Monday, December 12, 2011
Simon/Farley Christmas
We will be spread around the country on Christmas, so we celebrated early with John's family last night. Even though Dirk is only a few days post-op from his knee surgery, he still brought out the guitar to sing a few carols. Another highlight from the night was that the "big kids" all received bikes from Grandpa and Grandma.
Jeepers Creepers
Jane continues to love going to ballet class. She had her Winter Recital last weekend and the girls danced to "Jeepers Creepers." It was, of course, adorable. I didn't have the best vantage point as I filmed the dance because Jane was behind one of her taller classmates for most of the performance. Plus, Joy kept trying to break free of my grip and get on stage with Jane so I was a little distracted while fiming (multi-tasking). Still, what's not to like about 3 yr olds dancing? Cousin Clara exits mid-performance for a potty break to add a little extra excitement to the performance. Classic 3 yr-old move.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Christmas Preparations
I'm trying to work with Will on fine motor activities a little bit every day to build those little muscles up. Placing his fingers on a pencil independently, gripping it and manipulating it to go where he wants it to go is the goal.
Tonight I let Will stay up past his bed time so we could wrap Christmas presents and write people's names on them. Will was quite proud of writing BUBBY (His Grandma Melissa) as "B" has been an especially difficult letter to master. The letter "Y" has also been tough, but tonight we decided that to remember "Y", think of a person standing up with their arms held high "Praising the Lord." Will loved this visual picture and now can remember how to do a "Y":
Also, check out our tree, decorated by Will and Jane. It's about 12 inches tall but big on personality (and necklaces, silly bands, tassles and stickers). We decided not to get a tree since we're going to be in California for the majority of the month.
Tonight I let Will stay up past his bed time so we could wrap Christmas presents and write people's names on them. Will was quite proud of writing BUBBY (His Grandma Melissa) as "B" has been an especially difficult letter to master. The letter "Y" has also been tough, but tonight we decided that to remember "Y", think of a person standing up with their arms held high "Praising the Lord." Will loved this visual picture and now can remember how to do a "Y":
Also, check out our tree, decorated by Will and Jane. It's about 12 inches tall but big on personality (and necklaces, silly bands, tassles and stickers). We decided not to get a tree since we're going to be in California for the majority of the month.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Joy's 12/15 month appointment
I have been procrastinating taking Joy in for her 12 month well-baby check (she is almost 15 months old) and finally took her in today. The upside to this was that Dr. Roskin said this could be a combined 12/15 month visit and that she could wait to come in again until she's 18 months. Downside: Joy got 6 shots today. She is currently passed out (probably for the night) at 5:21 pm as I type.
She is 25 # and almost 32 inches. Healthy and Happy!! Loves to dance, can say "Dada, Ball, Wow and Mama," blows kisses, gives nice open-mouthed kisses and likes high-fives. She is a huge Mama's girl but loves Daddy and her brother and sister, too :-)
She is 25 # and almost 32 inches. Healthy and Happy!! Loves to dance, can say "Dada, Ball, Wow and Mama," blows kisses, gives nice open-mouthed kisses and likes high-fives. She is a huge Mama's girl but loves Daddy and her brother and sister, too :-)
Tubing at Snoqualmie Pass to celebrate Mabel's #1 Bday
The kids LOVED every minute of it. Great activity!
Small Group
We hosted our small group Christmas party last weekend and had a great time. Somehow we managed to feed 21 kids and 14 adults, do a gift exchange and actually have nice conversation! We are so thankful for our group and their dedication to the Lord and each other. They're always such an encouragement to us!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Will's Progress
We had Will's first school conference last week and I thought I'd update "the blog" on how it went for myself and others who care to know so that I can look back and see progress as the school year continues.
Will has some developmental delays and attends a wonderful preschool for kids who need varying degrees of help.
Will's delays are minor, but significant enough to address and we're thankful for the help.
His two areas that need extra help are in fine motor skills and social skills.
Fine Motor: Since September, he's learned to hold a pencil properly (but still needs assistance to get there), manipulate the pencil and use scissors to cut a line. This is great, but the biggest improvement we have noticed is in his attitude and confidence in that he WANTS to try whereas before he would get frustrated very easily and avoid any activities that required fine motor skills.
Social Skills: This has been a harder issue to pin-point. Will is very outgoing and social but has a very hard time initiating interactions with peers when adults aren't around. At the conference, Will's teacher helped explain/shed light on this and I appreciated her insight. To summarize: Will thrives on structure and predictability. Adults are predictable in how they interact and communicate. Kids are not predictable. When Will goes up to an adult, he knows that if he asks a question, the adult will answer in a fairly predictable way. With kids, you never know what answer (if any) you get. Will has some anxiety in this area so avoids initiating peer relationships unless a.) an adult supervises and helps to coax Will into having an interaction with a peer or b.) Will is very comfortable with his friend/cousin/sister and knows how they may react, which gives him confidence.
There have been a few difficult situations where Will has put himself out there to a friend and asked to play and they either say "No" or they ignore him. When Will gets this reaction he either melts down or does something inappropriate like runs around roaring. To this, he sometimes will get a comment like "You're Weird." As much as this KILLS me to hear, I get it and I know that this is normal for kids, but to Will it really sets him back in what he feels comfortable doing he next time a new similar situation comes up.
One of the hardest things I've had to deal with is my own attitude and how to handle questions others have.
When people ask where Will goes to school I feel like I need to explain/defend why he is in a special education program. "Oh, Will seems fine to me" is the response I usually get. I know that people mean well (and please don't feel bad if you have said this to me), but this response makes me as a parent feel insecure, like I need to justify/explain things and then I feel stressed out after talking about it. Not every delay is noticeable and usually when I'm around or an adult is interacting with Will he DOES seem fine. And really, he IS fine. This is just how he is and he needs help in maturing and figuring these things out which is why we call it a DELAY and not necessarily a DISABILITY.
Will's teachers and therapist have been wonderful. They know that Will is delightful and understand his limitations and are helping to coaxe/train him in gaining confidence. They also help me to have confidence in knowing that Will is in a good place and that he does need help. He is making a lot of progress that he wouldn't have otherwise made.
I'd appreciate prayer and support in the remainder of the school year and also how to approach the upcoming year as Will prepares for kindergarten. I also would like prayer for myself and John as we continue to learn how to be the best parents to Will that we can be and understand him in the wonderful way that God made him.
Hope this helps to explain things better. I look forward to checking back on this post in the spring when we have another conference.
Thanks for reading!
Will has some developmental delays and attends a wonderful preschool for kids who need varying degrees of help.
Will's delays are minor, but significant enough to address and we're thankful for the help.
His two areas that need extra help are in fine motor skills and social skills.
Fine Motor: Since September, he's learned to hold a pencil properly (but still needs assistance to get there), manipulate the pencil and use scissors to cut a line. This is great, but the biggest improvement we have noticed is in his attitude and confidence in that he WANTS to try whereas before he would get frustrated very easily and avoid any activities that required fine motor skills.
Social Skills: This has been a harder issue to pin-point. Will is very outgoing and social but has a very hard time initiating interactions with peers when adults aren't around. At the conference, Will's teacher helped explain/shed light on this and I appreciated her insight. To summarize: Will thrives on structure and predictability. Adults are predictable in how they interact and communicate. Kids are not predictable. When Will goes up to an adult, he knows that if he asks a question, the adult will answer in a fairly predictable way. With kids, you never know what answer (if any) you get. Will has some anxiety in this area so avoids initiating peer relationships unless a.) an adult supervises and helps to coax Will into having an interaction with a peer or b.) Will is very comfortable with his friend/cousin/sister and knows how they may react, which gives him confidence.
There have been a few difficult situations where Will has put himself out there to a friend and asked to play and they either say "No" or they ignore him. When Will gets this reaction he either melts down or does something inappropriate like runs around roaring. To this, he sometimes will get a comment like "You're Weird." As much as this KILLS me to hear, I get it and I know that this is normal for kids, but to Will it really sets him back in what he feels comfortable doing he next time a new similar situation comes up.
One of the hardest things I've had to deal with is my own attitude and how to handle questions others have.
When people ask where Will goes to school I feel like I need to explain/defend why he is in a special education program. "Oh, Will seems fine to me" is the response I usually get. I know that people mean well (and please don't feel bad if you have said this to me), but this response makes me as a parent feel insecure, like I need to justify/explain things and then I feel stressed out after talking about it. Not every delay is noticeable and usually when I'm around or an adult is interacting with Will he DOES seem fine. And really, he IS fine. This is just how he is and he needs help in maturing and figuring these things out which is why we call it a DELAY and not necessarily a DISABILITY.
Will's teachers and therapist have been wonderful. They know that Will is delightful and understand his limitations and are helping to coaxe/train him in gaining confidence. They also help me to have confidence in knowing that Will is in a good place and that he does need help. He is making a lot of progress that he wouldn't have otherwise made.
I'd appreciate prayer and support in the remainder of the school year and also how to approach the upcoming year as Will prepares for kindergarten. I also would like prayer for myself and John as we continue to learn how to be the best parents to Will that we can be and understand him in the wonderful way that God made him.
Hope this helps to explain things better. I look forward to checking back on this post in the spring when we have another conference.
Thanks for reading!
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