Things I know - Sosi's hearing

Good morning world! It's Friday again, this week instead of being my usual witty self (LOL), I'll share something about my daughter with you.

Since she was a baby, Sosi has been a bit particular about certain sounds, some noises always seemed to bother her more than others. And by bother I mean freak out, she'd be totally scared by the thing making the noise.

Around the time she was 1, these sounds bothered her: fake animal sounds, particularly horses (like battery operated toys); any toy that moved while playing music; coffee grinder, vacuum cleaner, hair drier, blender.

Most of these can be quite unpleasant sounds to the buddying ears of a baby, so we just thought it was a phase, something she'd outgrow. Now, 3 years on, we are not so sure, as there are other sounds that freak her out so much they have started affecting decisions we make and activities we do.

So, these are some of the things I know bother her at the moment:

• dogs, because they might bark and the noise freaks her out

• nearby lawn mowers 

• miniature railways, partially because of the train whistling, but mostly because of the kids yelling when the train enters a tunnel

here's Kid enjoying a miniature train ride...
I have many many many photos of S covering her ears tightly

• the electricity meter. I'm not kidding. Sometimes you can hear a vague tick tick noise from our study, if she hears it she panics. But she's fine with clocks.

• the newest: many people together singing Happy Birthday 

• we used to go to rollerskating classes but can no longer go, she started getting so freaked out when they turned the music on and people sang (we are talking Wiggles, not heavy metal!) that she would just cover her ears (see above photo), scared, totally petrified, and freeze in the middle of the skating rink. The only thing I could do was pick her up, take her off the rink and cuddle her, then she would relax after 10 or 15 minutes, but still wouldn't go back on the rink if there were kids singing. Which is such a shame because she LOVES rollerskating.

Now, this isn't easy if you also have a very clingy little boy to deal with. Sosi's upset so Casi gets upset so I have both kids in my arms (and remember I have 1/2 an arm less, so carrying a combined 28kg is exhausting) and I'm desperately trying to console and soothe both while trying to keep it together myself. 

So we started avoiding situations that we know will trigger her. Which is really limiting us A LOT.

• I don't know if it's just a certain frequency or pitch bothering her. 

• I don't know if she has super hearing that makes some sounds disturbing.

• I know she can hear the word "chocolate" whispered in another room, so there definitely isn't an issue with hearing loss!

• I don't know if there's a hearing processing disorder.

• I don't know if it's something else, because she does have other quirks.

• I know that in less than 2 weeks she's having her hearing tested and I cannot wait for the results!

Hopefully together with our GP we can shed some light on the matter and help her enjoy her life to the fullest :)

What do you know this week? Go over to the funny Shae at Yay For Home and share your knowledge :)