Hannahlicious

Hannah's recovery has been astounding. She managed to sleep through the night, waking up only to eat. We were warned Hannah might get quiet without any access to sound. It made the decision to implant both ears at once more difficult, but at such an incredibly young age, we decided one surgery was best. By Thursday morning, Hannah made her first sound, which was her usual loud giggle when she saw Sam. This was of course music to our ears. By noon, the day following surgery, we took off Hannah's bandages and she got busy playing with her toys, getting back into her groove. We were giddy. We holed up in our apartment, read a lot of books and played with all her favorite toys. Even though Hannah can't hear, she is heavily relying on her visuals more than ever and soaking up everything she can. Every hour we saw noticeable improvement with Hannah returning to her old smiley, playful self -- just quieter.

On Friday, Michael was back to work, so my mom came to make a special visit and the two of them had a grand old time. They sang, read stories, waved, clapped and laughed like best of friends. If laughter is the best medicine, then Hannah will back in action in no time. Grandma also brought Hannah a special lamb puppet from the Central Park Zoo, which brought a huge smile to Hannah (and Grandma).

Grandma reading Hannah a story about giraffes. It must be a funny one.

Saturday marked Hannah's first foray into the city since the surgery. It was one of those warmish winter afternoons we've come to enjoy so much this season. We decided to head west through Central Park, a.k.a. Hannah's backyard. When we got back, Hannah's first friend Parker dropped by the apartment. It's so cute to see them play together. They enjoyed playing with a musical turtle that Parker brought for Hannah. Parker also brought Hannah an awesome tank top from her favorite store (I mean mine) Sprout that I can't wait for her to wear.

First Friends Parker and Hannah

Sunday brought Hannah's very special Aunt Kathy and Uncle Fred to visit and Hannah dazzled them with her beautiful smile. They brought Hannah as special "Tickle Monkey" that shakes its hands in fits of laughter when you tickle its belly. This of course made Hannah laugh so we tickled the monkey just to hear Hannah laugh some more.

Hannah figuring out how to make her new monkey giggle.

All-in-all, we couldn't be more please with Hannah's surgery. Dr. Alexiades and the entire staff at NYEE were amazing and her recovery was luckily and amazingly very fast. It's hard to believe it's over and we start with our therapy sessions again this week.