....just for the record.

Miles has had his iPad for 3-4 months now and I thought it would be a good time to record some of the gains he's made thanks to this amazing gift.  Seriously, these gains would have taken 2-3 times as long without it.  We want to make sure we get this written down for several reasons-

- to encourage us when a season comes and it feels like he isn't making any progress in any area.

- to encourage other families with special needs children and/or children who struggle to communicate with those around them.

- to continue to give thanks to Miles' "benefactors" who so graciously gave of their resources that he might find new worlds open to him via this tablet.

- to continue to show that iPads are good for more than watching YouTube and playing Angry Birds on a bigger screen.  ;-)....although both of these may happen from time to time also.  ha!

SO, what's he been learning?  Well, 4 months ago Miles could:

- recognize about 70% of the alphabet

- recognize 5-6 animals and make their sounds (in his own special way)

- could draw a short line with a marker and high levels of assistance from an adult

- totally unwilling/unable to trace any shapes/numbers/letters

- no matching or sorting skills

- knew 3-4 colors

A snippet of things he can do now with his iPad:

- recognize 100% of the alphabet and recite it with 80% accuracy

- he knows the sounds a lot of letters make

- knows his numbers and can COUNT to about 14 before he starts skipping or repeating numbers on his way to 20

- can fill in the missing number in a short number sequence

- he recognizes TONS of animals and their sounds.  Maybe 15+ now?

- he traces simple shapes and traces upper and lowercase numbers with one pen stroke

- he matches and sorts numbers, shapes, colors, and many upper and lowercase numbers

- he successfully plays a 16 card memory game

- he is able to play a Dr. Seuss (rock band style) music game with surprising accuracy

- he copies sounds and words (or tries to!) that the iPad speaks to him, so his speech/vocabulary has increased as well

In short, we've learned that he is able to do a lot more than we were aware of!  We kind of thought that he was able to do a lot more, but were never able to find ways for him to show it.  Because the iPad takes the small motor struggles and communication struggles almost out of the picture for him, he is able to learn without those stumbling blocks and doesn't get frustrated and want to give up.  Pretty much, we're super thankful and it's really amazing and cool to watch him work on it.

Okay, that's all for now.  Thanks for indulging us.  ;-)

Miles is 4 1/2 right now and has a Distal 18q Deletion (distal 18q-), in case you are part of the Chromosome 18 Family reading this.  Breakpoint 22.1

Growing up?

Well, I'm not entirely sure how much growing up Miles is really doing...BUT, he is using the toilet MUCH more than he was 4 months ago and he GOT GLASSES!  Not because he can't see clearly (or so they tell us- really how much can you gather from a special needs 4 1/2 year old??), but because he isn't using both eyes at the same time.  Hopefully his new specs will help teach his brain to do that.


"Miles.  MILES!....Say CHEESE!"  (he was "playing" on his iPad and didn't want to look at me, the singing dancing monkey that rewards him for matching letters and creating words is much more exciting.)

 Much better.

Another sign he's growing up a bit is that he's super interested in doing exactly what his brother and sister are doing.  As you can imagine this often frustrates them, but we remind them that this is what little brothers are SUPPOSED to do and we need to rejoice that he is being a pill....while we attempt to correct his behavior at the same time.  Here they are all snuggled up watching Nemo this last weekend.

Our Time in Chico: Christmas Break 2012

We got Dad V. a helicopter for Christmas.  He was happy to get a toy, I think...instead of the usual shirt.  

What?  More Star Wars Legos?  Shocker.  ;-)  Silly boy refused to open any up and put them together while in Chico for fear of losing a piece before he got them home.  

Grandpa had fun helping Miles get into his gifts.

Maggie was SHOCKED to open up Molly, the bff to her American Girl doll Emily.

Big BIG hugs all around.

Miles got this Thomas train from my parents and loved it.  My Aunt Tracie graciously spent a long time driving it around for him while he laughed.

 Maggie and Molly.

Maggie got her first official sewing lesson from my mom.  It made me SO happy to see my mom teaching her in the same way she taught me.  Maggie loved every minute of it.  I think Grandma did too.

Maggie started out with no thread, learning to start and stop and stay on the lines of the paper.  She had a rather crooked first pass or two, but got the hang of it very quickly.

Cute little seamstress starting her apron.

All done!  Nice work ladies.

After the bulk of the family got over the flu thing that we brought with us (boo) Eric and I took an afternoon and hiked the twins up Monkey Face in Upper Bidwell Park.  It was beautiful clear weather when we were in Chico and a blessing to get to spend time outdoors enjoying the beauty God created there.

Sam's favorite activity while in Chico is to climb through the "face" and sit out on the ledge over looking the valley.  See all the happiness on that 7 year old face?

Maggie had a blast too.

Trees, rocks, sun.  Perfection when you're seven.

We tried to get a picture of the two of us...and got an extra visitor.

This picture probably sums up their personalities better than any other right now.  ;-)  

I am TRYING to put myself in more pictures.  I realized I've fallen into the trap of taking all the pictures and mama ends up left out of the family history.  Oopsies.  So, all that being said- here is my and my girl.

Peek a boo!

I don't know what this is, but it was very important that we take a picture of him doing it.

 We tried to get them to point to Monkey Face while we hiked a long route back down.  They were frustrated that we wanted them to point not to where they thought the face was...but where the camera thought it was.  This was the closest we got.  ;-)

Did some more tree climbing on the way back down.

Two of my boys.  I love them.  They're sure cute.  (don't tell Sam I said that...)

My cousin stopped by one afternoon, this is her baby (praise God!) Eloise.  She's cute.  I like her.  I wanted to keep her.  I had to give her back.  dang it.