Equalized, Aware.....Reunited

 

Omar has struggled with so many ear infections in his short life - he has been on antibiotics for the past two months straight with little relief - so he had a fairly urgent operation yesterday to insert tubes and remove adenoids. The doctor said afterward that there was so much thick fluid in his ears, his hearing would probably be a lot better now. Omar was so brave and wonderful. What an amazing miracle surgeons perform - I was so nervous about the surgery itself I had not yet contemplated the benefits immediately evident afterward. He immediately started breathing better - I hadn't even realized how heavily he breathed before because of his large adenoids. Little by little, throughout the course of the day, other things have been coming to my attention. He is walking with much more balance, taking more steps in a row. He said "bath" instead of "da". At breakfast and lunch, like every day for the past several months, I worked with him on saying "down" instead of screaming and kicking to get out of the high chair. By dinner, when he was ready to get down, he looked at me and said "down"!

The sweetest thing is that he has started saying "mama" again. Mama was his first word, and he used to say it all the time before his major ear problems had set in. Then he fell out of saying it - I thought he was just going through a Dada phase. Today it has been nothing but mama mama all day! I honestly think he just couldn't hear me all those months (dada talks MUCH louder than mama....) The other reason I think this is because Omar used to just shout everything he said...today I have heard him speak with more variation in tone than ever before. It is nice to hear him talk to his Elmo doll in a sweet, high-pitched voice. It also makes me a little sad - to think of all the sweet, soft things I said to him - he missed out on all the "I love yous". We are reunited today, and I am so grateful.