Thanks & Family News

Greetings! Thank you to all who sent their prayers & comments to my last blog entry about Micah. They were a blessing to read.

We are doing well. I have been working one on one with Micah daily and already see some changes taking place. I can now get him to look me in the eye more often. Usually it happens when I am tickling or playing a little game with him. Our games often are ones where I touch & name things like his toes, his knee, his nose, and always ends with me tickling his belly. When he sees me wiggling my fingers at him, he starts smiling and squirming in anticipation of the game. Another thing we do is repeat anything he says that sounds like a word he may be trying to say. Often it is not seeming to be making a connection in his mind as to what the word means, but when he says "Momma", I take his hand and tap myself with his hand and repeat "Momma" to him. For "ba-ba" I show to him his baby bottle and say the word "bottle". Basically, anything that will help to reinforce what he is saying and help establish connections between the word and it's meaning.

Abigail is doing great. We are going to start working on gifts for her to give at Christmas. We handmake the gifts we give and she is excited to get started on making some. Yesterday, she and Joe found a baby snake when bringing in firewood. The snake was about 7 inches long. I spent some time with her showing her the snake and reinforcing the importance to never pick one up. She got to watch as the snake slithered through a small gap in the stacked firewood to go into the brush on the other side.

Joe and I are getting things ready for winter. It seems to be an ongoing process. Yesterday Joe was able to get the propane line installed in the kitchen for the refrigerator & stove. What a blessing! No more using the small propane bottles like the ones used on grills. We have 2 tanks (100 lb each) outside the house that are now being used to supply the appliances. Next will be putting in a propane line in the back of the house so we can get a small heater. Hmmm........ I don't know what I will do once we have heat back there! LOL In the 4 winters I have been in this house, the bathroom, pantry/laundry area, and our bedroom have been without heat. This will be a new experience! One that I am certain that I will adapt to very quickly.