Four months of hearing

It has been a little over four months since Reese had her cochlear implant activated, and I have had quite a few people asking me how Reese is doing. I decided that I needed to write down some of the things she has been doing. This will probably be really long so I am sorry but this is so I can remember all of this and so she can look back eventually and see her progress. Reese responds to pretty much all sounds now. It has been a awesome experience that I can't even begin to explain. A year ago she didn't respond to any type of sound at all. One of her therapist came over on Wednesday and when she knocked on the door Reese went to the door. That was exciting because she realized what a knock on the door meant. She has also become quite the little dancer. Anytime she hears music she starts dancing. She makes so much noise and even though sometimes it can drive ya crazy it is one of the best sounds in the whole world. She says mom and mama ALL day long. She loves to growl. If you roar or growl at her she will do it right back to you. She likes to sing in her high voice also. If we hide our cell phones and have the alarm go off she will search for it. We have realized what a chore it is to keep track of her implant and to make sure it is working correctly. Two year olds can reek havoc on electronic devices. She has chewed on a few of the parts and she really likes to take it apart when we aren't looking. We have had to order new parts already. Luckily it has a three year warranty so we haven't had to pay for anything yet. I would have to say though that for the most part she loves being able to hear. Troy was talking on the phone a few weeks ago and she was being really noisy so he pulled the magnetic piece off of her head to make her be quite. Mean I know but sometimes (like in Sacrament) this is the only way to make her be quite. Anyways she found the coil and stuck it right back on her head. I will see her doing this during the day when it falls off. It always makes me smile because it reminds me that we did make the right choice for her. Sometimes it seems like her progress plateaus, but then we are reminded that she has only been hearing for four months. She is starting from scratch so she is learning something new everyday. She has really been such a blessing in our lives. I would say that I am not a very patient person but Reese has given me the opportunity to become a little more that way. I am thankful also for the great therapists that we have teaching Reese. She has speech therapy two times a month, Listening therapy every other week, and Amanda from the School for the Deaf and Blind who comes every week. They are helping Troy and I soooo much. One of them reminded me the other day that the main responsibility that we have as her parents is exposure. To talk to her all the time and to let her hear everything possible. I have been feeling overwhelmed with all the "things" that we need to be teaching her so I really needed to hear that. She is picking up on sign language pretty well. That is a subject that I am torn on. There are so many different opinions out there and I have realized that we have to do what we feel is best for our daughter. I want her to learn sign language, but I know that our purpose in getting the implant was for her to become completely verbal. She was born to a family that can hear and I don't ever want her to separate herself from us. She has bad ears, I have bad eyes, Troy has a bad mouth haha, and Kenadee has her weaknesses too. None of us are perfect but that is what will bring us together as a family. I hope that we always build each other up and accept each other as we are. Kenadee loves her little sister so much. I am thankful that Reese has Kenadee for a big sister because I know that she will always lookout for Reese and she will help Reese to know that she is perfectly normal. Reese will be two next week and I can't believe how far she has come. There is a long road ahead but I know that she can do it. Go Reese!

I thought I would post some pictures of my favorite "Reese moments" from the last year.Her 1'st Birthday

Chasing a frog at Bear Lake

Not my favorite day.