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.