When Lily Realizes She's Different

It's funny how many days I don't really think about the fact that Lily is deaf that much anymore. Obviously I think about it every morning when I put her CIs on and each evening when I take them off for bath and bed. However, most of everyday she is wearing her CIs and with them on she seems to be hearing and speaking as well as, or better, than other hearing children her age. So it can be easy to forget that she has a disability.

In the past few weeks though, I've been thinking a lot about Lily being deaf. First I read this blog post about a little girl wishing she weren't deaf and it made my heart ache. What will I say when/if Lily tells me she wishes she weren't deaf?

Then yesterday I had an experience with a child who has a different disability, but it made me think of Lily immediately. A little girl in a wheelchair was crying because she couldn't get in one of those big blow-up bouncy obstacle course things. Through her tears, she was telling her dad that she wished her legs were as strong as all the other kids' so she could play with them. It made me think of a time in the future when Lily might wish her ears worked like all the other kids she will know. Will she wish she could hear while going down the plastic slide on the playground? She has to take her CIs off to go down plastic slides because the static electricity could scramble her programs. Will she wish she could hear in the swimming pool and in the bathtub? At slumber parties will she be afraid she'll miss something if she takes off her CIs to go to sleep?

And then today I read this blog post that directed me to a video of some teen CI users. The teens in the video are advocating for themselves and telling the world how they hear. It touched me. I hope that Lily will have as good an attitude about her hearing loss as the teenagers in this video. You should watch it.

Surprise!

Lily is going to be a big sister in September. Everyone was surprised when we found out. Look at the shock on Lily's face! :) We'll find out next week if the new baby is a boy or a girl.

Soundbooth Check

A few weeks ago Lily went for a soundbooth check at 6 months post activation. She responded to speech at 20 dB in her left ear and 15 dB in her right ear. She seems to be doing great. Her newest word is "ball." Cochlear implants are truly a miracle.

Here are some pictures of Lily and mommy and Lily and grandmommy with the snow princess Lily's daddy and our friend, Jason built.

The School Baby

Cute story. . .Lily is with me at the elementary school where I teach quite a bit. Therefore, many of the kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders see her often. A few days ago someone asked who the baby was. One of the second graders responded, "Oh that's Lily, the school baby." My sweet Lily, you are loved by many.

Lily's New Words

Lily keeps adding new words to her list of spoken vocabulary. Of course the words aren't perfect...probably only those close to her would understand, but she is definitely talking to us. Her new words are baby, thank you, belly, eye, book, duck, kitty cat. Yay Lily!

Lily is Talking

I can't believe my deaf baby girl is actually talking. Four months after her CI activation, Lily is saying 4 words pretty clearly. She can say meow, more, moo, and ho ho ho. She approximates several other words as well. When we ask her what the bunny does, she says "h h h" for hop hop hop; she says "uh uh uh" for up up up when she wants out of her car seat or out of her highchair or she wants me to pick her up.

Her receptive language is growing also. I think she understands a lot more than we give her credit for (I think hearing babies do too). We know that she understands "all done" because she signs it when we say it or when she sees that something is all gone. She waves when we say "bye bye," she gives us a mean look when we say "no," she gives kisses when we ask for them, she runs in the kitchen when we ask her if she wants to eat.

We got some video of her saying "more" and dancing on Christmas morning. Enjoy! Sorry for the poor quality on the dancing video.

Lily is Babbling!

Just 3 short months after her CIs were activated, Lily has started babbling. Of course I thought this day would never come, but here it is. So far she is just saying "yah, yah, yah" and "mah, mah, mah." It seems to be just random babbling with no meaning at this point. However, at Thanksgiving dinner my aunt asked if she was talking. I told her that Lily was babbling a little. So my aunt starting saying "mah, mah, mah" to her and Lily looked at me. She did that twice. So maybe that shows comprehension of that sound also. It is so amazing, the little things that make me jump for joy. If Lily had been a hearing baby I'm sure I would have taken for granted the first time she babbled. So much to be thankful for.