Merry Christmas!

This was the picture we sent in our Christmas cards.
Uncle Mike, Aunt Lydia and Isaac with 2 freeze pops!
Gramps, Granny and Isaac
Mommy, Daddy and Isaac
Look at me everyone, aren't I cute?

Christmas was awesome this year! We got the best gift of all....Isaac can hear! We did lots of traveling in December. We went to Kentucky to visit Ian's side of the family and then to New York to visit my side of the family, and then to Philly for another mapping for Isaac. Great Grandma Dory provided the adorable Christmas vest, tie and trouser ensemble. He just looks so grown up in it. Absolutely adorable.

Isaac made out like a bandit this year. He got so many gifts. I think I need to donate some of his older ones to the Salvation Army. We are being over-run by toys! I will say, the best gift this year is one that God provided: Isaac's cochlear implant. There were lots of people involved in the entire process including professionals, family and friends who supported us along the way, but we know that God allowed it to work for Isaac and we are so thankful for this amazing Christmas gift.

Mapping and Speech Therapy

Today Gramps, Isaac and I drove to Philly for another mapping and for some speech therapy. When we got there, Joy Peterson took us into the sound booth to test Isaac on what he was hearing. Pretty much across the board, he is hearing at 30 db. We are so happy. He is hearing and responding to speech and even loud whispers. Joy didn't change any of Isaac's programs because he was doing so well. Our next appointment for mapping will be in about 3 months.

This was the first speech therapy appointment that we had at CHOP. It went really well. Isaac is able to hear and respond to the 6 "Ling" sounds including: ah, ooo, eee, sh, sssss, and mmm. Now it is our job to teach him to differentiate between them. Isaac picked up on the games that Rebecca Ramirez, the Speech-Language Pathologist was playing pretty quickly. He was following her verbal commands pretty well. She would tell him to put a shape in the bucket or "uh-oh" and drop it on the floor. Towards the end of the game, he started to understand and follow her verbal requests. It was nice to get a different perspective on teaching Isaac to listen.

The trip to Philly was a good one and we are very happy with the outcome so far. Isaac is right where he needs to be along this journey. We as parents and his family will make sure he succeeds by giving him love, support and every tool he needs to make the best use of this technology. We are so proud of him.

A Great Weekend!

Isaac had a super weekend. Friday night he went to Granny's house to spend the night and he slept all night in a toddler bed! She got one for him and has been putting him in it for his naps and he stayed in it the whole night! Looks like mom and dad will have to get his big boy room ready sooner than we thought!

Saturday, Isaac had a visit from Great Aunt SuAnn and Great Uncle Chuck. He was showing off his Christmas present.(that he isn't supposed to have yet, but mom gave in!) Later that night we went to Hersheypark's Christmas Candylane. It was pretty cold outside, 35 degrees, but we had a great time. Isaac loved the Hershey's Chocolate World ride. He didn't understand that it was trying to tell him how choclate was made, but he loved the cows that told the story! Isaac went on many rides including the Buzzy Bees, Frog Hopper, Convoy, Dinosaurs and Carousel. We finally found Santa's Castle.....Boy he loved that. It was a heated play area for kids while they waited to sit on Santa's lap. Isaac loved the bouncy inflatable room. He cried when we took him out and refused to sit on Santa's lap. We had to give in and let him go jump in the room again. We lost track of time and it was 10:00 PM before we knew it. We left Hershey and Isaac finally fell asleep in the car after we dropped of Gramps and Granny. I don't think he wanted to miss a thing. He was sure tired though.

Sunday morning Isaac went to church and we met our friends Brandi, Randy, Genavee and Olivia there. After church we all headed to the Christmas celebration at the Land of the Little Horses in Gettysburg. It is a horse farm with tiny horses as well as other animals like Emus, Llamas, Sheep, Goats, etc. Isaac loved it. He loved the donkey, Trevor. He keept going up to Trevor and giving him some of the food we bought for him. Isaac got to ride a pony and then we went on a hayride where we saw Pastor Mike, Michelle and their two girls Chloe and Sierra. It was a surprise to see them because we had to drive 45 minutes to get to the Land of Little Horses! Isaac had an awesome time and didn't want to leave. Overall, he had a fun packed weekend. This coming weekend we are off to Kentucky to visit Ian's family and next weekend it is New York to visit my family. December sure is a busy month!