Twinkle, twinkle

The entire song, from start to finish:

Moments like these make it hard to remember that she is deaf and easy for my heart to swell with pride.

2nd Birthday Madness!

Sophie turned two last week! I know parents always say this, but I can't believe how fast these past couple of years have gone by. It's bittersweet that I no longer have a little baby, but this age is so much fun! Sophie began her birthday week a bit rough because she came down with a virus, but we made the most of it and still had plenty of time for celebration with family and friends. Here is the recap in pictures:

Nina, Mattie, and Sophie mesmerized by their candy

Happy Birthday to me!

Helping make cupcakes for school



Quite the creative florist

A Dora themed party, what else?!

Ready to party!

"I WUV Dora, Mommy!"

Favorite gift? It even has a place for her baby. :)

Deep in  concentration



Next fav? All things BUBBLES!



Such a big girl

Being a goofball - sugar is kicking in

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Oh, hello SPRING!

Actually, it almost feels like we have skipped straight into summer lately! In St. Louis, it the temp has reached into the 80s for the last week or so. Needless to say, we have been spending a TON of time outdoors. It is the only thing Sophie wants to do anymore and the only thing she talks about. I was barely home today for two minutes before she started pulling at my arms:

Not sure where the obsession with worms comes from, but I guess it balances out her super-girly baby doll addiction. ;) I hope everyone is having a great first day of spring!

The playground battle

I'm sure you other CI moms know what I am referring to. Plastic slides, tunnels, tubes. Cringe. I honestly had no idea how much anxiety a plastic slide could bring into my life. You see, static electricity has the capacity to potentially damage Sophie's processors or even her internal implant in rare cases. We generally try to avoid plastic altogether or remove Sophie's "ears" before she goes down a slide or through  a tunnel. This is getting increasingly difficult for a couple of reasons - it's hard to tell an almost two-year-old she cannot go down a slide, and the other option is also risky because it is dangerous for her to be playing on playground equipment at this age without any sound, even if we are right there.

Well, today I did not have to battle the plastic slides. There is a non-profit organization in the St. Louis area called Unlimited Play and they have designed and built three all-accessible playgrounds throughout the area. There are many great features to these playgrounds for children with various disabilities, including metal slides for kids with CIs!

We visited Brendan's Playground on this afternoon and as we pulled into the parking lot, Sophie said, "Playground? Swings? Slide? Take the ears off!"

Nope, not this time, sweetheart. How refreshing, right?! She was able to HEAR and PLAY until her little heart was content:

Guess what else? Construction has started on the fourth Unlimited Play playground in the area- right down the street from us! :)

"I need to hold the blanket!"

This was Sophie's reponse tonight when I asked if she was "all better" after I kissed her knee that she hurt by falling down. My comfort isn't good enough, though - she needs her blanket:

Understandable, I guess - but I was more concerned with counting the words in that sentence while smiling and shaking my head. This is something that I tend to do a lot of lately, as Sophie's language is blossoming and she is mostly speaking in four word sentences (or more!). And I know I have mentioned it before, but I will say it again - I wish I could have had a glimpse of our life today to ease my mind when Sophie was a baby. No words can possibly describe the pride and appreciation I have for her and her "ears".

Bound to happen?

Tonight, one of my biggest fears came true - I dropped a CI in the bathtub. :(

I usually let Sophie wear them for the first few minutes of her bath so she can hear the water running and have fun splashing. She always does a pretty good job at keeping her head dry - this one was totally my fault. As I was slipping her headband and CIs off tonight, I dropped one straight into the water. Kerplunnnkkkk. Nice.

I dried it off and literally sprinted to put it in the dry-store container, so I'm sure it will be fine. The N5s are water-resistant, at least. Here's to hoping for a functional ear tomorrow!

Snow Day!

A fun-filled day at my parents' house earlier this week when the St. Louis area was graced with a dusting of snow:



Got to love days like this where you can slow down, forget about everything that needs to get done, and just have some fun. :)

I hope everyone out there is having a great February!