I am too ashamed to even look at when the date of our last post was. Life has an annoying habit of just passing you by and, before you know it, a couple of months have disappeared.

One of the problems with being a parent of a child with a CI is living with it every single day. This also has its positives, but, what is most troublesome is that you very rarely step back and notice the changes. Aunty Bee and Uncle Andy (Alice’s Godparents) are forever telling us how much they are wowed when they see Alice – “She has come on so much” they tell us.

This is (hopefully) true. It is, however, difficult sometimes to see this. Teaching Alice to speak and hear can feel a bit like pushing water up hill and then, bang, she takes a leap forward.

It is now a year since Alice was first switched on. Alice seems very proud of her new voice and is starting to construct some relatively complex sentences – “I need more biscuits” being a current favourite. That said there are days when it is still so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel – the dream that is “age appropriate speech and language”. We have to keep telling ourselves that she will get there. We know she will, but some days it is hard.

It all seems a very long time ago now that we first started on this journey. Even though it has only been a year, so much has happened in that time that I feel like I have aged 10 years in just one.

At Easter, Alice had her first visit to Disneyland Paris. (I say first as it is unlikely we will get away with not taking her back). There is nothing nicer than to hear Alice saying (in some delight) “Mishy Mouse” – it’s not perfect, but, for now, it is more than we could ever have hoped for.

Alice and Mickey

August 2008 is a month I will never forget. It was the month that we found out that our beautiful daughter was deaf and the month in which it seemed our lives would never be the same again.

In March of 2009, Alice was fitted with a cochlear implant and since then her progress has been breathtaking. This has only been possible for two reasons: Alice’s determination,patience and desire to learn and the unique help and support we have received along the way from Auditory Verbal UK.

Auditory Verbal UK is a national charity which teaches deaf children with hearing aids or cochlear implants to listen and speak. After three years of family-based Auditory verbal therapy, over 80% close the language gap and enter mainstream schools alongside their hearing friends. The charity works directly with 60 families and reaches out to many more through training programmes for professionals across the UK.

Three years ago, Chris (Alice’s Daddy), Andy (Alice’s Godfather) and James sat down and decided that, as rowers of historical prowess, that to spend a week or so rowing the Upper Thames would be an experience we would always cherish and look back on with fond memories in our old age. We are now doing it for a real purpose.

91 Miles, 30 locks, in three days not seven. That’s 10-12 hours rowing a day. We must be mad.

Not every family currently has the ability to access the wonderful work and support that AV UK provide. We are aiming to raise £3,000 (or well North of) to help other families to see and experience the benefits Alice has been lucky enough to enjoy.

This is not a row for Alice, it is a row to help the countless children for whom AV UK might provide their best hope of integrating fully with their hearing peers in the hearing world.

Please help us by visiting: www.justgiving.com/three-men-in-a-boat