Jack-Jack is AMAZING!

Jack is just 5 years old and has "learning disabilities", for lack of a better term. I hate comparing him and try not to, but he is just not your typical 5yo boy. He has a genetic duplication that has caused delays, the most obvious being speech, so most everything has been a challenge for him.....well, if I were to push him to "keep up" with other kids his age, then it would be a challenge. I don't do that, I let him be himself.

The other day he wanted to draw. He has really been into drawing for about a year now, and I must say, he is pretty good at it! He amazes me with pictures of dinosaurs, choo-choo trains, airplanes, etc.....all the typical interests of a little boy.

He also likes to "draw" the letters of the alphabet! And I know for him it really is drawing, not writing, as with most kids his age. He doesn't draw numbers very often, but he likes them too.

So the other day, he wrote drew a "P" on the back of an envelope, then he asked me how to spell my name.

To my surprise, he drew every letter correctly! Then he asked how to spell Jonathan's name, and he did really well with that one too! So I got out a piece of paper (since he was really enjoying this) and had him draw the entire alphabet as I gave him one letter at a time. Then we did the numbers.

Mind you, he has had little to no formal training on how to write/draw, this is something he just enjoys and has picked up completely on his own. I guess he just has a knack for drawing!

You can see in the photo that I wrote some numbers on the side to help him know what they look like (mine are circled), and on the envelope, the "N" at the bottom left is also mine. Everything else is his. He started turning letters upside down in the 2nd half of the alphabet. I thought this was interesting since he ALWAYS "reads" books upside down. I don't know what that means though! I know his little brain just works differently, but is this a sign of a "problem" that can be corrected, or should it just be considered normal???  None of my other children have done this! I don't normally worry about it though, I just turn the book around for him and he happily continues to read. :)

So when he was drawing the alphabet the other day. I really tried not to interfere because I wanted to see how he drew them all on his own. I had to show him what a few of them looked like, but otherwise I didn't correct him when he drew one upside down or backwards. He did great! I'm proud of my little man! :)

Jack is about to start speech again this week, probably twice a week. We're hoping it helps, and I'm sure it will some, but we are also working more on sign language so that he can more easily communicate with us. He is getting frustrated when we can't understand him. His vocabulary is getting really big, but he still sounds like a 2-year-old. In fact, his 20-month-old brother sounds very much like him!

Jack-Jack is also about to start horse riding therapy! We are so excited about this, especially since they are only about a mile down the road from us! He still has weaker muscles than most kids his age and still often trips or falls. This therapy riding should strengthen his muscles and improve his balance, so I cannot wait to see how he likes it and how much it helps him!

A Random Update.....

.....just because I feel like blogging, and the house is quiet right now!

Myles has been at Hobby Lobby for almost 16 years now! He got a $500 (yes, that is 5 HUNDRED dollar) gift card to spend at the store as a thank you gift. He got one at 10 years too. We always enjoy spending it, and I think we even still  have some left!

We recently bought a new camera, so I don't have many pictures to post yet, and the few I do have were taken on my cell phone. Here is one inspired by Myles. He had a minor accident.....the only thing that was damaged was the mirror. The plastic part holding it on was broken, so he used his OU duct tape and "rednecked" our van!!!!

Nothing much has changed for me. I am still enjoying life, seeking to please YHWH in all I do. I mess up, but HalleluYAH, He forgives me and teaches me and helps me mature more in Him. I have been more withdrawn from others lately, but I think it is good sometimes. I am closer to my family and my heavenly Father, so I am very happy and content right where I am.

Jonathan is so big and mature now. He hasn't "shot up" yet, but I know he's about to. He is just a few inches (4 or 5) shorter than I am now! He is going to be 12 in May. He is loving Boy Scouts, and in fact, they went camping last weekend in the COLD. Crazy boys! Myles went too, but he ended up getting a ride with someone and came back after the first night. Hehe! He admitted he couldn't take it and left Jonathan behind! Jonathan did really well though. He said he was actually "burning up" the first night in his military sleeping bag with hand/foot warmers. I guess I didn't need to worry.

Jayla is REALLY into horses now and has joined a 4-H horse club.  As soon as I finish a quilt for Myles (starting to cut it all out now), I already have everything to make her a horse quilt! Her furniture is already a dark brown, and she has a few decorative pieces already; a cowboy hat coin bank, a light switch plate with a pair of boots on it, a figurine of a girl barrel racing, etc. She got to ride "Peanut" last Tuesday night. Peanut doesn't like to go fast, in fact, you really have to work hard to get him to trot, so he was perfect for her as a beginner. She has never had a lesson, but she learned quickly how to guide him and make him go. Once she was confident that she really wasn't hurting him when she kicked his sides, she was kicking like crazy trying to go faster! That girl! She looked like she knew what she was doing after just 5 minutes or so! She was the same age as a couple of other girls, but she was the only one who couldn't reach the stirrups. She had to have help getting up and down, but she didn't seem to mind, as long as she could RIDE!

Jacob......every time I look at him and think how cute or sweet he is, he either farts or picks his nose. What a kid! I can't believe he is 7 now. He is a LEGO maniac, hoarding them all and playing with them every chance he gets. He even loads up his backpack and brings them along wherever we go. He also still loves trains (but not if they have faces), and in fact, just checked out several books on trains from the library yesterday. And Jacob sure is smart. And he is reading now! He didn't want to for the longest time, so I just never pushed it, but I know he COULD have if he wanted to. I told him that, and he laughed and said, "Yeah, I could have." That stinker! He is quite the engineer too, always building things or trying to figure out how something works. He has always been like that. His latest thing he did on his own was made some jet packs for him and his two little brothers. This may not be "genius", but I was impressed that he took a quick look at a picture (maybe 5 seconds) and declared, "I'm going to make one of those!" and then off he went! I don't have a picture of the ones he made yet, but this is what his almost looks like (this was made by an adult, so it looks more.....realistic).

Jack-Jack is getting so big! He is continuing to improve in his speech. He is still often difficult to understand, but we can understand a lot more as the weeks go by. I also noticed recently that the helix (outer rim) of his ears are plumping up! This is huge to me, as this is one of the characteristics or symptoms of his genetic disorder, and it seems to be going away! We are actually trying to HEAL him with proper diet, essential oils, prayer and other things. We don't want him to just survive, we want him to THRIVE, and I believe he can (and is). We love him just the way he is, but we want to help him be the best he can be, and he's growing, maturing and getting healthier all the time! In fact, it has been about a year since his last seizure. He even had a fever a few weeks ago, but he didn't have a seizure with it! All glory and honor to YHWH!!! Thank You, Father!!! Aside from health issues, he is talking in complete sentences almost all the time now. He absolutely loves to color and draw (always has), so he does that any chance he gets, and he's pretty good! He also still loves music, and we hear him break out in a random song quite often. He is such a joy. :)

Little Joe isn't quite so little anymore. That kid gained 2 1/2 pounds in the last 6 weeks!!! He is one week from turning 14 months old now. He weighs about 22 pounds, has 8 teeth and eats like CRAZY, still nurses (even at night!) and is about to take his first steps any moment now. He can say quite a few words too, but most of it is repeating. A few days ago, Jonathan was playing a game on the Wii and saying, "Die! Die! Die!" Joe was in his high chair eating and started saying "Die-die-die-die-die!" Too funny! He still needs Mommy quite a bit, but he is becoming more independent and just has to come "touch base" every few minutes now. Jack was never like this, and in fact, was completely the opposite, so not only is Joe my clingiest baby, but I haven't had a baby even close to this in 6 years, and the one before him was opposite. So I have been very busy for over a year now with this baby! I think I can finally see my independence in the near future. LOL! But really, this is such a short time in relation to our lives, so I'm here as long as he needs me. I love this little man!

Our homestead is coming along! We are still putting up fences and pens, but we now have two dogs, 7 chickens (still), 6 ducks and a goose. We probably won't get any more ducks now since they are mostly for pets (some lay eggs), but we do want to get lots more chickens, for eggs and meat. We also plan to get some meat and/or milk goats, and/or sheep, and/or a cow. We haven't decided yet, but we will definitely be adding more animals very soon, probably for milk first, then meat. We also want to get a guard donkey and maybe a horse or pony or miniature horse. So many decisions! I love that we are moving toward being more self-sufficient though. In fact, we already are buying most of our groceries now from co-ops and only use the grocery and health food stores for those occasional items we forget to order or run out of. I love it! So much fresh, raw, organic foods, many locally grown!

The younger three are up now, so I guess that's it for this update. Please leave me a comment and let me know how YOU are doing! I'm not good at keeping up with blogs these days, but leave the link to your blog in the comments and I'll check it out. Happy Thursday to you!

Without any formal training in spelling, grammar or handwriting, Jonathan is working on his first "official" comic book. (He has written a story before, but this one is comic book form with lots of pictures and bubbles, etc.) Super-heroes are his passion in life, apparently, that and animals of all kinds (we caught a snake today, in fact). He has created over 20 super heroes and villains. Some are still being developed and some he created a couple of years ago.

So just now, Jonathan got a quick lesson in writing. Daddy was reading his comic book and just *had* to correct him. There really weren't that many errors, but he spelled two words wrong ('arownd' and 'thru'....they look right, at least!) and was hyphenating words incorrectly. We didn't mention the misspelled words. In about 2 minutes though (maybe less), he learned about syllables and hyphenating and correctly hyphenated about 5 words! He's a quick learner, especially since we didn't push it on him but waited until he was ready! Now it will stick, and he doesn't feel horrible for doing it wrong! :)

Jonathan is busy at the moment making as much chalk dust as he can. This is just after he took so much time cleaning the chalk board with a magic eraser, and he started yesterday! They've been drawing all morning. It needs another cleaning! He's also singing the same song over and over and over again. Oh wait! New song! And Jayla is joining in now. :)

Jayla is drawing on paper. They keep arguing off and on, but they are completely working it out on their own. (I often have to step in when Jacob is involved, but as he is getting older, he's getting more mature about it too.) She has been playing with an imaginary friend this morning too. She's never had one before but has seen them on cartoons, so she thought it might be cool to have one of her own. It works out great since I am sometimes tied up when she is tired of the boys! She and her imaginary friend played tic-tac-toe for a while earlier after Jonathan got tired of playing.

Jacob is all over the place right now. He wants to ride his bike on the street, but I told him he needs to keep it in the yard for now until we can all go out together. He's also playing with Bristle Blocks. They love those things! Apparently Jack just bumped into him. His tower fell and he yelled "Grrr! It's all your fault, Jack!" LOL! He doesn't normally get mad at Jack! He is learning to either move away from him or give him his own toys!

You know what Jack is doing at the moment! LOL!

As I try to breathe through all the dust that is accumulating, I think I will open the door and have them take a break to clean. We've got lots of laundry to put away!