John David, junior

Thank you to all of you who are joining us in faithful intercession on behalf of John David and who have chosen to walk with us through our present journey.  We could not ever be able to adequately express our gratitude.  

Within the past month, it seems as though a light switch has gone off in little John David.  He is verbalizing SO MANY THINGS!  He attempts to repeat so much of what we say, and he is voicing and often so clearly expressing his own thoughts, as well as attempting to put words together.  We are really amazed.  And in new social situations (specifically around other toddlers, which was where our concern has been), he is doing incredibly well.  He still is anxious at times, but the improvements are remarkable.  We are so grateful.

I was telling David tonight that I have been hesitant to share many of John David's accomplishments, for I did not want to appear to be one of those parents that every other one wished would shut their trap.  I know that every parent believes their child to be exceptional, so maybe that is just our case as well.  However, in the past posts I have not been hesitant to share John David's areas of struggle, so why should I not equally share about those areas where (we believe) he excels.  Tonight was a bit overwhelming to us.  David had taken the pillows off of the couch and started counting them.  After he counted to four, John David proceeded to finish counting up to twelve.  We couldn't believe it - and he spoke each number so clearly.  We were able to catch some footage of this that we will try to post later.  (David nor I have ever claimed to be technologically savvy.  We will be calling cousin Hillary soon. :) 

John David has an incredible memory.  The other day I mentioned something about putting his blanket in the washing machine, and he replied "Mike"...which is the guy's name who gave us the washing machine and helped install it a few weeks ago.  Wow! (to me, at least:)  We are excited to see what God does with this little mind with which He has gifted John David.  He is really into opposites right now..."on/off, hot/cold, light/dark, loud/quiet, etc.,"  and he is very quick to describe things to you, usually stating their condition and often their color.  When John David was 13 months, he recognized each of the shapes in his shape sorter by name.  I would say the name and he would point to the correct shape.  After seeing that, I went out and bought a letter puzzle.  By 16 months, he was able to recognize all of his letters - and not just the letters on the puzzle, as if he memorized them.  Any letters (capital ones, that is) anywhere. What was atypical, however, was how much shapes and letters kept his attention.  Workbooks - at that point - were his favorite to read.  He later quickly learned his colors (at least those that are common...not random ones like that faint in-between-orange-and-yellow color that some crayon company labeled "macaroni and cheese").  Just the traditional "red, orange, yellow, blue, etc." It is amazing though now to see how all of these things that have been stored in his little brain are now coming out in words.  Like we said, he is verbalizing and expressing so many things, which was one of the big concerns when he first received his diagnosis.  I am so thankful how the Lord is growing precious John David and allowing him to blossom so beautifully.  We are so thankful for our son, and - like mentioned above - we look forward with great expectation to how our Sovereign God is going to use him for His glory.  

(Hope I didn't sound like a bragging parent.  For John David's sake, though, he has been very kind to allow me to be so open with his life; therefore,  I wanted to share a more complete picture with you.)