Wainui City Life Church Youth Group Concert

We had a wonderful night out on Saturday night at a concert organised by the Youth Group of the Wainui City Life Church. This wonderful group of young people completely planned, organised, ran, and performed in a concert to raise funds for James' implants.

It was a great night, with all the Hutt Youth groups taking part and performing songs, dances or musical peices. It absolutely ROCKED!!!

Cameron had the time of his life dancing away, and we literally had to drag him out well past his bed time to head home. It was so wonderful to see such a motivated and caring group of people going out of their way to help someone else. The world needs more people like you!

So thanks heaps to the Wainui Youth Group, and all their helpers and family and friends, for a wonderful night.

Yay for James and Yay for the Lions Club!

Some more great news...

First of all, James and i went back down to Christchurch last Wednesday to see the lovely people at Van Asch, and all went so wonderfully well that Joanne didn't see any need to set more goals for James, as he is exactly where he should be for his age! He is even a little ahead in some things (brag brag brag!!!) and, God help us, is crawling! Cameron is totally unimpressed with this, as James now follows him everywhere, and wants to play with what ever Cameron is playing with. It's very cute to watch, but i know first hand just how annoying little brothers are, so can sympathise. (Sorry Alex, but it's true!)

Secondly, i met with two of the lovely gentlemen from the Tawa Lions Club this morning, and they had the most fantastic news - they applied for a grant from a Lions NZ Charitable Trust (and i can't remember the name - will try and find out) and they got it! The whole $6000. of it! This, along with all the amazing work the local Lions have been doing, means that they have fund raised almost ten thousand dollars so far, and are still going! They are a totally amazing group of people!

Which brings me to the last note. The Lions are doing a fundraiser here in Porirua on the 10th of December. It is a movie night at the Reading Cinema, Porirua. Tickets are $20 each, with spot prizes, lucky tickets etc. All the money raised goes straight to James. And the movie? Well James Bond of course! The latest installment of the 007 movies 'Quantum of Solace', which should be a fantastic movie. I will e-mail everyone as well, but please tell everyone you know. It's a great excuse for a night out for those like us who are stay at home nana's, and as i said, all the money raised goes to James.

All going well

Hey there everyone. Just a wee note to say that all is going incredibly well in James' world. He is right where he should be developmentally according to our neuro-development lady, and he is up on hands and knees rocking, just gagging to be following Cameron around now.
Hearing wise - James is loving his implants (and loving the taste of them! they spend a lot of time in the drying kit at the moment, having been liberally smeared with baby spit) and is 'talking' like every other nearly 8 month old. We have noticed quite a difference between right and left, however, as we have had to leave one then the other off for a few days at a time. (James' favorite form of motion is to arch up on heels and the back of his head, and shimmy around the room. Unfortunatly this keeps rubbing raw the top of the implanted part. And he looks down right silly, but he doesn't seem to care.) He seems to hear very well with his left ear, and will turn to us or the tv, and hear the quieter sounds, including voices. His right ear, while i think he can still hear out of it, is no where near as good, and i think he misses all but the loud sounds with that one. Together I'm pretty sure he can hear well. It is an interesting point however, as i am almost certain that had we gone with only one implant, it was the right one that they were going to do. So had we not done both, James would have very little hearing at all. It is a great justification, had we needed one, that we did both ears. Because the look on his face as he waits for us to switch his ears on in the morning, then the huge beaming grin as he hears our voices... well, in the words of the mastercard add - PRICELESS!

Pumpkin Patch Fashion Show

Our latest fundraiser was fantastic, thanks to a great group of kids (and their parents who lent them to us, or helped out dressing them).

James Whale presents... Spring/ Summer '08 Pumpkin Patch Fashion Show!

Patch provided the clothes from their new season stock for us to run a fashion show to raise more money. St Peters Church let us use their hall for free, and friends gave up their saturday afternoon to model all the beautiful clothes, which looked stunning. All up, it was a great afternoon, though pretty manic, and the kids had a ball as well as fundraising.

Thanks to Jacinta, Chelsea, Abby, Ethan, Oliver, Jacinta, Jake, Josh, Molly, Isobel, Brooke, Jorja, Jack, Cameron, Amalia and of course James. (And to Melanie, Rachel and Merridy who dressed the kids in record time between sets, and to Devon working the rather tempermental sterio)

Loud Shirt Day

Here is a wonderful picture of James and the Naenae Bunning's crew who came to work in lovely shirts for Loud Shirt Day, supporting Deaf people throughout New Zealand. Thanks heaps to you lovely people who made goobers of yourselves (particularly you, Aunty Jenni - man that shirt is sexy!) for people in need.

Baracuda Baby

And a picture, because who can resist such a cheeky little man!

Hi there, me again

All is still ticking along well here. Another trip to Christchurch and out to Van Asch, and another great appointment, despite chaos and confusion with the flights (First Christchurch Airport was shut the morning we were flying down - so ended up waiting an hour and a bit in two different lines. Then Healthpac didn't book James and i on the flight home, so more panic, but Air New Zealand were lovely and put us on anyway.) Neil and Joanne were nice and pleased with our clever little boy, and his hearing age has caught up with his biological age, so he is doing extra well.
He can now sit up on his own (and only falls over every now and then, or if he gets very excited; all co-ordination goes out the window then) and his motor skills are improving, or so we think. He has two wickedly sharp teeth, that he uses to great glee on everyone's fingers, so you have been warned!

I also have a few more thanks...
Firstly to the Wellington Special Education Team, for some great fundraising that is still continuing.
Secondly, the BNZ Bank team for their mufti day fundraiser
Thirdly, Ruthie and the NZ Post crew, who organised a lovely Theatre evening in town, which was great despite mum's car getting clamped.
And Last but not least, to Angela Povey, a friend of the Whale Family, for her incredibly generous donation.
Thanks so much to you all.

The next fundraiser, for those interested, is at the end of this month. On Saturday the 27th September, we are having a Pumpkin Patch Fashion show, with local kids modeling the new Spring/ Summer '08 season clothing. There will be a chance to win a $50 Patch voucher, raffles, spot prizes for kiddies who come dressed up for the spring/summer theme, and a yummy afternoon tea. If you're interested, contact your local James Representative. Tickets are $7 per person, or $10 per family. It will be out here in Tawa, from 3 - 4pm.