"Oh my gosh, that's so cool."

This was an exact quote from Aubrey the other day, and probably my favorite one so far. We are five months post implant activation, and Aubrey is progressing beautifully. We are having so much fun conversing. Yes, we are having conversations! This is something I feared would never happen. She is also eavesdropping on conversations. For instance, I was ordering a pizza via the phone and after I hung up, she said "pizza man coming to our house?" I wondered if I had told her this, but then I realized that she heard me talking on the phone. This may seem like little everyday occurrences to most people, but to us it's the coolest, most amazing event. We go crazy, and Aubrey must think we're crazy! The other day in the car, we about had an accident because Aubrey said: "Daddy, will you sit next to me after we eat?" A ten word sentence that was quite clear. You better believe that daddy sat next to her. :)

Aubrey can also sing the complete ABC's and count to 20 now. She loves to sing, but put her in front of a crowd and she freezes. She gets this honestly from both Tim and I - a double whammy. But, she is quite the social butterfly these days. She is talking more in front of people, even strangers. She is in the phase where she is asking a ton of questions: "who's that?", "who gave to me?", "what's her name?", "what are you talking about?". She always wants to be part of the conversation. Grandma Erb took her to her first play/musical - Pinkalicious. I came along too, and it was so much fun. Aubrey was so engaged and was able to discuss what was going to happen next. Afterwards, she kept talking about how she wanted to go back to Pinkalicious' house and give her a hug.

We continue to be very busy with school and speech. Aubrey's articulation is improving. Some days it feels like it's progressing slow, but according to the research this typically improves over time. Aubrey will be in a childcare setting this summer with typical hearing peers, and it will be interesting to see how this goes. I think it will be very good for her. She will also be in summer school at Northern Voices in July. We are really looking forward to having some fun this summer and enjoying all the amazing things that Aubrey is doing and saying.  In summary, "oh my gosh, that's so cool."

I promise not to go so long with posting a new update. I don't know where the time goes!