rees genre

There is nothing duller than a January house. A December house is full of color and light almost to the point of excess. Suddenly January rolls around and it is all stripped away to gray barrenness. So to spice of our January, I thought we would make some snowflakes to hang from our play room ceiling. We talked about snowflakes as part of our family night lesson and worked on our scissor skills. I told the boys that each snowflake is unique, that there are no two alike. I said that we are like the snowflakes, that Heavenly Father made each of us unique and different. I told Davin that he was the only Davin like him, that there were no other Davins like him in the world. You could see the wheels turn in his head as he thought about this concept (I actually remember when someone told me this when I was little). He then asked if I was the only Mommy, which I affirmed to be true. Suddenly, with a flush of innocence, Davin looked and me and said “Mommy, you are so pretty!” Apparently the le...

I am so charmed by having a four year old. It has its challenges, but it is fascinating to watch Davin emerge into more awareness, sense of self, and sense of responsibility. We have asked a lot of him this year by sending him to a five day per week school program where he rides the bus at 6:20 am, eats breakfast and lunch at school, learns a lot of new things, and is home by 2:30 pm. He has risen to the challenge and flourished. We have noticed a huge improvement in his language and play skills. He knows all of his letters, upper case and lower, and what they sound like, and he can recognize all of his numbers as well. Some of his favorite activities at school include the art station, Legos, and playing on the playground. We recently started using a job chart to formalize the concept of earning an allowance for doing chores around the house. Davin’s three tasks are to do his homework, set the table, and pick up his toys. Davin has been really excited to do his jobs and put the magneti...

Rowan likes to put things into rows. He does it with everything: some rocks in the park, his toy cars, and his broccoli at dinner. The rows are neat and tidy, and every item is carefully placed. He learned how to put things in a row from his therapy sessions where we give him an animal or sound object, make the associated sound, and then it goes into a row. As Rowan is learning more and more about sound, communication, and the listening world around him, he has to organize all of the chaotic noises into meaning, ideas, and ultimately words. Slowly he is working on putting his world into a row, making sense of what must be an overwhelming mess. We are definitely seeing progress as his first little words have started to show up. He loves to say “uh oh” (there are ample opportunities for this one), “bye bye” and “up up up.” He responds appropriately if you ask him if he wants more. Together we are figuring out how to live life with two cochlear implants. His newest implant is turned all t...