Although we have not yet bought a house, we feel as if we have settled into Canberra and we are really loving it. We have met so many great people (and re-connected with a few old friends) and we really believe this is now the place we would like to build a home for our family.
Hanging out with Papa
Isabel is doing fantastically. She has full access to sound and is babbling away. Lots of 'Ahhh's, & 'Mmmm's and there have even been a few 'Umm-Ma's'.....which of course I think is 'Mama'...not totally convinced she quite knows what it means yet, but I am just so thankful that she is saying it regardless!
Loves her watermelon!
She is eating like a racehorse! Breakfast of porridge and banana followed by a bottle before her morning nap. Lunch and dinner menus include all types of veges, fish, chicken, spag bol, casseroles...the works! She loves feeding herself also and is a big fan of vegemite toast and yoghurt.
She is sitting up very confidently while she plays with her toys and is now rocking forward to her hands and pulling herself onto her tummy and dragging herself along....wont be long till those little legs get up and going!! Unfortunately however, sleeping is still very inconsistent. She will sleep thru one night and we think 'this is it, woohoo!!' then the next 3 nights she will stir and cry all night. She can't quite seem to find her rhythm. To be fair though we have been traveling quite a bit (as usual) with back to back weekends in NZ and then the coast....although its not looking like changing for a few months so for Izzy it is going to become 'routine' to have NO 'routine'.
On the plane to Auckland
Keeping her 'ears' on remains a constant challenge...she now thinks its a game to take them off and wait for a reaction from us.... we try not to react at all and instead try to distract her while we take them out of her hands and put them back on. Occasionally I will turn around she she will be sucking on them and ill have to really give them a good wipe to get all the saliva off! Just how splash resistant are they?!! Hoping she will soon realise that she needs them to hear and won't want to take them off (however I am assured by other parents of kids with CIs that they are the ultimate negotiating tool in favour of the children during tantrums later!!).
The only real CI issue we have had is a few times it seems like Isabel is getting some sort of feedback or interference. She will all of a sudden jump at every noise and then cry hysterically. It only last for a moment and she settles as soon as I give her a cuddle, but something is giving her a real fright and I can't quite figure out what it is. I have checked her settings on the processor remote and nothing changes, the first time it happened I was using my mobile when she was on my lap so I thought that was it, but it has happened a few more times in other situations now also. All a bit strange, but only happened 3 times in total so will keep watching and see if I can identify what is consistent when it happens.
Isabel had her first proper beach day a few weekends ago at the south coast....she wasn't so sure about the water (it was freezing!!), but she loved the sand and the wind and ended up falling asleep on my shoulders on the walk home.
Enjoying the sand in her fingers
She has been spending a lot of time with Lyla and Jade (daughters of our good friends) which she seems to love as they dote on her endlessly and give her lots of cuddles and kisses...they are also helping toughen her up a little with the occasional over-excited push or pull! When we were at the coast Jade took off down the hall with Isabel in her walker, her little legs peddling in the air, they somehow managed to miss all the tables and shelves and Izzy was laughing out loud while we all chased after them.
Playing with Lyla and Jade
We are so excited for the holidays which are fast approaching. We are off to Adelaide next week, then Isabel's first Christmas and then off on our first beach holiday as a family to Queensland...will be so nice to relax for a few weeks and reflect on what has been a pretty unbelieveable year. I can honestly say this has been the biggest roller coaster year of my life so far and most certainly a 'sliding door moment' for our family. But fate has a funny way of getting you to where you are supposed to be. 2012 is going to be huge for us for so many reasons....I can't wait!!
M.
x
we had a similar problem a while ago with Matilda startling at noise. We figured that the map was out, so we had her remapped and everything was fine after that. It might be worth trying if the problem continued. Oh, and a tip for your QLD holiday. We live on the Sunny Coast, so head to the beach/water quite a bit. We leave processors on at the beach, except for during actual swimming, and just use a lycra swimming cap to ensure that they don't come off. Latex doesn't work as it is too tight, but we find the lycra ones are good. It means that she can enjoy splashing around in rock pools and still hear what is going on.
ReplyDelete