Our Bilateral Baby!!

Cahsa will receive her second cochlear implant on December 11th! We cannot wait to call her a bilateral CI recipient.

I know it's been a while since our last update. Things have been so crazy around here.
Casha is doing SO well. She's talking A LOT, typical toddler. She currently has no language delays and continues to progress within the same level, which just happens to be that of a toddler with typical hearing.
It's so amazing that a child could be born completely deaf and because of early detection, early intervention, early amplification, and early implantation that child can progress as well as her hearing peers.
It hasn't been easy but it's so been worth every step of the mountainous climb.

Keep your eyes open for new pictures coming soon:-)

Mr. Green Bug

Casha made a new friend today.

His name is Mr. Green Bug.

A Rather Cool Pizza Joint AND A Request;-)

I've told most of you about Piece and that we were planning to contact them to meet Casha.
Well, I sent that email today. Check them out http://piecechicago.com/

Now, the request.
Everyone, please post comments HERE about how cool Casha is and how cool it would be to meet her :-D
My hope is that the guys at Piece will read your posts and be so honored and thrilled that they don't blink an eye before responding to our email and making plans to meet our adorable little girl.

Thanks a bunch and lots of love!

My Daddy ROCKS!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rzMh64guYbY

My Daddy is the COOLEST!
He's at the bottom right of the shot.

I've Got Two Words For You

We spent the weekend moving and while that would ordinarily be a horrible experience, it wasn't all bad this time.
On Saturday, Ryan was moving things in and out of the house while I was taking a break and hanging with Casha in the family room. We were just having some fun, playing with toys when Ryan walked through the room. Casha turned to look right at Ryan and said, "Hi Daddy" and went right back to playing. It was clear as a bell! Ryan and I just looked at eachother in disbelief. It's as if she's known all along how to say it but just thought she'd pull us along a little longer. I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to get that girl to say hi to her daddy on the phone. I was so thrilled to see the look on Ry's face when he heard his little girl say, "Hi Daddy."

They need better cameras!

Ooohh Ooohh Aaahh Aaahh

Meghan says she looks like a monkey in this picture! LOL :-D

BYE BYE

She said it! She said "bye bye" while we were riding in the van yesterday! The deaf girl SPEAKS!

sniff sniff

We have yet another HUGE accomplishment in this house!

Think to yourself, for a moment, how quiet the sound of a dog sniffing is. OK, you've got that image in your head now right? GREAT! Read on. :-)

Casha is actually able to hear the sound of the dog sniffing! Each and everytime she sees a picture of a dog, she sniffs. She sniffs at pictures of our dog, other dogs, when she sees her dog outside through the back door, and when she sees dogs on tv. She absolutely loves to watch the Eukanuba dog show on Animal Planet on Saturday mornings.

I do realize this seems a bit extreme to be excited about something like a sniff but if it weren't for her cochlear implant Casha would NEVER had heard anything like a dog sniff. She couldn't hear the lawn mower right in front of her before she was implanted. :-D

Carrie, feel free to post a comment telling us how many dB you think a dog sniff might be:-D

Casha and Layla

MMMMMMM

Don't you just LOVE hot buttered corn on the cob on a beautiful summer day!

CORN DOGS ROCK!

It's cold in here! BRRRRRRR

It was so darn cold in this house today! I just had to keep turning the thermostat down so that the A/C would kick on again and again and again. BECAUSE CASHA HEARD THE SOUND OF THE AIR BLOWING THROUGH THE VENT!! She was playing with her lacing beads while we were listening to a cd when the air kicked on. I didn't think much of it but I realized that Casha stopped what she was doing and looked around the room for the source of the sound! As soon as it hit me that she heard the air blowing I immediately scooped her up off the floor and held her up to the vent so she could feel what she heard. She just looked at me with her big blue eyes, full of amazement, and smiled from ear to ear. She kept pointing at her ear to tell me she was hearing the air blowing. She gave me such huge hugs as she squealed with delight over the blowing air she was hearing. So, I just had to keep turning the temperature down.

Such an amazing discovery she made today.

Miss Kick Ass and her Kick Assness (HI Sara! ;-)

OK, so I have been informed that Casha is "Kick Ass!"
Well, DUH! Of course she's kick ass! She has a totally bionic ear and she's going to have two of those totally bionic ears in about four and a half months. My girl also seems to have a passion for racing, also totally kick ass! Her father and I are so proud. Casha screams with delight when she watches these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSDf6s_5e8A and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNFJRETKlKY It must be in the blood.

Add Sir Daniel to your prayers please! :-) And, stay tuned for more cool Casha updates.

Love you all!

Vroom...Vroom...

That's my Daddy! He makes race cars go FAST.

Do you know my name???

We've never really been sure whether Casha actually knew her name or knew our voices and looked when she heard us say her name, maybe even both. Yesterday was confirmation of just how much she does know.
Casha had a pediatrician's appointment yesterday and when the nurse came to the waiting area and called, "Casha", Casha turned her head to look. The direction that Casha turned to look meant she would meet my eye first. However, she kept looking and passed me right up just to stop and look at the nurse standing the in the doorway just a couple of feet away from me. She knows her name alright and she also knows when I'm saying it and when someone else is. I'll take this opportunity to remind everyone again that the child was born completely deaf, nothing in and nothing out. :-D Completely amazing!

Not only has she proven that she knows her name, she's also proven that she knows my name! While in the exam room at the ENT's office, the nurse was chatting with Casha. She asked her a few questions like, "How are you today?" The nurse then asked her, "Where's Mama?" The most amazing thing, Casha immediately turned and looked right at me. I was floored. I didn't even realize she knew what mama meant. I have known for a long time that she knows the sign for Mother but I had no idea she would turn to me when asked.

I'm wondering just how many other things she knows that she's been keeping under wraps. I'll be sure to let you know when she learns, " Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"!

Imagine TWO!

OK, everyone! Now, imagine two of these things on her head! That's right, today we met with Casha's surgeon and he gave the go ahead for CI #2! Casha will be receiving her second cochlear implant the second week of December! Ryan will get home from the Phoenix race (12/2/07) and we'll be gearing up for surgery the following week. At this point, the only thing between Casha and her second implant is insurance pre-certification.

Everyone now join me in the dance of the Happy Jig! :-)

Thank you to everyone whose thoughts and prayers have gotten us through to this point. Keep 'em coming.

Daddy's car

My Big Mouth Singer

It was just like any other ordinary evening, feeding Casha dinner. She was sitting in her high chair, eating her muenster cheese and grapes because she won't eat anything else right now. She's teething and has a cold or allergies, God only knows.

All of a sudden Casha starts pointing toward the bakers rack in the kitchen where there is a menagerie of items for a fourteen month old to point at. I began picking things up and asking Casha, "Is this what you want?" To each and every thing I picked up, she put her hand up and shook her head. However, she continued to point. The only thing left to point at was the stereo so I asked her, not really believing that's what she was pointing at, "Is this what you want??" Casha proceded to smile and bounce excitedly in her seat so, amazed, I put a cd on for her. She just sat in her chair, happy as can be, shoveling cheese and grapes into her mouth and swaying back and forth to the music. I was so amazed I just broke down and cried my eyes out. My profoundly deaf little girl is so taken with music that she actually asked me to play her some.

If you haven't started tearing up yet, there's more. :-)

Not only did Casha request the music, she enjoyed the music and danced to it. She then began to sing. She sang, "ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh" along with the music while swaying back and forth and shoveling cheese and grapes into her mouth.

This concludes the story of my Big Mouth Singer.

You may now procede with the wiping of the tears and the blowing of the noses.

Casha's bling

How Casha wears her bling.

20dB in July

It's been exactly 1 month since Casha's activation and she is making amazing progress. She is now hearing between 20dB and 30dB from 500hz to 8000hz. Totally amazing! She hears better than I do! :-D
We're anticipating some language explosion soon as she seems to have mastered walking and all that goes with it. So, keep your fingers crossed for some new sounds and words.
She's been using a new sign, bird. If you sign bird and ask her, "Casha, where are the peep peeps?" She'll sign bird back, say "maah maah maah" and point outside. I thought she might have said a p sound yesterday but I haven't been able to get her to reproduce the sound. She also will not make any sounds on video. She becomes too interested in the camera, I think.
Check back soon.

She's a SUPERSTAR!

I never could have imagined how much progress Casha would make in such a short time. She has been activated for only ten days and already she is making more sounds than one could imagine, she heard the microwave beep for the first time, she talks on the phone, she dances to the real music (not just the music in her head;-), and she sings along with it. So often, when Casha hears something, the look in her eyes is enough to knock you over. There is rarely a dry eye around her. She's trying so hard to communicate verbally and to listen to everything around her. It's truly amazing.

Someone once asked me, prior to Casha's surgery, why we were doing this and did we think it was worth it? Well, you can just stick it where the sun don't shine. Just look at her go!

Three in ONE DAY!

I got three stupid things in one day!

This, by a creepy guy at the grocery store after seeing Casha's implant, "Is she on the phone?"
The cashier at the same grocery store said, "Is she listening to music an an mp3 player?"

Last but certainly not least, a mom at the bookstore said, "Oh! I just love her American Idol thing!"
I could not, for the life of me, figure out what she was talking about. She must have sensed my confusion after seeing the "duh" look on my face because she then says,"Her microphone."
I was still a little confused but then realized that she was trying to ask me what was on Casha's head and used a wireless mic to break the ice. LOL

I understand that people do not know what is stuck to the side of Casha's head but do they have to make things up? Must they ask such ridiculous questions just to break the ice? Just say, "What is that on your little girls head???" Is that so hard?

Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
byEmily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

No one ever told me that

I would be this tired.
I would loathe hearing aids and earmolds.
I would know so much about the inner workings of the ear.
I would know what MAPping is. (MAP doesn't stand for a thing so why the capital letters, huh?)
I would fight to the death for my child to have a "right" to hear me say I love you.
I would cry the first time Casha heard the Beatles.
A car ride could be so horribly painful as with a deaf three week old who cannot be soothed by her mommy's voice.
I would so greatly appreciate my other children having been able to talk to their grandparents on the phone.
I'd be too busy and consumed to care that I still don't have my body back.
I'd actually go three months between hair cuts, and not care.
My passion for shoes would die in an instant.
I'd pay $300 for a MAGNET!
I'd let my kid run around with said magnet attached to her head as if it were a decorative hair piece.
I'd fall so hard for "Mommy Juice".
I would fight to make a difference.
I would buy a 100 pack of AAA's and not think it were overkill.
I would forget to renew my magazine subscriptions.
I wouldn't care.
I'd lose touch with my friends.
I'd be heartbroken and gleefully ecstatic, at the same time.
I'd be writing something like this.