Happy Birthday Sophie!

Wow, time flies. Can you believe my tiny panda is already 2?  Doesn't seem possible and it makes me wish we paid more attention to her baby years since they are now behind us. 

Sophie had a fun time at the bounce house. She absolutely wouldn't wear the sash so I had to wait for her nap to get it on her. 

Here's our video of the week. Hamish  is  a patient dog...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc1IcgkrOIw&feature=share&list=UU6rD9uJOIEaGNXHSZ4YomnA

Sophie is Singing! (23 months)

Okay the video is absolutely terrible...but listen to the singing!  My 23 month old Deaf baby is singing in the car. For those who haven't seen it? she's singing "Let it Go" from the Disney movie Frozen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJq-KY6yOPs&list=UU6rD9uJOIEaGNXHSZ4YomnA&feature=sharev

My baby loves music and is learning to sing. How amazing is that!  I really didn't think we'd be this far so soon. Super excited. 

Sophie is 22 months old!

Oh my how time flies!

Oh my I'm behind on updates, too!  Sorry family!  Can you believe our baby is 22 months old already?  I can hardly believe my eyes, she's so grown up and so confident.  Very much like Katie was at this age, and a dead ringer.

We got Sophie's Nucleus 6 and she's re-mapped and going strong with the latest and greatest in technology.  Sophie 2.0?

Here are a couple of photos and videos:

Sophie learns to fingerspell S-O-P-H-I-E  - Big sister Katie is such a good teacher!

Sophie signing songs from Frozen - Every kid we know is signing songs from the Disney movie Frozen and Sophie is no exception.  Can you believe she watched the entire movie with rapt attention!  Her favorite parts are the knocking and the tick tock at the very end, lol.

Hanging with my fish friends at Ala Moana

   

Celebrating art

Deaf Santa!

What a fun day.  Sophie got to visit Deaf Santa at Pearl Ridge Mall.  She was mesmerized by all of the kids and adults performing.  I'm amazed she had such a good attention span.  Here are a few pics:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dad and the girls eating chocolate fondue

This year we had a non-traditional thanksgiving on the beach with some lovely friends. I'm thinking it may be a new tradition for us. No stress and lots of relaxing fun.  The girls swam and dug in the sand for 8 hours with only the shortest breaks for food and drinks.  The food was wonderful and we did still get our turkey with all the fixings.

Sophie is just about 20 months old now. My how time flies. She's turning into quite a feisty kid. Here's a clip of her eating ice cream:

Sophie Eating Ice Cream

Lots of folks are encouraging us to stop signing to get Sophie to speak more. Signing, aside from the cultural value, has been really beneficial in allowing us to know what Sophie can hear.  In the video above I'm not signing and she's probably not reading lips.  She answers my questions perfectly in sign and once by speaking.  Without the signing, I'd have to guess what she can understand all the time.  I'm pretty sure she wouldn't get the credit she's due as we can hardly believe her progress even with the signing as proof.  It seems crazy to take away any means of communication as we enter the terrible 2s so we re staying the course.

This Thanksgiving we are adding to the list our thanks for the wonders of cochlear implant technology and the phenomenal support network we have found this last year.  Sophie is light years beyond all of our expectations.  We talk to her like a hearing kid and she responds like a hearing kid. She also signs like a champ with a huge vocabulary, grammar, and expression! 

We are amazed at how normal life seems these days.  There's still a long road ahead but we are rolling along at a wonderful pace, with wonder and optimism, and with in the company of some really lovely people.  Not too shabby.  Such a difference from the uncertain/stressful place we were in last year!

Sometimes modern miracles comes in the form of microchips and computer software, surgeons, audiologists, speech therapists, family and friends.  We are thankful for all of you.  Happy Thanksgiving!
  

Quick Update

Planking with sisters


Catching some Zs with Daddy





Asserting herself with the family:
Sophie says Stop It



This little panda is sure growing up fast!

My little chatter box!

Sorry, family!  Its been ages since we've updated you on Sophie's progress.
Life has been hectic in the best of ways. Big sisters are doing sports and Sophie
has 2 new playgroups that are filled with lovely mommies and their babies and toddlers. 

Sophie has had a real burst of language lately.  Her ASL is as sharp as ever but most
notably she's really become attuned to speech and has become a wonderful mimic.  She is also
vocalizing (often intelligibly) more often on her own. Here's a sample:

These are from a month ago:

Please Ball Down


Ball Please


Sophie loves puzzles



This is from today:
 Bubble Pop
 Mama Please


Sophie amazes and delights us with her progress each and every day.  We are loving life
and soaking up the last of her baby years as she's growing far too quickly!