"Ryan"

None of my children have the easiest names to say for any toddler, much less a deaf one with cochlear implants learning to hear and speak. For a little while, Aiden would say his own name when he'd see his picture on this blog. It sounded like "Ayen", but it was very short lived. In fact, I'm surprised we don't hear the same "Ayen" for his brother and sister since all my kids have two syllable names ending in the "en" sound. He has NEVER attempted either of his sibling's names, except closed mouth humming of the two syllables that each name has.

This past weekend, we were outside and Aiden was playing in the car as his daddy, brother, and I sat and talked. He was being his typical silly self so I ran to get my Flip.

Glad I did. (Excuse my loud excitement, but how about that /r/! AND it was the FIRST time I've ever heard him attempt to say "dad" instead of dada, and "cat" (do you hear a final /t/?) instead of just "meow").

Make sure to turn the music off on the left first!

I just had to pull this post back, as I wrote it very quickly this morning. What I forgot to mention is what a GREAT BIG BROTHER Ryan is to Aiden. As soon as Aiden sees Ryan, a huge smile instantly lights up his face, and he runs up to him screaming this brotherly, "Let's get on the floor right now and wrestle" type of scream. He loves everything about his big brother (including getting into everything in his room), and Ryan just said to me last night, "I love playing with Aiden, he's a great little brother." I love it.