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.