This past weekend was a fun one for our family. Friday night we made a spontaneous trip to the Kirby Science Discovery Center in Sioux Falls. We had forgotten that it was the "Free First Friday" night. The place was packed! And it was noisy and loud. I was disappointed that it was so loud and we had forgotten the Neptune Connect. It's the part that fits onto Audrena's processor to allow us to change her programming slot. We could not change her program to Clear Voice without it. So she would have nothing to help her filter out the noise. As it turns out, my disappointment was short-lived. As we let Audrena explore, I stood about 3-4 feet from her and said her name. She turned to me immediately! We then decided to test it out. Randy was a little farther from her, at maybe 5-6 feet. She did not respond. It seemed that as long as we were within the yardstick, she could hear us! She even repeated some of what we said to her throughout the evening!
There is a display where you can launch a hot air balloon. It travels up a cable from first floor to second floor. On the second floor, you can watch it come up. Audrena would squat down, and when someone would launch it from below, she would stand as it rose and say, "Up! Up!" There is also a train display, where she announced, "Ooo ooo! (choo choo)" She roared at the dinosaur, ran around the floor piano, and raced little cars down the track.
Reyana and Kelton thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well! They played lots of games that Audrena wasn't quite old enough for, as well as some that they included her in. They also played with displays we didn't let Audrena participate in. Several had magnets of varying strength. While they were probably just fine, we didn't take any chances. Then there was the little kids' room with the water area. We didn't have the waterproof mic or cable with us, so Audrena did not play in there, either. Next time I will remember to bring the necessary accessories!
Also over the weekend, the big kids were playing in the basement toy room. Audrena was upstairs with us. She walked to the baby gate we keep across the stairs and said to Randy, "Want down!" He didn't answer her right away, and she again repeated, "Want down," pointing at the basement. He said, "You want to go downstairs?" She replied, "Yeah!" Well, how could we deny her when she told us what she wanted? So he opened the gate, helped her down the stairs, and we moved what we were doing to the basement.
Last night, I gave Audrena her favorite stuffed monkey, Pinky, at bedtime. She hugged it, kissed it, and pointed out body parts, telling me "mouth" and "eye." She loves that monkey! Also, Randy called from the other room, "Nigh night, Audrena!" She turned to the door and shouted something back at him, as if to say, "Nigh night!" I love that she can pick up sounds from other rooms with just one implant! The technology, and her own successes, continue to amaze us.
Over the weekend, Audrena also said, "Ah maaaa" and pointed at my mom's picture. That's a new one! She has not attempted to say "grandma" before. It was really special because, for those of you who don't know, my mom passed away when Audrena was 5 months old. She knew who Grandma was! We have showed her the picture and said, "There's Grandma," but she has never tried to say it before. We honestly believe Mom is Audrena's guardian angel, but that's material for a whole different blog post.
