Well everyone, it is time again to update Willie's part of this site.
Willie is now 11 years old. He just finished the fourth grade  with all A's and B's and will be entering the fifth grade in September. He will be attending 2 separate classes next year. One will be a self contained special education class for his Reading and Math lessons. The other will be a regular fifth grade class where he will have all of his other subjects. Due to Willie's problems with reading all of his text books for his fifth grade subjects will be put onto audio tape so he can listen to them rather that have to read them. He is an auditory learner with a very high comprehension level.

Willie is currently attending an extended school year program.
He will be working on academics from 8:15 am to 11:30 am then from 12:00 till 2:30 he will attend day camp. He is not happy about this because it means that he can't spend the entire summer sitting in front of the nintendo 64 playing games. The program ends on August 11th so he will still have plenty of time to play games before school starts on September 5th.

It has been 1 year and 3 months since Willie's last surgery. He has come a long way since my last update. He is again walking all the time instead of using his wheel chair. He is still wearing MAFO's though and we had hoped that this last surgery would do away with the need for them. Willie's legs just can't support him without their assistance. He now stands 5 feet tall and weighs about 110 pounds. He is going to be a big man! Willie's epilepsy is still under control, but we keep a close eye on him because the seizures sometimes start back up during puberty. Willie's asthma is another story entirely, he is still having problems dealing with changes in weather and temperature. He seems to be ok as long as the weather doesn't change to much or too often other wise we end up dealing with viral pneumonia. Willie's vision continues to deteriorate slowly. There is nothing we can do about it and he seems to be ok with the knowledge the someday he will be blind in one eye. His hand eye coordination seems to be fine so we aren't too worried.

Willie worked hard on his hand writing last year. He didn't want to use the computer at school because the other children didn't have to type their work. So we let him do it his way. He will never be able to write in cursive it is just too difficult for him, but his printing has gotten much better.

Willie's interests are still very "normal" for a boy his age. He still thinks girls are yucky and that farts and burps are funny. Video games and wrestling (WWF & WCW) are his life! Football is still his favorite sport but I am no longer sure of his favorite team. He likes bugs and lizards and just about anything gross and slimy. He prefers alternative music but will listen to and sing along with just about anything. He now demands that his shirts and pants/shorts match and will tell you when he thinks that you have picked out things that don't match to his liking. His favorite color is deep purple, his favorite foods are spaghetti and collard greens. His favorite toys are his wrestling figures (he owns almost everyone made). His favorite video games are wrestling and football ones and he can easily spend 12 hours straight playing either. His favorite subjects in school are Gym and Social Studies and his least favorite is Art.

Willie is extremely opinionated and will tell anyone his views on anything. He often does this at the worst possible time. He has even told me to "get a life and let me have one too". He said this when I wouldn't let him go to MDA sleep away camp with his best friend.

Willie now has a little niece who he is not sure what to think of. She was born on March 10th and her name is Emonii. Willie says that he will like her better when she can "do things" as long as  she doesn't "crawl on me". He did give her one of his favorite teddy bears though, which he still collects. He has stated that "she has taken my place" to his oldest sister (her mommy). He doesn't get quite as much attention from this sister as he used to and seems to be quite jealous about it.

Willie still idolizes his big brother, trying to dress and talk just like him.
He seems to have distanced himself from his little sister but this may have to do with her increasing behavior problems.

Willie is a relatively happy healthy little boy, who is still doing more than anyone thought he would.