Hi Family and Friends-
Here is a new movie of me and Mommy hanging out at home! I am watching my fav-o-rite movie of all time, Madagascar II and I am dancing like a rock star during the best song....
HeeHee! Watch me totally enjoy this awesome music! (Mommy thinks this is such a big deal because my Cochlear Implant is helping me so much)...blah blah blah...
Anyway, Enjoy!
ps---catch me stop and strike a pose, during the part when the "camera" clicks...now, that is some good listening.... huh?
Love,
Audie Lou (2.5 year old actual age, 10 months hearing age)
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Monday, November 17, 2008
Audrey Signs and Says her ABC's!!!
Hi Friends and Family---
Finally...Here's a new video! Watch Me say my ABCs...of course, I eat some Halloween Candy in the middle, but you can still get the idea of my progress with my Cochlear Implant....
I am going to turn 2 years old in two weeks! I'll have Mommy upload some more video of me soon, since she got a new camera that uploads my videos right to my blog. Gosh--we are so tech savvy in this house!
Hope you are all doing well---
xoxoxo,
Audie Lou
Finally...Here's a new video! Watch Me say my ABCs...of course, I eat some Halloween Candy in the middle, but you can still get the idea of my progress with my Cochlear Implant....
I am going to turn 2 years old in two weeks! I'll have Mommy upload some more video of me soon, since she got a new camera that uploads my videos right to my blog. Gosh--we are so tech savvy in this house!
Hope you are all doing well---
xoxoxo,
Audie Lou
Thursday, September 25, 2008
WooHoo!! Here's the Activation Video
Hello Family and Friends---
Mommy is dancing about today, feeling so accomplished!! Drum Roll Please......... Here is the long awaited activation video!!
See me hear with my cochlear implant the very moment it is turned on for the first time!!
I am so lucky to have such loving supporters... Enjoy watching my big moment!!
Hugs,
Audie Lou
Mommy is dancing about today, feeling so accomplished!! Drum Roll Please......... Here is the long awaited activation video!!
See me hear with my cochlear implant the very moment it is turned on for the first time!!
I am so lucky to have such loving supporters... Enjoy watching my big moment!!
Hugs,
Audie Lou
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Video....Finally -- Let's Catch Up
Hi Y'all--
FINALLY.....
I got the video figured out!!!! I pray that this will be easy to view!
Here is the first video in my collection:
The morning of Surgery and the Day After--Specifically, Audrey's Speech and Signing Before Activation:
More to come.... Including the Moment of Activation, and Speech Updates!
Keep Checking Back!
FINALLY.....
I got the video figured out!!!! I pray that this will be easy to view!
Here is the first video in my collection:
The morning of Surgery and the Day After--Specifically, Audrey's Speech and Signing Before Activation:
More to come.... Including the Moment of Activation, and Speech Updates!
Keep Checking Back!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
JULY 2008!! Progress is Amazing!
JULY 2008
Hi family and friends:
Here's my update for July 2008. I am continuing to learn to hear and even have a new milestone!!! I know my NAME!! Someone can call my name, and I stop--listen and turn to their voice. Since my Implant isn't exactly the same as your ears, I am learning a new skill called scanning. I am learning to stop when I hear a sound, and then scan the room to figure out what made it.
Also.... I can repeat and recognize ALL my 6 main learning to listen sounds. Mama took me camping with my Nauntie and my Unkie and my Aunt Cheryl. We were at Mayfield Lake campground and as we were walking back to the motorhome from the lake, a small gardener snake crossed our path. This was my first time seeing a REAL LIVE SNAKE. I saw Mommy making the snake sign and heard her making the sound...and I repeated it back to her. Silly Mama--I don't know why that made her cry, right there in the middle of the campground. She says that she has been presenting that sound to me for a year and this is the first time I heard it and first time I ever said it back. I guess that is a pretty big deal. She says this CI thing has changed our lives. I dunno. I 'spose she knows what she's talking about. :o)
Next, the following week when we were swimming at Desert Aire I was asking her for a snack...and she started smiling, yelling and jumping up and down. What's the big deal I asked and signed to her "more candy". I just wanted more candy. She told everyone there that it was the first time I ever said two words together in one phrase. Man, she really over reacts to things. Again...she thinks this is some big deal. I'll tell you the big deal.... getting all the candy I wanted the rest of the day! Mommy is so cool sometimes.
This month, I went in to see Miss Stacey and Miss Kim. The called me their "hearing rock star". Mama was pretty proud, so I guess that's a good thing. They put me in the hearing booth again, and more tears were flying out of Mama. What's the biggie?...I've done this test a zillion-billion times. I guess that my old tests were hearing from 45-85 (which means I couldn't hear from a restaurant to a lawn mower...or so) and now with my implant I can hear from 15-25. Miss Stacey says thats from a whisper to regular conversation....They all think this will make a life-sized difference for me gaining speech.
Mommy is amazed that I am so good at keeping my processor on my head. I have even come up to mommy two times and asked her to put it on by signing an "I" for implant by my ear. You should have seen her smile. It was as big as Texas. I know I used to fight so badly with her when she put on my hearing aids. This CI thing is so much better, I am learning to like having it on. Of course, I don't want to ruin my rep with the other toddlers, so I make sure to wiggle, run, bounce, jump and all other manners of play so that it is a constant job keeping the magnet on my head. After all, I have mentioned a cool thousand times or so how wiggly I am. That is not about to change. Mommy says I will be able to have a stronger magnet once my implant has time to calcify to my bone and isn't possible to wiggle out of place. I hope that's soon. It is so agonizing to sit still the 0.01 second it takes to reapply the magnet. But, its a fun game seeing the adults chase after me trying to stick it back on my head. Ahhh... the small things are so entertaining, huh?
Here are my July highlights:
Real Age: 19 Months
Hearing Age: 2 months
-Speech: 15 spoken words; FIRST TIME STRINGING TWO WORDS TOGETHER! "More Candy"
-Signs: 100 expressive (signs that I can make)
Thanks again for keeping up on my progress!
love,
Audrey Ellyse
Hi family and friends:
Here's my update for July 2008. I am continuing to learn to hear and even have a new milestone!!! I know my NAME!! Someone can call my name, and I stop--listen and turn to their voice. Since my Implant isn't exactly the same as your ears, I am learning a new skill called scanning. I am learning to stop when I hear a sound, and then scan the room to figure out what made it.
Also.... I can repeat and recognize ALL my 6 main learning to listen sounds. Mama took me camping with my Nauntie and my Unkie and my Aunt Cheryl. We were at Mayfield Lake campground and as we were walking back to the motorhome from the lake, a small gardener snake crossed our path. This was my first time seeing a REAL LIVE SNAKE. I saw Mommy making the snake sign and heard her making the sound...and I repeated it back to her. Silly Mama--I don't know why that made her cry, right there in the middle of the campground. She says that she has been presenting that sound to me for a year and this is the first time I heard it and first time I ever said it back. I guess that is a pretty big deal. She says this CI thing has changed our lives. I dunno. I 'spose she knows what she's talking about. :o)
Next, the following week when we were swimming at Desert Aire I was asking her for a snack...and she started smiling, yelling and jumping up and down. What's the big deal I asked and signed to her "more candy". I just wanted more candy. She told everyone there that it was the first time I ever said two words together in one phrase. Man, she really over reacts to things. Again...she thinks this is some big deal. I'll tell you the big deal.... getting all the candy I wanted the rest of the day! Mommy is so cool sometimes.
This month, I went in to see Miss Stacey and Miss Kim. The called me their "hearing rock star". Mama was pretty proud, so I guess that's a good thing. They put me in the hearing booth again, and more tears were flying out of Mama. What's the biggie?...I've done this test a zillion-billion times. I guess that my old tests were hearing from 45-85 (which means I couldn't hear from a restaurant to a lawn mower...or so) and now with my implant I can hear from 15-25. Miss Stacey says thats from a whisper to regular conversation....They all think this will make a life-sized difference for me gaining speech.
Mommy is amazed that I am so good at keeping my processor on my head. I have even come up to mommy two times and asked her to put it on by signing an "I" for implant by my ear. You should have seen her smile. It was as big as Texas. I know I used to fight so badly with her when she put on my hearing aids. This CI thing is so much better, I am learning to like having it on. Of course, I don't want to ruin my rep with the other toddlers, so I make sure to wiggle, run, bounce, jump and all other manners of play so that it is a constant job keeping the magnet on my head. After all, I have mentioned a cool thousand times or so how wiggly I am. That is not about to change. Mommy says I will be able to have a stronger magnet once my implant has time to calcify to my bone and isn't possible to wiggle out of place. I hope that's soon. It is so agonizing to sit still the 0.01 second it takes to reapply the magnet. But, its a fun game seeing the adults chase after me trying to stick it back on my head. Ahhh... the small things are so entertaining, huh?
Here are my July highlights:
Real Age: 19 Months
Hearing Age: 2 months
-Speech: 15 spoken words; FIRST TIME STRINGING TWO WORDS TOGETHER! "More Candy"
-Signs: 100 expressive (signs that I can make)
Thanks again for keeping up on my progress!
love,
Audrey Ellyse
Yikes! Where has the time gone??
June 2008
Hi friends....so I have been nagging and nagging mommy to give you an update on my progress.
My CI is working and I am learning to hear!!!
I am working on the following skills: "Learning to Listen sounds". This is taking a toy or picture and giving it one special sound. My main ones are mmmmm for ice cream, ssssssss for snake, oooooo for owl, ee ee ee ee for Monkey, shhhhh for baby and aaaaaah for airplane. I have been practicing these since I was 9 months old...and I have never repeated sssssss or ssssssh before (meaning that I have never heard them either). I try these 3 times a week or more, and have gotten up to 4 of them at once--but my results are usually all over the place. It is soo hard to concentrate sometimes. :o) If I can get these 6 sounds, that means that I am hearing all the sounds in the speech range--- which will prove the major improvement with the Cochlear Implant.
Mommy is saying lots of things to me and also signing them. I am learning more signs--she says I have about 75 now and my first goal with speaking will be to be able to recognize and repeat all 36 Learning to listen sounds. Mommy says these will quickly turn into words!
We are having a busy summer between home, therapy, audiology appointments and Desert Aire for swimming....
But....I said my first word! More!!!!! I also now have Mama and Dada! Yeah! This talking thing is sooo fun!
Here are my June highlights:
Real Age: 18 Months
Hearing Age: 1 month
-Speech: FIRST WORDS: More, Mama and Dada
-Signs: 75 expressive (signs that I can make) We don't know how to count the ones I understand.... lots more than I can make, of course!!
Thank you all for keeping up with my progress!
Hugs,
Audie Lou Wilson
Hi friends....so I have been nagging and nagging mommy to give you an update on my progress.
My CI is working and I am learning to hear!!!
I am working on the following skills: "Learning to Listen sounds". This is taking a toy or picture and giving it one special sound. My main ones are mmmmm for ice cream, ssssssss for snake, oooooo for owl, ee ee ee ee for Monkey, shhhhh for baby and aaaaaah for airplane. I have been practicing these since I was 9 months old...and I have never repeated sssssss or ssssssh before (meaning that I have never heard them either). I try these 3 times a week or more, and have gotten up to 4 of them at once--but my results are usually all over the place. It is soo hard to concentrate sometimes. :o) If I can get these 6 sounds, that means that I am hearing all the sounds in the speech range--- which will prove the major improvement with the Cochlear Implant.
Mommy is saying lots of things to me and also signing them. I am learning more signs--she says I have about 75 now and my first goal with speaking will be to be able to recognize and repeat all 36 Learning to listen sounds. Mommy says these will quickly turn into words!
We are having a busy summer between home, therapy, audiology appointments and Desert Aire for swimming....
But....I said my first word! More!!!!! I also now have Mama and Dada! Yeah! This talking thing is sooo fun!
Here are my June highlights:
Real Age: 18 Months
Hearing Age: 1 month
-Speech: FIRST WORDS: More, Mama and Dada
-Signs: 75 expressive (signs that I can make) We don't know how to count the ones I understand.... lots more than I can make, of course!!
Thank you all for keeping up with my progress!
Hugs,
Audie Lou Wilson
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Activation! May 30th, 2008
Hi Everybody!! I know it has been a few days, but Mommy has been reeeeallly busy with me as I have had my Cochlear Implant ACTIVATED!!! And...I guess she had a little bit of stuff to do for sister's 3rd Birthday too.
My activation was on Friday and she said my behavior was awesome. We went in and first saw Miss Kim who checked out my healing scar and said everything looked great. So good that we got to continue with the activation process.
Next, Miss Stacey helped put together my implant processor hardware, showing Mommy and Daddy how it all worked. Everything was funcitoning properly.
I wasn't really too interested in all that because Miss Stacey got out all the fun toys and I got to play with the plastic elephant and helicopter. Two of my favorite things!
Mommy and Daddy took a video of the whole day, and Mommy says as soon as she can figure out how to get the video on this blog....you can all see my first reaction to sound.... :o)
So then, I continued to play with the toys, while Miss Stacey put the processor and magnet on my ear and head. It felt weird and made me extra wiggly. But Mommy was so happy because I didn't cry or fight her too much. There was a temporary cord from the processor on my head to Miss Stacey's computer.
Suddenly, I felt and heard something different. Miss Stacey must have turned this crazy thing on. My eyes got as big as quarters and I got really still. I looked around to see what is was. Then, I forgot and started to play again. Then..... it happened again. I kept getting really still while Miss Stacey used her computer to program my processor.
She gave me 4 different programs for Mommy to try over the next week. Two soft ones and two louder ones. Guess we'll see how they go.
For the rest of the appointment, I wiggled, played, wiggled, had snacks and had moments of hearing that Mommy, Daddy and Miss Stacey could clearly see. That made everyone very happy.
Keep checking in on us....Mommy promises a video soon.....
hugs to you all,
Audrey, Actual Age 18months, Hearing Age 1 day!
My activation was on Friday and she said my behavior was awesome. We went in and first saw Miss Kim who checked out my healing scar and said everything looked great. So good that we got to continue with the activation process.
Next, Miss Stacey helped put together my implant processor hardware, showing Mommy and Daddy how it all worked. Everything was funcitoning properly.
I wasn't really too interested in all that because Miss Stacey got out all the fun toys and I got to play with the plastic elephant and helicopter. Two of my favorite things!
Mommy and Daddy took a video of the whole day, and Mommy says as soon as she can figure out how to get the video on this blog....you can all see my first reaction to sound.... :o)
So then, I continued to play with the toys, while Miss Stacey put the processor and magnet on my ear and head. It felt weird and made me extra wiggly. But Mommy was so happy because I didn't cry or fight her too much. There was a temporary cord from the processor on my head to Miss Stacey's computer.
Suddenly, I felt and heard something different. Miss Stacey must have turned this crazy thing on. My eyes got as big as quarters and I got really still. I looked around to see what is was. Then, I forgot and started to play again. Then..... it happened again. I kept getting really still while Miss Stacey used her computer to program my processor.
She gave me 4 different programs for Mommy to try over the next week. Two soft ones and two louder ones. Guess we'll see how they go.
For the rest of the appointment, I wiggled, played, wiggled, had snacks and had moments of hearing that Mommy, Daddy and Miss Stacey could clearly see. That made everyone very happy.
Keep checking in on us....Mommy promises a video soon.....
hugs to you all,
Audrey, Actual Age 18months, Hearing Age 1 day!
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