Today (and yesterday...and the day before...and, well, you get the idea) was so busy. This morning Gavin started the day with Occupational Therapy. Stephanie and her student, Andy, came earlier than normal - at breakfast time. They wanted to work with Gavin on his self feeding skills. There wasn't much to work with - his self feeding was a short lived celebration. I had him feeding himself mandarin orange pieces and bites of pancake and more for a while ...but now he spits everything out or refuses to open his mouth. So this morning, no surprise, he didn't "perform" at all. *sigh* (but keep reading for better news!)
The big news of the day (at least for Brian!) was the construction going on in front of our house. We've had difficulty lately with water in our basement. We thought it was a new problem - after a recent hurricane we had some minor flooding. But after removing the drywall in the basement, it's obvious this water damage has been happening for years...like a slow drip. Infuriating, but what can you do. And because we don't have a basement pump for water, insurance just laughs at us. So a contractor told us that to remedy the situation he'd need to build up the front of our house. He's giving us a new, higher front porch and then digging the dirt away from the house so he can seal our house with a waterproofing material. Then, he's adding a drainage pipe that will send any water out away from our house. It's a pretty big project and will disrupt my outside Christmas lights for a while (great timing!) - but what can you do. Brian spent most of the day looking out the windows upstairs and down...and out the front door watching them work. He was fascinated.
The best news of the day? Gavin had Physical Therapy this afternoon. Miss Wendy was SO impressed with his walker skills. This week I put him in his walker barefoot a lot - just as an experiment. I found that he tried more...to steer, to walk and even to back up! I did put his orthotics and his shoes on sometimes - but mostly he was barefoot. And it looks like it paid off! Take a look...
It's also a "catch 22." Although we are all impressed by the huge jump in his walker progress...he still needs to learn how to do it in his orthotics. Otherwise, he'll use the wrong foot/ankle/lower leg muscles. Miss Wendy suggested that we let him spend half the time barefoot and half with his braces and shoes on. I was very agreeable to this - I love him barefoot (and so does his Orthopedic Doc, which is why you often see Gavin with no shoes on). I think the input on his bare feet is important - I want him to feel everything.
Tonight I am putting the finishing touches on our photo Christmas cards. If you usually get a card from us...it will most definitely be late this year. I'm very excited about the photos. This was the first year that we hired a professional photographer. The session was a nightmare - having nothing to do with her. Gavin, who is usually easy to amuse with a song, was sobbing uncontrollably. Then Brian started acting up which made Gavin more upset - which made me more anxious - which got Brian more upset - which - well, if you ever had a professional photo taken, you've been there. I don't need to explain. I really didn't anticipate her getting many good shots - but, as it turns out, she is a miracle worker. Once my cards are out and have arrived at their destinations, I will share the photos and the photographer's information.
I am... I don't know how I am! I'm so busy day to day and just surviving, to be honest. I have been going to bed very, very early. I'll get through this. I guess I'm under construction too...just like our front porch. And just like Gavin's little bare feet - I intend (and need) to feel everything.
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