Lost in the Leaves - Week of Oct. 22nd

With a burst of warm weather this week, it was time to take advantage of every bit of extended sunshine!
A bike ride was an essential "to-do" and the boys ventured out in shorts, feeling the warm breezes during their route.

In the evenings, Chris has been hard at work (with his engineering partner) to finish Cameron's Halloween "costume" for this year.  Painting was required and Dad's helper was anxious to test out the rollers.

Living in Michigan, we've been accustomed to raking up leaves, but it seems with a bigger backyard, the number of leaves has grown exponentially.  We are very fortunate to still have our awesome neighbors and luckily, one of Cam's favorite buddies, Emma, was available to help rake/play in the leaves!  As the pile of leaves kept growing and growing, it was tough to keep track of everyone.  At one point, Emma hid in the pile of leaves while the rest of us had our backs turned.  When Cam went looking for Emma, he was "digging" through the leaves and she jumped up behind him!!

As the afternoon wore on, the crispness of fall was evident once again.  After all of the work and play, Emma and Cam decided to relax and watch a show together.  What a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

"Speaking" of Activity - Week of Oct. 15th

Every Friday afternoon, Cameron doesn't go to school, but in a way, school comes to him!
Cam's speech therapist at Wellerwood School, Miss Felicia, visits every week for a home session.
Learning new words is combined with activities and games, like bowling.  
Miss Felicia is helping Cam use his breath support to project his voice.  Now, when he sees her at school, he always says "Hi" and "Bye" very loudly!  Obviously, she's been a great speech teacher and even though she makes Cam work hard, he truly adores her.

Weekend activities included a visit to cousin August to celebrate his 1st birthday!  Cameron picked out his cousin's gift , a mini electric guitar, and actually chose it over an Elmo cell phone.  The boys also had some fun playing with the new toys August received as presents.


Since Chris always gets creative with train track design, he and Cameron think up new areas for the engineering to expand into.
The best part of this setup put Cam right in the middle of the action!

After a busy couple of days, what better activity than relaxing in front of the fire.  It was time to kick back and watch some football...
or listen to it while snoring, whichever may be your preference!

University Technology - Week of Oct. 8th

Modern medicine, for all its advances, knows less than 10 percent of what your body knows instinctively.
~Deepak Chopra

Many of you are aware that Cameron is already "working for a living" by assisting a local university professor, "Miss Lisa" with physical therapy graduate classes.  Miss Lisa also works with Cam on a regular basis and she wanted him to see the NeuroCom room where advanced technology is used to study movement.

The NeuroCom room at Grand Valley State measures and records a person's movements on a computer screen.  The screen shows an image that tracks a person's moves.  The computer screen guy became known as "The Cam Man" during our session.  Miss Lisa was quite impressed with Cam's ability to understand how to make the Cam Man move and stop on the screen.  This can help a person understand where they are spatially.

After sitting on the bench, it was time for Cam to try out a parachute-like outfit that allowed him to stand suspended and move around more freely.  Although he is still a little too young for the screen to capture his movements while in the strapped suit, he definitely enjoyed the experience.

We are incredibly grateful to Miss Lisa for spending time with Cam and teaching her students and others the importance of the potential in every person.  Her positive attitude is infectious and we're very thankful Cameron has the opportunity to be connected with such a gifted person.

After a tough work week, what could be better than a treat at our local homemade frozen yogurt place, Spoonlickers?  Even on a rainy day, it's still the best dessert around.  You pick out the toppings along with your favorite frozen yogurt.  There are over 25 things to choose from...Cam's recommendation?  Anything (and everything) with chocolate!

Star Student - Week of Oct. 1st

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
~Albert Camus

We are most fortunate to live in a state where the four seasons are definitive and purposeful.

 

While our family went on a drive to Home Depot over the weekend, we snapped this pic while in the car never thinking the image would capture how beautiful the colors were...

Another picture-perfect photo (thanks to Katherine!) was captured this week of our "Star Student"- Mr. Cameron Jackson!

 

Each week, the students in Cam's class are given a different job or task to be in charge of for the duration of their time in school.  One student is given the honor of being "star student" and this week, Cam was chosen.  He was beyond excited about this opportunity.  He picked out his favorite photos to bring into class and the teachers helped him put them up on the board.  Cameron also was asked to chose one item for show-and-tell...a big note was sent home indicating it could not be a live animal or food, so we decided not to send Stella the cat.  Cam brought his saxoflute- an instrument that is a cross between a saxophone and a flute.  He can make very loud sounds with it and his classmates loved it!

With the weather turning a bit cooler and the rain falling, it seems that it's still a bit impossible for Cameron's mood to be affected.  Even in the chilly wet climate, Cam sports his smile proudly!

Cut, (no) Cavities, and a Carnival- Week of Sept. 24th

Since school pictures come around once a year, it was time to get Cameron to the barbershop for a haircut.  The clippers used to make him very nervous.  He wasn't so keen on the loud buzzing so close to his ears.  Now that he sits in the barber's chair himself, Cam just scrunches his neck when the clippers come around bracing for their "tickle" effect. 

A visit to the dentist wasn't quite "ticklish" but parts of it were enjoyable for Cam.  Our brave boy didn't mind having his teeth looked at and cleaned by the very nice hygienist.   The dental tool that removes the water from your mouth is referred to as "Mr. Sucker" for the kids.  For some reason, Cam thinks "Mr. Sucker" is quite hilarious when it sticks to his tongue.  Instead of a sticker, Cameron chose a small snake toy that he tried to scare his Dad with.

 With a clean bill of health from the dentist, it was smooth sailing the rest of the week.  On Friday, the family (with friend Emma) ventured out to the Let's Move Liam Carnival... (www.letsmoveliam.blogspot.com)  Liam is one of Cam's good friends from school and a carnival was set up to help raise support for his schooling.  There were plenty of games for Cam and Emma to play and even a photobooth.  The props shown here were available for the pictures and Cam is trying to hold that sword steady and give his best pirate/argh face!  Emma and Cam even won two goldfish- look for upcoming pictures and the chosen fish names.


It will be a few weeks before we have the school pictures, but Cameron certainly looked quite handsome in his white shirt and jeans.

Family Pics - Week of Sept. 17th

"A picture is a poem with words" ~ Horace
"A picture is worth a thousand words" ~ Napoleon Bonaparte
"The soul never thinks without a picture" ~ Aristotle

Every week, this blog tells a story with pictures.  This week is no exception.

In fact, this week, the pictures are the story.  Cam's amazing nanny, Katherine, can count 'photographer' as one of her endless talents.  She graciously volunteered her time (and awesome camera) to take some fall family shots of the Weatherfords.

Some find it hard to believe that with all of Cameron's challenges, he is one of the happiest kids around.  Cam's parents find it fitting that he tackles each obstacle and still smiles!

  Because of our weekly updates here, we have compiled more pictures of Cam than we ever imagined.  Thankfully, he's pretty photogenic!!

10,000 Posts - Week of Sept. 10th

It was a little of this and a little of that this week...

Cam's big backyard is home to lots of wildlife and some insects hang out as well.  Chris brought a praying mantis inside to show Cameron and it seemed both Cam and the mantis were quite inquisitive.

Almost every week now at the Grand Valley University campus in downtown Grand Rapids, Cameron is helping a professor and receiving some awesome physical therapy as well.  He is working on balance, reaching, walking, and of course, having a good time while doing it.  Although you won't see Cam sporting this hat around town, it does help him practice taking off a hat and putting it on.

As a sneak peek at a possible Halloween costume this year, Chris and his boy have some fun with a toy rocket that flies into the air when you press the big red button.

A big thanks to Cam's Oma & Opa (Grandma & Grandpa) for providing Chris & Jane with some r&r. 

We thought it important to mention a milestone we surpassed this week....Cam's blog has had over 10,000 page views in its span of 5 years.  We are so thankful to all of you, Cam's avid bloggers, who have kept this weekly entry going.
Many of you who read this are people that have touched our lives and Cam's in such a positive way, we are forever grateful.  If there's one thing we've learned- it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Cameron is one of the coolest kids ever!!

Back to School! - Week of Sept.3rd

While some kids dread the thought of going back to school, Cameron couldn't be happier to be back in the routine!  A preregistration day offered a glimpse into Cam's new classroom and allowed him to meet his teachers before school began.  He had his picture taken, picked out a toothbrush, and found his yellow cubbie with his name.

Tuesday marked the official start and Cam had a few added tasks added throughout his longer school day.  The Wellerwood PreSchool has a Head Start program that Cam is a part of for this school year.  The bus picks him up at 11:50am and then he is picked up from school at 4pm.  The twist this year is that Cameron eats lunch with all of his classmates at school!  And after lunch, he brushes his teeth.  The menu is federally mandated and unbelievably healthy. A sample will need to be posted in an upcoming blog to see how it compares with your own lunch.

There are 12 kids in Cam's class and he's already made some new friends! 
His teacher has told us that he is most definitely one of the happiest kids she's ever seen. 
With Cam learning new things every week, he may have to work on his patience skills- he certainly can't wait for his school bus to drive down the street to pick him up!