My latest trick...

Calvin's latest trick...we get such a kick out of watching him do anything. Can you tell?

Learning to read

Andrew loves books. He loves to have books read to him, and he loves to sit and "read" the pictures, which I believe has motivated him to want to learn to read the words. He also is surrounded by a culture of reading with his siblings and parents who he sees reading. I will be honest, I really have not pushed the mechanics of reading, as I believe strongly that a love for reading is more important to develop first. The mechanics can be achieved quickly when a love for learning is the motivator and guide. Andrew--on his own--had begun to try to sound out words and letters when we were out in stores or anywhere he saw a word that he wanted to know. From his initiative, I thought it was time to give my old trusty Alpha-Phonics book a go and see where it leads us. Here is a little clip of one of our lessons. Can you see the excitement on his face when he finishes a sentence? I love that! There is nothing like seeing the light come on and watching a child learn to read... a whole world of wonder has been opened up, ready to explore.

*remember to turn the music off in the sidebar to listen to the video.

Calvin 3 months old

Calvin is growing so fast. He is now 18+lbs and 28inches. He is growing so fast that we had to get another carrier car seat because he had maxed out the length in the one he was in. Calvin smiles and giggles now when you play with him. He loves to lay across Daddy's legs on his tummy and often falls asleep this way. He is holding his head up quite well reminding me that he in fact does have a neck! He is chubby and squishy which makes it difficult to put him down. I just love holding him.

Calvin continues to have a very calm, laid back demeanor. He has begun to grasp things and is beginning to try to "hang on" to you with his hands when you hold him. We are working with him to not grab our hair though. He really loves watching his mobile and ceiling fans. Since it is winter time the ceiling fans have been off mostly and he is fascinated with them...wow! is he going to be excited when they are running non-stop this summer! He also enjoys kicking at his play gym and has begun to try to roll over-grunting and swinging his legs. He also loves his kick and play bouncy seat which lights up and makes noise when you kick it. However, I have noticed that he may be confused and think it is a grunt and play because he will grunt (kicking at the same time) then the music and lights start. It is funny to watch him when he tries to just grunt and it doesn't light up and sing so, he grunts louder and in doing so his foot kicks starting the music and lights. It makes me smile to now watch a baby through the Mommy lens of learning at home and I am reminded of how we are hardwired by the Lord to explore and learn about our surroundings.

Calvin has also begun to turn his head when he hears a familiar voice. Mommy's voice usually invokes a little "I could use a snack" cry. He will turn his head to find "Big Bubbie" (J.Michael) who is great about changing Calvin (usually prompted by Calvin spitting up on him, J. Michael I think holds the record for being spit up on) and helping Mom by hoisting Calvin in his carrier seat into the car. Andrew is the one who prays for Calvin almost every time he has a turn to pray. It is so precious, Andrew our little visionary who prays for Calvin to grow up to be a man who preaches the gospel and a Daddy who teaches the Word to his children-Wow *tears*. Kathlena is Mommy's little right hand and loves to put Calvin's clothes away in his drawer. She can hear me changing his diaper from the other side of the house somehow and show up to help throw wipes away and hand me a new cloth diaper. Kathlena then tells me that she needs to put some "hand germs on" translation-hand gel, too cute! Emily is my jack of all trades who in her joyful spirit picks up the reigns of where I had to stop to nurse or deal with something else and finishes things for me or gets them started to begin with. Emily's selfless help has allowed me to have extra moments to gaze into Calvin's eyes a little longer and savor this sweet time. She is also mostly responsible for all of the precious pictures we have of Calvin and for the slide show below. Calvin, you are blessed to have four siblings who adore you!

David and I are so blessed by all of our children who work together in love to create a beautiful song of family though, we are occasionally out of tune but, always striving for harmony.

Vision Update: Andrew & Kathlena

Andrew has been working hard at wearing his patch all waking hours since last July.  He has been a real trooper.  So, much so that he has made it seem so attractive to Kathlena who has wanted to wear a patch just like her big brother Andrew.  Well, she is getting her chance and she couldn't be more proud!  Kathlena's left eye is starting to drift and she has now been diagnosed with strabismus also.  We have suspected this for some time now but, hoped it was only an optical illusion.  It would seem her eye is drifting out and up the exact mirror image that her brother Andrew's eye did.  We had her checked for strabismus about 10 months ago and none was detected so it has come on quickly.  Now, we do not know if surgery will be necessary.  At this point we are patching minimally to see what happens.  Kathlena also has nystagmus in both eyes and when one eye is covered it accelerates the nystagmus (bouncing of the eye uncontrolably) to which she has little muscle control over her eyes.  The idea is that the patch may help strengthen it. 

We were very excited though to get an acuity on her.  She tested 20/400 in her left eye and 20/100 in her right so we are dealing also with some amblyopia with her too.  No glasses at this point will help.  Part of why her vision score is so low is because of the lack of muscle control from the nystagmus.  When she uses both eyes together her vision is 20/60.

Kathlena is usually an energetic 4 yr old and the patch seems to accentuate that!  In the few days she has worn it though her eye does seem to slow down after wearing it for a while and she manages great.  She has not had any trouble running into things or otherwise slowed her down. 

As for Andrew...drum role please....he is holding at 20/30 in his left eye so we are now only going to be patching 5 hours a day.  Whew! that is nothing compared to what he has been doing and he is so excited.  Yeah for Andrew!! He has done such a great job with no complaining.  It has been hard work but, it has paid off.  So, now we begin cutting back time to see if we can still hold the vision.  We go back in March for follow up on both of them.  For Andrew we will also have an ERG test done next time as we have noticed some possible night vision issues.  We are so thankful for Doc Mazow and his staff who takes such good care of us.

Below is Calvin who wanted to be like his big sis and bro...so he tried out the patch too.  One of Dr. Mazow's assistance wanted to check out Calvin too.  They were so sweet and helpful.  Calvin is doing great and so far his vision seems to be developing normally.