Apples to apples, your life probably sucks...

I assure you my blogging intentions are quite pure. I always think I will keep this blog up to date, but I just don’t. Don’t worry it’s not you, it’s me. Blogging falls into the same category as Bon Iver and Tim Tebow. I should like them. I want to like them. I just don’t.

Neither here nor there (or anywhere) I guess.

Calan received his 2nd cochlear implant on December 5th and is doing really well. The surgery itself was in the words of (once again relevant) Charles Barkley “trr-ible”. It really was a nightmare. The poor guy was so sad and just didn’t understand why we would allow the doctors to hurt him. For parents out there with CI kids, the second surgery is not any easier than the first. But recovery was *quick and now he is back to his old self. We are still working on getting the map to where it needs to be, but we have already seen a real difference in localization.

*Note for CI parents. We fought Calan for an entire week to get him to wear the second implant. It was awful, but we stuck with it and now he prefers it. So hang in there.

Londyn just turned 14, which is really exciting. (Wait. What’s that? Seriously? ) My mistake - apparently Londyn is still 5-years-old. Maybe it’s the fact that she carries around her iPod touch and pretends to text her friends. Maybe it’s the fact that she asked me if her pen was “handcrafted”. Maybe it’s the fact that she rolls her eyes at her almost 31 year-old Dad and makes him feel ridiculous. Either way, she is lucky she has me wrapped around her finger or she would find herself victim of my unholy scathing wrath.

But my favorite child is Hadley. (What do you mean I can’t say that?) Alright, let me rephrase. I “love” Hadley the most. (No good?) Okay let me try again. If I had to pick just one…too far? Okay, okay. But she is an unbelievably good baby. I dare anyone who reads this to hold Haddie for just a minute or two and not fall completely in love with the little girl.

I know what you are thinking. “Wow Steve, compared to you – my life sucks. Your kids are way cuter than mine and your wife is like a super model you get to have unprotected sex with. How great would it be to be in your shoes for only one day?”

And you would be absolutely right.

"I just had to"

Londyn adores Hadley. She is such a good big sister and so helpful to Brynn and I – but we did have a little incident where Londyn found herself in hot water. Londyn was playing with Haddie in her bouncer the other day when Brynn heard Haddie scream out in pain. Brynn rushed into the room and found Londyn with a very guilty look on her face. “What happened?!” Brynn asked as she picked Haddie up and tried to console her. Londyn looked up with tear filled eyes and confessed “I bit her nose.” Brynn was beside herself and sent Londyn to her room. When I got home from work I was informed that I needed to talk to Londyn about what happened.

Brynn had dance class that night so I let it slide until I was putting Londyn to bed that night. Finally alone I asked her, “Why did you do it? You are so good with Hadley. What on earth caused you to bite her little nose?” With a remorseful look and a trembling lip Londyn said, “I don’t know. I was just playing with her and giving her kisses when I looked up and saw her little nose. And I don’t know why dad, but I just had to bite it. I couldn’t help myself.”

I guess the old adage of “you are so cute, I could just eat you up” ended up being just too tempting for Haddie’s big sister.

Same thing...different results

I wrote this in our blog about Calan 3 years ago...

Driving in the car, Cal crying in his car seat, and his 2 1/2 year old sister is singing him Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, because she knows when she is upset, singing helps calm her. Cal continues to cry, because he cannot hear his big sister singing her little heart out. And though she talks and sings to him all the time, Cal has never heard his big sisters voice...heartbreaking.

This happened on the way home from Grandpa and Grandma’s on a warm summer night. Cal was only a few months old, riding in his car seat and completely hysterical. This little moment broke my heart. I wanted so desperately for Londyn's little brother to hear her voice.

Tonight the exact same thing happened. In fact, the situation was jarringly similar. Warm summer night, driving home from Grandpa and Grandma’s, and a hysterical baby crying in the back seat. But this time it was little Hadley. She was inconsolable. After a while I heard Londyn's little voice in the back seat singing, “The Itsby, Bitsy Spider went up the water spout…”. My mind flashed back to the same moment with Cal, and my heart began to feel the same sharp pain. But then a miraculous and unexpected thing happened. Little Haddie started to calm down. I began to chalk it up to one of life’s strange coincidences when I saw movement in my rearview mirror. I looked back and noticed that Londyn was not just singing to her little sister, but she was signing the song to her as well. Haddie’s little eyes were fixed on Londyn's hands as “the rains came down and washed the spider out”. Sure enough her cries subsided as Londyn's hands and voice calmed her baby sister.

I was so proud of her...of all of us! What an incredible change our family has gone through in the past 3 years. An identical situation three years ago brought heartache and pain, but today it brought happiness and hope.

What a journey...

Welcome to the World Miss Hadley

On June 22nd, 2011 our little family of 4 became a moderately sized family of 5. Hadley Perkins was born 6 lbs. 12 oz., blonde hair, blue eyes and is doing great. You forget how tiny newborns are. Hadley makes Calan look like a mid-sized linebacker. It’s fun to have a newborn in the house again, especially a little girl. Since this is our last kiddo, Brynn is soaking up every fleeting moment she can with Hadley. Calan shows mild interest in his baby sister, but Londyn adores her. She is such a good big sister, and helps her mom out a lot. We were warned again and again that the 3rd kid was the hardest. But so far it has been pretty good (granted we haven’t been overly adventurous). I imagine in a few weeks when Londyn starts kindergarten and Cal starts pre-school, our lives may be turned upside down.



For those that have asked or wondered - we did find out that little Miss Haddie is deaf. She failed her hearing screening at the hospital, so we scheduled a follow up ABR. (They test her little brain for sound response.) She is completely deaf, just like her big brother. I won’t lie, Brynn and I were devastated. We wallowed in sadness and our own self pity for about 24 hours. After a day or so of wallowing we decided it was time to move on. It’s pretty hard to stay down when you hold a beautiful baby girl in your arms. And when you listen to her deaf big brother sing her every word to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, there just isn’t much room for sadness. The road is hard, but fortunately it’s a road we know. So thank you all for your support and love. But this little family is going to be just fine. We may be the loudest house on the block, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

A Day in the Life...

Unfortunately our house and kids usually look and dress like this. Fortunately they also do stuff like this all the time.

Hello? Anyone?

I’m BAAAACK! – and as irrelevant as ever! Much like a Brittney Spears concert tour announcemetnt; I’m sure that the zero people that read this blog are rejoicing in my triumphant return.

Where to start? I guess I will start with the family.

Sadly Brynn has become horribly fat. I mean, really fat. I don’t know what happened –around 9 months ago she started putting on weight and now...– I mean it has gotten completely ridiculous. (What’s that?...Really?! Oh…)

UPDATE: Apparently Brynn is pregnant. 37 weeks to be exact. Phew! That is a relief. In a few short weeks we will have a new addition to the family. We are terr-ited (mix of terrified and excited). We will keep you up to date and will stream the complete live delivery on this blog - stay tuned!

Londyn just turned 5-years-old and heads to Kindergarten on August 3rd. I know you think you kids are cute and I’m sure they are – but they are probably dogfaces compared to Londyn. She is absolutely adorable keeps me laughing all day long. She still loves to dance and takes everything you say absolutely literal. I love that girl - even though with her blonde hair and blue eyes I'm 80% sure she is not mine.

Cal turns 3 in August and has discreetly turned from sweet little boy to terrorizing toddler. It is not that he is malicious or naughty – he just simply has no regard for anything containing matter or substance. But he has been out of diapers and in a big boy bed for 3 months so with that credit he worked his way up to a B-. Good on ya kid. He is doing incredibly well in speech/hearing. I will have to post video for you soon to boast how awesome he is.

That is my family in a nutshell (no idea what that means).

Happy Holidays!

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas this year! We had a great time, and Santa brought some great toys this year. Londyn asked Santa for a boom box with a microphone, and Cal asked for a train. Mommy and Daddy asked for a new dresser and a plasma TV! All in all it was a success. Here are a few pictures to highlight the fun we had!

My Boy

Cal celebrated his one year hearing anniversary on the 5th of October. I cannot even begin to express how incredible this journey has been. Cal was born profoundly deaf – which means he heard nothing, notta, zip, zero. Two years ago we were told that our tiny little boy lived in complete and utter silence. So it was no small miracle, that on October the 5th of 2009; for the first time in his life, Cal could hear. For the first time in his little life he heard the voice of his mommy, and the sound of his big sister singing at the top of her lungs. He heard the mingling of laughter as his daddy tickled his ribs. A little boy whose world was absolute silence, could hear. So ended our journey…or so we thought.

As life has often taught me, the end of a journey is only the beginning of another. The last 365 days has been a blur of speech therapy, audiologists, doctors and homework. And slowly the little boy that could hear his mommy's voice for the first time, now cries out the word mommy. A little boy who could hear the screeching song of his big sister, now screeches right along with her. And now, one year later, our deaf little boy stumbles his chub around the house screaming out “Londyn, where are you!” whenever his adored sister is not in sight. As we walk through the refrigerated aisle at the grocery store he stops and whispers, “BRRRR it’s cold”. During his bedtime routine he lets you know, clear as day, that “I brush teeth” and “I read books!”

We are so proud of our little man. Happy anniversary buddy, I can’t wait to see what this next year brings.

Destin, FL

If I retire somewhere, I think it may be down in Destin, FL. Flour white sand, crystal clear water, great restaurants and as far as I know - not a flake of snow all year round. Yes sir, I could definitely see Brynn and I gathering seashells on the shores of Destin in our Depends.

The trip was incredible. Even with a few minor set backs (record heat and algae beaches) we still had a great time. Even Cal on the plane (the thought alone gave me night sweats and shortness of breathe) did relatively well at 30,000 ft. Londyn loved playing with her cousins and Brynn even got herself an 8th grade Raging Waters Summer Pass Tan. A rare feat for for a mother of 2.

All in all. A good vacation with even better people.