even started copying drawings. She chose a DVD of "Mamma Mia" and started drawing the arch and the person underneath it. Amazing. New!!
But other pictures have evolved as well. More structure, copying, or redrawing the same figures.

And numbers are the thing now. She knows them, counts happily to 100, and at school they are counting money. Adding a bit, changing 10 into smaller pieces like 5's and 1's.
Then then we thought to make her remember our telephone number. 8 digits...
Actually, the cellphone of Mouse. Estimated time to make her remember, 3 days....
So, we wrote down the number.... she dialled.. well, pressed the keys, and "bliss" the mobile phone rang.. Magic.
DId it again.. Fun game. And another time.. Lotte liked
Actual time to remember it... 5 minutes.... She's good!! All this was before she went to school.... She still remembered it when she came home from school.. Photografic memory?
Next day the home number was established... We'll leave it at that for now..

All in all it demonstrates again the importance of Lotte going to school. Even though she is still behind in some social things, the learning at school is helping her with catching up.

BTE irritating you, falling of... Using the BTE on the shoulder..??

Have a look here, on Kyley's blog 

It's still a rough setup, but have a read through the blog on why the BTE's for her daughter are now on the shoulder..

btw.... "pouches" is a much better name than bags....
Then again... the ones we use looked like "bags" compared to these beautiful "pouches"...

Have to start using "pouches" instead of "bags".! :-)

Surprise.

Well, Lotte finally had her first session with the new speech therapist.

2 years ago.... this was a huge problem. Lotte refused to cooperate with the new person in the kindergarten, and we had to sit in in order to have some progress. Took about 4 months for her to soften to her.

This time... Bliss.... No problemo.

Lotte was totally at ease, chatting away, had lots to tell....

She amazed the therapist, and her mother as well, with her speech. Yes, also her mother. She was there and realised how much Lotte had developed her Norwegian. (For those just checking in.. at home we use Dutch, but obviously, at school, the children are immersed in Norwegian)

We normally don't notice, and even so, the changes are from day to day. Quite subtile, until one is confronted with it.

Games were played, and when Lotte needed to count something, she counted in English.. Another surprise for the therapist.. She asked if Lotte knew any English songs... - No problem.

It went very well, exceptionally well probably, and for the next time there will be more difficult puzzles and games I guess....

Our little fierce lion conquered another heart.

Lotte playing with Lego... (before X-mas)