Hello everyone!
I just looked at our last post on here and it has been just over A YEAR since we last had an update! Apologies for our drop in updates... we've been a little busy over here with the newest member of Team Faz who made her appearance on February 11th...
Meet Eleanor Bea!
Miss Ellie is 6.5 months old, 18 pounds, and 29 inches of pure joy right now! She is rolling all over the place (we'll be spending our weekend babyproofing), getting so close to sitting on her own, loving all of the new foods she's trying, and sleeping so well!
This kiddo did not miss a beat, jumping in with the #FazStrong-est attitude of all of us! Eleanor was born with a bilateral profound hearing loss, meaning that she is deaf in both ears. We are doing some genetic testing to understand why she has a hearing loss, and she is already following in her Dad's footsteps with a brain MRI at just 10 weeks old. All of her anatomy is there, so we are hopeful that she'll be a great candidate for cochlear implants coming up in November.
Regardless of the opportunity to get CI's, our family (15+ of us on Zoom every week!) has been taking classes together, learning ASL from a Deaf teacher. It's been very challenging and also so incredible to see her respond to us signing with her every day. We hope to always sign with Ellie, giving her the chance to learn for the Deaf community and decide how she wants to communicate with us.
A few weekends ago, we went to Buffalo for Ellie’s baby naming ceremony and our family surprised us by learning to sign a song for us! We were beyond moved and are so lucky to share this moment with all of you!
Chris is getting ready for his first in-person days with students since March 2020. He is excited for the school year to start up next week and see his students in person again!
We are gearing up to participate again in the Jimmy Fund Walk -- last year you helped us to raise over $5,800! If you have $1 to spare, we'd again appreciate your donation that helps us support the incredible medical team we have at Dana-Farber.
We'll be sure to keep you all updated later this year as we start the journey for cochlear implants and hope to see you all again soon <3
Stay safe and healthy!
-Andrea, Chris, and Eleanor