Our Inspired Journey

Lately, John and I have been commenting on how adorable the interaction between Cole and Cora is.  

They are 18 months apart...the closest in age of our four, and they have the same hearing age.  For most of us, our hearing age is the same as our actual age, since we were born hearing.  For those who were born deaf and later received cochlear implants, their hearing age began when their implants were activated.  

We have a neat, little experiment brewing in our family, since Cole's implants were activated 18 days before Cora was born.  They have almost the same hearing age :)  Now, there are many differences between them (actual age, girl/boy, etc.) but the fact that they both began their journey of hearing and acquiring language at the same time seems to have given them a unique little bond!  John and I often marvel at how similar they sound!

Here is a clip of Cole singing the "5 Little Monkeys" song for Cora.

He's trying to teach it to her...He's wanted to do that a lot lately..."I will be the teacher!" he tells me now every time I ask to go over his speech words with him.  He definitely has a strong desire to lead!!!  I especially love Ryder's role in all of it as he looks on from the side just until it seemed they needed him to help out a bit...reminds me so much myself at that age, and apparently (as the stories go) even older :)

Cole made the crocodile, tree and monkeys at school a month ago when he was working on the final /p/ sound.  He had just started it that day and if you listen, you can hear he doesn't quite have it yet there when he says, "Snap!"  Now, /p/ and /t/ are two of his best final consonant sounds :)

Aren't they cute!

I love the "play culture" that's developed around here lately.  Ryder and Cole will play for a while, and for the most part, Ryder is kind of the leader there, though Cole has become more assertive with offering his ideas and is so creative!  It's awesome!  After a while, Ryder usually decides that he wants to play by himself for a while, and so Cole goes in search of Cora.  Cole then says, "Cora, do you want to play with me?"  Cora stops for a moment, gets this adorable little grown-up look about her as if she's honored to be asked, then she stands up a little straighter, gives her hair a flick and says, "Oh! Sure!"  They usually run to the back room to grab the stroller, babies and play kitchen food, and then proceed to bring every toy they own from it's place to the couches while they set the couches up to be their train that they take turns driving.  

The best part is that throughout this little scene that unfolds in our living room, while Ryder (the one they turn to most often as their leader) has temporarily removed himself from the group to have a little alone time, they seem to be constantly competing for the role of "leader."  Each one seeking control of the other.

The funny thing is, sometimes Cole and Cora look more to Ryder as their "leader" than to John or I.  He'll try and intervene the way only a parent should, and sometimes they actually respond to him!  We usually remind him to let us be the Mommy or Daddy and to remember that though we appreciate his help in trying to do the right thing, the best thing he can do is be their brother and to show them what it looks like to obey.

Then it struck me...that's my role as a follower of Christ.

Maybe that's why Jesus told the disciples to stop fighting amongst themselves and to just follow Him.

That's a word I've needed to hear lately.  

Stop looking for a Christian to follow, and just follow Christ.

Oh, sure...I believe the body of Christ, His church, is to be a support to each other as He calls us to do.  But if we loose sight of Jesus because we are so focused on each other and what we can gain from people, we will ultimately find a dry well every time.