Christmas 2011

Well, I am join to have to get a lot better at this blogging thing. We finally made it up to Illinois to see our family. We had a great time. Wynter and Zach loved the snow, and Michael tolerated it. But we really enjoyed getting to spend time with my family. Its been about three years since we have gotten to see them. This picture is me, Wynter, and my sweet italian grandmother who I love dearly! We miss you already!

First visit from the tooth fairey!

Its been a long summer & there is a lot to catch up on, but first is the excitement over the loss of Wytner's first (2) teeth! It was early morning on a Tuesday and I was rushing -trying to get the boys on the bus so she & I could get ready for therapy. I sat down to read her a book & realized that she was missing her front bottom tooth, the the second bottom tooth was barely hanging on. I freaked out for a second, checked her for signs of trauma -thinking she fell or hit her face...but saw nothing! I threw together a "to go" bag and made an emergency stop at her dentist on the way to therapy. She screamed as 3 of us held her down for x-rays (she has a GREAT dentist, we love her!) In the end...it was just TIME! Her teeth are all healthy, no trauma...she is just growing up (at 4 yrs old). We did hold her down & pull the other tooth that was hanging so she didnt swallow or choke on it (she did NOT like that)...The rest of the day we talked about it & the tooth fairey. Way to go Wynter!

After surgery

Wytner had surgery on her left thumb last week and we had to make some adjustments today to the open wound that surgery left behind. Thank you all for your prayers as she underwent 2 sedations and the surgery. The Lord answered our prayers and she made it through very sucessfully. The HARD part has been all of the side affects. She had a VERY acute reaction to the first pain medication: massive hyperness, out of controll behavior- even violent at times- NO SLEEPING, massive constipation to name a few... She also has had to keep one sometimes both arms in splints to keep them straight so that she couldnt get her hands to her mouth- or to each other... By the 4th night mommy was able to get about 6 hours of MUCH NEEDED sleep. She is sleeping better, and seens to be tollerating the braces and pain pretty well...but we are still having constipation problems and mild behavior issues right now...Hopefully in the next few days we will begin to be on the upside of all this. It has been a LONG 15 months of dealing with this thumb. We will be greatful to have this issue behind us!
But God is good and His grace and mercies are made new to us each day. In every season He continues to prove Himself faithful, and it is to God we will cling!

Where has the time gone!

I cant believe how fast this year has gone. Wynter started attending a private school 3 days a week in August. She is in a general ed class with 12 other kids and has finally accomplished potty training (gee-that only took a year and a half)! She not only tells us verbally when she has to go, but she also goes to the door of the bathroom at school to try and take herself- she still wears a pull up at night though. Her teachers expect her to do everything the whole class is doing and reports that she is doing very well and that she is completely integrated with her peers. She has over 80 verbal words that she uses spontaniously and has started to use 2 and 3 word sentences. She continues to demonstrate to me how much I underestimate how much she knows. She knows the colors:blue,green,red and yellow. She has moved from matching pictures to matching words. She has learned how to draw a horizontal and verticle line with a starting and stopping point...but we are still working on a circle (that still looks like a scribble). She also just recently got glasses. She has continued to grow and is now in the 6% on normal growth charts and climbing! Wynter did start taking synthroid for hypothyroisism last month as well. Her brothers continue to be GREAT roll models for her and it is so GREAT to see them enjoy playing together as Wytner is getting older. Wynter's favorite person these days is our beloved Kamrin (the kids godmother). We love you Kamrin ("Wri-wri").

Love to Lori: August 17, 2010

Lori, you are so loved sweet girl! You are a strong and amazing woman who is touching hearts around the globe!! Keep up the good fight. We will keep fighting and praying with you minute by minute and all the way! You are in good hands and are being carried through this in the lords hands! He is your strength! Love you! Tiffany

SO BIG!! SO SMART!!!

January 2010: Wynter begins matching words from the "Any Baby Can Read" Program. Her first three words are gorilla, eyes and wave. She is able to match all three!! She even reads the word "Gorilla" on her own. This is her new favorite word...always learning the hard words first. That's Wynter for ya...surprising us all the time! She also has learned her colors very well. She enjoys matching her color blocks to their correct peg. She is also learning counting with blocks. The blocks have a different number of holes in each one. She has to figure out how they fit on the pegs by the number of holes. Her fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and problem solving skills are really improving as she learns to turn the blocks so they fit correctly on the pegs. We are so proud of her! She is so smart!

CATCH UP update!

It has been a busy 6 months. I have had several major surgeries; Our family has grown as we have adopted a little boy named Michael who is 6 years old; we got an old english sheepdog who we would like to train as a therapy dog for Wynter...someday :)

Wynter regressed a little in the potty training area since we have had a lot of changes and different people helping us out through my surgeries. She is holding it longer, and will still potty on the toilet when you take her, but is no longer telling us that she has to "go".

She has started the learning program through DSACT & is also doing "any baby can read". We watch the movie daily & work with flash cards & books. After about 6 weeks, she can read: dog/cat/eyes/mouth/nose/gorilla & clap consistently. This seems to have also helped her vocalize more as well. My hope is to add one new word each week (or two, depending on how she is picking things up).
We started by making two sets of flash cards of things that we had around the house. we placed two items in front of her, then handed her the matching card and asked her to put it on top of the its match. It took about 20 minutes for her to fully understand the concept (we did some hand over hand, with lots of praise)....but then after the second day we could place several cards in front of her & you could see her look at the cards first, then match them all.

We started with matching flashcard items from around the house, then moved to colors as you can see in the videos. We also verbally have her label them as she goes :) articulation is not there, but at least she is vocalizing. Currently at 35 months old she has 62 verbal words.
Her attention span here at 35 months old seems to be about 20 minutes. We are currently working on transference: matching a flashcard pig to a toy pig and a stuffed animal pig: "ALL ARE PIGS". etc.

Wynter is climbing up playscapes and slidding down, she is running a lot better but we are still working on knee flexion. You can see in the video that she can walk up & down stairs independently, although we are still working on reciprocal patterning, & getting her to walk heel~toe.

Wynter had her very first ear infection ever in December & a cough over this up & down weather we are having, including a case of hives for some reason that we are still trying to figure out. But she remains very healthy for the most part. JANUARY 1st marked ONE year of being on the growth hormone injections for her IGF1 deficiency. She has made remarkable improvements. Her tone has changed dramatically and she grew 6 INCHES!!!!!! PRAISE GOD!



28 Months Old: Wynter and the "learning program" . This was her second day matching flash cards and practicing at home(see Learning program to learn more).