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..