Our first day at Hope Therapy

Hello all,
Our first day at Hope Therapy was relatively exciting. Aiden realy put on the charm for the ladies at the center. His therapist Shannon seems to connect well with him and she was given more than one of Aiden's sparkley smiles. Shannon seems to love her job and the children that she works with.
Aiden started his session today with a full evaluation. His flexibility and joint mobility were checked along with strength levels in his extremities. Although these were not the easiest activities for him to accomplish, Aiden completed the exercises with good humor.
When the evaluation was completed we got out Aiden's gate trainer (a modified orthopedic pediatric walker). He absolutely loves to cruise around. It's funny to watch him go. The look on his face as he takes off is priceless. (It is obvious to both Dave and me that Aiden so wants to go independently. )
Aiden was worked out on a resistance machine. You know those gym machines that work your aductors and abductors, well, they have one just for the little ones. He also got to "fly" today. They use a pulley and rope system with harnesses that suspend Aiden. Let me tell you, hanging from the harnesses really make you hold your head up. I don't think that I realized that his neck and shoulders were quite so weak, but honestly, I don't know if I could hold my big old noggin' up for very long in this fashion either. We will hope that by the time we're through he'll look like superman in the harness.
After about 2 hours of work, Aiden took a break and had a snack. It 's really important to keep him fed during the sessions because he's working so hard. Just so you know, the first 2 hours were the easy part. Once he snacked it was time for the "therasuit". (I won't try to describe it at this time, but I will post pictures tomorrow. ) It is rather binding, and the shoes are tight and uncomfortable, pair that with exhaustion, and you reach maximum overload. The last 40 minutes were difficult at best. That having been said, he still tolerated it.
It was difficult to sit and watch my little one scream and look at me for help. I left the center with a huge headache, and a completely exhausted baby. (Once we took him out of the bouncing harness he fell asleep in less than 30 seconds---no exaggeration!!!)
Please continue to pray that we are in right place and pray for our stamina in therapy. More tomorrow. Thanks for reading. -Christa

PS. I realized after naming this blog how truly appropriate it is..... I am learning to walk daily just like Aiden. My journey is moving me closer and closer to becoming the woman, wife and mother that the Lord desires for me to be. So, your prayers are not only sustaining us as we complete therapy daily, but are also sustaining me in my walk with the Lord. Thank you.