Prebble Family Tales

Gareth absolutely adores school and it has been the best thing for him!! Gareth has had a great time learning about space, fairy tales and dinosaurs (and has enjoyed showing off his knowledge in these areas during circle time–he’s had his computer taken away a few times for talking out of turn and for giving away information too soon! ) He really enjoys all of the activities at school and would be happy to be there all day every day (he’s now a little bored with just me on his days home!) Gareth is delighted to play with other kids and the kiddos in his class really seem to enjoy playing with him. Of course, the computer helps draw them in! Gareth uses his computer to communicate with everyone at school (and we’re so impressed with how much he uses it at school and with how much effort his teachers/therapists put into using the device there) and he also uses it to play games with his classmates, sing with friends, or read books to everyone. <%popup(20050312-computergang2.jpg|640|480|Computer gang)%> Gareth is quite the hit with the girls in the class and has a ‘girlfriend’ (he grins a huge grin when you mention Angel’s name! He’s starting out way too young.) Gareth definitely enjoys the attention from the girls and has managed to figure out how to make it work for him–he scooted himself onto Angel’s lap one day during center time–Yikes! <%popup(20050312-lap1.jpg|640|480|Reading with his friends)%> | <%popup(20050312-lap2.jpg|640|480|Cuddling in Angel's lap)%>

One of Gareth’s favorite things about going to school is riding the bus. I drive him in to school usually twice a week and he’s been riding the bus the other day. The bus driver says that Gareth looks out the window and waves to everyone the whole way to school and home again! <%popup(20050312-bus1.jpg|640|417|Boarding the bus)%> | <%popup(20050312-bus2.jpg|640|431|On the bus)%>

Life continues to be busy always! Gareth continued to love school and school days kept us very busy this winter. We also had our usual running around for appointments…Gareth’s still having trouble with his g-tube (we’re going to see a specialist at Hershey for a second opinion in late March) and is also still having a seizure a month. His last one was a scary, lengthy seizure and Gareth had to spend several days in the hospital recovering from that. We’ve adjusted his medication a bit, so hopefully that will help. We’ve had two exciting new developments with regards to Gareth’s mobility–we’ve tested out a power wheelchair and are going through the process of getting one for Gareth so that he can drive himself around at home and school. Also, Gareth has developed quite a curiosity about the rest of the house and now wants to be in his walker all of the time so that he can try to maneuver around. The carpet still makes it very difficult for him (we’re hoping to replace the carpet with laminate wood floors when we save up enough), but he’s determined to check out everything in the house these days. Guess it’s time to childproof the house!

Despite how hectic life can be, we of course managed to find some time for some fun during this cold, yucky winter. This is the first winter that Gareth has even tolerated the snow, let alone wanted to play in the snow (school is doing wonders for that kid! ) He enjoyed playing out in the snow in his walker several wintry days (He still won’t, however, sit in his sled without screaming!) <%popup(20050312-smiling in the snow.jpg|640|480|Smiling in the Snow)%> | <%popup(20050312-licking snow.jpg|640|480|Trying to lick the snow)%> During some of the colder days we found ways to have fun indoors. <%popup(20050312-cookieface1.jpg|640|480|Making cookies (and wearing the frosting))%> | <%popup(20050312-cookies2.jpg|640|480|The finished cookies)%>

Gareth is definitely a Daddy’s boy anytime Travis is around and has developed quite a liking for his Daddy’s favorite things, including playing on the computer, watching Star Wars and playing dancing games. <%popup(20050312-dancing.jpg|480|722|Daddy and Gareth dancing on their dance pads)%> | <%popup(20050312-starwars.jpg|640|480|Excitedly watching Star Wars)%>| <%popup(20050312-darth.jpg|640|445|Darth Gareth)%> And I don’t know who enjoys playing with Gareth’s train set more, Gareth or Trav! <%popup(20050312-train.jpg|640|480|Huge Train Set)%>