Telephone

It has been hard for me to get used to my daddy being gone on the nights he is in class late. I like it best when he gives me my bath and reads me my night night stories, I mean Mom is OK but she is not nearly as entertaining as Dad.

Anyway, I am beginning to get into the routine (it is only two nights a week) and to help me feel even better Dad calls me to say night night!! I get so excited when the phone rings and his photo pops up.

I do a lot of smiling, nodding and signing "I love you"....

 

Occasionally I say "yes" (and look goofy, apparently:)......

And at the end of the conversation I say very softly (and sweetly) "Night, night Daddy".

Thank you for calling me Daddy, and thank you to my CI's for allowing me to not only hear that someone is on the other end of the phone but to recognize that it is my dad's voice and to understand what is being said..........

The Helper

I love to help out around the house and "clean!", especially when it comes to feeding the cats, sweeping the floor and dusting the tables. I also love clean warm clothes, fresh out of the dryer. I try to be helpful by folding the laundry with Mom, but a lot of the time I just end up in the laundry basket.

 

 Here I am laid back and relaxing.....

 Ripley cat is enjoying himself as well.

I am pretty darn cute.

 

Trick or Treat!

Yesterday was Halloween, what a special day! I am not so into dressing up so I wore my pumpkin shirt and skeleton pants, and an awesome hat (sometimes:).

We went over to Eliana's to Trick-or-Treat in  her neighborhood, it was so fun to go up to houses and have candy put into my bag! I did my best at saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" and I wasn't shy at all!

After we got back to Eliana's we each got to pick out one piece of candy from our bags- we both chose lollipops, my first one ever and it was yummy!!

Eliana was a bumble bee, how cute is she?!

Here we are last year, it seems that not much has changed at all:)..................

Popcorn for Lunch!

Today is Friday!!! I love Friday because it means that it is almost the weekend when I get to have extra time with Daddy. I think Mom likes it too:) We have had such a busy week and I have done such an awesome job that Mom let us have popcorn for lunch!!!!!!! Oh wow!!! We used the amazing air popper, how cool!

Here are Mom and I watching it go "pop, pop, pop!".

Look how it is filling up the bowl!

I was the first to taste test it....

And it got a "thumb's up!" (hard to tell because I am so fast the camera can barely capture my hands!)

Yummy!

I love popcorn!

And I love my mom too (even when her hair is in my face:)

Happy Friday!!!

So Proud

My mom has been pretty proud of me lately. I am Isaac and I am always amazing, but I guess that I have been extra awe-mazing. Tuesday was music class and it was so much fun! I "sang" along to a few songs and also went and sat with my teacher, a huge change from past classes when I was clinging to Mom constantly. It just takes me a while to warm up to new situations, my mom should know that by now!

Then on Wednesday, we went to WESD for a hearing test. I did really well at my last one, but that was at OHSU and when Dad was able to come. Anyway, this time I walked right into the sound booth like I owned the place and asked for the ice cream because it is my favorite toy that we play with in the sound booth at OHSU. WESD didn't have the ice cream toy but they had a lot of other stuff to play with. They gave me a block and asked me to hold it by my ear until I heard a sound, then I was supposed to drop it into the bucket that a nice assistant was holding. We have done variations of this many times, in therapy and at home, and I have been so-so on really paying attention and playing. Well on Wednesday at WESD I shocked my mom by immediately, and happily playing along. I even started imitating the "ch-ch" sound I kept hearing. I filled that bucket with all of my "I heard that" blocks, all they way down to 10db!!!!!!! Then the assistant held a board with some pictures of objects on it and Glenda talked to me through the microphone in the sound booth. First she asked me to point out the hot dog, well I didn't know what a hot dog was (thanks to vegetarian Mom:) but I quickly learned. I pointed out the ice cream cone, bath tub, hot dog and airplane, all while Glenda kept lowering the volume of her voice. I am a rock star!!!!! When I was done, I got an awesome bee sticker and Mom got all teary (she is such a sap). Angie and Glenda said it was OK for Mom to be emotional because I am doing so well, I guess it was a big deal.

Just recently I have been saying my name more often, here is a little video of me pointing out our tooth brushes (Mom, Daddy and Isaac) and doing a little counting. I am not speaking my clearest here but I think it is still something to be very proud of!!!

Up and Down

Not only is "up and down" one of my favorite phrases, it also describes what life is like with a two and a half year old. I have been keeping Mom so busy that she has not had a chance to help me update my blog.

I never even posted about my visit with Don, which was almost a month ago. It went really well. I did great in the sound booth and was responding between 10 and 20db! I was supposed to have some Mapping done but I am still really nervous when he hooks my processor up to the computer, it reminds me of my second activation. I did so well in the sound booth and at identifying pictures of objects for Don that he decided we didn't need to adjust anything, hooray!

I also got to have a playdate with my buddy, Jack. We don't see each other very often but when we do, we have a blast! Our mom's failed at taking even one photo of us together (thanks, ladies!) but we were darn cute! We went to the park, went on the teeter-totter, played with cars and ate lunch together. I was even saying his name which is a big step for me.

Last week I went to Eliana's house and got to play on a BIG piano, it was so awesome!!!! Kelsey is really good at playing, maybe someday I will take lessons. Until then, I am content with just sitting next to Eliana and playing what sounds good to us!

School is also going well. There are two new girls who both have implants so that is pretty cool. I am also taking a music class with my mom and I am liking it more each week. The fall weather has been very nice and we have been taking a lot of walks to the park, I LOVE the park.

I am learning new words each day and trying very hard to communicate and tell stories. I even sing some songs! "Clean Up" (we sing this in school) and "Moon, Moon, Moon" are my favorites.

In down news, we have all been sick in our house. Especially Mom and I. Now I have a cough that only happens at night and wakes me up over and over, so annoying. It also has been hard with Dad back in school full time, I miss him so much. Some mornings I call "Da-eee, Da-eee" over and over when he is walking out the door, it makes me feel so sad to see him leaving. But I do get to hang out with him every morning (especially when I wake up at 5 or 6:) so that is good. I have been using a whiny type voice that seems to annoy my family, I am working on it but it is hard when I feel frustrated. Though, when I do get upset and throw a tantrum I have not been throwing my ears, well once in a while maybe but for the most part I just lay on the ground and cry until I feel better. Hey, I am two- what can you expect?!

There is No Place Like Home

We just got back from a cruise. A short four night cruise but a very LONG trip. Let's just say that I was a bit out of my element for the majority of the time. Two and a half is hard, man! Like Meryl the cat in one of my favorite books "My Big Dog", I like to have my own things and be on a routine schedule.

I also like MY bed (well crib for now, but one day soon it may be a big boy bed).

I also love MY sofa with MY daddy (which I know say all of the time "daaa-eeee!!"), MY plates with MY favorite foods and MY cat bailey.

I mean, don't get me wrong, there were some high points of the trip. Like the huge chess set on the ship.

And the cookies, how I loved those cookies....

Booooya!

Our room was pretty awesome and the fact that the verandah was right next to Grandma and Grandpa Jim made it even better.

The view changed all of the time and that was pretty cool, my family really enjoyed that.

A high point was a stop in Astoria (yes, the cruise stopped in Oregon, when we travel we go FAR:) where there was an awesome play ground, I really needed to run off some energy!

I even slept pretty well on the cruise, one time in Dad's arms (this is rare for me but I was EXHAUSTED).

And every morning I got to eat my favorite, eggs!!! These were hard boiled and so delicious!

But it was hard for me to get settled and feel as comfortable as I do at home. I get really frustrated sometimes and don't know how to express it so I throw my ears. This really seems to irritate my parents, especially when we were on the cruise. They kept telling me that my ears could go overboard and that would be very sad. I don't want to hurt my special ears so I am working on taking them off and handing them over to my parents if I feel frustrated- I am only two and a half so this will take some time...........

Gentle Giant

This is me with my dad's cat, Ripley.

He might look ferocious but the only tough bone in his body is his overly aggressive love.

He has taught me how to pet cats, very gently.

And how much fun it is to have a special, furry, buddy.

I love you Ripley Cat!

Thumbs Up

When I really like something or am excited about something I give a big thumbs up and exclaim "Nice!!!" (I learned this from my dad, no doubt:). I got to pick out new shoes a few weeks ago. My favorite color is blue, like Thomas blue, and I found some awesome shoes in that same wonderful color. They totally got my thumbs up!

My favorite Italian Ice at Saturday Market also gets a big thumbs up (as does the music).

Kisses from Eliana are also quite deserving of a thumbs up, "Nice!!"

Flowers are another favorite of mine, especially when I have one in each hand.

 And, of course, ice cream cones with Grandma (and Dad, ha, ha). Double thumbs up, "Nice, Nice!!!"

Night, Night Moon!!!

I love the book "Goodnight Moon", and any other books with moons in them (there are quite a few!). My favorite phrase to say is "Night, Night Moon!" (sounds more like "nigh, nigh moon"). This seems to thrill my parents, I even point out the moon in the daytime.

I have also started to say "I want" ("I-wan") which I usually pair with something like "more eggs!!" or "open" or "off" or some other command:) My parents say that they are very proud of me and give me lots of cheers and thumbs up when I say these things so I am starting to use these words and phrases more and more often. I still love my favorite Broken Social Scene video and ask for it over and over "I-wan oohhhh!".

When I count (like the oranges below) I mostly like to say "eight" and "nine".