Leaps and Bounds

Alistair continues to do things in big ways. Everyday he wakes up ready to greet the day and meet the challenges. He has such a great attitude and his spirit is so positive. I was remarking to a friend today how kids are so resilient and capable of overcoming much more than adults. A testament to that is the fact that Alistair, despite his huge set backs and having to relearn everything he learned when he was 2, is doing it all with such a positive outlook and a sense of humor. He isn't laying around saying, "why me?" Adults find it easier to get into this funk and seem to have a harder time finding the silver lining in the situation. I still think at some point we will meet with some push back and negativity, but right now all the disappointment and sadness comes in little instances that pass like a rain cloud on a windy day. 

Alistair had a swallow study today and has officially been bumped up to nectar thick liquids (WAY better than honey thick) and his diet has been improved to dysphagia mechanical...which is fancy for soft foods that need to be chewed. No more pureed grossness! Already we have seen a change in his appetite and willingness to eat more. This should go a long way in helping get rid of his feeding tube, which hopefully won't be too much longer!

Alistair did a lot of standing pivot transfers today. Both of my parents have been cleared by the PT to perform transfers with Alistair, which is helpful when they stay the night with him. Alistair also got clearance from his OT to do transfers to the toilet and shower chair, with help. This is nice as we can shower him in our room instead of down the hall with a cumbersome shower chair...which might translate into more frequent showers as it will be easier and more convenient. 

Alistair has been doing more and more assisted standing. They have the standing machine which he gets strapped into and you pump up the level until he is standing up straight. It provides a good stretch on his hamstrings and heel chords as well as some good weight bearing on his feet. They have also had him doing some standing while holding the parallel bars unassisted for different durations of time. Alistair has been working on trunk strength and stability and has been doing lots of sitting on the edge of the table or bed and reaching out to grab stuff. 

The past few days Alistair has begun to try to talk more. His speech and enunciation is better in the morning and it gets less discernible by the afternoon and evening. With his talking, he is becoming more social. He says Hi to the other kids as they pass in the halls, tells all his nurses, doctors and therapist Hi when they come in the room as well as tell them jokes! The recreational therapists planned a group activity yesterday for the kids to make exploding volcanoes together. The kids were very social, chatting about different topics. In the end, Alistair invited one of the other kids to watch a movie with him. It has yet to happen as the kid wasn't feeling well today. Perhaps tomorrow! I called in yesterday to see how everything was going before I headed in. I asked Seth to tell Alistair Hi for me and he offered to let me tell him over the phone. So he put the phone up to Alistair and I said, "Hi Alistair!" and he said "Hi Mommy!" Music to my ears!

Tomorrow is our third family conference. Once again, in a week, Alistair has made HUGE progress. He continues to change and boggle everyone's mind with what he accomplishes. The doctors really seem to be tickled with his progress at the same time find him hard to nail down as far as goals as it seems some take longer and others are achieved in very short order...but not necessarily ones that seem like they would be short goals! Another thing we will talk about is getting a day pass on Saturday to take Alistair out and off campus. We need to chat with him about where he would like to go. Hopefully we can stretch it into a few hours somewhere. He got upset today when we were talking about which car we would use. We are going to borrow my parent's Lincoln sedan to transport him as our vehicles all won't work (2 SUV's and a Coupe). Of course, we sell the Taurus and then end up actually needing it! Who would have thunk?!? Alistair was upset and none of us could figure it out at first. Then it dawned on me that he was upset because he didn't get to ride in the new Durango. We told him we were working up to that by practicing in easier cars and that we were getting running boards for it, so he would have to at least wait until that was done! Even Gillian has to heave herself up into the car!

Tonight after dinner, Alistair got back to his room and decided he wanted to sit in the new to us recliner that is now in our room. Apparently it needed a new home and our nurse thought we might like it as we tend to have lots of visitors from time to time at the same time! He looked pretty cozy in the chair and I think it was a welcome change from his bed or wheelchair!