School's over!

School holiday program is over.I'm sure Rhianna will miss her teachers and friends.I know I will miss sending her in the morning,singing in the car and seeing her grinning face in the afternoon.
She always came back with many new words and songs and of course with many interesting art and craft to show off.

Fruit platter from "the wonder of fruits" week.We made a real fruit platter and she is more willing now to try out new fruits no matter how weird they look like.

Her banana tree - notice the monkey? She was saying a rhyme about monkey and banana tree that she learned in a different class.I'm glad to see that she is generalizing more things that she has learned into daily activities

Silly looking penguin from "the antartica" week.She doesn't even know where Malaysia is but she can point to the antartica on the map.

 

The children made all the ornaments on the tree.It looks beautiful and they enjoyed the activity.

She told me that Teacher 'Posh' painted her face.The teacher's name is NOT Posh so I have no idea why she nicknamed her Posh.Maybe the teacher looks posh in Rhianna's eyes?




So we're now officially on school holidays until next year when the new semester starts.I can't wait to see what the new year will bring for her...until then,I have to find ways to keep her busy and entertained for two loooong weeks.

The new boy in class

Rhianna's CI often attracts many attention.It's not uncommon for us to be stopped on the street by curious people asking about the device (type 1).I like this type of curious people as it gives us an opportunity to spread some awareness about the CI.What I don't like is the staring, gawking and whispering kind of people (type 2).We have encountered many of this kind too.

When Rhianna attended the school holiday program I was quite worried of how the children would respond to her blinking ear.It turned out that the 3-4 year olds are quite oblivious to it.They just play with each other and pay no attention to her ear... until the new boy came.

He joined the program a week late and he's a year older than the rest of the group.He has to join the younger group as he speaks English as the second language.Being a 5 year old boy,he is VERY curious about Rhianna's ear.He likes her a lot and I often find them playing together.

One day when I was picking my daughter up,he cornered me and started asking question about the CI..so I thought, aah..he's type 1.

Boy: What is that? (pointing to Rhianna's ear)
Me : That's her CI.It helps her to hear.It's like her ear.
Boy: It has red light.
Me: Yes it does.

When I tried to explain further he interrupted.

Boy: What's the circle on her head?
Me: That's the headpiece.It's part of the CI
Boy: Can a boy wear it too?Does it come in different colours?
        Maybe my mom will get me one?
        Maybe I can get a white colour one?

At this point I was already laughing.Maybe he belongs in a different category altogether.
type 3 - thinks CI is cool and want one for themselves.

Not about her speech or language..

Today's post is not about her language or speech or even her hearing..
I was laughing looking at her baby photos and thinking that it would be fun to put some pictures together to see how much she has improved over the years (in the appearance department)

• She definitely didn't have a neck then.A little bit on the bald side with sumo wrestler proportion.

 

• Still pretty much the same here plus posing for the camera with the wide eyed shocked look

• Some improvement seen here.Her hair finally grew longer and oh..there's the neck!

• Definitely more improvement here.She's having the half smile and naughty twinkle in her eyes.The expression that I come to know so well and it usually means trouble!

• The emergence of cheekiness and naughtiness.Looks continue to improve as she starting to tolerate hair accessories.

• Hair continue to grow longer (If I didn't cut her hair she would have become Rapunzel in flesh and blood.).Still have that shocked look when posing for the camera.

• Trying on different "hairstyles".This is how she'd probably look like if she had curly hair. 

 

• This how she looks like now (minus the curly hair!).She has lost most of her baby fat (which makes me so sad).She's not gaining it back no matter how much I feed her..instead she's growing taller and slimmer.

It's amazing and sad how time flies.She's no longer that chubby little creature that only sleeps on my chest.She's now a preschooler always busy with her 'projects' and pretend play.She doesn't always listen to me anymore as she now has teachers who also teach her about many wonderful things.

BUT..she still thinks that mommy is as pretty as a barbie doll...woohoo!

The ecosystem and the endangered species..

Rhianna has finished one week of holiday camp where the 3 -4 year old got to learn about the ecosystem and the endangered species..When I heard about the theme I wasn't quite sure..can a 3 year old understand this?...many of the adults still don't get it.How else do you explain animal poaching and illegal logging and other stuffs.

But the school made it easy and fun for them.Rhianna came back every day with tons of new words and many pretty crafts to show off.

Learning about the food chain..who eat who...Obviously human eat fish like Rhianna demonstrated here..I wonder if she'll take more fish in her meals now?

They also learn about farm animals and their purposes and also domestic animals.Let's hope that she wont start holding our already tortured and extremely patient cat like that.

Here,she's showing off her new knowledge about panda bear habitat,food and other stuff.She was telling me that panda bear eat bamboo..(with " I cant believe you dont know this" look)

Here is the life cycle of a butterfly (or something like that).They got to see the real catterpilar,coccon and butterfly and scrutinize them under a magnifying glass.I really hope that those creatures survived under the 3 year old hands..yikes.

So it was a really good language experience.She managed to get more new words (much more than I dared hope),learn a couple of new songs,make new friends...most importantly,she absolutely
 enjoyed herself!

Next week's theme : The wonder of fruits

A fun experience !

Rhianna participated in a colouring contest during the official launching of WQ Park Rehab Center today (the place where she receives her many therapies - http://www.wqpark.com.my ).She didn't belong in any age category since she is only 3 so they put her in the 4-6 years old group.Seriously,I was just expecting a few random scribbles here and there but I just let her joined in the fun.

She needed some prompting from the art therapist but she basically chose her colours and managed everything quite independantly.

This is what she produced..woohoo! Notice parts of the picture is unfinished..well she's only 3 years old so her attention span only allow her that much.

She received a consolation prize for her effort (believe me, it took a lot of effort to finish that much..she yawned multiple times but still persevered)

It was a fun experience for her plus she got a cute mickey mouse pencil case and many other goodies to bring back home!


P/S : the boy in red cap is her current best friend

A punch in the gut!

We don't have many options here in term of education for deaf children.The deaf schools will mainly use signs (they aim for total communication but most children will just sign ),there are some schools which use cued speech to help the children learn speech and that is pretty much it.

Since we have chosen CI and AV for Rhianna,we have been sending her to classes (music and reading) with normal hearing peers with no adaptation being done to support her hearing needs.But since we have carefully selected classes with small number of children (in reading class she only has one classmate and they team up very well to terrorize the teacher ;) )she has shown tremendous improvement with these classes.

Though her language is still delayed,she has developed a love for reading.Oh,she can sight read too.I initially thought that she just memorizes the story based on the pictures (she's like an elephant-remembers everything!) but her teacher demonstrated otherwise.She CAN sight read with or without the pictures...woohoo! Of course it's limited to the books and words that she has practised in class.Anyway,it's a good start to what I hope her lifelong love for books.


Back to the education option  (or lack of options) story - We have started touring the private preschools in our areas.Our public schools currently do not offer any preschool services for children below 5 years old except for daycares.So, all of our children will attend private preschools and we have many many options with many many teaching methods...and the headache starts.

With her CI,listening challenges and language delay,we have many things to consider like the teacher to students ratio,the method used and the syllabus offered.

Most of these schools have between 16-24 students in a class.Rhianna could easily become invisible with 24 chattering 3 year olds and that would not help develop her self confidence and self esteem.


The method used and syllabus offered are pretty much the same with most schools but there is one particular school that caught our attention.


This school offers a classroom of only 8 students max with one teacher and two teachers for certain subjects like science and art where the children do a lot of hands on projects.Their syllabus is focused a lot on language and speaking skills and encouraging the children to explore the world around them to develop the love for learning.They use fastrack program from the US (of course!) and I'm totally in love with the smart board.It's like a HUGE iphone on the wall with many educational games!Rhianna still talks about the smart board and pretends to play it on our wall.


We love this school,Rhianna loves this school..problem solved, right? Wrong!
what about the fees?...it's almost 10K for the first year (uugh.. it was like a punch in the gut!).Well, it's not that bad, but she still has to attend her weekly therapies (all cost money),her reading and music classes and daycare (all cost money!)...I was actually planning to send her to dance class now that's not going to happen.


So Rhianna's team started discussing (and debating) and finally we reached a conclusion.
Since Rhianna is doing so well now,we have almost forgotten about her deafness and her daily struggles to listen.She actually NEEDs this school for its low student to teacher ratio to maximise her listening ability since no other adaptation is being made for her listening needs (no FM or sound field system).Hopefully they will help her build a good academic and social foundation for upcoming years.


So yes,we are taking the punch!She's all signed up for year 2011..


Kids Academy, here we come!!

http://www.kidsacademy.com.my




p/s : she has a trial class next week and a holiday camp there next month.She'll start full blast come January 2011

Learning to read

This is Rhianna reading her favourite story book at 13 months hearing age.She had no prior access to sound before her left CI was switched on and used signs and gestures to communicate.She's currently emerging into 2-3 words level.
Though her speech and language is still delayed,she has progressed and continues progressing at an amazing speed.
She is currently attending speech therapy,occupational therapy,reading class and music class and enjoying every moment of it.


p/s: Sorry,I'll put the video caption as soon as I figure out how .

Hotel / swimming

We were in Malacca the historical city of Malaysia last weekend.Rhianna has gone on quite a number of short trips since she was old enough to walk.But this trip was more meaningful since she now has the words to all the wonderful things that she saw.She could also demand ask for things or activities that she wanted to do.

All the way on the 2 1/2 hour drive,she was clutching the map to the hotel studying the hotel picture and the swimming pool..Oh,she was also holding on to the fully inflated turtle ring float (she was so ready to jump in the pool!) and hugging her baby doll (her current best friend).The first half hour was fine as she was asking me the names of the new things she saw on the map.The next 2 hours was a different story altogether.

As she was getting more and more impatient, all vocabulary seem to vanish from her lexicon and her answer to any questions asked was only one of either words.

Hotel / swimming

"You want to nap first?"  - "No,swimming"
"You want to come out with me and buy drinks?" - "No, hotel"
"Why don't you put down the float?"  - "No, swimming"

When nobody asked questions,she started whining using the two words alternately repeatedly...We had to endure that for 2 hours straight...

Beside the nightmarish car ride,we had a wonderful time exploring new things and providing her with new words.Now, if I only I can find time to turn the photos into an experience book...

The beautiful hotel at night

Fun and free spirited girls..Of course when the ride was over,the littlest one cried.

Then, she got to ride a pink scooter..solo this time

With the well travelled best buddy having lunch

The one thing that could make Rhianna eat her vege, pick up her toys,take afternoon naps and do all the impossibles..SWIMMING!

One year ago...

I'm actually pretty late with this one.Rhianna celebrated her first hearing birthday on September 15th 2010.

One year ago..we were all very hopeful (still are) about her future..but we never thought that we would see her talk so much, so soon...this girl can talk and she talks all the time...sometimes clearly,sometimes with sound errors (then again,she's only three) and sometimes in jargons (still!).She talks to the cats,to her dolls,to herself, basically to all animate and inanimate objects.

Once, we went on a 5 hour road trip with a few friends and everybody swore that the next time they travel with Rhianna,they'll be bringing their mp3 players with earphones.Seriously, I think she's making up for the last 2 years without sound.Now that she discovered her voice,she needs to hear it all the time.

I'm not complaining..I love her sweet voice.Especially when she calls me mummy...Other mothers might think that it's no big deal..but I'm a mother of a deaf child and to hear her speak, is so,so sweet.

We have seen a lot of progress this past year.She can now hold a simple conversation,answer questions and tell me what happened in school in her sometimes broken sentences.
She's even learning to read and she can sight read a few of her story books even without pictures.
She was always very cheeky and charming but with verbal ability,her personality blooms even more.She makes friends more easily and she teases and jokes all the times.

Though her speech and language skill is not yet on par with her hearing peers,she has made tremendous progress in just one year..from a nonverbal child who signed to a chatterbox who loves songs and silly rhymes.

The many faces of Rhianna

Just for some friends and family members who have been asking about Rhianna's recent activities and for her photos.

Here's the future singing sensation:

The future supermodel:

The cheeky monkey:

 

Little miss grump:

The dancing queen :

Now you know what I have to deal with...It's not easy raising this future diva.So the next time you call and get no answer,keep trying.


* photos taken by our very own Aini Anuar ( who has extreme patience in dealing with the diva).

Is she deaf or not?

Inspired by other blogger moms,I recently prepared a handout for Rhianna's teachers explaining her CI and giving some tips on how to work with her.A few people read it before it got to the teachers and one person asked.."Why do you say that she's deaf?"

"Because she IS?", I answered.

"No she's not..she can hear now", stressed the person.

"Yeah,but not without the CI.She has no hearing whatsoever without it", I explained.

"But you can write here that she has hearing problem and not use the word deaf.It'll hurt her to hear that word when she's older",the person was so adamant that the deaf terminology is such a taboo and the word should not be said out loud.

"But she is deaf and she needs to know that and be proud of herself ", I answered.

"Hmm...I still don't think that you should say that word",concluded the person.

That conversation left me thinking..

I have a lot of feelings and experience a lot of emotions once I discovered that my child is deaf.Sadness,fear,guilt,determination,hope and many others that I can't name but shame is never one of them.
I have long decided that I would change all the negative emotions into positive ones.I would teach my child to be proud of her bionic ear and not hide the device away.Later she'll learn to advocate for herself and explain to others about her deafness and how she hears through the miracle of CI.

I think she's already on the right track as I watched her playing on the playground today.A 5 year old boy was attracted to the blinking light on her ear and came over to inspect.She didn't shy away,instead she patiently stood still and let the boy look but when the boy tried to touch her ear she pushed him away and said "no!"

I think she can fight her own battle now..then again she was always the feisty one.

I hope,she will learn that there's no shame in being deaf.There is actually a lot of pride in being a deaf individual who can hear and speak well considering how much effort it takes for her to learn to listen.

What do you think? Is 'deaf' not the correct word to use?

If you see her on the playground..stay away!She kicks a****

Of Donald duck and art time!

Rhianna has been watching too much tv...I know because I've been humming Donald Duck's song in my sleep..
(who's got the sweetest disposition,one guess,guess who?who never never starts an argument,who never shows a bit of temperament,who's never wrong but always right,who's never dream of starting a fight,who gets stuck with all the bad luck..no one but Donald Duck!)

In order to cut back the tv time we are trying to put in more art time ( inspired by Elsie's art playpen )
So good bye mickey and donald (hopefully)!

Here's some photos from our recent art time.

Squemish at first but enjoying the activity

We did some finger painting and leaf printing...(green cabbage from the fridge actually as mommy didnt pick any leaves before that).She kept complaining about her dirty hands and was a bit squemish at first but she did well after that.

Huffing and puffing and rolling

We blew the colours and rolled them with the toy car...she painted a tree with her fingers and put some red dots that she claimed were apples..

These are the results:

the apple tree and the sun

Fish and flowers (that's what I was told)

It was a good activity and learning experience.She learned a lot of new words and I learned that my child knows more words and things than I thought she knew.

p/s : I also learned that she's a demanding little creature..even though I love her to the very core of my being,I always feel like weeping with JOY when Monday comes and school and nursery reopen...

Flu Scare !!

Last week was sick week...everybody around us was down with cold or flu.Needless to say,Rhianna also came down with her very own viral fever resulting in high temperature of over 39 degrees.
Three days,many sponge baths and fever medications later,she was better.But once the fever was gone, in came the severe coughing.

The paediatrician decided to nebulise her twice a day for two days to get rid of the phlegm and make sure that the lungs remain clear.

We are so lucky that she was such a good sport during the nebuliser episodes..or maybe she was too tired to kick a fight.



Anyways, after three trips to the paediatrician office,one trip to the ER (at night!) for rapid testing to rule out the dreaded H1N1 virus  ( negative, thank god! )...she is finally ok.
She didn't need antibiotics or antiviral whatsoever.She kicked the virus in the butt with her very own antibody and the doctors were pleased.
Well,I'm pleased..she's my strong powerpuff girl!

Oh btw,she was severely pampered and spoiled during these days that I have a hard time convincing her now that she's no longer sick and she CAN get her own juice box from the fridge and pick up the story book that has fallen off the sofa.

Bittersweet moment

Saturday night we were at a friend's house for a barbeque.The kids were eating and playing games and the adults were having a nice time catching up with each other.Then,a friend and her musician boyfriend started playing the guitar and sing...and man, they were good.

So I went to get Rhianna who was busy playing.Sure, she has been in a music class for about 2 years now but that is children's music and movement class.I don't think she has ever seen anyone really played James Taylor kind of solo guitar live before.

So she sat down, mouth open,eyes wide staring at this man while this sweet,sweet  man kept serenading her with beautiful songs.After a couple of songs,she started clapping and moving.And when he did the children's numbers..I was almost certain that she fell in love..

It was fun yet bittersweet for me watching my deaf child listening to the music and actually enjoying it as others do...

The Ice cream story

  

                                         Enjoying her ice cream..

                                           Do you want some?


This is the ice cream story..
Haunted by guilt for working so hard these few days,Mom decided to take Rhianna out for ice cream during lunch break.

Mom: Let's get some ice cream.
R      : Ice cream?
Mom :Yes.Do you want ice cream?
R       : (nodded excitedly)
Mom  : I love you
R        : I love you, mommy

After she got the ice cream..

R      : Thank you, mommy
Mom:  You're welcome. I love you
R      : I love you, ice cream
Mom : what??
R       : (squealed with laughter)
Mom : Do you love mommy or ice cream?
R       : Ice cream.Hmmm..ice cream sedap (delicious)


Oh well...mom is neither edible nor sedap like the ice cream.But the language,reasoning ability and sense of humor isn't too bad for 10 months hearing age.So mom is still glad.

This one's for my friends

I'm thankful for my friends...I have many in real life and also online.Each of them serve a different purpose in my life.Some are fun to hang out with to share a few jokes,some are coffee buddies.Married friends might be good for parenting advice and single friends are good for when you need some cheering up for they do a lot of fun things (that I have stopped doing gazillion years ago it seems).I admit that I invest a lot of time in my friends.

But I have a few very good ones who over the years have become very closed to me.These are the ones who travelled 600 miles both ways to attend my wedding,cried when I became pregnant,jumped up and down in the Ob/gyn office when we discovered we were having a girl (more girl power!).These are the ones who were at the hospital during my labour,visited every night and stayed until midnight to help with the (screaming) newborn..and came to the house at 4 am to help with a screaming toddler.

They play a major role in Rhianna's upbringing as well..they babysit when ever I'm tired,they take her for outings,drive her to her classes and help plan her parties.The day I found out that my child is deaf,they cancelled everything and was just there for me.Then,they helped plan for her future.

Together we made various appointments and pulled all strings to give her the first CI.

Now,they are again demonstrating their value in my life as well as Rhianna's.These friends are the key to my quest for the second CI.They helped me find the donation from various people and companies.As the surgery time closing in and I start emptying my piggy banks,they are emptying theirs as well.

Even if I lived another hundred years,I wouldn't find anymore friends like the ones that I have now.
There are my rock,my sounding board..they are the gem in my life..

Striking while the iron's still hot

Rhianna's second surgery is yet to be scheduled.This July is an extremely busy month for me with Rhianna's multiple ear check up and therapy and also with the many changes in my career...(mum and dad still need to earn enough money for this little princess).

I have been asking around to see the importance of observing the optimal time for sequential surgery.The optimal time being 6-12 months between the two ears.If we are to follow that guideline,Rhianna needs to be implanted and switched on before September..that would mean..NOW! Like our ever helpful mentor Dr K said,we better strike while the iron's hot.

And then,there's the financial issue..this ear is going to cost us RM58K (which is a huge sum!).If we were to delay the surgery for a few months,we would have more time to raise the money needed.But if the few months delay is going to hinder Rhianna's progress..we would have to dig deeper into our pockets and empty more piggy banks and proceed with the surgery now.

I would really appreciate feedbacks from anybody with any experience at all.I need all the information before making any decision as I dont want it to come back and haunt us later..

9 months hearing and another ear coming her way

As the months passed by,I found myself more relaxed and more able to enjoy the time with my daughter.I'm no longer counting the hearing hours each day,or calling the nursery during my working hours to see whether my child is wearing her CI or not.
 Rhianna is hearing well with her CI and she knows it.Sure,from time to time she needs rest from the device but she likes it on most of the time.And her speech and language is blooming very well..she's consistently stringing words into phrases though some words are still approximation.

What amazes me most is how well she can listen in noise..just the other day she was standing about 2 meters behind me while I was doing dishes and she was able to answer my questions with all the kitchen noise.And best of all,she can now tell me when a sound is too loud for her.
Last couple of Sunday,we were at the Aquaria watching the fish feeding session and a man was talking on the mic.Rhianna came to me and said "tak nak (pointing to the CI),bising"..(dont want,noisy).So I switched it off for a while until the announcement was over...so no more struggle for both of us.

Though our principle is mainly AVT,we still teach her some signs and lip reading skill and she has gotten really good at these skills which she uses when not wearing her CI.One of my friend was very surprised to see her following instructions and answering questions via lip reading alone and suggested that we test her hearing again,in case she has regained her hearing somehow.How I wish that!..but nope.Last we checked,she's still not responding at any frequency even with her HA on..well she used to have 80dB for 250hz but even that is gone now.

So next week,we're going to empty our piggy bankS and make the RM 58K payment (yikes!) for her new ear and schedule the surgery.Hopefully,she'll get more benefit being a bilateral CI user..

We have FIFA World cup fever!

If you visit us these days,you'll most likely find us glued in front of the TV watching the highlights of the games that we missed.If you come on game night,you'll see many adults cramping on the sofa,some maybe sitting on the floor and one little girl probably stuck somewhere between the many adults.When there's any possibility of a team scoring a goal,you'll hear many voices cheering and shouting but you wouldn't miss one small voice shouting (with correct intonation and inflection)..Goal,goal,GOOOOAL!!

Flying solo

Since turning 3,Rhianna has been upgraded into 'creative kids' music appreciation class.This class is for 3-5 years old and no longer adult accompanied.
Again,she was not at all disturbed by the fact that she has to attend the class alone for an hour.I,on the other hand was very anxious to see whether she can cope with the other normal hearing kids since her language skill is still delayed.
In this class,the children learn about different musical instruments,and different music and movements activities.They are also encouraged to participate and socialize with friends and be more independant.
Unlike the toddler class where they always receive a little sticker as a reward for any kind of participation,this class reserves the stickers only for good participation and good behaviour.
Never in a million years would I be this nervous to see whether my child receives a sticker or not!This sticker to me signifies Rhianna's ability to compete with her hearing peers and of course her first step towards being in a mainstream education.
The minute she got out I checked,and there it was...the shining little sticker!My child has flown solo..

Trip to the airport

We went to the airport today to meet my brother (whom we have not seen for many months).He was on his way back to Langkawi Island from his training work in Bali Island (imagine flying from one exotic island to another..how much luckier can he get?).Since he had 3 hours transit time to kill in the airport,we thought that it would be fun for Rhianna to see her Pak Ngah again.
She made some paper flowers in the afternoon and decided to bring one for her uncle.She was quite shy at first but they ended up buddies as always.She spent most of the hours bullying her uncle into drawing for her and making her some origamis.
The airport was very noisy (of course) so I switched her freedom into noise program.I didn't think that she would hear much of what we were saying but she seemed fine.She said "aeroplane go up,up,up"
when I took her to see some planes taking off.
She explored around and heard me when I called her from about 3-4 metres away with all the noise.So I guess she's getting better at listening in noise.
She ate chocolates and ice cream and spilled some on the floor (and on daddy!) then she kept telling me "ice cream tumpah" ( spilled).When the cleaner came to clean,she said "sorry" and "thank you".So I know that she knows some social pleasantries.
It was a lovely outing and the girl was dead tired and fell asleep in the car (much to mum's relief).

p/s: Pak Ngah if you're reading,hope to see you and your boys in mid June!

thank you all!

Rhianna received mountains of wonderful presents for her birthday.All carefully selected by these wonderful people, friends and family.Most of them asked beforehand about what would be suitable to give a 3 year old girl with CI.So, as much fun as these toys seem to be,they are super functional for therapy (and mum can stop cracking her head looking for new therapy ideas!)

 Just received this one - Strawberry shortcake's berry cafe.Oh, and she got to choose it herself too(approved by mum of course).Thank you Shera!

  She got a magnetic writing board where she tirelessly practices writing the alphabets,numbers and finally drawing a face! The things sticking out on the sides are ears (well, that's what she told me!)

Of course we had to make many  many  thank you cards.Thank you all! We love the presents!!

Entering the preschool years-another party!

Rhianna turned 3 on may 13th and we had a cupcake party in her music class.Then,last Sunday (16th may) we had another party with friends and family.She got heaps of beautiful presents and a cute teddy bear cake.

When she was getting ready earlier she got very excited to know that it was her bday party,she couldn't sit still.And then she was very happy to see the mountains of presents for her but was quite shy from all the attention.

We all ate and the kids played games.
We sang the birthday song 3 times to make up for the years that she couldn't hear..but she got impatient with all the singing and no actions (c'mon,let's cut the cake already!)

Later she opened her presents (more photos to post)and ate more cakes.Yes,she had trouble sleeping that night from all the excitement (and sugar she consumed!)..but we were happy.


Singing 'happy birthday' 3 times to make up for the silent years


A teddy bear in pink tutu..how's that for a birthday cake!Rhianna said "bear!..no,cake..no,bear!"


playing games with friends.She didn't win any but enjoyed herself and got many stickers!


What?Another picture?She was quite shy from all the attention.Rhianna with Aisha (mama gee's sister who's always ready to babysit)

 Playing with her best friend Mia (5 years old)

  Mama Gee,the designated camerawoman who's always hiding behind her viewcam

The superdads hiding away watching sports while keeping an eye on their kids