Raising Asher

MIA

I've been missing in action for quite awhile.  Sorry about that.  It's just gogogo around here.

Next week we pick up Asher's wheelchair at Vanderbilt.  I'm really excited!  It will be soooo awesome for him to be able to get where he wants to be on his own and explore the house in a totally new way.

Speaking of houses, that is all still on.  Ours is on the market (less than a week in), and we've already put in one offer on another.  It was rejected, but that's quite alright.  God has a plan.  We've looked at several others and just haven't found the right one yet.  There are four more on the list, three of which we haven't been inside of yet.  It's nice to not be in a hurry during this process.

As of next week, we're back down to four days a week of therapy.  The 5-day schedule, with everything else we have going on, was just grueling.  It will be nice to have that day "off" again.

Asher's on the honor roll

For PT, that is!

Okay, so there's not really an Honor Roll.  I made that up.  But, Asher did receive the following progress report the other day:

Progress to date: Asher has made excellent progress with his physical therapy program.  He now sits independently for indefinite periods of time, pivots in sitting, reaches for and obtains a toy and plays with it in upright sitting for indefinite periods.  He can transition to standing from short sitting with hands at an anterior support surface.  He can stand with two hands held.  He will stand in parallel bars and has been observed to take two steps with minimal assistance.  He can transition from floor sitting to supine independently.

Look at all those things our boy can do!  We're very proud of him, and eternally grateful for his two wonderful physical therapists.

One step at a time...

Why not start today?  :)

Check out this tall dude!

Gotta love seeing years of therapy paying off!

If there was ever any doubt that Asher's an Elmo guy

It can now be removed.  ;)

(this is his early interventionist, Susie - lots more fun pics of this session to come!)

Upsy Daisy

One of the skills Asher is working on in PT and EI is going from lying down to sitting.  He needs some guidance, but he's really doing a lot of this muscle work on his own.  This was yesterday in PT:

Let's Practice Sitting Up! from Cayla Wilkerson on Vimeo.

Another great find, and a big day

Man, good stuff is just coming out of the woodwork these days!

You know how I posted the other day about always having to put Asher in a onesie so he doesn't go after his button?  Well, a big concern of mine has always been what the heck we were going to do once he outgrew size 24 months, because that's where onesies stop.

Except they don't!

Someone on the CFC listserv posted this link the other day, and I was thrilled!  I'm so relieved to know that we can now go all the way up to size 5T - and they have both short and long sleeves.  Yay!

In other news, Asher had a BIG day at therapy today - he signed More!  He's sort of signed it here and there, but always with prompting and never with much consistency... but today he signed it several times, and all on his own!  It's a sign we've been working on for a long, long time, and it's so awesome to see the fruits of all that effort.  He made his SLP cry.  Of course, he hasn't done it for me at home yet (stinker), but he will.  :)

His OT recommended we pick up some linking beads for him, so I got these tonight at Wal-Mart (we were there to pick up a Site-to-Store order, thus forsaking our beloved Target).  I'm not sure if they're quite what she's using, but I think they will serve the purpose - getting him to be more purposeful when he has two objects in his hands (he's very good at holding two things, but all he ever wants to do is bang them together... this works on expanding his motor skill set).  I saw similar links at Borders the other night... for $20!  I was sooo not gonna pay $20 for plastic linky things.  I knew I could get a better deal.  I got the Bright Starts ones for $7 - much more my speed.  :)

And finally, the part I've been putting off because I wish it weren't so, and because I was yearning so badly for a different outcome.  Ms. Chrissie went home to be with Jesus this morning.  She fought so valiantly, and her mom has been so strong throughout everything.  I take comfort knowing that she is finally healed and free from pain, but my heart breaks for Lorraine.  Thank you to everyone who has prayed for them - they still very much need those prayers as they face a world forever changed.

the balancing act

Well, it's finally happened.  I knew this day would come, but I held out as long as I could.

Asher is officially in therapy five days a week.  In the long run it's actually a better schedule for us than what we were doing, but it was always nice having that one day "off."

He's bumping up to twice a week feeding appointments (which he really needs), so he'll be seen right after speech on Monday and then again on Friday.  Though I'm losing my day, it really helps me out because Tuesdays had a weird gap in them between feeding and PT, so that makes things easier there.

Then again, our PT time isn't officially "locked in" yet.  We're going week-to-week right now, it just happens that Tuesdays and Thursdays are working out... hopefully we can secure that as a regular time slot soon.  As much as I liked having a free day, it's really easier to manage if I'm not juggling multiple appointments at multiple locations in the same morning.

surfin' USA

Don't you just love it when you've thought to yourself a million times, "It sure would be nice if they made something like that..." and then you find it?

Asher's button is a constant source of frustration in that he really, really likes to grab and scratch at it.  We always have to dress him in either a onesie-type outfit, or use a plain white Gerber onesie as an undershirt if he's wearing a 2-piece outfit.  If we don't, he'll just go to town on his button.

I actually had the thought that doing aquatic therapy would be a heck of a lot easier if he were a girl simply because we could buy a one-piece bathing suit and not have to worry about it.  And I thought, it sure would be nice if they had one-pieces for guys.

Turns out they do!

This outfit from Speedo (called a Polywog, which cracks me up) is SO unbelievably perfect.  It has a built-in flotation device, will keep his skin insulated, and it's ONE PIECE!  When I saw it hanging at the store I first assumed it was two separate pieces being sold together as a set, but nope - the shirt and the shorts are sewn together.  It's the perfect size, too (for ages 1-2, up to 33 lbs).

The best part?  It was only $25 at Target!  Considering that it's basically the ideal swimming outfit, I would have paid twice that.  And if you know me, you know I'm a cheapskate frugal homemaker.  Frankly, giving me peace of mind and my little guy a great water experience?  Priceless.

KidWalk

Asher was able to get in it after all!

We would need to finagle the adjustments on it a bit more if he were to get one, but I liked what I saw today!  He made some walk-like movements and managed to propel himself backwards.  Hopefully we'll get to test it out some more in a couple of weeks (his PT is off next week, but the company that is letting her try it out is supposed to let her keep it through the following week).

Here are a couple of pics:

Playing with Ms. Ellen.

His knees are bent here because he was being pushed forward and he leaned on his tip-toes... it was positioned at an appropriate height.

I was reminded again today that the school system will require Asher to have "three positions" that they can have him in during the day, so this could very well be an option for us in the coming months.