Deck & Family Update

Progress on the deck is happening, slowly but surely. Last week we had rain a couple days and our crew only came two more days to work. We are thrilled with how it is turning out! The floor, steps and all the framing are done. The detail work like the roof, ceiling, electric, screens, and side rails are all still left. It's supposed to rain the first few days this week so it could be mid-week before they can work again. Even though it is not done, we still grilled out and ate on the deck last night!

In other news, Madelyn had a piano recital today and did great! She played her song perfectly and we were so proud of her! Silas was excellent during the recital. He loves listening to music. We're thinking he'll be our violinist. : ) Caroline has already taken dibs on the cello. Madelyn also had an awards ceremony at school on Friday. All the students in her class win awards to motivate them and encourage them in school. For this nine weeks, Madelyn won a Math Award and a Reading Award. We were proud of her!

Silas also had another follow up at Cincinnati Children's last week. We had appointments with his audiologist and his ENT. Both were thrilled with his progress. He did great on the hearing test. It is amazing how much the BAHA helps. He has very close to normal hearing with it on. We are heading back this Wednesday for a renal ultrasound. The kidney's, the ears and the heart all form at the same time. We are not anticipating any problems, but since his ears are affected, we need to rule out any kidney problems. Hopefully after Wednesday, we won't be making anymore trips to Cincinnati until his 6 month follow up in October.

Silas has been talking so much lately! He is labeling almost everything he sees and I can understand probably 75% of what he is saying now. His language has really taken off in the last few weeks. Being able to communicate makes life so much easier. He says the same things over and over and sometimes I even have to tell him to be quiet! I never though that would happen. We actually had a really good week. I'm afraid to write it because usually after a few good days we revert back to some difficult behaviors. The hard days seem to be getting fewer and further between stretches. He was actually enjoyable most days this week. : )