In our journey to reconstruct August's ear

We learned that the ears are developed in the first trimester of pregnancy along with the kidneys. So it was important to rule out any issues with August's kidney's as well. He had an ultrasound at UCLA during our visit to the US in 2007.
We also had x-rays of this spine and neck. To make sure that his bones were strong enough to hold his head. In some cases the neck vertebrae and skull/jaw are mis-formed as well.
He checked out perfect on both. Thank God!
We learned of the test called ABR which can determine if the cochlea in the Atresia ear worked or not. (The inner ear or snail part of the ear.)
We were so excited to learn that there was a test that could determine if the deformed ear was a hearing ear or not. It was a relief to know that he might actually be able to hear in that ear. The hard part was to wait until we were back in America to have more answers.
We continued having August's check up on this normal ear every six months. He continued to show a perfectly good hearing left ear. He was growing and maturing like a normal little boy. We were so pleased with his progress.
Just two weeks shy of his first birthday, August took his first steps. He showed no sign of being off balance.
He showed a love for balls as early as 9 months old. He would grab our fingers and want us to walk him around as he kicked the ball all over our small flat. Today he still has a scar above his left eye from trying to stand on a ball and hold himself up by our coffee table, he was only 10 months old. He hadn't even taken his first steps alone yet. A determined little guy.
He took a love for drums at an early age as well. This was a surprise to most since his sound of hearing was distorted from only having one good hearing ear. When he saw a drum set, his arms and legs went crazy. He barely sat up on his own but he wanted to hit the drums and listen to someone play them.
There was just one thing that kept me worried as August grew older. His speech was not coming in as most children's did at his age. As time went on we just kept speaking to him as if he had normal hearing in hopes that he would just start talking like normal.
In some cases I was feeling like I was just waiting for time to pass until we got back to my country to get the answers we needed. There was still so much to learn.