7 Years Old!!

My baby is 7 years old today!! He is doing so well! The last couple of months he has started using his glasses more. He has been watching TV from the couch across the room-which is much better than standing 2 inches from the TV! Happy Birthday little China man!!

It's that time of year again...

Time for our vision check-up with Dr. T! Actually, this one fell about 2 weeks shy of his 3 year anniversary of his very first appt. with Dr. T at GTOC. It was a great appt. I must say. We are very happy. First, the Dr. assistant did some tests on Gabe to see how his regular with glasses vision is:

He did great, but we could tell when the letters would get too small. He would try to scoot up closer (they shine the letters up on the wall) to see them. LOL He would get very serious and say, "I don't know" in this timid meek voice-I know, totally not like Gabe! LOL Then they dilated his eyes, and after getting a little train table time waiting for them to dilate, Dr. T came in to take a peek.

Dr. T said that Gabe's eye have not changed and things are still looking great for a kid with glaucoma and the repair they did in China is 100% holding! Wahoo!! (As Gabie would say!) LOL He says that this vision impairment will not (and does not seem to) slow him down. He said with a few interventions the rest of his schooling should go great as well as college! Now driving is iffy, we will have to cross that bridge in...oh, lets see...10 years! LOL He still needs and will continue to receive V.I. services at school-which is good. Every little bit helps. I just keep thinking of the day he walked in the civil affairs office in Nanjing, China and I watched to see if he was blind or not. We are so, very much blessed! Be sure to check out the video of his "Toys R Us commercial", as he calls it on the next post! LOL

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Sports Specs!

For a while now we have tried to figure out the best plan for Gabe's glasses situation. His current glasses are not getting the job done. The ear cables that we loved so much in the beginning are now plaguing us as Gabe gets bigger. We have tried a few different nose pieces and they still slip down and he looks over them a good portion of the day. Well, this week we signed Gabe up for t-ball, which makes this momma bear a little nervous, and he ran into a tree the other day. Yes, the moment we said, "Ok, really have to take care of this now."
A few weeks ago it just happens that Gabe's teacher blessed us with a pair of sports frames that she thought might be just Gabe's size! What a blessing! So, I took them into the eye doc and although it is going to cost us a pretty penny, I cannot wait to get those glasses on his peepers!!

He did it!!

After working on zipping his coat and finding it to be a struggle, I emailed his VI consultant asking if she could work on some self help skills that we seem to be struggling. After all, it is hard to zip your coat when you can't see the zipper so well. Today, Mrs. R came in to work with Gabe and worked on the coat zipping steps...and all I can say is that in my opinion she is a miracle worker!! Before leaving my classroom, he talked through each step and zipped that winter coat all by himself!! Wahoo!!








I must brag, that Gabe is just blowing us away with his progress! Large motor things are still difficult, but I think that is a delay stemming from orphanage delay and lack of movement. But, everything else including his small motor just keeps making huge gains! He is such a fighter and go getter! Way to go buddy!! We love you sooooo much!!

**NOTE: after taking these pics, I threw his coat in the washer-the arms are filthy! Not sure how that happened. The photo actually makes them look worse than they are, oh well! LOL

Sometimes We Need a Little Help!

It is amazing to watch Gabe grow and adapt. He is making huge gains in so many areas-two big ones are coloring and cutting. Gabe has had some wonderful help including a vision impairment consultant that comes in to work with him 1x a week. She also works with Gabe's teachers to adapt things for him.


Getting ready to cute his homework paper...If you notice, the lines for him to cut on are very black. The lines were dotted, but he came to me and asked me to darken the lines for him. This is awesome because he is learning what he needs to be successful! He is advocating for his own needs!

And so sweet as he cut he kept telling me, "Thank you momma for helping me."

At school he also told his teacher on the first day that he couldn't see the book and needed to move closer. I think he is going to have a fantastic Kindergarten year!!!