The words “I love you” could not sound any sweeter for one-year-old A’deja Rivers. 

The toddler sat in her mother’s lap at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida as she received cochlear implants, allowing Rivers, who is deaf, to hear for the first time. 

“All the love that I know she feels, for her to hear it, I know we all felt like, thank God, she’s able to hear us," Rivers’ mom, Patricia Shaw, told ABC News. 

Rivers was joined by her grandparents, parents and older sister, Ja’Lynn during the appointment. Both Rivers’ father and Ja’Lynn, who wears cochlear implants, have impaired hearing. 

“It’s so exciting,” Shaw said.

Rivers’ new implants use Bluetooth technology, a major advancement for cochlear implants since they were introduced in the 1980s. 

“This is my 30th year in the industry so I have been so lucky to get to do this hundreds of times with babies and young children,” said Shelly Ash, audiologist and cochlear implant team coordinator at Johns Hopkins. “It’s always very exciting for everyone in the room because there is so much anticipation built up.”

According to Ash, because Rivers received the implants at an early age, her language development will only be slightly delayed.