Changing Everyday

Alistair continues to amaze people daily. Thursday he got cleared by his speech therapist to eat regular food...but it still on nectar thick liquids. I know he would love to not have to have thicker liquids, but we have found things he can have that are already thick enough and taste good...Odwalla Smoothie drinks! Once we got back from the school Open House, we got a pass to take Alistair off campus and Seth, Gillian and I walked up to Metropolitan Market with Alistair in his chair to find something yummy for dinner that wasn't pureed or mushy! He went for it, that's for sure. A tray of spicy sushi, 3 rolls that were cut into 5 or 6 pieces, demolished! He has been reveling in his new found eating abilities and yesterday deemed his lunch "Blech" and wanted pizza. To be fair, he was wanting pizza for lunch and we weren't back in time to get his order in with nutrition, so they just sent him what was on the menu! So we went and got pizza in the cafeteria and he made sure to order it for dinner last night! 

Alistair continues to work on walking in PT. They haven't tried any other styles of walker with him and now that he has used it a bit, he mentioned he is getting used to it. I think they feel that this particular style is the best fit and function for him. He does a pretty good job and pushes himself a bit more every time. They measured him for a walking orthotic to force his foot come down the way it is supposed to and should be in this week sometime. 

His occupational therapist has continued to work on his bicep and getting his right arm to bend and engage all the muscles. She has had him laying on his stomach on the mat table using the iPad while up on his elbows. He does a pretty good job, but his right side gets tired quick. After being at school on Thursday I began to feel a bit anxious about his abilities to write and such as we haven't had him do anything with that yet. So Betsy had him write a Thank You note for her to put on her car for the firefighters in the Winthrop area when she goes to grab stuff from her cabin this weekend. She had to help him and guide his hand, but he did okay...with his left hand. He seems to be a bit bothered about possibly becoming a left hander. I told him might just be temporary and then he will be a double threat being ambidextrous. He has begun to work on his Lego sets again. He can pick up the Legos and place them, but he needs a bit of help to get them pressed down. He bought a race car set at the Mall of America and asked about building it the other day. He worked on it some with Seth and then also with his buddy Levi. Legos are a great fine motor skill for him to practice...and fun!!

Speech continues to get better and better. We all have made the comments we are having to ask Alistair to repeat himself a lot less. His speech therapists cues him to use his speech tips when he begins to become indiscernible, but has moved on to working on reading out loud, reading comprehension (along with the education therapist), playing board games, and having social conversations (along with the recreational therapist). And of course the more he is being understood by more people, the more he has to say! 

Gillian has become quite comfortable hanging out at the hospital, chatting up the nurses and getting around!

Our family conference went well. They continue to be optimistic about his outcome and are all excited about his continued rapid and ever changing progress. They still have us discharging mid September. We are nervous about this from the point of leaving before he has had an opportunity to maximize his time to work there. But otherwise, would love to be home and all back under one roof. We met his teacher on Thursday. She is very aware of what has been going and has been kept up to speed by the teacher at Children's. She was surprised to see us at Open House. She said she would like to come visit Alistair and meet him and I think that would be great! She seems really nice and I think just what Alistair will need easing back into school. 

The infamous Ramah!

We have another outing today. We are taking Alistair out much earlier than last week. He wants to go to the store so he can buy a new video game - Forza Motorsports Racing. We played this at the Microsoft Store at the Mall of America and he has been playing it a bit at the hospital with his buddies. So we are going to Alderwood Mall for the Microsoft Store and also the Lego Store, of course. Then we will come home so he can play his video game and anything else he has missed. Then we will pack up and head to my brother's house for dinner. They have a much larger space that Alistair can be in with his wheelchair. He will need to be back at the hospital by 8pm and I think he will be one tired kid...as will we! Wish us luck!