Bits and pieces

Nothing terribly exciting to report from the last couple of days, but just some bits and pieces...Wednesday we spent a large portion of the day down at the hospital. We got Abigail's AFO (leg brace) adjusted so that it fits better -- it's amazing how much her legs have grown since she started walking! -- and we got the kids' HAs adjusted, as well. It's a bit sad to hear how loud the feedback is in Abigail's HAs now...(the feedback volume gets louder as the power gets higher -- David's volume literally hurts my ears now and Abigail's has gone from very soft to quite audible now) but we are so glad that they have good HAs that make life so much easier for them! Abigail takes a couple of days to adjust when she has a big HA tweak like this one -- she is more easily overstimulated and requires a little extra sleep because it really tires her out to process all of the 'extra' noise, but it's great to see her so responsive and able to hear the fine distinctions between letters. I hadn't realized how delayed her responses were until I see her quick responses now. I think we have been so focused on David's loss lately that we didn't expect Abigail to have any issues right now! Both kids have their next check on Thursday the 16th. On a good note, the kids have both made big leaps in speech lately. David has the 's' sound down with essentially no prompting anymore, and his 'l' sound has started spontaneous appearances, as well! Yesterday I overheard him correcting himself when he had said an 'l' word with a 'w' sound instead of the 'l' sound. This is pretty exciting because it is 'normal' for this sound not to appear correctly until this age or a little older, so we are actually on par for this one -- hurray! Abigail has started adding her ending 's' sounds whenever we prompt her, and has actually started to add some on her own, too -- she says 'horsssse' and 'housssse' all on her own and it is a beautiful sound! She flashes a huge, beaming grin every time she nails a new 's' word -- she knows she's done something great! Also, her left hand has continued to make great progress. The last few days, she has been using her left hand to do things even when her right hand is free. Yesterday she reached up to try to turn a doorknob with her left hand, and last night she was strumming a guitar (that was laid down flat on the floor in front of her) with both of her hands, with both hands open flat, without tucking her left thumb under, and both hands were moving at the same speed and rhythm. This may not sound very amazing, but when we have seen her struggle and work and see where she came from to where she is now, it is amazing beyond words! It is amazing to watch any child learn, but it is especially incredible when your child conquers something that is particularly difficult for them, when the challenges seem so insurmountable. We are grateful for the Lord's work in their young lives and can't even begin to imagine what wonderful way He is going to use these challenges they face to bring growth to them and to us, and to bring glory to Himself. Our prayer is that they will, at a young age, submit to His plan for their lives and that they always accept the challenges they face with the confidence that they are part of that perfect plan. Thanks for letting me share my excitement over these accomplishments!