HAPPY 2ND HEARING BIRTHDAY, AVA!

Ava's hearing is two years old today. We are as happy as ever with her progress and the beautiful "hearing" girl she has become. There is no doubt that she LOVES her cochlear implants and she LOVES to hear, especially music. Here is a short five minute video montage that captures her journey in a nutshell~from birth to the present. Thank you for sharing this special moment with us,

Amy, Markus, Ava and family

Ten on Tuesday (Thursday)

I love the "Ten on Tuesday" posts written by my other CI mom friends such as this and this and this. I love how you don't have to have a particular topic to write about, but rather a general diary type blog entry about a bunch of things all in one entry. So, even though it is THURSDAY and it is supposed to be Ten on TUESDAY (not Wednesday, right, Aiden's mom?), here is my list:

1. Cochlear finally came out with snazzy new processor covers for the N5's to fit the processor with the compact rechargeable battery.

They are soooo pretty and soooo cool!

2. Of course, big sister Lauren needed something pink for her hearing aids, so she got new pink sparkly molds:

3. Every spring and fall, we change Ava's microphone protectors. When the protectors get dirty and dusty, the sound quality can become distorted, so it is important to change out the protectors every 4 months or so. Cochlear finally came up with a much improved system to change the protectors (thank you Cochlear!). Before, it was next to impossible to change the protectors. They are teeny tiny little round discs the size of a grain of black cracked pepper and are next to impossible to hold let alone manipulate into the microscopic microphone holders and oh so easy to lose those little buggers (and impossible to find if you drop one on the floor!) It was also next to impossible to remove the protectors from the processors as well because you had this little tool with a looped wire end which was too wide to fit into the tiny hole where the protectors are sitting in. Now, Cochlear has improved the removal tool so that it is a cinch to pop the old protectors out. And as for inserting the new protectors, you simply slide a patch looped over the ear hook and line the protectors up over the holes and pop them in. Soooooo easy!

4. My oldest daughter Clarissa and stepdaughter Catherine are graduating from high school in June. They are in the midst of deciding which university to attend in the fall. What am I going to do without my built in babysitters? I mean the reason I have a social life is because of my two oldest girls. I can literally just walk out the door and they know the whole routine of the household. I am going to be lost without them (and all their friends who babysit for me when my daughters cannot).

5. Clarissa and I went prom dress shopping. It is the quintessential mother-daughter experience. I will never forget it. You look so beautiful and so grown up. I shed silent but proud tears. I am so proud of you sweetie.

6. My youngest son Adrian is graduating from grade 8. He also is celebrating his confirmation next month. He is growing into a handsome and smart young man.

7. Ava LOVES to dance. She constantly asks to listen to MUSIC. 8. Ava visited her pre-school yesterday. I cannot believe she will be going to SCHOOL. She starts in September and will be attending 3 mornings per week.

9. Potty Training! Yes, it's actually happening. WOOOOOHOOOO. We first tried in January. Too soon. We tried again in March. No luck. We started again this week and we are definitely getting somewhere. Yay Ava! What do I do? Just have her put on underwear and keep the potty close by. I don't ask her a million times if she has to go pee. I just let her take the initiative. I figure she needs to learn what it feels like to be wet and learn how to control her bodily functions. This time she indicated whenever she has to pee and we would put her on the potty and she would go. No poops in the potty yet, she still wants her diaper for those. But today she did tell me her poo-poo was coming and she started to go in her underwear but she didn't finish it off in the potty (wanted her diaper back on for that). Baby steps.....baby steps. At least she demands her underwear everyday now. I found this Sesame Street rewards sticker chart. There are 5 columns for which she can earn a sticker, such as: indicating she has to "go", sitting on the potty, "using" the potty, flushing the toilet and washing her hands. Oh, it also helps that I use marshmallows as an bribe incentive.

10. Clarissa got her driver's license. What a huge help that is. She can run errands and pick up siblings. I am loving it! So many changes this year. Hold onto your little ones. They will be driving and graduating before you know it!

Our two minutes of fame!

Our family was featured on our local cable tv show "Where Parents Talk". At first I thought the feature would be centered around Ava's cochlear implants, however, the network was more impressed with our blended family of seven kids thus the clip featured our family. They did touch briefly on Ava's implants, but not as much as I hoped for. To view the clip: click here

March Break Fun!

We spent a couple days at the "Americana" resort waterpark in Niagara Falls (Ontario). Just want to remind everyone that yes, it is possible to waterproof the cochlear implant so that your child can swim AND hear! Here are three methods one could use to waterproof the CI.

1. The method I use: Aloksak bag and swim cap. For more details, click here.

2. Foodsaver method: click here .

3. Balloon method: click here .

Ava has the Nucleus 5 CI's from Cochlear Corporation. The Nucleus 5 is water and splash resistant. I get a lot of comfort from this, which gave me the confidence to allow Ava to swim with the CI (using the Aloksak bag). The predecessor Freedoms are also water resistant. Cochlear Corporation's various websites show the N5 processors on wet children splashing about (without the use of any of the waterproofing inventions mentioned above). However, here in Canada, we don't receive "back-up" processors like our American friends do. So, I'm not willing to chance having Ava wear her CI's around the water without using the Aloksak.

A Star is Born!

I met, through our cochlear implant on-line parent group, a super dad from Florida who told me how much his toddler daughter loves singing and hearing her voice with a microphone and amp. He sent me a video of his daughter belting out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and I was amazed at how proficient she was with the microphone and how she sang with so much feeling. I have since been eager to get a microphone and amp set up in the house as I can see how it could be used as a means to improve Ava's articulation. My husband is a musician and has this equipment, but he uses it quite frequently for his gigs and his equipment is so heavy and difficult to move in and out of the house. Well today, Ava and sister Lauren's awesome Godmother Linda, picked up this fantastic amp and microphone set from Pottery Barn (she couldn't resist the deal - it was marked down as a doorcrasher special from $200 to $20!). It is the real deal, not a children's plastic toy type. You can even hook up your iPod to it to play sing-a-long music. The girls went nuts, especially Ava. I highly recommend getting this for your CI kids, especially little ones learning to talk. Kids love to hear their own voices and love to perform. And of course, the obvious benefits are it's a fun way to develop and enhance language! Here's a sample of Ava's rendition of "Wheels on the Bus". We made her sit down as she was jumping and dancing around so much she kept yanking the microphone cable out of the amp. Your next American Idol maybe?

Making Muffins

I'm enjoying my time at home with Ava very much since all her older siblings are in full time school. It gives us oh so much one on one time together...such precious time. Especially precious is this time because she starts preschool this September. While I'm very excited for her to start school, I also am dreading it. She is my baby and I would like to keep her home with me forever. She is our seventh child of this blended family so I know all to well just how quickly they grow up once they start school. Ava and I do everything together. Unloading the dishwasher, grocery shopping and sorting laundry is actually quite fun with my little sidekick. She loves to sort things into categories be it cutlery and dishware, daddy's socks v. Lauren's jammies. We are starting to work on sorting food; fruits v. vegetables.

Ava and I had our first ever baking session together. She learned about mixing, beating, pouring, stirring, teaspoons and measuring cups. She had so much fun!

Putting in the muffin cups

Adding the mix

Mix it up

Spooning the batter

Chocolate chips and blueberries

Proudly carrying her creation to the oven!

Turning on the light to watch!

Blowing to cool them down

Devouring her muffin!

Our little catholic girl has taught herself to sign the cross at grace. We love it!

Going to "School"

An important step in a toddler's development is for them to spend time with their peers in a social setting. I feel it is especially important for a child with cochlear implants to do this, so they can pick up on social cues and subtle nuances in language from their peers. Ava is in a home full of much older siblings and us, her parents. While she is drawing phenomenal amount of language from us all, I believe it is equally important in her overall language development, to spend time with other 2 year olds.

I am going to be honest here. Part of me has a fear that Ava may experience rejection by her peers. I grew up with hearing aids. I did not experience rejection myself (except for one smart-assed boy in grade 7 who made a couple smart-assed comments about my hearing aid, which I just let roll off, although it did sting at the time). Ava's older sister Lauren, who is 6, wears hearing aids. So far, knock on wood, she hasn't had any problem with her peers. Lauren's teacher of the deaf played a role in this, I'm sure. She had the clever idea to have Lauren make a book complete with Lauren's own illustrations of all the parts and functions of her hearing aids and Lauren read this to her class and to the principal. Right from the get-go, Lauren's peers were made aware of Lauren's hearing aids, why she got a sound-field and then an FM system and how they need to face Lauren when they talk to her. She has a ton of friends and frankly, they don't even think about her hearing aids or remember that she has them. I'm hoping that this will be the same with Ava too. But, who has really seen implants before? Don't get me wrong. I am eternally grateful for the technology. But I feel I have to do everything in my power so that Ava gets off to a good start socially, with her peers. I want the world to see just what a lovely vivacious full of energy and zest little girl Ava is. And the sooner, the better. In a group setting, Ava can learn things like turn-taking, sharing, empathy and conflict resolution. Last September, I enrolled Ava in a mom/tot group. The group meets for two hours every Wednesday in a school-like setting and follows a school-like routine. Ava LOVES it. I mean absolutely its her favourite place in the world to go to.

First, it's FREE PLAY at the many different stations, such as painting, colouring, puzzles, dress-up, toys, play-dough, potato head, books, etc.

Then, we do a craft. Here, we decorated our own gingerbread men and of course devoured them.

Then, its SNACK TIME!

Then we go upstairs to the big GYM to play with bouncy balls and "What Time is it Mr. Wolf?"

And then, we go back downstairs to pick out an INSTRUMENT for our marching band

Next, we have CIRCLE TIME. We sing songs and have a story.

Then we line up and wait for our name to be called. "Ava be nimble, Ava be quick, Ava jump over the candle stick."

Of course, our day would not be complete without a gazillion HUGS from "teacher" Jessica