This past weekend we participated in the Walk4Hearing in St. Louis and it was so much fun! It was the first year that we took part in this event and I'm so happy we did. Sophie didn't quite grasp the purpose of the walk, but she was super excited and spent the entire morning running around the house screaming, "Walk for hearing, walk for hearing!"
Despite the chilly weather, we had a great turnout and helped raise over $30,000 for the HLAA. I was really touched by the number of our friends and family members that joined us for the walk and donated to the cause. I tried to get a good group shot of Sophie's entourage, but of course I ended up missing a few people.
We plan on participating in this event every year and I hope it becomes something that Sophie is passionate about and looks forward to.
A big thank you goes out to everyone that supported us last weekend - we appreciate it!
I haven't updated in quite a while, but I've been trying to stay off the computer and just enjoy life! What did we do before laptops, data plans, email, Facebook, and Twitter?! ;)
Anyway, Sophie started back up at her deaf school last week and we are starting to get back in the swing of things! She's always super excited to go and loves talking about her new teacher and her old friends.
This is a picture of her on her first day:
And this was last year:
What a difference, right?! She has grown so much (in many, many ways) and I can hardly believe the obstacles we have overcome with this little munchkin. She is definitely just a typical toddler who loves to chat, sing, pretend, and asks a MILLION questions a day. Even with all the reassurance and encouragement we received about CIs when Sophie was a newborn, I never would have imagined she would be doing this well. We are very, very lucky and she helps remind me of that fact every day.
I hope everyone had a great summer and start to the school year. I'm excited for fall and can't wait for the weather to cool down and stay that way. Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year!
I tried to get Sophie on video singing some of the new songs she has been learning at daycare, but she is quite the stubborn girl and prefers to stick to the old classics. Still cute, though!
While playing at the park today, Sophie met a new friend who was quite interested in her implants. Sophie and the little girl were jumping around on the playhouse and the girl would occasionally stop and point to or touch Sophie's processors. I stayed back for a little bit to see how this would play out and eventually, the girl asked, "What's on your head?" I left my spot on the bench and edged closer just in time to hear Sophie loudly and clearly state, "Those are my implants! I wear them on my ears." And the jumping and giggling resumed.
I stood there for a minute as my eyes got teary behind my sunglasses, then I went back to join my husband and told him about the conversation I witnessed. He smiled and said, "She's going to be fine." While such a small, brief moment, those few seconds of conversation were important and hopefully telling of the future. Although only two and not yet able to explain WHY she wears implants, Sophie is able to describe what they are - and did so proudly. This is something that has weighed heavily on my heart since the beginning of our journey and today she has given me a glimpse of how she will advocate for herself. My heart is a little lighter and I am one proud momma. :)
I really seem to have neglected my goal to blog weekly, but who's counting?! There isn't much to update, we are just trying to survive the sweltering Midwest heat. :) Here are a few of my favorite summer pics so far:
Yum!
Cheese!
Who doesn't love peanut butter?
Splashing around
Kitties at Grandma's!
Fresh-picked blackberries
Swimming in the lake
Pretty sunflower
Daredevil
Poolside
Daddy's little musician
Summer school is over for Sophie and she will not return to Moog until after Labor Day. We get a little break from juggling schedules, but I'm also sad to be away for so long. She recently started at a daycare and I'm hoping that the structure there will help her language continue to grow during the break. She absolutely loves her class and all of the kiddos, so we are pretty happy so far. She is the only hearing-impaired child there, but they have cared for a CI kid in the past (one of the reasons we chose them). The director is really impressed with Sophie's language abilities and keeps telling us that she has the best speech of all the two-year-olds in the school. I think any mom would like to hear that, so you can only imagine how proud we are. We'll see what the rest of the summer brings, but I have a good feeling that she won't show much regression. Hopefully the opposite! ;)
In other toddler news, I think it's safe to say Sophie is potty-trained! I'm not really sure when you consider a kid officially potty-trained, but she wears only underwear and has been accident-free for over a week now. Outings can still be a little nerve-wracking because she dislikes public toilets (and really, who can blame her there?), but she just holds it until we get home. So I think it's safe to cancel my automatic subscription to pull-ups on Amazon. Woohoo!!!
Other than that, we are just soaking up the summer and trying to stay cool! Jared is turning the big 3-0 in a couple of weeks and we are planning a long weekend trip in Chicago to celebrate with a few friends. I'm really looking forward to a fun, adults-only weekend in the city!
Here is a cute clip of Sophie practicing her ABCs and goofing around with her Daddy. I swear, she definitely inherited his sense of humor. ;)
I haven't updated in quite awhile, but we are just enjoying the summer and trying to make the best of this crazy heat wave here in the Midwest (we've had over a week of wonderful, humid, triple-digit weather in STL). Sophie is enjoying all things summer and her language continues to grow. The complex sentences and questions that come out of her mouth continue to amaze me. And we are full-on potty training! She is doing pretty well and only wears underwear at home - even at night. For a few weeks now she has been dry every morning - yahoo! She can even make the one hour trip in the car to Grandma's house without an accident! :) However, she still wears a pull-up to school and daycare and seems to only go on the potty part-time there. She's getting there, I guess. Maybe we just need to completely ditch the pull-up and see what happens...?
Anyway, I hope everyone out there had a great Independence Day!
Not this toddler! Here is Sophie singing along to one of her new favorites. (And my apologies in advance to my hubby for displaying your indredible singing talent to the world, especially considering you slightly flubbed the lyrics to this obvious classic!)
Music has always been important to both of us, which is another reason that learning our baby is deaf was such a heartbreaker. While researching CIs, this was something that we were concerned about - how music would sound and if Sophie would enjoy it. I think it's safe to say that she is developing an appreciation for music, though, and we could not be happier. She can even carry somewhat of a tune!
This is how I feel about my life right now. I never really understood it until I became a parent. Now, as weeks and months whiz by in the blink of an eye, I totally get it. Precious time, that is.
In the car on our way home today, I asked Sophie how her day was. Her response? "I don't want to talk to you, Mommy." Huh?! So I ask, "Why?" "Because I'm too tired," she says.
So we rode home in silence and I sadly realized that my baby is no more. She has a mind of her own and already choosing to ignore me. I thought I had several years until that happened, but I guess it is what it is. ;)
As she grows taller and taller and all of her babyish qualities melt away, I'm going to try my hardest to slow down and cherish this.sweet.time.
