A long awaited update

Hello everyone,

For those you have read this blog from time to time , I just want to let you know , I have seem to come down with a bad case of some sort of writers block. ( I use that term loosely hehe )

Amelia has now had her C.I's activated for a little more than 6 months , and from all that has happened , we here in Amelia's family are just amazed at the way Amelia has adapted to the hearing world via cochlear implants. At this time Amelia uses about 15 different words, words that Amelia had never attempted to use before her Activation back in May of 08.

3 weeks ago , Amelia had another visit to The Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto, for a hearing test and her results were about as good as it could get. When the staff at Sick Kids tested Amelia with before her surgery , she scored 4 out of 40, . Now Amelia has scored a amazing 36 out of 40!!!! How Frikken cool is that!

As any parent knows , sometimes all you want to do is to protect your child from let downs and hurtful times, and the worse feeling you can have is the feeling of helplessness when you cant make everything better for your child, I and Amelia's Mom very much felt all those agonizing feelings 12 months ago. Now as Amelia's parents we get to feel a overwhelming sense of happiness and pride when we watch our little A.K and how far she has come, it can be a little emotional for me, cause being the always gone dad I miss so much and she changes so much in my eyes , I sometimes lack the same pace of growth that Amelia is on , but I continue to learn from her , and I can say I feel better as a man , and as a father, having being able to go on this journey beside Amelia .

Life can deal you many low blows and can continue to kick when your already down, but I can tell you from experience , the road you take back to your feet, can be and always will be, your greatest personal accomplishment , cause you become more complete as a person, and it can bless you with a great ability of compassion and forgiveness.

till next time,

Hug a loved one... Cause you need it!

Always gone Dad.

A beautiful new day ..A even more beautiful begining for Amelia

Good day everyone.

Today was a very special day for Amelia. This morning she started pre-school. As usual I was not there physically today , but my head and heart was with Amelia and her Mom.
For a while now Amelia's mom has noticed more and more how much Amelia enjoys people and really enjoys kids close to her in age. More and more the feeling that maybe it was time for her and to a extent Mommy that maybe Amelia should start going to school. I on the other hand get a little protective when it comes to my little Amelia, and I sometimes worry if we are moving way to fast and other times I think its all way too slow. When I think back to 6 or 7 months ago, all we had to communicate was sight, touch and a little sign language. Now she knows her name, say's hi to everyone she sees, and always makes sure everyone hears her say goodbye when she is leaving somewhere. Her biggest verbal ability so far , is saying " Goooood girl" Sonya has been training our 6 month old great dane , and I guess Amelia has "heard" that so much as of late , that she is now managing to say it!

From time to time , I sometimes reflect on Amelia's journey so far, from confirming her hearing disability , to meeting the Dr's at sick kids , to her surgery , to her activation day, and now to today. I have had many doubts, but the truth is I have been gone for 2 years now , and if you have read any of these blogs, you will know I have had very little to do with Amelias progress. All her sucess is from her hard work ,and the help and support from her big brother and Mom .
I am trully amazed by all that they do everyday.

I owe so much thanks to my wife. She has so much to do , from looking after the kids, the dog, the house, and helping run a family buissness , I can not understand how she does it all, and does it all with such grace. She is in my mind the ultimate mom , and the greatest wife and best friend someone could have. Every day I miss my beautiful kids. I have missed more than 2/3 of Amelia's life and am approaching half of Ethans . At the very least I can take solice in the fact I managed to find the best , most capable person , to look after my two children, since I am a "Always gone Dad"

Till next time, Love yourself, no one can love you , if you dont

End of summer

Hi everyone,

I can not grasp that summer has come and gone again. I guess after a long winter like we had , the nice weather couldn't be here long enough to enjoy. Summer always seems to fly by!

Amelia just had her second birthday last week, and as per usual I missed the day , but I did get to spend some special time with both Amelia and Ethan this past weekend.

Amelia's has been progressing very well. She has a few words in her vocabulary now.. Hi ... bye... More ( she uses sigh for that as well) She will also sign Mommy and Daddy as she tries to say it.
This is just so special learning with Amelia , and watching her big brother pitch in and try and teach her what to say and how to say it. We really do have a great son who is very special to all of us here, and he never complains about his sister which for a 5 year old is amazing.

I know I have said this before is previous blogs, but I must say it again.

I miss my family a lot , and as time goes by it can get harder to be away, and I end up missing so much , like a attempt at a word , or even watching her put her Cokies on her self . I do find my self being depressed at times, and I have learned that looking at pictures or video's of Ethan and Amelia help me. I have started making my own clips as a way to feel a little closer, and last week I made Amelia , Ethan and there Mom a slide show. It turned out nice and hopefully it will be up on the page soon :)


Till we meet again

Amelia's Daddy

Amelia's moving right along!!

Hi everyone,

I hope where ever you live , you are enjoying your summer.

Amelia 's weekly therapy sessions have started again this week, and today was her first visit in about a month and a half. As usual I don't get to be there , but Mom does her very best to keep me in the loop .

As usual Amelia was full of fire today!!! She marched on in to her appointment today , like she owned the joint and in Amelia's world, she owns most places she goes lol . Her therapy session went great , and her AVT is very very happy with Amelia's progress!!! Amelia has developed so many verbal skills in a very short time that she figures she is months ahead of where she should be. This past weekend she managed to say the word "More" . As a family , we could not be happier about all of this. We really are blessed as a family to have Amelia come to us , to teach us about growing, learning , teaching, and most importantly caring... All those aspects factor in Amelia's growth , and has helped teach our family the simple joy in being able to talk, hear , and really listen!

I will end this by saying thank you to Sonya... With out your love to our little girl , and your great ability to manage the house, the kids, and a marriage from a far most days , all of Amelia's gains would never have happened with such great results so far.

You are Amazing!!!!

Amelia's Daddy

Amelia's speech development !

Hello everyone ,

Hope fully you all had a great weekend.


Amelia has started to talk!!!! Yes thats right ...2 months after her activation, she has started to verbalize herself. " uh oh" " Thank you" and " Dirty" are now another apart of Amelia's verbal life !!

We can not begin to tell you all how happy we all are in this latest mountain that Amelia has climbed . She truly is Amazing!!!

At the end of Aug well the 27th to be exact will be Amelia's 2nd birthday and when I think back to a year ago , and all that has happened in the last 365 days, I have to kinda pinch myself. Amelia is so smart , and her Big brother Ethan is maturing in to the most amazing young man.. He has played a huge role in his little sister's development . He truly has been a the biggest teacher for her , and we all just love him so much for all he does for for her and us.

Well thats all for now, Till the next update :)

Amelia's Daddy

A end of weekend update!!

Good Monday to one and all,

I hope you all had a great mid July weekend. It was another great weekend up here in the southern edge of the great white north .

I have read some of the blogs in Amelia's cochlear posse and we here in Amelia's family , are glad to hear that Drew (turnonmyears.blogspot.com) is feeling better . It is a real downer being under the weather, and we are glad that Drew is back to being himself again.. Amelia and her family are happy your feeling your energetic self again Drew ! !!!!!

Amelia did a first this weekend. It was not verbal , nor was it something she heard. It was something she has learned with out Mom and Dad noticing . Amelia put her Cokies ( Her cochlear implants) on by herself Sunday. How amazing is that. For the last couple of weeks she has shown a lot more interest in her Cokies and what there all about. I am positive before we know it, she wont need our help at all when putting them on . What great work Mom and Grandma Howe have been doing with Amelia, she is catching on to so many things now , that it gets scary sometimes..... ie. Driving her ATV with 1 hand !!!! lol

I made a small video of pictures .. A picture history of the 2 greatest kids parents could have. There are no words just pictures and music, so with that said I hope you all enjoy it .

Take care

Amelia's Daddy

Weekend Fun!

Hello all. We hope your all enjoying the summer weather where ever you may be .

It's been a little while since I updated Amelia's blog, but the truth is we have been so busy fixing things around the house and enjoying the sunshine that I just have not got myself in front of this computer much. :)

Now on to the latest in Amelia's journey .

This past Saturday, Amelia once again made another step towards verbalizing her thoughts and feelings. While traveling to town with her Mom , She motioned for her juice. Her Mom past her the juice and said "Amelia thank you... You say thank you Amelia" At that point Amelia's Mom looked in her rear view and watched for a signed response from Amelia. Instead she got not only a signed response but also verbal... "Baaa Ouuuu " Amelia said and then smiled.

That truly is a miracle in so many way's . It's enough to make me shake my head sometimes in amazement and yet when I look at all she does...Nothing amazes me about her!!!!

Here are some pics . One of Amelia and one of Amelia and her Big Brother Ethan .

Till next time..

Amelia's Daddy.