Happy 2nd Hearing Birthday, Sienna!

It has now been 2 years post-activation and I have to say she has come along way. If you would have told me that in 2 years , since she was first activated, Sienna would be where she’s at today, I would have had trouble believing you. Here are some stories about how awesome our little girl is doing!

1. She was eating her plate of supper…I told her in French “Quand tu as fini souper, tu peux aller jouer au parc”, so she turns to her English speaking cousin and says, “When I’m all done supper, I can go play.” WOW!
2. Just last month, she sang “Frere Jacques” a French lullaby to her great-grandma while her uncle was playing the guitar…she didn’t have all the words or the tune but it was so cute that she did it!
3. While in the other room, I told Rylee, her older sister, to go upstairs and get dressed. Sibling competition, drove Sienna out of that room and upstairs beating her older sister. (She listens and understands even if she isn’t face to face with the person!)
4. She sat down for the first time ever through a story about a girl and a boy on a canoe ride. Then a few days later while everyone else is telling stories by the fire, she turns to me and says I would like to talk and tell a story. So we got everyone’s attention and she told the story of the girl and boy on their canoe ride. She was missing parts but everyone got the main idea of the story.
5. She’ll pick up a book and will make up a story while looking at the pictures.
6. She had her very first phone conversation which made sense! With my mom! In English!
7. Many, many more!!!

There are many more moments that I am very proud of…these are just a few!

We just returned from our 2nd year post-activation at the Glenrose in Edmonton and they are just as proud of her as we are. She is still hearing at a 15-20db and all 22 electrodes are working on both sides. We also did a language assessment. First part was in French. She repeated words which I said on the other side of the booth while covering my mouth so she wouldn’t lip read. A French SLP wrote them down as she would pronounce them. There were 3 lists, one list for the right CI, one for the left and then one for both. She did amazing and better when she had her 2 CI’s on, just goes to show how important bilateral is! Then she followed French orders with Mr. Potato Head and missed a few but did well. The last part of our long morning was an English recorded comprehension test. Our audiologist asked if we wanted to try an English test and I said we can just not sure how much English she really understands. Well, she blew us away! Example, the recording would say something like, “Help me with my shoes please!” and there would be a picture of a boy eating, a boy washing his hands and a boy putting his shoes on and Sienna would have to pick out the one that made sense. I can’t wait to get the report back and share it with you. Stay tuned!

Now I’m off to prepare for Sienna’s 4th birthday party! The ladybug celebration is Sunday, August 28th. It’s so exciting to see her face and excitement as we talk about it. She is 4 and NOW understands that her birthday is in 3 sleeps!