One year ago today Irene's first cochlear implant was turned on. On that day, Irene's reaction to receiving auditory input through the implant for the first time was [to cry](http://seedsofsound.net/post/3346413109/she-cried-but-its-okay). But today, thinking about how well she can hear and understand speech, as well as all the words and phrases she can now say so well herself, Maggie and I are more likely to be the ones wiping away tears. Irene's newest phrase is "Whatcha doin'?" a la Isabella from the *Phineas and Ferb* cartoon (one of those rare shows for children that Maggie and I enjoy as much as the kids do). Maggie has had fun the past couple days saying, "Irene, whatcha doin'?" and then hearing Irene promptly respond, "Whadda do-ah?"
And so, one year in, Irene seems to be doing great. She can say dozens and dozens of words (we stopped keeping count) and can understand many more. Some words come out more clearly than others. And in fact, Irene's AVT has been saying lately that working on improving the clarity of Irene's speech is an important next step. (Some of the words that Irene pronounces clearly include *cookie*, *Marie*, and *coffee*. Examples of words that she doesn't enunciate as well yet include *elephant*, *Gilli*, and *triangle*.) In any case, it's staggering, to me, to think about how quickly the past year has flown by. It still often feels like we brought home those [two giant boxes of Cochlear equipment](http://seedsofsound.net/post/3346501145/to-follow-up-on-our-previous-post-here-is-what-we) just the other day. Maggie and I are both amazed at what has been possible in so short a time. If the question is, then: "Irene, whatcha doin'?" the answer is: listening, hearing, speaking, more and more each day. Bring on year two.
