Merry Christmas 2010

It's been entirely too long since we've posted, but we wanted to share pictures from our past year. It's been a good year, Jack is in his final year in his special pre-k program that has been preparing him for public schools. Ella is in 2nd grade and she's reading like crazy and loving her friends at school. Scott is in his senior year of college finishing his degree in college and I'm still working engaging students in volunteerism. We're a grateful family for so many wonderful things this year. We are grateful for our family and friends.

Enjoy,

Angela, Scott, Ella and Jack

A few of Jack's favorite things

This is a vibrating snake and he really enjoys having the toy put on his head and he enjoys holding it. We found this on the www.Amazon.com site- you can search for toys for children with Special Needs Multi-sensory needs and you'll find a number of options

This ball is from the CVI store in Atlanta-

It has handles and an inflatable center- so it's handy when traveling. It comes in a larger size too. It's really light weight.
You can find this ball at www.visabilitystore.org They have a larger size so you can play with it outside- that I think would be fun for the summer!

This bean bag chair is a big favorite- Jack loves to fall into the chair.

A friend found this Cookie Monster- he talks to Jack and he loves this little guy.

The Bilibo was a recommendation from www.wonderbaby.org and Jack and Ella both love it. We've had several other children over to visit and they all love it! You can recline or spin- there are so many different ways to play with the Bilibo!

I've found a difficult task when raising a visually impaired child with other disabilities is finding toys that he will actually play with. We have so many toys that Jack just doesn't play with or just isn't engaged by- so this holiday season we had much better luck with the toys we selected for Jack. I continue to find that whatever we buy for Jack- he likes the toys more if we play with him- so tossing with the ball, and spinning him in the Bilibo and helping him fall into his bean bag chair- are all more fun if we're in the middle of it with him. We've seen great progress with Jack in the last few months in regards to his language development. His baby babbling is much better- he started babbling "dada dada" and he seems to say it when he's with Scott. And today while I fed him he babble "mama, mama" so I'm hopeful he means "ME"!!! Jack's lack of language has been the most difficult part of our journey. I find discovering new ways to play with him- whether with songs, books and new toys- it all helps us as continue to find ways to help encourage his language development.

So the journey continues....

Christmas Tour 2009

We traveled to see friends and family this holiday season and we had the time of our lives. Jack traveled beautifully!! That was the absolute highlight of the trip. We've learned some thing this time around- our last long car trip- we attached toys to his head rest- and he pushed them away- this time I attached them to the drivers head rest and his so it went along his side- he played throughout the trip- and I would add toys at different stops- which kept him interested. Our last trip he hit his face and yelled throughout- this trip he baby babbled and rarely hit his face. He received several sensory toys for Christmas- I'll post pictures of some of his favorites. Our friends and family really got into finding just the "right" gifts for him to engage him- and we had some real winners!

Here's our picture video of our trip! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas! 2009 Video Christmas Card

2009 has been one heck of a year- a mix of challenges and goodness- but as we reflect we finish the year thankful. We learned early in the year that 3 yr. old Jack has Cerebral Palsy- it leveled us and as Scott says "we learned that the hill ahead of us was steep and we had to bring our A-game to the journey." So we have- we've been learning what it means to advocate for Jack and we've just been plunging ahead parenting Jack and Ella with all our hearts. We've learned to celebrate the small stuff and we cling to hope as Jack makes his way in this world.

Friends, family and our community have been so good to us and for you we're grateful. This holiday season is so different for our family- we've tried to do less and focus on time together. So this year I decided to forgo the annual Christmas card, it's something Scott and I've done together for the last 7 years and we've really enjoyed it. But this year we decided to do something a little different. So to you our friends and family please accept this as our holiday wish for you a Merry Christmas, and a lovely and Happy New Year.
Much love,
Angela, Scott, Ella and Jack (and the third girl Tallulah, the wonder beagle)

Vacation

How can you not love that face!?! He is a happy boy!

Ella and Papa Dana fishing

We recently took a vacation to a lake- Ella learned to fish and Jack enjoyed all the love from grandparents and cousins and attention he received. It was a great trip. We're learning the struggle of how to keep a 3 year old, visually impaired, toddler occupied during a 10 hour car trip! It was tough for the little guy. He struggles with sensory issues- so he was sensory seeking the entire trip!! So we kicked into high gear when we arrived home and started some intense sensory play time with him. I'll post pictures soon of his sensory play time. We're always looking for new ideas of ways to engage him in play.

Happy Birthday Jack!

Jack turned 3 this week! Birthday's for Jack are simple and sweet. We're always looking for the "right" gifts for Jack. One Jack isn't engaged much by most toys- he's still figuring out how to play and how to explore with his hands rather than his eyes. So this year Jack received some counting maracas, bubbles and a big ball. He loves the big ball and the bubbles make him giggle! We learned about 10 weeks ago that Jack has CP and we're still learning what that means for him. He has more complex baby babbling with each passing day- and his speech therapist has heard him say "Hi!" and his teacher at school hears him say "Momma and DaDa" often. So with the coming year we're hoping Jack will develop some skills to communicate what he wants and needs. We've seen so much progress in Jack- we recognize we have a long road ahead of us- but he's doing so well! We're proud of him.

Race for the Cure 2009

Each year my family participates in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure- this is our 5th year to walk- we do so for my mom Mary and cousin Annette who are both breast cancer survivors, and my Aunts Alberta Ruth and Betty Jean who both passed away after long battles with breast cancer. So today we walked- and we're moved by the tens of thousands of people who were walking for the same reason- because they too have been touched by breast cancer.