Our man, Simon

We have our only son, Simon, who we've been over the moon about since his birth. Tara and I truly enjoy our roles as parents, and it is amazing to see him grow and develop. We noticed and were concerned when he didn't start talking at 12 months; when he wasn't talking in December at 18 months, we took him to Children's Hospital for a hearing screening, which indicated that he had some hearing loss.

A January BAER showed that Simon's hearing loss is most likely in the severe to profound range. We were hoping that he would have had some hearing that could be amplified by hearing aids, but that may not be the case. We're now trying hearing aids for a while, and then if they prove ineffective, he may be a candidate for a cochlear implant.

We've been looking at different birth - 3 and preschool programs, and met with folks from the Hearing, Speech, and Deafness Center, Listen and Talk, and Family Conversations. We're going to start with Family Conversations, as we still don't really know his true level of hearing, and want him to have a way of communicating as quickly as possible. We just went to our first weekend series of sign language classes (for Signed Exact English), and will be going weekly starting in April. It was great to be in a room with other families in a similar situation, and to feel like we were doing something proactive to help Simon communicate.

He's a good little guy; he loves brushing his teeth, putting his coat on, finding his shoes, and going to the playground. We can't get him to eat vegetables for the life of us... or fresh fruit, for that matter. Our guy loves some carbohydrates.