Hi everyone. It's both of us (well actually all three of us) here.

This heatwave has been making us slow, lazy, and grumpy, so we haven't posted for way too long. But, pictures were promised, so pictures you shall have!

Rose is well. Incredibly cute, of course. Enjoy the pictures. We will be sitting in front of the fan.

Hey all, Ben here.

I just finished (semi)feeding Rose. Spinach, an exercise in green. And a baby in green...high chair in green, floor in green, wall in green, creepy guy down the road in green....well okay, maybe not that much, but damn, she can make a mess. She looked like a little Yoda, I kept expecting her to push me away and start feeding herself using The Force.

So you think you can dance was on tv while she was eatting. It should be called "So you think THEY can dance" cause...no..I don't think I can dance at all, and I know Tiff agrees. They are damn good dancers though, I do think they can dance, but only for a second, then I mainly think about how my entire left arm is green all of a sudden.

Anyways, pics coming, cya soon.
-Ben

Tiff here. So HOT! Holy guacamole, so so so HOT! The thermometer at the shop up the street says 106 F. That is 41 C! So, we are all spending our time just trying to stay cool. I let rose try chewing on a frozen half a peach for a cold treat. Yummy!

Rose has started to do something pretty exciting to us. She has kinda made up her own sign an is using it to talk to us! She has started to hold her own bottle sometimes, so when I am holding her while she is doing that I stroke her little bald head, which she LOVES! For the last three days, if I stop, she brings her hand up to her head and wiggles her fingers around. It is quite clearly a request to rub her head some more! It's so exciting! It's kind of like a first spoken word! Yay!

I can't wait to tell her early intervention deaf specialist. She will be so pleased. Rose has also been starting to take turns, and that is one of her big goals. Especially when she's playing with Ben. It goes tickle, stop, grunt for more, tickle, stop, grunt for more....and on and on. So cute!

It's so wonderful watching her figure out new things. Babies are awesome! More pictures coming soon, I promise.

Hello. Tiff here. Yesterday we went to see Rose's geneticist. It was a nice reminder to me how very, very lucky we are to have her here and alive and healthy and wonderful. After such a disasterous pregnancy, and coming so close to loosing her, it surprises me how easily I can forget it all. I suppose that there are reasons to forget things like that. A sort of emotional self-preservation mechanisim I imagine. But the drive to the hospital was a familiar reminder of all of the joys and sorrows and surprises we have had with our sweet Rose.

We met with the geneticist to discuss the finding of Rose's DNA tests. For those who aren't aware, Rose's deafness turns out to be genetic, although neither Ben or I have any deafness in our families. It's an autosomal recessive thing, and both Ben and I are carriers. I finally got the answer to my question "how does this make her deaf?". It's incredibly complicated, but it has to do with the flow of calcium through the cells in her cochlea...there isn't any. Apparantly the calcium is what makes the connection between cells, and then re circulates. I wish I could explain it better. But, the good news is that Rose deaf and really small, but otherwise perfect, healthy, and bright. But we knew that, now didn't we!

Hello. Tiff here.

Meet Edgar.



Edgar is the raven that we have been babysitting for some vacationing friends. He's quite the charachter.
He has an injured wing, so the can't fly, but he can hop like the dickens! He's waiting for a spot in a bird refuge, but in the meantime, he hangs out in the backyard. He goes in a pen at night, to keep him safe from cats, but in the daytime he plays with his magpie friend. We call her Lenore. They hop around the yard together and look for trouble. He's pretty cool, huh? Rose eyes his shiny tail feathers. I think she'd yank them out if we'd let her.

Rose sat up on her own for the first time yesterday! She's been so close for so long, and finally, she did it! This picture is her not really doing it, but it's close.

Hey all, Ben here, making a 4th of July post. Roses First, my second, weee.

First off, I've enabled anon comments, which should help Rose supporters lend their thoughts to the blog. The main reason is so people don't need an account on blogger.com to comment, so if you do anon comment please identify yourself, first name only for security sake. Of course, if you don't want to, thats fine too, we love hearing from you either way. =)

...wow, big bangs behind me...whew...


Anyways, more pi--what the hell is going on back there-- er, pics.




This is a pic from Tiff, showing Roses snazzy aid, one of a pair. Quite dashing, pink suits her ear, but doesn't draw attention to it, very nice.

I know mum, you have been a little upset about her deafness, but honestly, it is a real non-issue, its such a tiny part of a huge personality. And we are working hard to get her an implant, so she will hear. Its not all bad, she doesn't suffer one bit from being deaf. And tonight has shown that it can be a blessing, the big booms didn't bother her at all, and she loves the fireworks.





Second one from Tiff, showing her nifty 4th outfit. She is modeling it quite well I thought, the glint in her eye saying "I'm tiny and cute, love me", and how could you not? Its either that or she is reaching out to throttle daddy for taking so many pictures, who can tell.





This one is from me, I love the look on her face. She devours the world with her eyes and loves every minute. I think this picture shows her curiosity perfectly.





And this....explains the rashes all over the sides of her face...porcupine kisses...


Okies, till next time.
--Ben

Tiff here. I hope this clears up a few questions for some of you.

First, it should now be a bit easier to leave a comment. Brilliant Ben made a few changes that should help. But be aware that if you want to say something very personal, the whole world can see this blog, so in that case, send an email instead.

Second, a kiwi rusk (for those not in the know) has nothing to do with kiwifruit, but rather kiwi-the-people-from-New Zealand. A rusk is a teething biscuit. It's a bit different from what is available here in the USA. It's kind of like a really dense, really hard baguette about the size of my finger, which is Rose's second favorite chew toy. She got to try one for the first time yesterday. She wouldn't give it back! It's her new best friend, and thus...mine as well. It's probably a bit earlier than the recommended age, but desparate times call for desperate measures. Most of Rose's food is homemade, organic, natural type hippie food. This is a LONG way from that. It's bleached white flour and salt, for pete's sake. But Rose is a product of modern science, and she has made it perfectly clear that she will have her rusk! Hehehe.

Third, There are really two manufacturers of implants that we are looking into. One of us is leaning toward the "Advanced Bionic's HiResolution Bionic Ear System", and the other one of us leans toward the "Nucleus Freedom Cochlear Implant System by Cochlear". We would love any input you all have. You can check out what they have to say online.

http://www.advancedbionics.com/

http://www.cochlearamericas.com/index.asp

Hope that that clears up some of your questions. We are thrilled with the responses to our blog. It makes us feel much more in touch, and that is a beautiful thing. I think that it will also be a really neat record of Rose's life for her to look at when she's older.

Peace. Out.