Well summer is finally here and all five kids are out of school. This will be Willie's first summer where he doesn't attend a summer school program. He and his big brother have already spent many hours in the pool. We purchased a special bathing suit for Willie. It is designed to help children learn to swim. It has foam pads in the front and back. These pads help the child to float. For Willie it is perfect!!  Since Willie has no body fat, he doesn't float at all on his own. Using the inflatable swimmies that go on his arms doesn't work for Willie and the inflatable tubes just hinder his movements.
With this new suit Willie has been "swimming" all over the pool!!
    Willie has just finished his first year in regular school. He did great!!! (but I knew he would) Willie is writing a little better, but is typing like a champ. His reading and spelling are almost up to grade level, and his math is already at grade level. Math is his favorite subject after all!
 

    Willie participated in everything. He went on all the field trips, joined all the games, competed during field day, sang and danced in the winter concert and made lots of new friends. In other words, he did everything that the child study team said the he couldn't do. Willie did have a part time aide to help him out. She was great!! Sharon got up on the stage in pj's during the concert to help Willie "dance".
 

She attended all but one of the field trips with him (that one his dad went on). She encouraged Willie to do everything he could and helped him do the things that were still to difficult for him. She will be with him again next year on an as needed basis. We are trying to wean him off of the aide and get him to do as much as possible on his own. Sharon has been a wonderful help!!
    Willie has made lots of new friends. He has been invited to the house of Shane, one of the little boys from his class three times so far. One was for Shane's first communion party where he met many members of Shane's family. Willie also has a little girl that follows him around and sends him home with little "love" notes. She draws him pictures with lots of hearts too.
Willie spends many hours on the phone with both of these children as well as his best buddy Dwight.
 

    We went back to DuPont last week. The Dr. has decided that Willie can go another 6 months before the repeat tendon lengthening. He will be going back next week for a total physical therapy evaluation. They will be checking range of motion and all. His height and weight are good and his asthma has been doing much better this year. We think the increased walking has helped allot. There has also been a marked decrease in the petimal seizures. His ability to concentrate on the task at hand has increased dramatically.
    Over all Willie has done better than anyone thought he would............
                         But then, that has been Willie's life all along.