1. Ava's left processor went kaputz a couple weeks ago. We were so worried that it was the internal device. The processor kept flashing a slow amber light. We swapped everything out to no avail. Even though the processor appeared to be working fine (we could hear sound through the listening headphones), problem was solved when Cochlear exchanged it for another processor. All is well now. In light of the recent recall on the N5 internal devices we were naturally very very concerned! Cochlear customer service was pretty impressive and attentive. I got a replacement shipped to me overnight.
2. I had Ava's first parent teacher interview at school. She is doing amazing! She is very helpful in getting other kids to follow through with teacher commands and prompts. She acknowledges all her peers as they come in to the class. She plays so nicely with everyone. She actively participates in sing alongs and circle time. She just loves her school and her teachers. She is so happy there. I was so pleased to learn that quite a few of her classmates will be going to to same school as Ava for kindergarten next year! This social interaction with her peers is so important.
3. Ava is consistently speaking in 6-7 word sentences now. So proud of her.
4. One of Ava's goals is to break her habit of referring to herself in the third person. For example she might say "Ava wants more juice please" instead of "I" . She is now using I, you, my, mine about 85% of the time.
5. There's a little girl in Ava's class that can read already! So I thought, why not Ava? I saved all of Lauren's sight words from kindergarten and got out a few two- letter words to start with. Ava is now reading the words "up, no, is, a, I, me". I also have her find those words in a book. Once mastered, I will add another 5 words. Why not give her a head start? She really enjoys learning the new words. At the same time she has started with phonics- learning the letter sounds. She has learned "S" and "M".
6. We have a big plastic calendar hanging on the wall. Every day we talk about the date, add the day's number and sing the days of the week. We talk about the day's weather and what we did "yesterday" and what day it will be "tomorrow".
7. Here's a speech sample. Ava is 3 years 4 months. She's had her CI's for 2 1/2 years. She is discussing the days of the week with her 6 year old sister Lauren.
8. I asked Ava's school for the lyrics of all the songs she is learning. At home we practice the songs to improve her articulation of them. She tends to rush through the songs sometimes and you can't always understand her words.
9. Amazing CI moment #326. I asked Ava's playdate in our basement playroom "where did Ava go?" . Ava, having overheard this, answers me from the upstairs bathroom which is off the laundry room "I'm right here Mom upstairs in the bathroom!" WOW.
10. I downloaded the Blogger app from my iPhone. I can now blog from my phone. The only thing I can't seem to do is post a video using the app. So I had to do that from my desktop. Pretty cool though.
