Derby Mayhem on Wheels

Lola chose Derby Day, of all days, to try her hand at driving an actual powered vehicle. It was pure terror for the parental units.

Lola and her dad also went to the Pegasus Parade together. Lola was very interested, but was mainly into the horses. She kept saying "ready for horses" when they were coming and "more horses" after they passed. When told she would have to wait for more horses, she got a little upset. So we walked down the side street where the horses were feeding into the parade and there were horses for blocks and blocks! More horses than she could ever hope for! At the end, she said "wow" and I said "yeah." Then she said "Ready for cows."

Bad Bloggers

We have been very bad bloggers, and we apologize. We just recently downloaded our digital cameras and had pictures from way back in December, so I've added several posts going back that far.

Lola's speech is definitely exploding. I had the very good fortune to have just returned from a wild women's weekend in Cape Cod with 5 amazing ladies, and when Derrick and Lola picked me up from the airport, she did not stop talking all the way home. I handed her a shell I had brought her back from my trip, and she took it and said perfectly, "a shell." She didn't repeat it - we didn't even know she knew that word! Derrick also informed me that while I was gone, he called her a baby, and she corrected him, "not baby, girl." It's so exciting because now she's really sharing her own thoughts with us. And we know she's got lots of them, so keep it coming! We thought her energy had reached a whole new level when she turned 2, but it's reached yet another level now that she is 3. Wow! She's definitely keeping us busy!

Snow

What a crazy amount of snow! So much snow, they even closed the library, which never happens! SNOW DAY! We went sledding, we played with the snow inside, we ate snow ice cream, we played hide & seek inside, we built a snowman, and we went for walks. Lola loved the snow, but not so much the cold, wet part of the snow - she didn't last too long outside, but was very happy to play with the snow inside (and eat the snow ice cream!)

Maple Syrup Festival

Our fourth year in a row to visit the Maple Syrup Festival! Great fun as always!

Our First Parent/Teacher Conference

We feel so grown-up! We met with Lola's teacher, Sydney today for Lola's first parent-teacher conference. They give Lola the unofficial most improved award for their class, as she is doing really well. When she went to the 2 year old class, it was only one day a week for two hours, and she liked it, but she didn't talk to us about it afterwards, like some of the other kids did. We definitely can see a big difference now that she goes to school 5 days a week, 3 hours a day. The consistency is really helping, and she seems to understand what she's supposed to do. Routine is working for her. Sydney told us she was grateful that we do continue to sign with Lola as it helps her a lot. Lola will demonstrate that she did understand plus it helps to make clear what she is saying.


Lola has been doing some chores around the house now. She feeds the dogs and cats (with help of course) and also helps when we walk the dogs by holding Jackson's leash. Our animals are very good to put up with her aggressive love.

Puttin' Her to Work

Girl's gotta earn her keep around here . . .

Turtle Glasses!

Unfortunately I'm not as good of a photographer as Derrick because I didn't get in the frame that she was also signing "turtle" and looking at herself with her fun turtle glasses!

Three Word Sentence

Lola's language is really taking off. She told her dad in both sign and vocally - "cat hurt Lola." Lola loves her animals very much, but sometimes her love hurts. Spike, our black and white kitty, is very patient, but even he has his breaking point. But they never stay mad at each other for long.

Happy Birthday Lola!

We were lucky to have surprise visitors to help us celebrate Lola's birthday - my niece Jill and her friend Angie came to visit just for the day. Lola seemed very pleased with her birthday present - her very own camera! She filled up the card (60 pictures) within minutes.

Thank you Elizabeth!

Now that Lola is turning three, she won't be receiving services through First Steps. We have had a wonderful experience and have been lucky to have a great team working with Lola. Elizabeth has been visiting Lola as her speech therapist for a year. We will miss her visits, but are grateful for all her help. Lola's speech is definitely growing by leaps and bounds!

Rock On!

Our neighbors stopped by for a little visit, and Wilson and Lola rocked out!

Photographer Lola's First Day of School!

Lola started five-day-a-week school at LDOS today and immediately decided she wanted to major in photography. Right on!

Happy Holidays!

Sorry we've been such bad bloggers! Quick update: Lola is constantly surprising us with her language development. She loves the alphabet and can say all the letters and sign them. She likes to point to them and say them aloud. Her speech is getting clearer all the time. And she's finally using her language to tell us what she wants - during one of our many car trips this past week, she asked "where's cookie?" with both sign and vocalizing. We'll post more soon. Hope you all had lovely holidays!

Holiday Family Time

We were lucky to squeeze in family time with both sides for the holidays. Susan's entire family got together for the weekend, and we were with Derrick's family for the actual holidays. Lola and her cousin Jessica had a wonderful time together and were so cute on Christmas morning with the presents and boxes and wrappings. Good times!

1st Annual Louisville Cookie Party

We had our first cookie party inviting nieces and neighbors. I've been making holiday cookies with my sister supposedly since I was born, so I wanted to start the tradition with Lola in our house. We had a great time - they all made very beautiful cookies! A quick check for Lola's hearing: just say the word "cookie" - I swear she can hear that from across the room over other conversations.

The Gash: one year later

We couldn't possibly imagine last year at this time that this scar would ever heal flat, but it has! I've kept her hair trimmed to even out her side mullet, and it's almost even now, so we might just have to let it grow and see what that looks like. Although she does look awful cute with short hair!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

One Year Hearing Anniversary

It's hard to believe, but we started this blog over a year ago on the day that Lola had her implant surgery. She was "turned on" September 20th 2006, so we celebrated her "hearing birthday" by going to a party Thursday night (see picture) and a concert Friday night with Uncle John and cousins Zoe and Vivian in Jeffersonville. Sometimes it's hard not to compare her to other children her age or younger and see how much they are talking, but then we are reminded that it's only been a year that her implant has been activated and she is making incredible progress. If you compare her to a one year old, she is right on track. I think this great video will give you an idea of how well she's doing.

Lola has really been vocalizing lately. This video may seem like regular baby babble to most people, but it's a big step for us! Remember, she's completely deaf.

Notice the stylish Four Roses Bourbon tattoo on her arm!

Lola on Horseback

The Beasley/Dognaux clan took a short trip to Barren River State Park in southern Kentucky this weekend. Susan attended a conference on Monday and Tuesday while Derrick and Lola went swimming and rode horses. Lola's definitely a Kentucky girl (although Susan constantly has to remind me that Lola was actually born in Indiana); she couldn't get enough of that horse! We had to take her kicking and screaming all THREE times she rode Sam. Oh, and the woman that runs the stables has a cochlear implant!

Born cowgirl.I'm not quite sure where she got this, but Lola kept waving one hand in the air like she was in a rodeo!

Lola REALLY Likes Her New Crayon Markers!

Lola Meets John Coltrane