A week-end to remember

Like I've said before, I have trouble with the picture part of this blogging thing. So these pictures chronicle a small part of our week-end adventure.

Mom, the kids, 2 cousins and I headed out Saturday afternoon to the Louis Ginter Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day; perfect for being outside in a garden. Besides, they have a live butterfly exhibit that is really cool. (Thus the picture of the butterfly above.)

We walked, saw butterflies and in the children's garden we got wet! Aiden has never been in a water park or in a sprinkler for that matter. It has really only been just a year that he has tolerated being in a bath tub, so this

was an experiment for us. To my joy and surprise, Aiden really liked the water. He stood with me and got his hands wet. He let Aaron help him while the sprinklers got him. He even laughed and when I put him back in the stroller, he chose to get up and get wet again! It was a fun and peaceful day.

Unfortunately, it ended with Aiden sick. It would be lovely to say that the picture of him sleeping was the result of being tired at the end of a special day. Actually, it is a picture of Aiden Sunday asleep on the floor in the living room with a fever of 101-102. This is also after the vomiting and being awake off and on all night.

We missed Monday's therapy, but that worked out well because Addison started with the virus on


Sunday night. Both of them ran fevers on Monday
(Addison's up to 103.5). I took Addison to the emergency care center Tuesday to have a culture done. It turns out Aiden was exposed to rotavirus; hand,foot and mouth disease; and strep throat!!! I decided that if Addison had strep then I would have Aiden done; otherwise I would save him the trauma (and myself honestly) of a throat culture. The quick strep was negative. We're waiting on the culture. At this point I think that the virus is totally unrelated to our exposures!

We missed a total of 2 days; yesterday was our first day back in therapy. Aiden was a little weaker than usual, but he worked hard. Today was even better. He is showing signs of really improving in his upper body strength. I am excited to see the results even this early.

Please pray that Aiden remains healthy and hardy for the remainder of our stay. Also pray that I am healthy. As self-important as it sounds, we really can't afford for me to be sick. Finally, thank the Lord for His faithfulness in this adventure!!!

Blessings to all,
Christa
PS. As I was writing my mom took my dad's temp.....101!!! :( Pray for him!

I have pics!

Greetings from Richmond. I hope that this finds all of you well and enjoying the beautiful weather. We are doing our best to get our week started. But more about that later.

I have finally gotten a card reader so that I can share some of the pictures of Aiden's first week back in intensive. Aiden started off with a bang. He showed off for Shannon; standing up and walking independently. His evaluation went well and Shannon has set some rather exciting goals for this session:

1. Aiden will pedal his tricycle independently with assistance
steering.
2. Aiden will pay attention to his surroundings so that he can safely navigate up and down obstacles of up to 2 inches.(I think that this is how it should read!!)
3. Aiden will walk up 4 stairs independently with close guarding.
4. Aiden will walk independently over uneven surfaces (grass, playground,etc) for 3 minutes.

For many of you these may seem rather simple goals. For us, they will be miracles of the most precious kind. As well, for Aiden to reach them he will have to work hard and long. It will require much focus and specific intent to motor map his brain, and this will come from practicing over and over. I thank Shannon in advance for the energy and discipline that will go into my son.

Now to the pictures. Some of the faces may be familiar. Shannon and Lindsey are in the pictures at the bottom. Aiden is suited up and ready to go. As you can see, Maisy is not

too far away. Aiden continues to love to be read to. I brought several new Maisy books so that we can rotate them and not get too bored. In the bottom picture Aiden in wearing the complete suit and is squatting down. The knee section of the suit makes bending very difficult--it is taking quite an effort to squat!

This session Aiden met Miss Cindy. She and Aiden took a walk outside for our first full day. He was a little unhappy when we walked past our van (his DVD player is inside), but he still worked hard. He was pretty wiped out that first day, but he didn't fall asleep this time. It just shows that
he is considerably stronger now than he was 7 months ago.

The pictures that are left (I still have not really gotten the hang of this blog thing and so the pictures that should be at the bottom are at the top.) are those of Aiden with a less than happy face. Let's face it, usually he is a happy-go-lucky guy who is content to have a sippy cup and a good movie on the DVD player. Well, Friday that was not the case. Shannon wanted him to pay attention as he stepped over hurdles. Aiden---not so much. There was screaming and fussing and (guarded by Shannon) some falling. Surprisingly, no tears. He was just mad, and didn't want to do what he needed to practice.

I know that it may seem silly or cliche for me to find a paralell between my son's unwillingness to work on what he needs to do and my own spiritual walk, but I can't help it. As a parent I want my child to work to be the best he can be. How much more does my heavenly parent want that for me? (or for any of you!!?) I kick and scream (and may actually have tears), but that doesn't change the fact that in order to grow I am going to have to work; practice being more like Jesus, work to love my family, exercise my faith to see it grow, discipline my heart to maintain an attitude of prayer. My tantrum will not change the fact that true growth is hard work.

Please pray for Aiden's hard work. Pray that the adults in his life will know how to motivate him. Thank God for the miracles that He is doing.

Blessings to all,

Christa