Life is Bliss - Lily's Cochlear Implant Journey

Lily Plays the Cello - Year 2

This is Lily's second year of cello.  As a 5th grader she is currently preparing for her upcoming winter concert. It's pretty amazing to see her listening to the notes, rhythms and melodies so carefully.  She is now working on tuning her cello and knowing if the notes are sharp or flat.  We never dreamed that this would be possible. 

Here's a very interesting recent literature review on music and cochlear implants called What does music sound like with a Cochlear Implant.  Very technical, but worth the read.  

However, Lily would disagree with much of the research.   She believes it's hard to understand how kids implanted pre-lingually with cochlear implants hear music. 

 

My (Lily's) first blog post, and more

Hi guys. I bet you've been waiting for this for a long time. Yes, I have started writing my blog (with some help from Mom and Dad of course).  

So guess what? We got a puppy. His name is Finley, and he is a Beagle/Bichon mix. I was thinking about training him to be a hearing dog. Any tips? Do any of you have hearing dogs? Let me know in the comments.

I have recently been watching this YouTube channel called Good Mythical Morning (GMM) which I love because they (accurately) caption all of their videos. (Thanks Rhett and Link!) Let me know if you watch Good Mythical Morning in the comments section. I think that's it.

My brother Bodie is doing great. He started Kindergarten this fall and has started to read chapter books.

Thanks to all of you who have supported our blog since the beginning and told us about your amazing hearing journey. Thanks!

2017 Lily Update and More

We think about Lily's hearing everyday, but life now seems pretty normal. Hearing doesn't limit Lily's activities or experiences.  In fact, she seems to gravitate to all things talking, listening and music.

I wanted to summarize Lily's activities and growth through 2017 starting with two videos that featured Lily as a guest host.  These videos were targeted to fourth graders and highlighted special things about Nebraska.

 

Advanced Bionics Q90s - Review by a 4th grader

We have loved Lily's AB Neptunes, but decided it was time to move to AB's Q90 Naida ear-level processors.  

Lily's experience and ease of change has been positive.  Here are the Top 8 things we like about the AB Naida Q90s.  

• Lily says she could hear at a level 8 (out of 10) with her Neptunes, but can hear at a level 9 with her Q90s.  
• The Neptune programs rolled directly over to the Q90s so the sound is very similar (according to Lily).
• The ear-level processor wearing hasn't been a problem with the new weight on her ears or keeping them on her head except when she's running or reading upside down.  However I can't imagine how you would keep them on a baby or small child.  Neptunes are still dreamy for this young population and have fewer parts to break.    
• Lily doesn't turn her head so dramatically when trying to hear in difficult listening situations because the T-mics are now in the center of her ears, instead of the microphone being on the side/back of her head. 
• Lily can now use headphones like all the other kids, in addition to steaming music or sound via bluetooth (something other kids can't do!)  
• No more tank tops to hold the Neptune in place and long cords running from the headpieces to the processors. Although she was sad to see the tank tops go.  
• There is much easier access to the Q90s to change the programs or adjust the volume, although Lily prefers set it and forget it.  Her programs include a regular program with auto zoom and wind block, duo phone and super stereo zoom.  
• Lily likes the automatic auto zoom feature that "turns on" in noisy situations. She can hear the sound cut out for half a second before it turns on, however the FM overrides this feature when it's on.  
• Three-year warranties for all the components.  

Things we'd like to improve:

• Lily longs for complete static and waterproof processors. However the waterproof setup of the Neptune totally changed our lives and Lily will still wear them for water activities. The Q90s have a water proof box we could have selected, but we chose to stick with our beloved Neptunes for water.
• The only battery that has an FM connection is the 170. For Lily, the FM is worn during every school day.  The length and weight of the battery and FM receiver becomes quite long, especially on a child.  The 170 batteries last Lily about 14 hours, which is close to a full day but sometimes we have to change them.
• None of the new "mini" batteries are included in the initial purchase of the product.  Especially for children, this seems like an ideal product that would be used on the weekends.

Lily discusses her new cello and plays jingle bells

Lily discusses her new cello journey and plays jingle bells after a month of lessons at school.  

Never did I expect Lily to take on playing a stringed instrument. She takes great joy in making the music and being able to hear whether her notes are sharp or flat.  Who knew this would be possible.  A real dream come true.   

The video also allows new families on this hearing journey to hear what a 9-year-old with CIs might sound like.  

 

Sapheara Live - Kids with Hearing Loss Need Super "Hear"oes too!

We love Marvel Entertainment and The Children's Hearing Institute's Super Hero Sapheara.  She has bilateral pink CIs, a pink cape and boots, and a long pony tail.  Her super power is the pink gem around her neck that offers a protective shield to those around her.  

It's important for us all to have super heroes and Lily has certainly found one she adores.    

 

Sapheara and Blue Ear - Back in action thanks to The Children's Hearing Institute and Marvel Entertainment

The Children's Hearing Institute has announced another collaboration with Marvel Entertainment.

Blue Ear and Sapheara, Super Hear-O's from the comic book Sound Effects (which was awesome!), are back in action again.

CHI has released Scene 1: Rooftop Rescue (Click HERE to download and print) and Scene 2: Silent Threat (Click HERE to download and print).  Scene 3 and 4 will be released in the coming months. Such a wonderful gift to our kids!  

Lily is already planning on how to replicate her costume.   She was also thrilled to see that Sapheara may be wearing AB CIs.   The mention of an "Electromagnetic Pulse Generator" sent chills down our spines with the thought of wiping out every electronic device in the city!  YIKES  :)  Find out what happens next! 

We'd love a giant cardboard cutout of Sapheara.  All kids need a Super Hear-O.  Can anyone help us with this?

Fourth grade and preschool bound!

Today is the start of fourth grade for Lily and another year of preschool for Bodie. Who would have ever imagined? Lily continues to achieve at very high levels and remains passionate about reading (and life!). She just finished the new Harry Potter script, after a summer of pouring through books.

Lily has her darling Kindergarten teacher again for the fourth grade. We are lucky she is such a strong teacher and will challenge Lily and help her grow.  

Unfortunately, our favorite principal retired this summer. This was a huge blow to the amazing school and culture she developed.  We are ever indebted to her leadership, advocacy and inclusion focus in a growing school. Hopefully we will cross paths again.  However, our new principal will be great too and has already shown great interest in "hearing issues" and providing strong support and inclusion.  

We are also lucky to be with other families and kids at the school who wear CIs.  We are able to support each other in our kids' hearing journeys.  I'm not sure where we'd be without them!   

Lily continues to wear her Neptunes, and we hope new AB BTEs will come out next year. Lily's been seeing some new advantages in BTEs like using headphones and some directional microphones. She continues to utilize a Phonak Inspiro in the classroom, in addition to a soundfield and Dyna-mics. And the best part is that all the technology worked on the first day of school!  Lily's hearing resource teacher gave a great training to the school's staff last week to prepare them for the technology and best teaching practices.

For new technology, we've got our eye on the new Phonak Inspiro touchscreen because of the Omni Directional Mic capabilities that can be utilized with small group discussions (and no mic wires) or a Phonak Pen (although not able to connect to other devices) or table Mics. Small group situations, especially in noise are very challenging for Lily. When there is one other student, they can wear the FM, but with many students, it's a real challenge.  

So much to think about and stay on top of this year but we're ready!  

 

Language-rich preschool for Bodie

Lily's brother Bodie has just started his second semester of preschool.  

We selected a language-rich preschool run by a woman who was trained as a hearing resource teacher and who continues to serve kids with hearing loss.  Of course Bodie knows all about the FM that the teacher wears.

We love the intentional teaching and targeted language incorporated into the lessons.  Teachers trained with a strong listening and spoken language (LSLS) focus for kids with hearing loss are able to extend those incredible skills to improve the language of all kids.  

Bodie already has an impressive vocabulary and doesn't stop talking. Takes after his sister!  Who would have ever predicted that!  

 

 

 

Zombie Lily

When a Zombie Walk was held in our town, Lily knew she had to be a part.  Such a fun day for the kids to act like zombies and of course tons of new language opportunities.  

There are no real rules or expectations for what zombies do.  Just look creepy and dead!   Ha!  

Lily's new profession - Forensic Scientist

Lily has long wanted to be an otolaryngologist, teacher, pediatrician, Cochlear Implant designer, Mom and a million other professions, when she grows up.  

However, a new profession, Forensic Scientist, has now entered the mix.  Although Lily has no interest in blood and guts, this new career is closely related to her love of spies and mysteries.  

Flower Girl Experience

A few months ago, Lily got to live out one of her bucket list dreams of being a flower girl for our friends' wedding.  It was a beautiful night with an equally fantastic flower girl dress to match.  Lily stayed on her best behavior, walked down the aisle on cue and danced the night away.  

The only challenge came when trying to communicate in a big converted warehouse that had been transformed into a wedding reception environment. 

Lily occasionally looks to me as her "oral translator" in noise and unless we explain or point out Lily's hearing loss, it often goes unnoticed.  However this night, one of the guests asked why I was repeating everything they said...weren't they speaking English?  I had Lily explain that she uses CIs to hear and that noise was often challenging.  It was a great learning moment. 

 

Lily is reading the blog

My New Year's Resolution is to get back to blogging.  It's important!  

However, nearly all the blogs I have followed for the past 7 1/2 years are either slowing or have died long ago. I miss knowing these kiddos lives from afar!  Certainly Facebook and Instagram have taken their place as a way to share a story.  In addition, the kids have gotten older and there becomes less day to day discussion of the hearing journey.  But I hadn't realized how important continuing to tell our story would be, until Lily recently found her blog books.  

Every few years we've printed out the blog, using Blurb as a book publishing tool.  The books have always sat under the coffee table ready to read.  However during this winter break, Lily has found and devoured them, reading and re-reading each page as if it was the secret to her life's story.  I always wrote with this end in mind, but didn't imagine it would happen when Lily was in the second grade.  

Here's to another year of blogging and total bliss (when you meet Princess Elsa for the first time)!  

 

Softball and Horseback riding

Lily had a number of new sport experiences this summer including softball and horseback riding.  

In softball, Lily liked hitting the best and was very good at it, but thought fielding was a bit boring.   She likes action.  It was fun to see her progression through the summer.  Fortunately her primary coach was the husband of her first-grade teacher, so I'm sure he'd already received lots of lessons in hearing.  :)

We watched carefully how hearing impacted the game.  Certainly Lily had to watch and listen to the coaches more carefully, and I'm not sure if she could always tell where the ball was hit or caught based on the sound of the bat or ball hitting the gloves.  Such small sounds in such large spaces.   We didn't use the FM for softball, but if this was the pros, we'd definitely consider it.

Horseback riding was a a wonderful experience as well.   Lily was ready to be "unleashed" on day two, although the teachers had other ideas.  The riding was slow and gentle, with lots of confidence building time.  While the farm was fairly quiet, it was challenging for me to educate the young teachers on the fly.  

On the last day, one of the Moms of the other students came over to me and said I see Lily has Cochlear Implants.  Instantly I wondered what her connection with the "hearing" world was.   She pulled her hair back and said, "I have one too.  I was implanted after college and have had it about 15 years."  While I was amazed, Lily thought it was only mildly interesting.  Having CIs doesn't seem that unusual to her.  

Reading upside-down

Lily commonly reads upside down.   She and the book are totally flipped over while her legs wave around in in the air.  Not sure what it means or if there is any research around something like brain stimulation when reading. Maybe this could be Aunt Kelly's new reading research focus???  

Lily continues to devour books and grow in her literacy skills.  We check out bags of books, instead of just a few, because they don't last very long.   

With all this time spent upside down and flipping around, Lily is now enrolled in gymnastics.  We briefed her teachers on tips for communicating, but parents sit behind a glass window in one corner of the gym, so I'm not sure how much she is actually hearing or missing.  The gym is a very challenging listening environment.  However, even with the difficulties hearing, Lily is loving the experience.  

Her Neptunes make a little bump under her leotard, but don't seem to give her much inconvenience.  The headpieces stay on well in their ponytail setup, even when she's spinning around and around and around.  No limitations for this kid!

Second Grade

Second grade seems to be going well.   We had a "pre-meeting" the day before school started with all the second grade teachers and new staff at the school. This was in addition to the regular IEP team transition meeting which also had new faces like a new SLP and Assistant Principal.  It reminded me of the critical need of training and re-training teachers to maximize the educational experience for our kids.   

The new SLP, who was just out of graduate school, told me that she's already met Lily.   Then she adds that as a student she attended our local parent group meeting Amplify, where we have SLP students "babysit" and she was able to meet kids with CIs.   Feels like a small success that this may have been her exposure to kids with CIs.  

Seventh Birthday - A Frozen celebration

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.

Lily and her lilies

We've got lilies planted all around the house.  Here are some hardy Canadian lilies that grow five to six feet tall.  Ahhhhhh summer.

Video - School Poetry performance

Lily reads her poem about bubbles during a first-grade poetry celebration.  

 

Hearing Research - Lily's contribution

Lily and her "hearing enabled" colleagues are on the forefront of a generation of kids who are able to maximize technology to hear.  

Because of this, we believe it's important to participate in hearing research whenever possible.  We do it both to benefit Lily's future and the families that will walk in our path.  Over Lily's lifetime we've done a half-dozen studies on language learning and listening.

This summer, Lily will add two more to her research resume.  One study earlier this summer involved a research van coming to our home.  Lily completed numerous listening and language tasks, in the van, to help the University of Iowa understand how kids with hearing loss are learning language, compared to their typically hearing peers.  

The next study will be at Boystown in a few weeks which involves telelearning or telemedicine.   Boystown is studying if providing audiology services for children on-line is as effective as in person mapping.   Here's an Interesting article describing Boystown's future hearing research focus. 

 

 

#HearIam Phonak contest

We entered Phonak's recent #HearIam contest with cute photos of Lily and her Phonak Inspiro FM system.  The prize is a new Phonak Roger Pen, which is a microphone cleverly disguised as a writing pen.  Very cool!  

 

Destination Imagination Club

I just finished co-coaching a Destination Imagination group for Lily's school.   Our club contained nine first through third graders and we met each week to focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Art themes.  

Because this was the first year of the parent-led program, there was lot of experiementing and educating the adults, but overall it was a tremendous experience.  We explored issues of water, verhicles and transportation, communities, insects and spiders, space and animals.  

We discovered that these kids had limitless energy, imagination and creativity.   Hopefully Destination Imagination is one tool that can help to nuture and encourage this type of thinking for many years to come.  

 

Huskers' Spring Game

Lily and Bodie experienced their first Husker Red/White spring game.  Feels a little like Where's Waldo.  Can you find them on the field?  

While the sound system in the stadium was really loud, it often times wasn't that clear.  Announcements, calls and music should have been captioned for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.  

Some sports stadiums are moving to IPads where people can follow the captioned action, but I hope that progressive stadiums will figure out Jumbrotron captioning before they are legally required to.  

Hawaii Adventure

We took a pretty awesome trip to Hawaii in March, to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  I'm not sure why it took us so many years to get to Hawaii, of all the places we've traveled to in the world, but the experience was very memorable for all of us.   Bodie asks daily if we can go back to the pirate ship pool, while Lily often recreates the luau in her grass skirt.   

Exposure to a new culture and a variety of new words like Mahalo, Ohanu, Aloha and whale breaching were amazing, as were the beautiful sunsets and time with family.  Not sure what we would have done without Lily's waterproof Neptune processors.  We were in the pool, ocean or the rain everyday.  

We're currently searching for a yellow hardy hibiscus, Hawaii's state flower, and now understand the theme of Trader Joe's much better.  Need to find an excuse to get back to the other islands, or maybe just revisit Maui and Honolulu.  

We took hundreds of pictures and are currently working to get the photos down to a manageable number.  Just posting a few here to capture the Aloha spirit, to thank my parents for a wonderful trip and to preserve an amazing experience.

 

 

Metal Slide Journey

 

It's been a huge week.  After two years of requests, Lily and the other kids with cochlear implants at her school, can now go down one metal slide without fear of damaging their electronic hearing equipment from electrostatic discharge.  It's a dream come true.   The slide is very fast and very popular with all the kids.  Lily says the slide is a "madhouse."  Building new vocabulary is just another advantage.

We celebrated the slide's accessibility, our donors and supporters with a ribbon breaking, speeches and cookies.  The school's leadership has been so supportive.   Many of the families were there to watch with amazement when the kids' hair didn't stand on end as they sailed down the slide.  Having a metal slide makes it a little easier to breathe knowing our kids have one less barrier and risk to hearing.  

I was proud to work with the other CI families to help to begin to make our school's playground accessible for all kids. This journey has moved the school's PTO to invest in "inclusive" playground equipment going forward. In fact, another new piece of equipment is going in this week.  I was thrilled to hear that other parents thought that all kids, no matter the ability or disability, should be able to access the playground and not just be able to get on the rubber surrounding the playground. 

While the two-year-old equipment was ADA accessible, it wasn't inclusive.  With kids of varying abilities served in mainstream classrooms, it seems playgrounds are an area that needs to be given another look. 

Science Fair: Social Contagion

LIly's second elementary science fair experience was a success.  She studied Social Contagion, the idea that if we observe people who are tired, sad or bored, we become tired and start yawning.   The same is true when we study people who are happy and laughing.  We feel happy and start smiling with those we observe.  

Of course it didn't take much encouragement for Lily to develop a video of herself acting out both roles.  

Next year we hope to complete a cochlear implant or acoustics study, but this year we didn't find the right approach for a first grader.  Backwards engineering or reprogramming her CI seemed a little daunting.  Last year's project measured the noise in her school (there's a lot of it!!).  

Let us know if you have any great ideas for a science fair project we could attempt. 

Bonding time

Reading is a great bonding time for these two, as is playing doctor.  Bodie feels just fine, but he's doing a great job acting like the patient, even with his heart monitor taped to the couch.  Lily is certain she wants to be a pediatrician so she must practice any chance she gets.  I'm still searching for a stethescope that she can plug into her CIs and actually hear a heart beat. 

 

Lily's U Rock Valentines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a no candy requirement, Lily created wonderful "U Rock" valentines for her classmates. Each rock was custom painted.  Such a fun way to celebrate Valentines day.  

Do chickens hold the key for hearing loss

Chickens have the amazing ability to restore their own hearing, and this trait inspired the Hearing Health Foundation to seek a cure for hearing loss in humans.  I knew there was a reason we got chickens!

Check out this interesting article on the research and the Hearing Health Foundation's chicken video.  Curing hearing loss in 10 years?  Maybe?

Lily's shadow/brother

Being Lily's brother/shadow has its good times and bad.  Mostly good.  We already have Bodie swimming and he has taken to it incredibly quick.  No fear, just floating on his back. Lily stands ready during the lesson to assist with high fives and waving under the water.  

Last week, I also found Bodie perched next to Lily eating an after school snack and devouring a book.    I think Bodie already has that love of reading like Lily does.   While Lily doesn't read 10 books a day anymore, we try to encourage her to read at least one book or an hour of reading each day to build her language skills.   When not nestled up to Lily, Bodie's favorite spot to read is on Grandpa's lap.  They cover such favorites as The Fire Truck book, Tiny Hands and Max and Ruby. 

 

 

Understanding Harry Potter

After being invited to a Harry Potter birthday party, we figured that Lily/we needed to get up to speed on all the lingo, names, potions and culture surrounding the book series. 

Since that time, Lily has read the first Harry Potter book and watched the movie.   There are so many details, stories and characters to remember.  I can't keep them all straight.  After the party, Lily came home and turned our foyer into Diagon Alley, a street where Wizards buy their tools. Note the hat, cape, wands, owls, potion books, etc.   Such imagination and a switch from the "Lily's Rainbow Spa" which is a permanent fixture in our bathroom. 

 

 

 

Gene therapy to improve cochlear implants?

Facinating article on new research that has investigated the possibility of using gene therapy to prevent the death of nerve cells in the inner ear in people with certain types of progressive hearing loss.

CI Wear Shirts

Love the innovation of the family who created CIWear, an active wear shirt with pockets for cochlear implants and other electronic devices.  

Where to put the Neptune processors is a challenge that adults and children face.  Especially in the pool, ocean or even during a basketball game, CI users want the processors to be secure and the cords to stay close.

While swimming in a pool, we clip Lily's CIs on her sleeve then run the cords up through her shirt.  This new active shirt design looks even more secure.   Now if it only came in pink!   

 

Little Free Libraries

Over the holiday break we've hit a few of Lincoln's newest Little Free Libraries, a library craze happening all over the country. Their theme is "Take a book, leave a book."  

It was quite an adventure finding the libraries, discovering what was inside and then convincing Lily it was alright to take a book at each stop. She had them all read by the next day so we'll have to make another journey to return a few books in their place.  

By January 2014, thre are supposed to be 10,000 Little Free Libraries all over the country.   

 

Parklet, flying, room service and Santa

A few of our favorite photos from San Francisco.  

The first is the tinyest public parklet in San Francisco which was about the size of two parking spots and built with slanted seating.  It was in front of a restaurant called Farm : Table, which we assumed was food from the farm to the table.  Nope.  It was a tiny room with one tiny farmtable.   We sat outside.  When brining our food out, the owner said, you must not be from around here.  We said, yeah Nebraska.  She said she was from Minnesota.  

 

This trampoline is one of our favorite spots on Fisherman's Warf.   Lily celebrated her fourth hearing birthday here with a jump and now got to repeat the fun.  

Grandma is always trying to build language and experiences for Lily.  She sent along a room service fund for Lily to choose something grand and have it delievered.  This Ben and Jerry's on a silver tray with two large waters was the perfect end to a great trip.  

Finally, Lily found the North Pole and wrote a few letters to Santa.  They all included a request for a surprise gift.  

 

Children's Creativity Museum San Francisco and Metal Slides

Lily's highlight in San Francisco was a trip to the Children's Creativity Museum.  It's a small children's museum, which has incorporated technology into nearly every exhibit.  

Lily loved the animation focus.   Not only did we complete a clay animation video, but Lily was also trained by world-famous sand animator Gerald Conn who was in San Francisco for an Innovators residency.  

Lily's segment is the purple and yellow jellyfish moving through the center of the screen.

Outside there is a park with the greatest metal slides known to man.  Lily was in heaven as she sailed down the slides with no fear of electrostatic discharge destroying her cochlear implant hardware or software.  Wish every playground could include options for kids with CIs.   Total joy!

 

 

The greatest museum ever! Exploratorium - San Francisco

We journeyed to San Francisco for a quick trip in December.   While we've been to San Francisco a number of times before, we had never been to the Exploritorium.  It's been open for 50 years, but just recently reopened on Pier 15.  WOW!  

I thought it was the best museum that we'd ever been to. That includes children's museums, science museums, and Smithsonian's all over the world.  The creators captured the balance perfectly between engagement and education, art and science.  There was even a large exhibit on Harold Edgerton, a Nebraska native who invented the strobe light.   Years and years of school science fair experiments in front of us.  We finished the day by riding a cable car ride which Lily insisted we try.  

Merry Christmas from Lily's family

Merry Christmas to all our blog readers.  We hope the information and inspiration we provide on this blog is helpful to you. We've loved hearing from people around the world about their own hearing journeys. 

It's certainly been a fun five plus years of documenting Lily's hearing journey and beyond.  Someday Lily will read this and be able see the journey she helped so many take with her.  

Life today is bliss.

 

Lily's Card Shop

Sharing a entrepreneurial spirit with her Dad, Lily describes her card shop.  

 

Santa Claus visit

A great trip to see Santa today.   Lily is asking lots of questions like why don't all the Santas look the same?  How is it possible for Santa to get all over the world in one night?  Shouldn't he be working on toys, instead of talking with children all day?  

We've been ringing the Christmas bells and asking Lily if she can hear them.  She always says, "Yes I can hear them. I believe!"  (even when the bells aren't ringing).  Smart little kid!

My Gym, Uncle John and brother Bodie

Huffington Post Coverage of Hear To Learn Project

Lily's Mom is amazing (regular readers already knows this). As usual she continues to make an impact for Lily and others. Today she got some much deserved national coverage for her Hear To Learn project to bring amplification to elementary schools here in Nebraska. Check out the Huffington Post blog post and the video (Lily makes a cameo as well).

Technology Can Help Ensure Our Students Hear, Learn, and Achieve.

So proud of the work she does day in and day out.

 

Eggs are here!

After five months of care, Clarabelle and Isabelle have laid their first few eggs.  Lily has always suggested that one of her chores would be collecting the eggs, so as promised, she is outside checking their nesting box multiple times a day.  We've even made an omlette which was simply delicious.  Something about all that love on a plate. 

Class presentation on cochlear implants and other fun stuff

Lily and I have now given two presentations on hearing and cochlear implants at her school.  The first was a presentation to her own class.  We started by asking if there was anything different about Lily.  One child said she had braids in her hair.  Then another one said she had strings on her back.  Love it.  Lily answered all their questions, showed off her Buddy/Melody and American Girl Doll with CIs, and tried to act out each point we made about Dos/Don'ts, FMs and how her CIs worked.  The kids were most interested in the FM and radio waves, as well as the stuffed animals. 

Then one day after school a third grade teacher, who was instructing her class about sound, asked if we could come talk about Cochlear Implants and hearing.  Her class had read a small piece about cochlear implants in their textbook and they were very interested in the subject. 

This presentation was a little more complex with descriptions of the ear, why people have different types of hearing, how a CI works and then questions.  Every child had their hand in the air and they asked dozens and dozens of terrific questions until the bell rang.  They all said that they had tubes or an ear infection at one point, so they could understand when someone was not hearing as well.  A very compassionate bunch.   Their questions ranged from how does a CI work to what happens if someone can't pay for an implant. 

We tried to inspire the students to become scientists, engineers or inventors that helped people.  At the end of the presentation, Lily had taken her headpieces off to "demonstrate" so many times, that her batteries died.  I'd left my purse in the car, which always has batteries in it, and Lily had left her backpack down the hall, which also has batteries in it. 

So....in a small panic...I looked around and saw remote controls in front of me.  I began to open them up and in the second remote I found a AAA battery.  I took it out, put it in Lily's CIs and crossed my fingers that it had enough power.  It worked.  The third graders cheered and clapped and thought it was very cool. The teacher said Lily may now have a third grade "fan club."  LIly was perplexed by the comment, but soon was thrilled by the idea.  Always a language opportunity. 

The Spa Experience

Lily has been begging and pleading with me to get a "facial" ever since she read the sign "now offering facials" at the local nail place.  The power of reading (and definitely more trouble for Mom and Dad). 

We're not sure about how her spa obsession happened months ago.  We certainly don't visit many spas, but Lily has turned one of our bathrooms into her "spa."  No one is to move any of the "spa accessories" which include cups, soaps, tooth brushes, lotions, hair brushes, curlers, pillows, hand towels, etc.  

Finally after weeks of stalling, I took Lily for a "junior facial" as she named it.  I struck a deal with the facial lady and she did a modified facial that her daughters love.   I felt a little bit ridiculous taking a six year old for a facial, but I have to say it was fabulous.   There was warm steam, massage, lotions, exfoliation, rotating brushes, and soothing music.  Again, a language experience.  :)  Lily did not move for 15 minutes.  I kept making sure she was breathing.  She loved it! 

The lady suggested I play soothing music for Lily to help her fall asleep. We didn't even go there or explain what Lily's CIs were.  And we skipped the head massage.  When it was my turn, Lily watched very carefully so she could learn how to provide this service in her own spa.  

This evening she gave Bodie her "signature facial."  Good thing he is an easy going kid.

Apple and Peach Picking

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.   

Summer Fun

Lily recently learned the photographer's phrase "Work it baby!"  She thought it was hilarious.  

Cochlear Implant Balance Research Study

We've participated in various cochlear implant research studies over the past five years because we feel it's important to give back and help advance the field.  

Last week, Lily was in a balance study at Boystown that was trying to determine if there was a connection between cochlear implantation and balance issues.  The researchers asked Lily to walk, hop, stand on a balance board, spin around in the dark, do eye tests while shaking her head and twist her head for some kind of nerve measurement.  

We learned that Lily had great balance and eye sight.  The physical therapist said that knowing she reads really well and can ride a bike without training wheels also indicates that there are no balance issues. All in a days work!

 

Chickens: A new language opportunity

Always in search of new language opportunities, we have now become chicken farmers.  

We've watched two chickens grow from week-old chicks to four-month old adults.  While they haven't laid any eggs yet, Clarabelle and Isabelle have a nice view of the rain garden and become free range when we are hanging out in the backyard. 

Lily has even spent some time reading chapter books to them.  See the first picture below.  Bodie would rather the coop be a playhouse, but he loves chasing the chickens around the yard and saying "bock bock" each time we ask if he'd like chicken or beef.  

 

Summer Camps

Lily has attended some great camps this summer.  After Farm School, she attended an Art and Cooking camp with her CI/hearing aid friends and then last week it was "Fancy like Nancy" camp, which builds off the Fancy Nancy books.  Here we are at the final tea party in our fanciest dresses.  Bodie is spending his days hanging out and talking up a storm.