The Wait for BAHA #2 and Weekend Update

...is still on-going, but I have got to put a major thanks in to the ENT we saw back in May. When our service coordinator emailed me about needing all the documentation for the secnod application (something she could have told me back in September at our six-month review), I used the personal email address that the ENT had given us at that appointment (and I called his office as well, the OCD kicks in when it comes to anything related to the children). He responded within 24 hours and said the needed documents would be in the mail. What a dude. In addition to being one of those surgeons with really big brains with energy to match, he's not some remote Wizard of Oz type who only speaks to his patients from behind the velvet curtain.

The promised letter and prescription reading "Medically cleared to wear a hearing aid" arrived over the weekend, so after getting Thea from school we went off to FedEx Office to copy and fax it to our service coordinator.

Next move is to contact the social worker at Orchard Hill Elementary to see if she received the signed document giving the Child Study Team permission to evaluate Micah. I've heard there is a history of documents going missing, which does not sound promising - especially since I hand-delivered it. According to The Rules, the CTS has 20 days to respond to this and 90 days to complete the evaluations.

Meanwhile and far away, the children had a great weekend at Oma's, and since it was only two days, I don't think we drained Oma as much as one of our four or five days stays does.

Micah managed to wake up at 3:30 am, slide down onto the air mattress where I sleep and wake me up by saying, "WHERE OMA?" in his loudest voice. Fortunately he bought that Oma was sleeping, had a bottle and a diaper change and went back to sleep snuggled next to me.

The NLH fall festival was the usual. We tried our best to be out the door early, but since it takes 90 minutes or so to get there, most of the baked goods and fudge had been snapped up. There was a silent auction, and Mom's quilting friend had made a donation of one of her quilts. I was told not to bid on it since she had quilts at home for me to buy, but the thought of some unknown peasant getting their mitts on a prize-winner from the Montgomery County Fair for a pittance was not doable. Thea picked out some 'jewels' - a star pin that looks to her like a sheriff's badge and a pin that looked like it would tell the world that she was a knight; Micah got a little bear with a bib, mostly to keep him from wanting something bigger.

We scoped out the Christmas room, but right inside the door was a giant electrical Elmo with a Santa hat. Micah just about lost his mind, and the sounds of "ELLLL-MOH..." bounced off the walls as I dragged the stroller out of the room. Elmo Santa does not figure into my Christmas decor, no way, no how.

Our umbrella stroller got a work out, because Thea wanted to ride (shopping fatigue had set in), and Micah wanted to ride as well, so I plopped him on her lap. Surprising she-who-does-not-like-kissing-or-hugging-her-brother put up with holding him on her lap, and since he knew she was a captive audience he periodically gave her a smooch on her cheek.

In the Book Room, which is usually good for finding a few good quality used books, we ran into two older women who asked what the box on Micah's head was. And one of the ladies, midway through my preprogrammed atresia/microtia schtick, asked, "Is that one of those LOCKLEAR implants?" I thought it was a) pretty cool that she would even have a vague idea of cochlear implants and b) it put a weird image in my head of Heather Locklear implanted into someone's head to help them hear, but that was a nice segue into my 'no, he has functioning cochleas, neither of which is located in his frontal lobe; this is a bone conduction hearing aid' patter. They were overall very interested in a non-nosy way, but they ended with the whole "it's such a wonderful thing you're doing" routine that just bugs me. But rather than tune out and glaze over, I just said that it's the complete opposite and shoved the 90 pounds of squirming children in stroller forward to make my escape.

After lunch we waited around for the results of the silent auction. Micah and Thea played in the fountain in front of the entrance while we waited for Oma to finish up - it was a nice warm day, but the water was darn cold. Thea was out at the fountain by herself when Mom's friend came walking up and Thea actually recognized her and said hello. I was hoping not to be found out but there I was busted with the nap quilt sitting in the stroller.

We stopped at Mom's friend's house and the kids occupied themselves with toys that have been around since the 1960s. The best part of catching up was both my mom's friend and Mom saying how nice it was to talk with someone whose hearing was unimpaired. So many of their friends are hard-of-hearing (HOH) that it can be exhausting to have conversations with them - and both of them really haven't been hit too hard by aged-related hearing loss.

Sunday Thea and I went out to Border's to grab a New York Times, and we drove through LaPlata to see if things were gearing up for the Veterans' Day Parade. There were three huge semis with the Budweiser Clydesdales on them unloading in front of the County Administration Building. Unfortuantely, Micah had decided to take a nap so we waited until 12:45 pm to go to the 1 pm parade. I unloaded Mom and children where the parade had started and went to park on a side-street. Instead of having the Clydesdales as the grand finale, they had led off the parade, so we got to wave to a bunch of high school bands, ROTC units, librarians, people driving antique cars (though how a car from 1971 could be deemed an 'antique'; nothing manufactured during my lifetime should be given that desgination) and the Charles County EMS and fire department - and for the finale, the three semis for the Clydesdales.

The parade route was relatively short so we moseyed along, saw some of the things we had already seen while waiting to cross Charles Street, and then we followed the crowds seeking the horses. The Clydesdales and the wagon, complete with driver and a very blase' Dalmation, were in front of the Town Hall. Micah stood stock still and just looked at the horses from about six feet away, with the occasional "RIDE HORSEY?" chant. There are eight horses in the team and they are huge. All were decked out with braided manes with red and white (fake) roses sticking out. They also had their tails beribboned and styled as well, which if I were a large male Clydesdale, I'm not so sure how I'd feel about having my tail styled so that my puckered not-so-little anus was out there staring down the world.

Anyway, even though I'm not a beer-drinker or a fan of parades, it was fun. After the parade we went back to Hunan Star, scene of last month's meeting with one of the universe's more tactless creatures, for dinner. We were given our 'usual' booth, in the back away from diners without children. Thea actually said hello and ordered her drink in Mandarin, which disappointingly seemed to make no impression on the waiter - and I don't know if it's a Mandarin versus Cantonese thing or he was just peeved that he was assigned the table with the two children.

Since we spent the better part of the afternoon at the parade and chasing after a glimpse of the Clydesdales, both kids slept for most of the trip home, so I was able to commune with NPR in peace. And there was a station just off the Turnpike with $2.04/gallon for regular gasoline.