Happy Birthday

 How do you go from this:

To this:

Happy 4th Birthday to my Buster, my Little Dude, to my Sweet Boy. Happy 4th Birthday to my guy who makes me so stinkin' proud everyday. You make Daddy and I so happy Christian! You are an incredible big brother to your "Bean" and she loves you so much too! 

On the day you were born, you were 9lbs. Now you're over 40! Even though you are so big, you still let Mommy cuddle you and hold you. You love your Star Wars guys, all things Toy Story, and ANYTHING sweet. I love how you have my sweet tooth! You are just about the smartest little boy I know, and you amaze me everyday. I love you so much Christian. You are my favorite little boy in the whole wide world!

2 Years Old. My Sweet Pea.

Sweet Pea.
Angel Baby.
Peanut.
Lovey.
Little Love.
Baby Baby.
Baby Girl.
Lilybean.
Bean.

Over the past 2 years, our sweet girl has acquired many nicknames. Some days she's all sugar. Some day's she's all spice. And some days, she's a little devil who can wreck just about anything in her path. She lives up to all her nicknames. She really is my little love. She really is a peanut. She REALLY IS my Angel Baby.

Happy 2nd Birthday to my special little girl. I so love watching you grow.

Celebration Shots

I can't believe I neglected to post these pictures from Christian's 2nd Hearing Birthday celebration. We ended up leaving for our trip to Michigan on his actual hearing birthday, and decided to celebrate once we got back. Once again, our close family friends came to celebrate, and once again, we cheered on Christian, had cake, and drank an amazing bottle of wine. Christian loved his Lightening McQueen Cake!

I'm beyond grateful for the friendship and love that we share with our friends, especially Christian and Lily's Aunt Alison and Uncle Dave. They've held our hands and cheered us on every step of the way with our CI journey. We're so lucky to have them in our lives!

*yes, we used the cake topper from Christian's cake as a cork.

How Far We've Come...All The Hard Work

This is by far one of the BEST videos that I've captured over the past 2 years. This was our daily routine, a little of Mommy Speech Therapy everyday at our kitchen table. 

A Beautiful Gift--Looking Back at 6 Months Post Activation

This video was taken 6 months after Christian's Cochlear Implant activation. He was just about 20 months old. I remember this day like it was yesterday. I remember feeling my heart almost burst with joy listening to Christian's voice. This was such a moment of clarity for me, as I knew that he was going to be ok.  All the uncertainty was replaced by a sense of wonder. 

How Far We've Come...

As we approach Christian's 2nd Hearing Birthday this week it's hard to not be completely in awe of just how far Christian has come in 2 short years. Over the next few days I'll be highlighting some of my favorite videos and pictures from our journey. 

This is one my favorite early videos. Taken just after Christian turned 1 year old, we were well into our candidacy process for his Cochlear Implant. At just 12 months of age, glimpses of the talkative and expressive boy that we know now are evident. I also just love this video as it shows how Christian used his signs AND words together, further showcasing how our family saw just how sign language truly helped develop Christian's spoken language. While signing is reserved for special situations and is rarely used on a day to day basis, it will always have a place in our home and our history.

How Far We've Come

We had a little birthday celebration yesterday with our close friends and their children. While Christian's actual birthday was 5 weeks ago, his actual party needed to be postponed a bit due to his sister's arrival. With the help of our good friends who chipped in by bringing a moonbounce, and even making the cake, we were able to throw Christian a fun celebration with his buddies.

I was thinking back to his 1st birthday party that we had with all of our friends. My sweet little man, while happy and all smiles, couldn't hear us singing "Happy Birthday" to him. What a difference a year makes. Christian was actually singing "Happy Birthday" with us. His language is absolutely amazing, telling his buddies yesterday "Logan and Chase come downstairs?" and "Come on Jonah!", and even "Logan go play basketball downstairs".

Sometimes I have to just take a deep breath and really take in the miracle that is the Cochlear Implant. When we embarked on this journey just 9 months ago, I never thought in a million years that by his 2nd birthday he would be talking in 5-6 word sentences and singing familiar songs. We work so very hard with him, send him to the best school we can, and celebrate each and every new word or phrase with him. Christian is just WIRED for language, and it is so wonderful watching him blossom and interact with his friends. It truly is a miracle.

Happy Birthday Christian!

Dear Christian,
I can't believe that you are 2 years old today! Where has the time gone? It feels like just yesterday that we brought YOU home from the hospital!

Everyday you make us so proud. You work so hard to listen and learn, and not a day goes by where you don't amaze us with your beautiful words!

You are such a sweet, silly, and funny little boy. Daddy and I love you so much, and we are so excited that you are 2 years old today!

Love,
Mommy