Life is Bliss - Lily's Cochlear Implant Journey

Halloween Update - Lion or Cow?

Lily has decided she wants to be a lion for Halloween, for now.  She has been set on cow for the past few weeks, so who knows what we will end up with. 

Talking at the Zoo

Lily and I have been trying to soak up every last ounce of summer.  Last week we made quick trip to the Children's Zoo for a little fun.  The highlight on this trip was Lily's horse ride.  She was a real "Cowgirl" with her horse named Jack. 

There was so much at the zoo to talk about.  From the "hay" the horses eat, to the "caterpillars and the spiderwebs" that Lily climbs on.  She loves to watch and then talk about everything.  For example, we talked about the "Zoo Keepers" and how they were the same as in the Good Night, Gorilla book.  We also found out that the seal has the same name as our neighbor Tony.  

Lily is making more remote connections and drawing things from her distant memory. She is quickly becoming a little girl and no longer our little baby.  Of course she still tells me "I baby," followed by a "wah wah." 

Omaha Hearing School Adventure

Last week we had our weekly visit with the Omaha Hearing School in Omaha.  It was a blast. 

We are now working with Barb, who clearly adores Lily and Lily adores her.  Barb is passionate, aggressive and very creative.  She had worked with Karen for 29 years, who we miss terribly, but thankfully Karen and Barb have a very similar style.  

We played outside in the school's fabulous garden which was all set up for Lily.  Not only was there an obstacle course, but we played on the "static-free" playground, dug in the sand, played basketball and did an active language exercise with paper flowers. 

At the end of the day, the princess was exhausted and fell fast asleep in her tutu for the ride home.

3-D Scanner May Lead to Better Hearing Aids

Ran into an interesting article in the latest issue of Fast Company that looks at MIT's latest 3-D digital ear canal scanner. The technology will enable a better reading of the shapes and shifts in the ear canal than the traditional silicone ear molds. While the technology isn't likely to effect Lily and other cochlear implant users, it could be a big advance for those requiring hearing aids. MIT hopes to commercialize the technology by 2011.

Baby Lab - 27 months old

Here are the results of the latest Baby lab study.  Lily got some rave reviews!  She also wore her pink tutu for our trip to Omaha, so maybe that helped her chat it up.  Mary Pat said no other kid had ever shown up with a pink tutu.  We thought it would make studying Lily's tape a little more exciting for the researchers.  :)

1.  Lily was such a chatterbox today.   [Is that the highest complement or what?]

2.  Asked lots of questions - who? what that?  what do?  which one? where barb (outside here and now)? Where Goofy? What do now? What wrong? Mommy?  Yes/No (Mommy you want a feed her?)

3.  Vocabulary explosion very evident in number of different words and concepts she is using.

4.  Another nice jump in speech skills.

    -  prosody (sure!)(counting rhythm)

    - well formed words - the average for 2 year olds is 50% intelligible; we understood >90% of multi-word utterances.

    - producing blends in lots of words.

    - nice use of ending sounds in words (can be a challenge at this age)

    - beautiful repertoire of consonants

5.  Exploding grammar

    - plurals marked

    - + ing on verbs

    - verb phrases (I'm making sausage)(want get)

    - all multi words utterances

    - tons of multi-word utterances

    - joining words "and"

    - S+V+O

    - Two verbs in lots of her verb phrases

    - Expanding pronouns (her, us, me, he, that, it)

6)  She's strategically copying Mom for new ideas (it seems)

7)  Discourse is getting colloquial "Sure" Whoops! others

8)  Mom - outstanding interactions - Airplane pretend sequence is a classic!

Talking About Lines and Animals and Weather and ...

Lily has been lining items up, then standing next to them and requesting that we take her picture. It is a very interesting observation she has made about photo shoots.  Of course we take this opportunity to talk about first, last and middle, among other photo shoot language possibilities.   Here are the animals after a dip in the sandbox. They were enjoying the nice weather between their pictures. 

I don't remember the exact language Lily used here, but she pretty much talks non-stop now.  We have long conversations and her sentence length and complexity grows daily.  We hear sentences from three to six, even seven words on a consistent basis.    She is asking and repeating lots of questions words, is matching the intonation of language and building her vocabulary database.

Sometimes I pinch myself and think did she really just say that.  Amazing stuff. 

Jumpin' Kate = Jumpin' Lily

This weekend we went to a local community radio fund raiser, which was simply a couple of bands in someone's backyard.   Lily loved it.  She and cousin Ivy were jammin', jumpin' and groovin' to the acoustic guitar sounds of Jumpin' Kate and another guy named Mike who was also terrific, but his name was less memorable.  Lily must get her love of acoustic guitar from me and her Aunt Tiffany.   The band was gracious to wave  and smile each time  the kids ran around the dance floor. 

It was so satisfying to watch Lily dance to the music and listen to the songs.  Carefree and enjoying the sound.  The audience asked Lily questions  between sets like "How old are you" and "what is your name" and she didn't miss a beat.  This would never be possible without her Advanced Bionics Cochlear Implants.  We are so thankful.  

Lily Goes to School

Lily spends a lot of time at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  While she's there, she attends "Papas" school.  They read lots of books, talk about colors, numbers, shapes and letters.  Lily has mastered most of the colors, the basic shapes, one through ten although two and seven are often missing, and many letters in the alphabet including A, B, L and I.   Many of the lessons are on the computer.  Her reward for good work of course includes M&Ms.  Yes she knows the letter M as well.  Thanks for your help!

Getting Ready For Halloween

Lily and Mommy went costume shopping this weekend in preparation for Halloween. While they didn't settle on a costume yet, they had a lot of fun trying things on. A couple of photos are below. Lily says she wants to be a lion, but they couldn't find one that fit right. Plus we're a little leery of the big hoods on most of the costumes that will likely block out some sound to her CI. In addition to the costume shopping they picked up a couple of books about Halloween. Never too early to start teaching new vocabulary and holiday traditions.

I Missed You Emma

Lily and Emma are good pals.  Lily looks up to Emma and watches her every move.  These two are now able to have little back and forth conversations and while Emma is much older, Lily has no problem hearing her questions, even in challenging listening environments, and then coming back with some kind of answer. 

This weekend, when Emma left for a few moments and then returned, Lily rushed up, gave her a big hug and said, "I missed you Emma."  Ahhhhh what a tender moment and certainly a demonstration that Lily understands emotions and the word "missing."

Talk Like a Pirate Day - Good Reason to Eat Cake

September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.   An observer of this holiday would greet friends not with "Hello," but with "Ahoy, me hearty!"   We have good friends that are passionate about this holiday and have already started celebrating with pirate cupcakes.   Lily took one look and said, "ARRRrrrrr."  I have no idea how she knows what a pirate says, but she is well on her way to celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day every year.  Thanks for the cake!

Stop Talking...Time To Be Quiet

I didn't think we'd ever see the day where I would want Lily to stop talking.  Well it's already happened.  At night we have to tell Lily to stop talking and go to sleep.  At just two years and three months, Lily goes on and on and on.  Last night as she was going to sleep, she even composed her own song.  It went something like this:

Go to sleep.  Go to sleep
Lay down
Mommy and Daddy
Turn on TV

There were other words in there that I didn't understand.  It was definitely to a song, that we had never sung before. Other Cochlear Implant parents said this would happen.  I just didn't realize it would happen so soon.  Pretty ironic. 

Library Story Time - Color Quiz

Last week at library story time, Miss Sue was quizzing the kids about colors.  She had put pictures of babies on the wall, each wrapped in a colorful blanket.    We always sit close to the front to make sure Lily can hear everything.  When Miss Sue asked, "What color is this blanket," Lily responded loudly, "Red."  Ohhhh the elusive red.  She knew red!  This was the color that Lily has been forgetting.  Then Miss Sue asked again.  "How about this one?"  "Blue."  "This one."  "Green."  "This one." "Blue - No Purple." "And this one?" "Yellow." "Nice job Lily!"  Then I heard someone behind me say, "How old is she?" Someone else said, "Three."  Nope. 

Go BIG Red and Other Must Know Phrases

During Nebraska football season, everything is about the Cornhuskers.  Everyone wears red, even if you have no plans of attending or watching the game. 

Last night, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Eric hosted their first game party.  It has truly been wonderful to watch how they've embraced their new home state, wearing Husker T-shirts for every event, and now even getting the game on pay-per-view.  Kelly wore a Husker N on her face and Eric built red and white corn hole boards (a game where you try and throw bean bags into a tiny hole 20 feet away).  

Lily has also embraced her Nebraskaness and chanted "Go BIG Red" for most of the game.  Aunt Kelly and friend Jill spent part of the evening teaching and photographing Lily yelling "Touch Down" with the appropriate arm movements.  So much important culture to teach. :) 

Take My Picture - A Memorable Moment

Lily and I are trying to soak up the nice weather by going for lots of walks.  Yesterday, Lily demanded that she take a few toys along for the ride.  As you can see, the stacking bucket full of stuffed birds, a teddy bear and the tree stump all joined us.  

Once Lily had climbed up in the stroller and stuffed the toys in, she told me to "take a picture."   I think she realized this was a memorable moment.   The toys actually stayed in the stroller the entire time and Lily even managed to take a little snooze.

Voice Quality - "I Love Her Voice"

Last night at the restaurant, Lily played peak-a-boo with a little girl in another booth about 15 feet away.  As that family left the restaurant, the Mom said to us,"OH I love her voice."  Lily does sounds really clear and was talking non-stop through dinner.  Of course that is after she ate a pile of Parmesan cheese, taking after her mother and cousin Emma.  Now as I reflect back on the comment, Lily does sound very cute when she talks and really very "normal."  Of course we're not biased or anything.  :)  Just a little testimonial from a stranger. 

Cochlear Implant Resources and Services by Company

Here's a new one-stop-shop and resource for professionals working with students with cochlear implants that was developed by the Illinois School for the Deaf.  It focuses on resources and services offered by each implant company.

Carl's Birthday - Reading Without Words

Last week Faye brought Lily a couple of books to read during the week. Her favorite is Carl's Birthday about a big dog and the baby Madeline who go on an adventure. It's actually a series of books. They are marvelously illustrated, but except for the first page or so, no words appear on the pages. One of the things we learned early on in our journey was to read, read, read to Lily, but not to always be restricted to the words on the page. The Carl books are excellent at helping us do this. Lily loves looking at the pictures as we make up the dialog and explanations on each page. It's been an excellent way to try new language, expand vocabulary, and ask questions. 

Tonight we went to the mall and Lily kept telling us she wanted to go to the "bookstore" (she likes playing with the train set they have in the children's book area). We left with Good Dog, Carl to add to the collection.