Newborns are full of firsts — first glance, first feeding, first time in a car seat. But for Archer Ruiz, who's a three-month-old, hearing his parents' voices for the first time came a little later than expected.
Taryn and Drew Ruiz discovered that their son was born with permanent moderate-to-severe bilateral hearing loss when he was just three weeks old. It was a devastating diagnosis, but one, thanks to modern technology, that could be corrected with hearing aids.
It was a long two-month wait, but the hearing aids that would allow Archer to hear sounds for the very first time were finally ready to go. Knowing that they would change their son's life, Archer's parents enlisted the help of two grandparents to film the occasion. At first, the physical adjustment process — putting the devices into little Archer's ears — wasn't making the infant very happy. But, hang in there — wait for it.
As soon as the hearing aids are turned on, Archer goes silent. His mom begins crooning, "Archer, Archer — hey buddy." The boy is stunned, and understandably so. Can you imagine how strange it must be to hear (and conceptualize) sound for the first time?
But soon, Archer's shocked expression morphs into a smile that gets so big it takes over his entire face. "Can you hear us, man?" his dad asks. As his parents' murmuring continues, Archer lets out little bursts of laughter.
The moment is, as you'd expect, intensely emotional. As the video goes on, you can hear a combination of laughter and crying in the background. "This is the coolest day ever," says Drew as he begins to sing a silly song — the first one Archer can actually hear — to his son.
We're giggling and wiping away tears as well, so we'd have to agree with Drew. No one, though, is happier than Archer, who, thanks to his brand new hearing aids, has become a much happier baby.
[h/t The Daily Mail
