ONE YEAR OLD!!!

This past week my sweet baby Sadie turned 1 year old.  I cannot believe how fast the first year went.  I had no idea what the journey of parenthood would entail, especially one with a hearing impaired child, but I could not be more blessed with a perfect daughter.  I love her for exactly who she is and am so proud of her accomplishments thus far.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for my sweet princess.

We started Sadie's birthday off at the Lake of the Ozarks. She got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Lovins and her cousins Caleb and Nolan during the day, and then in the evening we hit the pool.  Here are a few pictures of her opening her presents from Troy & I while we were at the lake.

 Yes, I made my baby cry on her birthday.  I took out her pacifier so I could see her face and hear her talk when she opened her presents.  Cutest sad face ever!!

Bath time after we hit the pool.  Had to wash all that sunscreen off!

Saturday morning we headed home from the lake and had Sadie's birthday party that evening.  The theme was "Hats Off to Sadie, She is Turning One."  For anyone that doesn't know, she is OBSESSED with hats.  She doesn't really like to wear them, but she loves to hold them and say "HAT."  So I figured the theme was appropriate.  And boy did she LOVE it.  She had such a great time seeing everyone in their hats! 

Just Like Everyone Else

As you probably recall from my previous post, Sadie is in a study for Children with Hearing Loss.  When we met with the folks from Boystown, I had to fill out about 6 different questionnaires with 100 questions each.  It was very overwhelming, but apparently very worth while.  We got the results from my responses and I am thrilled to announce that Sadie is doing fantastic.  The results show that Sadie's Development & Language is in the same range AS CHILDREN WITH NORMAL HEARING!!!!!!!  In fact, in terms of receptive language, she is doing BETTER than children with normal hearing.  I had to look up exactly what receptive language meant :) and it means that she demonstrates an understanding of what you are asking/telling her. 

After I saw these results (and re-read them like a thousand times), the first thing that popped into my mind was "Did I lie on any of those questions?"  :)  And the answer is I really don't think so. I was as candid and honest as I could be.

I have attached the report below.  The area shaded in gray is where Normal Hearing Children reside.  The X's are where Sadie is at. 

Whatever it is that we are doing, I plan on continuing because apparently it is working!!!  I truly believe that she is doing so well because of all the wonderful people in her life that have helped her along.  A huge THANK YOU to her grandmas and her Granny Nanny Kathy for watching her each week and helping her advance so much.  And of course a special thank you to her Speech Therapists Stefanie and Stacy!

Pat the Bunny

Sadie has recently decided that her new favorite book is Pat the Bunny (big THANKS to Mark and Kathy F.)  She ALWAYS reaches for this book first and carries it with her when she crawls around.  Sadie has gotten very good at doing everything the book tells her.  Just watch!!!

Fairwell Baxter B.

This past Thursday we lost a very special member of our family, Sadie's Big Brother, Baxter the Beagle.  Baxter would have been 4 years old on August 1st.  I was out of town when Baxter suddenly hurt his back and lost the ability to walk.  We think he may have had a degenerative disease that affects Beagles between the ages of 3-5.  They are perfectly fine one day and the next they are pretty much paralyzed. 

Baxter will ALWAYS be remembered as the sweetest, most loving dog out there.  He was practically our first child (aka Sadie's Big Brother).  He was one of the most well treated dogs ever.  People teased us that we probably treated him too much like a human.  But he was our buddy.  Our best friend.  Every time you walked in our house, you were greeted by Baxter B.  He was always willing to give you puppy kisses and snuggle up right next to you on the couch.  If you needed a jog around the neighborhood, he was your man.  If you needed a co-pilot for a drive, he was on the console sitting next to you.  All Baxter ever wanted was to show you his love and to be loved back. 

Baxter was also a great big brother to Sadie.  Although a bit jealous of her at first (how could you not be when you received all of the attention for 3 years!), he loved her very much.  He was always there to clean up any dropped food or spilled bottles.  He loved licking her face and giving her kisses.

I hope one day we get to see our Baxter again.  Until then, I cannot wait to share stories with Sadie of her loving Big Brother. 

Rest in peace Baxter B.

It's my turn....

Sadie said MaMa last night!!!!  Oh yea, take that Troy! :)

Outcomes of Children With Hearing Loss Study

Saturday we headed down to KU Med to meet with the gals from the Outcomes of Children With Hearing Loss Study that Sadie participates in.  Their goal is to assess how universal newborn hearing screening, advances in amplification technology, and access to early intervention services affect children's speech, language, and psychosocial development as well as family quality of life (http://www.ochl-study.org).  This was our second meeting with them, the last being when Sadie was just 4 months old.
 
We started off by going over all the things Sadie is doing these days (that took a while).  Then we listened to some children making sounds and we had to indicate if Sadie ever made those sounds, and if so, how frequently.  Sadie has made many of the sounds that we heard, however, she usually doesn't make them with great frequency.  I think this is something we can look forward to in the upcoming months.

Next the ladies engaged Sadie in some activities and she went BEYOND my wildest expectations!  While holding out a car and a block, they said "Give mommy the block."  And Sadie paused, grabbed the block, and handed it to me.  O-M-G!  Next they had a shiny spoon and a baby doll in their hands and they wanted to see if she could resist grabbing the spoon.  (They indicated that almost all children reach for the shiny spoon).  They asked Sadie to pat the baby.  Sadie sat there and looked at the spoon for about 5 seconds and then grabbed the baby!  O-M-G!

Sadie also showed off by saying "ha" when asked what was in Daddy's hand (his hat!).  She pointed to Daddy's nose when asked.  She clapped her hands when asked.  She kissed when asked.  She also showed she was "so big" when asked (raised her hands in the air).  I could not BELIEVE how awesome she did today.  I'm not sure I have ever seen Troy so proud.  He pumped his fists in the air every time she did something correct.

Now, just so my head doesn't expand too much, I will admit that Sadie did fail a few exercises. She wasn't able to point out the chair or the door. She also didn't pick out the car when asked. (These were exercises for children over 1 year old, so I don't really count these :)).

Sadie wasn't quite as vocal during the session as I have seen her at home either. The ladies really wanted to her all the sounds she is making right now, but she didn't feel like cooperating. In her defense, however, the meeting was during her nap time and she was getting a little (okay a lot) cranky towards the end. All in all, a great appointment. We will be meeting with them again in about 6 months to track her progress even further. WAY TO GO SADIE!!!!

And here are a few pictures of her because I can't update the blog without showing her off :)

Happy 4th of July!!!