Emma is talking up a storm! Her auditory memory is becoming more and more apparent. Auditory memory is something we do not realize we even have until we see it become apparent in someone that has not had it. Emma can now see a horse, and say "horse" as clear as can be. We will be driving and out of the back seat, we hear "horse" and immediately we start looking. And sure enough, there one is! The first thing Emma saw at the Pumpkin Patch last weekend was the horses. The photos above are proof of Emma's love for horses! She is not afraid of them either. She ran right up to them and started petting them! Then she got to go on a pony ride. She just loved that! She is saying "Mama, Dada, Uh Oh, Purple, Circle, Bubble, Cat, Eat, Thank You (and signs it), Bye Bye, More" all very consistently and unprompted or uncued. When I come in from work, I hear a big "Hi Dada!" I still get teary-eyed hearing it. Emma's new thing is to come into the office and turn the volume on the computer up real loud and play Landon's Hot Wheels game. She loves to turn the volume up and point to her ear to tell us she hears it. Then she turns it completely down, raises her hand as if to say "where did it go?" and then back up again. Emma also does not like for her brother to go to school. She runs around the house with her arms up in the air with a big question mark on her face looking for Landon. They are truly the best of friends. Tonight, she was up later than him and she had to go into his room while he was asleep to give him a kiss and pat his head----this is why we call her 'Mother Hen'.

Emma had her six month post-implant evaluation. She tested at around 1 year and 8 months on average for all parameters. This means that she is now less than a year behind in her communication skills. Six months ago (pre-implant), she tested at about 8-10 months. Her cortical response testing also shows that the auditory part of the cortex is now "within normal limits" (as compared to a 'normal' hearing child at the same age)! This means that the auditory part of the cerebral cortex is equivalent to her age-appropriate peers. This is the major reason to implant early in life (or within 3 years of going deaf). Studies indicate that children that go longer, may never catch up in cortical development. Emma has caught up within 6 months of the implant being activated!!! Truly a miracle! We also tested Emma at home without her implant and with only her hearing aid the other day. She still has pretty good hearing with the hearing aid and can repeat the Ling Six Sounds with the hearing aid only!!! All signs indicate that Emma is right on track (actually ahead of schedule according to some) in her communication development. Amy and I think this is because of the hearing she did have early in her infancy. Needless to say, things could not be better on all fronts! We could not be more proud of what Emma has accomplished!

Monday October 4, 2004-NEW PHOTOS POSTED HERE! I have really dropped the ball as far as updates go! It has been a month since my last update and so much has happened. I have taken a new position at a new company recently so I have not had the time to update the site. Emma continues to make incredible strides, thanks to all the hard work that her mother does with her everyday! Emma now says "Hi Dada!" everytime I walk in the door and loudly tells everyone "Hi!" when she sees them. She continues to enjoy music and will stop dancing and raise her arms up in question when the music is turned down or off. Then when it is restarted she starts clapping and dancing again. Truly amazing!