Lily celebrated her seventh birthday in June.
Of course Frozen had to be the theme at both her kid and family party. During the kid party, which was held at a local theater, Lily was able to live her dream of performing as Princess Elsa in a reinactment of "Let it Go." It was quite a show!
We're blessed to be surrounded by so many family and friends.
We made a quick trip to an incredible orchard this weekend to pick apples and peaches. The founders of the orchard had a fabulous property and you can see the years of hard work that went into building such a grand place. Lily was shocked when I told her the family's foundation actually donated funds to our Hear to Learn soundfield project. Coming full circle in Nebraska.
It was a hot day but there were no lack of apples and peaches to be picked. Of course we had to sample the products as we waited for the hayrack ride to pick us up deep in the orchard. Lots of language exposure like Gala apples, Johnathan apples, Golden Delicious, cider, carmel apples, ripe, rotten, peach pit, kettle corn, etc.
Bodie took it all in, while Lily made plans for her next apple picking adventure. What a great day.
As you could guess, Lily designed her own fifth birthday cake. Her vision incorporated her latest passion for Spider-man with a butterfly and flower theme.
I can't believe Lily turned five years old. On the morning of her birthday, when Lily first woke up, her eyes got big and she said, "I'm going to go measure myself." We couldn't be more proud.
It was over 100 degrees everyday in Phoenix, but that didn't deter us from seeing the (air conditioned) sites. From the Diamond Backs to the Science Museum, there was lots to see, do and talk about.
We swam everyday to stay cool and even saw a guy with an AB CI at the In-N-Out Burger. Lily's Dad loves this place. Good eats.
The biggest take away for Lily was the saying "Don't hug a cactus, unless you have practice." With so many cactuses, we heard this phrase a lot. Lily also enjoyed talking about the lady's voice on the GPS and asking endless questions about how the GPS knew where we were.
We had so much to celebrate, we decided to journey to San Francisco for the party. Not only was it our anniversary, but it was also Lily's third hearing birthday.
It's hard to believe three years ago as her Cochlear Implants were activated, we were hoping to see a response, any response. Fast forward to today. Life is so normal, actually better than normal. Lily says amazing things like "Can you flare your nostrils" and "we are the same height."
The only thing that seems different is she beeps at the end of the day when her batteries run down (I suppose we all beep in one form or the other when our batteries die). We are thankful everyday for the miracle of her Cochlear Implants. No one even asks us what they are anymore, but we love to talk about them if they do.
Lily did try and explain to a stranger on the ferry that it was her "hearing birthday and that she has CIs that are stuck to her head with magnets." The stranger just smiled, having no idea what she was talking about. I just smiled, knowing very well what she was talking about. Lily's Cochlear Implants have allowed her to live fully, without missing a beat, in the hearing world.
Lily is certainly maturing into a little, or as she sees it, BIG girl. You'll notice the high-flying trampoline that she wanted to do "for her birthday." Absolutely no fear. She flew up in the air about 20 feet as she was strapped to a harness, over and over again.
We also got to see our dear friends in Napa and SF. Thanks for all the hospitality.
One of the best ways to teach new language is through experiences and San Francisco offered endless opportunities for this. From the great food at Fang's to the various forms of transportation (no a ferry boat does not have wings), from the children's museums to the public art work, we loved it all.
Tried a new Japanese restaurant tonight. Lily ordered her own noodles and managed to get a few in her mouth with a "handy dandy little chopstick holder".
Lily loves having a "clown face." This one was made of yogurt. Besides the messy face, Lily is looking so grown up, developing her own personality, talking non-stop, and starting to pick apart our every move.
I was telling Lily a story about how when she was a baby she used to say, "I want more medicine." (We've all been horribly sick the last two weeks.) Lily immediately responded, "Babies can't talk." We often tell her babies cry, because they can't talk. And that toddlers can talk, so they don't need to cry.
I had to quickly change my story to say, "Oh, well, I mean you used to say, Morrrrr MORrre." She was skeptical of the whole scenario.
I've recently been thinking about the kitchen table and the act of eating together. Maybe the most intimate moment in a family's life and a time to be treasured.
On our journey to and from Chicago, I spent some time reading Frank Stitt's cookbook called the Southern Table. This is a culture and food, I have little experience with but now am certain I want to learn more (and of course eat anything made by Frank Stitt). Fantastic. Grits, greens and peas - look out!
Below is our journey to the Chef/Kitchen table (in the kitchen) of an Italian restaurant in Chicago. Uncle Nick joined us for loads of eating and sharing of an amazing meal. We missed Aunt Jessica and Aunt Wendy and her family this night, but enjoyed them on other days of our visit. Thanks for your hospitality.
Lily spent New Year's Eve bowling this year. It was a great activity to close the year. Fun with great friends, physical activity, greasy food and cool shoes.
Until tonight, I had not realized the tremendous life lessons bowling incorporates. Bowling teaches turn taking, sharing, communication and patience. It also helps with motor skills, hand-eye coordination and managing your emotions. The kids bumpers take a frustrating sport and transform it into a confidence building activity.
While it seemed Lily didn't like the noise of the bowling ally at first, she quickly adapted when we incorporated the Iphone videos/games and onion rings when it wasn't her turn to bowl.
Lily was able to pick up the six pound ball, set it down on the ground and give it a little push. The ball didn't win any speed races, but eventually hit a pin or two on the other end after which Lily would jump up and down cheering. She even picked up the terms "Strike" and "Go Go Go" as the ball rolled down the lane.
The kids closed the New Year by playing "songs" at the piano and shouting "Happy New Year." What a good year it was.
We got to celebrate our little friend Elena's third birthday at a Princess-Batman party last weekend. It was great fun and Lily was able to try on the birthday girl's dress up clothes. This cowgirl outfit was a hold over from Halloween, which apparently WalMart drastically reduces immediately following the holiday. Who knew? Lots of language opportunities with costumes!
The picture captures Lily's excitement perfectly for the outfit and the party. Lily continues to talk non-stop especially when it is something she wants to do such asking the birthday girl's uncle to move so she could have his chair (he very generously changed seats), asking the birthday girl's Great Grandparents for the icing roses off their cake (they were all over this request) and singing the Kindermusik goodbye song as we left the party.
Before we arrived, I was telling Lily that we would eat cake and ice cream at the party, but first she had to take a nap. She responded, "Then I will dream about cake and ice cream." Too fun!
We were so happy to be able to celebrate Aunt Kelly's Birthday this year. Here Lily is demonstrating how to use chopsticks at the Teppanyaki (Japanese grill) Restaurant. These chopsticks were rubber banded together, but Lily preferred to eat with just one stick. Fortunately, we were eating sticky rice.
The japanese chef gave Lily lots of new experiences to think and talk about including throwing bowls into his hat, lighting a huge fire on the grill, cracking eggs with a spatula and blowing on a train whistle while pushing a steaming onion. Some of these experiences are harder to explain "why" than others.
We had a good Chinese dinner with our friends Kam and Yvonne this evening. As you can see by the photo, Lily is living up to Kam's motto, "Life's Too Short. Live It Up."
Lily had a great Irish feast tonight at out favorite Greek restaurant (Long story short, every year the best Irish food is served up at our friend George's greek restaurant for one night only). In addition to the usual boiled potatoes, cabbage and corned beef, a troop of Irish dancers entertains. Lily loved it. What a great day to celebrate. Here are a couple of pics below (and don't forget to see more photos at Lily's Latest Pics on the right side of the blog).
Lily and I took a trip to the grocery store yesterday to get a little ice cream for dessert. Lily loves the grocery store - so much to see, do, and talk about. We were in the frozen food aisle deciding which kind of chocolate ice cream to take home when Lily decided to do a little run down the aisle. There wasn't anybody around so I let her wander to the end of the relatively long aisle. When she got far enough away that I would have had to sprint to catch her, I called her name, then paused, then said "Lily, stop." She stopped, turned around, and ran back to me.
