Aunt DeeAnn finally on

Jen I made it on!
Now if I can remember how I did it.
It was good to hear from all those who posted and great to hear of your daily lives.
If you read Jesses' blog he mentioned I would be moving close by him hopefully in June or sooner. It will be a nice change for me I think. I know I will enjoy being able to have the kids ride their bikes to Nanna's house. Jacob is already planning sleepovers and on bringing me flowers. I hope Patty is as excited as they are to have her mother-in-law that close.
I am still working in Orem at the School for the Deaf, and no I do not know ASL. I have taken two classes and it just doesn't stick with me. I have no occasion to use it really and I think that is why. We are an oral program and only 3 of our students use sign as their primary language and they really shouldn't be as they have implants and should be speaking by now.
The world of deaf education is really changing as babies are getting cochlear implants at ever earlier ages and some even bilateral implants so that they can learn language and listening at a more normal age level. I have found that part of my job very interesting and have learned a great deal about how children learn language. So much of a hearing child's language skills come from residual sources we don't give much thought to; TV, conversations around them etc, but a deaf child has no access to that learning and must be taught every aspect of listening and speaking. I know everyone here at work likes to hear my Maya stories because she has had such an amazing mastery of language for a toddler. As a grandma I knew it was something, just like I recognized it in Tyler, but until I began telling those I work with what she could say I never truly understood just how amazing it was that a child of barely over a year to articulate the way she did and continues to do. Of course all of my grandchildren are brilliant, talented and gorgeous. I adore them all and really miss my Texas crew.
Jeff graduates next month and I can't wait! I remember when he was born and I thought oh my goodness I'll be 51 when he graduates and that seemed so terribly old; now I am here it doesn't seem that old. He has a band called "To Sleep" and they have two gigs in April and he is excited about that. They are really good I think and cut a CD and played in a battle of the bands in March. They practice at our house and I like to hear them though it gets a bit loud. Of course with no neighbors it hasn't been a problem but in the new place it might be. He also likes to mountain bike like Jesse and they do some races together.
This turned out to be longer than I thought. Sorry.