Flows right on by. . .

I never believed people when they said -
"TIME GOES FAST!" "Before you know it, she'll be all grown up!"

Thought I would just post a little testament
to how true that statement really is.

Seems like yesterday
we just had Miss Savanah
Seems like just yesterday
we were worrying about whether or not she would ever be able to talk
or hear
or laugh

Seems like just yesterday we listened to her babble
To her "uh, uh, uh. . ."
For everything.

And now here I have it
An almost 8 year old.
A beautiful big girl.
So full of life.
Who is talking,
laughing,
telling jokes,
reading,
enjoying every second of her life!

It does go fast -
enjoy it!

Stay

So as some of you may know. . .
we're building a house. . .
in another city -
not far away but another city
where Savanah would go to another school.

At first she was pretty excited about this.
For starters she can walk to this school.
Can you say right across the street?!?
Second there are a ton of kids in our new neighborhood.
This is something she was not accustomed to in our old house.
There were a few kids, few is saying it nicely.

We decided to let her finish out 2nd grade at her school she attends now.
We told her she'd be starting fresh at her new school for 3rd grade.
And she would be mainstreamed! That was the kicker, another new adventure for her.

Well as of right now - she doesn't want to leave her current school.
She wants to ride the bus from our new house to her old school.
Everyday she says.
Hope she changes her mind-
It's always been my dream to watch her walk to school. :)
Hand in hand with her little sissie.

Snapshot to remember.

Isn't she just the sweetest thing?
This morning before walking out the door to school
Savanah exclaimed "Mom, I'm so excited to have a family night tonight!"

Family nights in this house consist of the Wii,
board games, popcorn surprise, a movie, making dinner together
and just enjoying each other's company all night
(not to mention her favorite part - staying up late)!

I sure do love being a mom.
I never believed people when they said. . .
"Enjoy every little second, because before you know it they are all grown up."
This is such a true statement, in fact, nothing has ever been said more honestly!

I wish I could just pause time but I have to admit -
I am so EXCITED to watch Savanah continue to progress
and turn into an even MORE BEAUTIFUL little lady.

BOOM.

So we went to the park today.
Yes it's January in Utah.
Yes it was a whopping 54 degrees outside too.
The sun was shining.
No snow on the ground.
So the park we went -
with little Molly too.

Savanah found a few friends.
They were boys - naturally.
These boys weren't the nicest boys.
Teasing her, making fun of her.
She was strong and ignored it.
Continued to play.

Until "WHAM"!
This little boy -
9 or 10 years old.
CLOCKED HER
RIGHT IN THE EYE!

Good thing her daddy was there.
He had her back.
He marched right up to the hitter.
Said "You need to say sorry"!
We started walking back to the Tahoe
realizing the HIT AREA was only getting worse.
Bruising up - swelling up her eye.
Daddy decided to turn back around.
Find the parent of the child.
Get it resolved there at the source.

"It's not okay to hit girls.
EVER. Not on a playground, not at school, anywhere."
The kid stared in amazement as daddy got a little more upset.

We walked back to the truck.
Savanah hanging tight onto her daddy.
"Thanks for not giving up on it dad".

What awful cruel people live in this world.
And the sad thing is - it starts that young.
Because of parents.
When you have children - it is your responsibility to mold them.
Guide them.
Help create people who are respectful.
Kind.
Trustworthy.
It starts this young - making sure you tell your children about people who are different, or in our case - teaching your children that some children cannot hear or see or walk or talk.
The world would be more accepting if parents started where they were suppose to.

Woop, woop!

This is an e-mail I recieved earlier this morning: HUGE!
The level 18-20 for second graders is AMAZING! They want them to finish 2nd grade at a 20. . . and when they say "they" they are speaking in regards to "hearing" children - so GASP! my deaf child is on a "normal, average" reading level! Hooray!

"The mainstream teacher has completed Savanah’s DRA (Reading Assessment) for Winter and she scored an independent Level 16 with minimal errors. This is an improvement over the fall score. Level 16 places Savanah at the low end of “Grade Level Mini-lessons” allowing her to access mainstream Language Arts Core Curriculum. This also places Savanah at a Level 18-20 for instructional reading. Hurray for Savanah!!! Her DIBELS score supports this finding (12-11) placing her at “Marginal Grade Level.”

In the self contained classroom, Savanah is working at Level 20 for Guided Reading. Her Home Reading Level (K) has been raised as you know. I am pushing Savanah to a higher reading level. She is getting additional help on T, W, Th with mainstream reading group as well, from 3:00-3:30"

What's normal?

I had an interesting conversation with Savanah last night.
It was a conversation where I thought to myself. . .
"Where has the time gone? How is she so big now? So grown up?"

We were sitting on the bed, admiring yet another just barely lost tooth.
From out of the blue Savanah says to me -
"Mom I don't want to be deaf."

Trying to not act shocked or sad, her statement stunned me for a moment.
I felt a little paralyzed.
What was I going to say to that?
I didn't have to say anything because she kept talking -

"I don't want an implant anymore. I want ears like you and Daddy have, like Gracie has too. I want to be able to swim and not have to take my implant off. I want to have normal ears. Not deaf ears."

I thought to myself - why does she even know the word normal?
Well duh Mom - everyone knows that word, especially 7-8 years old.
My head was screaming SAY SOMETHING!

So I did. . .

"Savanah you know we love you so much and you are so special and not just because you are deaf. But because there is no one else in this world like you. There is only ONE Savanah. You have beautiful ears and unfortunately we couldn't pick working ears for you - you were born deaf. But we all have learned to make the most out of it. You are the only Savanah in our house that gets to celebrate HAPPY HEARING DAY, you're the only Savanah who gets to sleep without being interrupted with noises, you are the only Savanah who has a puppy named Molly as her personal alarm clock and that alarm clock kisses you in the morning, you are the only Savanah who has their own personal audiologist named Cache and because of this you are the only Savanah who gets to have trips that are just because of you where we get to stay in a hotel and swim and have lots of fun, you are the only Savanah who has an implant and who gets to carry special batteries that only Costco makes. You are the only Savanah in our house that has been able to have special teachers and special schools to help you learn to use your implant and voice! You are OUR Savanah and we wouldn't trade you for anything! You are perfect just the way you are!"

You know what I got as a response.
The biggest hug possible.

I know these conversations will start occuring more frequently.
I know there will be more questions asked.
More dissapointment, more wishing for "normal" ears as she gets older.
But I will take these moments and continue to try to show her how proud we are of her. How blessed we are to have her in our life. How she is so very special to us.
The reason I became a mother was because of Savanah. I will continue to try to show her that not only am I teaching her, she is teaching me everyday!

Always on the NICE list.

Savanah was on the nice list
AGAIN
of course.

She always is -
with that tender,
sweet,
loving,
genuine personality of hers -
how could she not be?

She got EVERYTHING she wanted for Christmas.
(i.e. zip back bow and an i-pod)

I love her. Every little ounce of her!