Speech evaluation and minor home "surgery"

Maia saw the speech therapist for the first time since leaving the hospital. To be honest, her verbalization has been an ongoing concern for me. She had speech when she was in the ICU. The last time we heard her speak was the afternoon before the drains were removed. No one can (or will) give us any answers about why Maia lost her speech when she was supposedly "improving." She has made sounds since that time. Some of them have resembled words, "ba", "mamam", "no." But, we don't get the sense that she actually associates any of those words with their context. And some of the sounds that she made initially have disappeared. Today's evaluation confirmed that Maia's receptive speech level seems to be at about the 9 month old level and the expressive speech is at around the 4 month old level. Although the speech therapist did not come out and say it directly, I think she is less than optimistic about how much speech Maia will regain. She asked how much improvement the doctors told us we could expect and said that in order for Maia to remain in therapy, she will have to show that she is making progress.

None of it was a surprise, but it still is discouraging to hear. I admit, I'm feeling a bit of that "why me?" right now. It's not really a pity party or feeling sorry for myself, but maybe more appropriate is "what is the purpose in Maia's journey or why does this have to be her journey?" I'm selfish, I don't want her to have to struggle any more than she already has in her life. I want to hear her voice, I want to hear her saying her Bible verses. Her favorite is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart," complete with hand gestures to accompany it. So... ok, I am feeling a little sorry for myself (missing those things. But, I am praying that Maia will amaze us all!

Now, on to my second topic. Yep, a minor procedure was performed here at our home tonight. Matthew came into the kitchen and asked for a kleenix. Hmm... he doesn't usually do that. I looked closer - his nose was bleeding. He went to show Mark. Next thing I hear is Mark putting Matthew on our bed and telling him to lean his head back (I'm thinking... no, that's not what you do for a nosebleed). He asks me to come in, hands me a flashlight, and says "What's in Matthew's nose?" Ummm... it's something blue. A pair of tweezers pulled out a little plastic cling decal from one of Matthew's books. Yep, he put it up there. Ah, the fun life with a five year old - lol!!!