In the beginning

I've had several people ask me how we found out Goalieboy had a hearing impairment.  This post will be dedicated to sharing how we found out.  There's a lot of twists and turns to our saga so I will share those in later posts.
In the beginning...Goalieboy was a cheerful, happy baby.  The first few months were rough as we found a routine that worked for us but it wasn't long before he was sleeping 4-6 hours a night and napping 3 hours at a time during the day. He had this belly laugh that was contagious.  I really miss that boisterous laugh.  We would bring him into restaurants and he would either sleep through our meal or smile and coo at everyone.  We constantly got compliments on how sweet and adorable he was. He had the best dispositon.
He was babbling like most babies and said his first word just a little later than the "average" child.  He could get across his needs/wants with a simple word or two.  I noticed he was a little behind in speech around 2 1/2-3.  There were words he would say that only myself or my mom would understand.  I didn't notice it as being a problem right away because I was a working mom and we didn't have the time to socialize with other kids.  Sad, but true.  We also moved a few times when he was younger so we didn't know many of our neighbors.  I would occasionally compare his progress to my friend's daughter who was 2 months older.  She was the only child we knew around his age. 
We put him into preschool when he was 3.  We felt he really needed the socialization and since his sister was born the year before he wasn't as happy go lucky as he'd previously been.  We knew he needed to learn how to interact with other kids and get along.  Overall, the first few months of preschool went well.  He made friends and seemed to get along with the other kids.
In January, his school does a mid-year evaluation with parents/caregivers.  He was progressing well but the teacher did notice some problems.  While he got a long with the other children there were definitely some communication issues.  Sometimes he wouldn't understand them or they wouldn't understand him.  He would get frustrated and grab what he wanted or get upset.  She told me she felt he was having issues with his hearing.  She believed also that he was reading her lips when he was having trouble hearing.  She said that she noticed if she was too far away when she was speaking to him his  eyes would focus on her lips.  She got in the habit of kneeling down in front of him and making sure he could see her face.  She said there were times when he seemed uncooperative but it was actually because he couldn't hear the instructions or see their mouths to determine what was being said.  I had believed there was a problem deep down and this was confirmation that I was right.  I had approached my husband with my feelings and he believed everything was fine.  So, I kept watching, hoping I was wrong since this was my first child.  I've since learned...mother's intuition should always be followed up on because it's right more times than not.
Looking back I'm upset and frustrated that more help wasn't offered or guidance given.  I also don't understand why I wasn't told until January.Seriously, I believe I should have been spoken with by mid-November at the latest with their beliefs.  I do believe they are good teachers and really helped him to cope.  He did grow and thrive during his 2 years there.  However, why wasn't it suggested that I seek early intervention?  I understand that they might have been leery offering this advice as some parents are not open to it.  But, I believe, it's their job to be candid and help guide parents.  I knew nothing.  I wish I knew then what I know now.  I would've gotten him early intervention.  He could have had speech therapy earlier.  He often drops the "s" on plural words and also word endings, such as "ing", "ed", etc.  He will say home instead of house. The school is providing speech and (some) reading help but it's not quality.  I wish we could afford help outside the school.
I find it deplorable that parents have to fight for the educational system to help their child.  I find it unacceptable that teachers can get in trouble for helping steer parents in the right direction.  I have been told on several occassions by teachers that they could get in trouble if the administration found out what they were telling me.  I am so thankful that they risked their jobs to help us.
This is the beginning of Goalieboy's journey and how his hearing impairment was discovered.  It is only the first step in many of our ongoing battle. 
Next journey post will be about his kindergarten screening, speech, finding an ENT and his first tube surgery.