Eliana's First Cochlear Implant Activation - Day 1 & 2

It has been amazing process and the day has finally come for Eliana's first cochlear implant activation. We didn't know what to expect and were told to keep our expectations in reasonable check since she will be learning to hear for the first time. Yesterday, several weeks after her first surgery on October 25, was activation day.

Here is a video of her responding to musical instruments, which is very fitting since she loves music so much.



On day one they just barely turn the device on in order to keep her from being overstimulated and possibly in pain because of the amount of sound that she would have to process. So, today we went back for them to adjust the device up. Here are a couple videos of her responding to both computer beeps directly into her device and also to speech sounds.





It has been a blessing to be the recipient of so much prayer and care from our family and friends throughout this journey so far. We still have a long road ahead of us, another surgery on December 13 for the left ear and multiple follow-up visits for speech therapy, but we know that God will lead us through the process just as He already has been doing throughout the past couple years. "He has done all things well." (Mark 7:37)

Anaiah's First Day of School

As a sibling of a deaf student, Anaiah is able to attend Eliana's school. She is in the infant class twice a week. This is such a blessing. She is blessed to get such a quality education and structure at such a young age. They have story time, snack time, free play and sensory play where they can get messy! The teacher told us not to dress them in cute clothes because they get messy. That is hard to do with a little girl. I love dressing her up! It will be fun to see her have little friends and to meet and interact with new parents.

Eliana's First Day of School

Eliana started her second year of preschool this past Tuesday. She was so excited! She loves school so much. She loves her teachers and her friends. She walked in like she owned the place!

Easter Girlies!

This was Anaiah's first Easter! It is so hard to get good pics of the kiddos on a Sunday morning. Daddy gets to church really early and then mommy runs around like a crazy lady, trying to get there early! Eliana had a cute updo for church, but we took it out after church. We were lucky to go to two friend's houses. The first for lunch and then one for dinner. Eliana got to hunt eggs twice! We had a great day with friends. What a blessing it is to have them.

Baltimore Zoo

Thanks to Groupon I was able to get our family a family pass for the Baltimore Zoo. Not only that, but it allows us to get in zoos across the US for free which will come in handy this summer when we visit family.

Last Friday was a beautiful day, so we loaded up the car, picked Eliana up from school and headed to the zoo. Eliana loves to walk around and see everything. This zoo had two really cool slides for kids and a really neat area they pull animals so that you can see them close up.





Although her face looks mean, she is signing "more" for more animals.



That python was a little to close for my liking. It got about a foot away from a little boy that wasn't scared at all. They kept having to pull the snake away.

Growing Up So Fast!

The girls are growing like weeds! Eliana is doing wonderful at school. Learning more and more words. Sometimes she is signing so fast, I don't really know what she is trying to tell me. Anaiah is our little chunky. She started eating cereal and loves to gobble it up. She has such the sweetest personality and smiles all the time. She loves to watch people and is energized when she sees people around. She started the saucer this week and rode the swing for the first time at the park. She is also about to turn over.