As of 9:20am today, our Aerin Isabel turns 2 years old. When I updated our speech therapist on the status of Aerin's hearing — that she is, indeed, still hearing impaired and will need tubes placed in her ears — the reaction was one of pure shock. "Just judging by the tremendous progress she has made in the short time we've been together, I would have never guessed that she still has trouble hearing. What a trooper!" Aerin is, without a doubt, a trooper for having endured such a large portion of the past year with an impediment. For not letting that get in the way of her adventurous ways. For refusing to live in the shadows, and trying ever the harder...