Timothy

Timothy is Emily's brother, and I've always found him to be great fun to hang out with. More importantly, it makes you feel so good inside any time he achieves something new. I've rarely blogged about him before; I just never knew what to say. I think I know what to say now, but first I want to share some of the stories from times spent with him:

I bought a Wii when they were first released. I took it to Edmonton on a few trips, but then realised that Timothy might be able to make use of it than I had been. Emily bought the WiiPlay pack, and she found the perfect game for him - cow racing. You hold the remote sideways and tilt it left or right to steer, knocking over random objects as you go. He loved playing it, even though he never finished the race on time. :)

Emily's mum bought a side-by-side sit-down tandem bicycle a few years ago. It's quite well engineered, with a park brake, dual handle bars, independent gears, etc, though not the most stylish vehicle on the road. ;) Emily and I took Timothy for a ride up and down the local streets - Tim and I rode, while Emily walked alongside keeping an eye out for traffic and dogs. To begin with I would do all the steering, but at the halfway point I just took my hands off the handlebars and left it up to Tim. Within a few minutes, he was able to both pedal the bicycle and simultaneously steer us away from parked cars in the street. Even better, if I pointed left or right at an intersection, he would make the turn by himself! I was very impressed, and could even take a break from pedalling myself... ;)

Emily picked up a second-hand copy of Elebits for the Wii. Now, as far as Wii games go, Elebits is pretty sophisticated - the left hand is used to move the player around the level, and the right hand is used to control the camera and shoot targets. Emily realised early on that Tim couldn't handle both aspects at the same time, so she would move the player around the level, and Timothy would be left in control of the camera and shooting. Funnily enough, Timothy loves things that spin, so when he found a ceiling fan within the game he would keep directing the camera so that he could watch it! No matter where you moved in the level, he would consistently pivot the camera to watch the fan. It was cute, but more importantly demonstrated his increasing ability to control his movements within the game. When I visited Edmonton last, Timothy was controlling both aspects - player movement, and camera control. He even started hunting down Elebits, the way you're supposed to! :) I can only hope things continue to improve.

Timothy loves music, and is always asking for the music to be turned on when at home or in the car. It seemed appropriate to get a second-generation iPod Shuffle for him - they are nearly indestructible, have very few buttons, have a strong built-in clip, and can be volume limited in software. We set him up with his new iPod, pre-loaded with some of his favourite music, and we took him for a trip to his cousin's house (where, coincidentally, he got to play Guitar Hero with Emily's help). Nothing remarkable happened on the trip, though he did seem to enjoy his time with his cousins. However, when we got home, he ran straight to his mum and was singing the words of the music on his iPod. I had never heard Tim sing before, and that was one of those "so good" moments I mentioned. I can only call the iPod a success. :)

Timothy is a special kid. He'll always need someone there to help. I'll never be able to just sit down and make small-talk with him. But you know what? That's okay. I know that I still want to hang out with him. Timothy is special in so many other ways.

And I never liked small-talk anyway. :)

P.S. For those who are interested, Timothy actually has a blog and Facebook account that document his life and friends.