Elleis 18 months old now and doing great.
As many of you know Elle was born with hearing loss that was originally detected during a newborn screening. The inconclusive results then led us to Cincinnati Children’s hospital where she received several ABR tests (auditory brainstem response hearing test).
When those test showed mild hearing loss it was assumed that she would lose all of her hearing because that is what happened with her big sister. However, the doctors still wanted to do a genetic test just in case there was a different reason for Elle to have hearing loss.
Turns out that slim chance actually came true and Elle has a different type of hearing loss than her big sister SJ.
That’s when the doctors wanted to test my genetics to see how we were ending up with all of these different results. The tests showed that I have a genetic hearing loss and it is the same kind that was passed on to Elle.
It all turned out just fine in the end, but what a wild emotional rollercoaster we were on last year. I share that backstory to say with great enthusiasm that Elle is starting to talk and we are ecstatic! There was so much hanging on her hearing loss that we didn’t expect these first words to come as soon as they have and every single utterance has been music to our ears.
She doesn’t have any sentences yet, but she is using new spontaneous language every single day.
It’s been so much fun watching her explore and discover the world around her. I think one-year-olds are my favorite. I really love this age sooooo much.
The thumb sucking is still going strong and the funny thing is Elle loves to put one hand in her mouth and the other down my shirt.
She does it to J too.
The other thing is grabbing her ponytail. She sticks her thumb in her mouth and the other hand reaches up and grabs her ponytail.
I don’t mind the thumbsucking. In fact I am glad she is able to self sooth, but I do worry about when she turns two and we try to potty train, wean from breastfeeding, and wean from thumbsucking. I know we won’t be able to make all of those abrupt changes at once. That would be crazy! I just haven’t decided what order to do it all in. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
The good news is she is already in her own little bed and she also moved from the baby carseat (shown below) to the next size up.
That’s the latest for this little lady. We are looking forward to a fun summer!
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