Wednesday, October 12, 2011

It's Been A While

I know it has been quite a while since I last updated this blog but we'll just say Asher, myself and the blog were all on summer vacation.  Having Parker at home all summer and trying to get out of the house and enjoy the weather didn't make for the best blogging.  We had a nice family vacation this summer. Asher loved going to the beach.  I was afraid he wouldn't like the waves but he couldn't get enough.  He kept crawling after them and I had to keep dragging him back up the beach.  
                       
I took advantage of the nice weather and tried to take his walker everywhere we went.  He has gotten to be such a pro at turning and steering it all over the place.  He loves to run in it.  I can't believe how quickly he's gotten the hang of it.  His independent walking has not progressed and has actually regressed.  We are taking him to Children's Hospital tomorrow so that he can get botox and phenol in both his legs.  It is being done in the OR and he will be put under general anesthesia for the procedure.  The doctors are hoping the effects will be more dramatic and last longer.  We're also hoping it won't be as traumatizing if he's put under for the procedure.  Our next step in this whole process is going to be a selective dorsal rhizotomy, which involves cutting some of the sensory nerve fibers that come from the muscles and enter the spinal cord.   His physiatrist informed me that Asher is a candidate for the procedure and he can have it anytime between the ages of 2 and 6.  The main thing we need to make sure of is that he can withstand the six months of 5 days a week intense physical therapy.  It's a very invasive procedure and we have made an appointment to thoughrouly discuss it in February.  Asher is also talking up a storm.  He's even using four and more word sentences.  There has been such an explosion in his language and cognitive abilites.  He still seems a little behind to me but according to his evaluations he is right where he should be.  He amazes me all the time and I can't even put into words how proud of him his dad and I both are. 

On a lighter note, Asher is completely truck obsessed!! He could talk about trucks all day if you let him.  Believe it or not we were able to pass down Parker's old power wheel to him.  We gave it to him for the first time this past weekend and he was in heaven.  He was able to get the hang of pushing the pedal, which we were worried about because the pedal is on the right side, but he hasn't gotten the hang of steering yet.  I have to stay right with him and keep turning the wheel so he doesn't end up in a ditch.  He could sit in that power wheel forever if we let him.  For some reason I love that it has been used by both my boys. 

Speaking of both my boys, a good friend of mine who is a professional photographer did beautiful pictures of the boys a couple weekends ago.  They turned out really amazing.  I felt like I had run a marathon at the end of the session, it was a lot of work to get Asher to smile and look at the camera, but it was worth it.  I was worried that my friend wouldn't be able to get any good shots because of Asher not cooperating but she got so many that it's hard to choose which ones to frame. Thanks Amanda!!  http://www.facebook.com/#!/AmandaMoorePhotographyLLC