busy, busy, busy

I can't remember all of my last post about David (too lazy to look, ha!) but I will give you an update now from about Christmas-ish. We are back in Yuma after a long absence to Washington and then to Phoenix for Christmas. We had a great time and loved the time away to kill the time Joel is gone... We even went on the Polar Express in Williams, Arizona - same train that goes to the Grand Canyon, except we went to the Northpole! The kids had a blast!

and yes we were blessed with snow, perfect snow!

David refused to ride without being at the window, the. whole. time.

Anna & Jaxson and a giant delicious cookie!

Christmas day bike ride... why not?

This last picture is at Mark and Laura's (grandparents) in December right after we went to see the Nutcracker with all of the women of the family. It was lovely as always, minus one small breakdown from the 3 year old! Oops!

So back to the David update... we went to see an amazing doctor in Phoenix, who mainly deals with pediatric rehab, about his muscle and weakness issues. Our appointment lasted 2 hours! She was very thorough and asked tons of questions, poked and prodded to come up with a plan to help mainly with David's weakness in his left hand and his tightness in his legs (he crossed them when he walks). She was very encouraging and was clearly up-to-date with the current research, which was much appreciated. I went in with a few things that I thought we should try and came out with totally different things. So here was the final plan... from her assessment she thought David was very close to walking and wanted to encourage that as much as possible... we bought some walking wings first, which if I was writing an Amazon.com review I would say they are perfect, easy to use and not a big contraption, seems like it would feel like actual walking because they still have to balance. Next, he will be fitted for bilateral AFO's (that link is an easy description) for his legs, to help with the way he stands and walks. By the way, he is a crazy man! He does some hands and knees crawling, and he loves to play sitting on his knees. But best of all (and at times worst of all) he is pulling up to everything, I mean EVERYTHING... I have to admit I am having a hard time with it during those crucial times away from him, like say making dinner. I'm not going to feel bad for worrying about this, I have hard as rock tile and his sweet little head will not smash it, if I have any say! Although, it does happen and it kills me! I try everything to stop it from happening, believe me, but even if I'm right there it happens sometimes and I just want to cry with him :( He is getting much more steady and learning that his legs and feet have to be a certain way for him to balance. He is a smart little boy.

Also, we will be getting a brace for his left arm and hand that will provide stimulation and keep it from tightening up while he is playing. Lastly, we are starting a constraint therapy for 15-30 minutes a day, using a glove-like object on the good hand and getting him to use his left hand to do things. He is actually doing pretty well with this and seems like he understands what I want him to do. Lots of praising happens and we are doing things that he loves and with special toys for that time. Basically this glove-like thing has to completely block sensory stimulation to his good hand, forcing or challenging him to use the left hand. This technique has shown the same type of improvement in function that the casting treatment has done (that I talked about previously). I am praying for his grasp to improve in the left hand.

It was fun to come home after being gone over a month with a giant leap in his development and I think he is loving it too. He is an explorer, he tries new things, he loves to be outside, he loves to play with his sister, and cars, and magnets, and he gets frustrated with things that don't do what he wants, puts everything in his mouth, he is a lover, but not a lover of bedtime (sometimes), he is starting to copy words (like yum and touchdown and more), he likes to eat some things now :), he has drinking competitions with Anna, he opens his mouth for a kiss from Roxy (gross), he loves to take a bath, he loves to play piano, he sings and hums, and best of all he smiles the most amazing smile every time I look at him. I love my little boy.

We have two Phoenix trips scheduled for January... one for AFO fittings and one for eye surgery. Another update after that. Thank you for your continued prayer and support, we couldn't be more blessed!