On Top of Our Game

Dad and Daughter

Nate Making Piza Wedges and French Fries

Uncle J and Cousin L

Nate

Cousins Snowball Fight!

Babu and Uncle J~ Martini Time

Playing Hooky This Week

All in all, a good week was had by all.  We paid a visit to the physiatrist earlier this week.  She checked LJ's DMO suit, foot orthotics, splints and overall functionality of the muscle tone.  We're proud to report that we are not needing to do botox for the muscle tightness right now.  She feels the DMO suit is working & wants to see how things progress naturally!  Lewis is able to sit in a propped position for quite a little while before falling backward.  The thought is that once his Gtube is permanently removed in the Spring he will gain even more core strength.  No botox = really good news.

The other great news is that a new, local Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy clinic has started seeing young patients with CP and also autism. I toured the facility on Friday and was impressed with what I saw.  The last time we did HBOT treatments we really saw an overall improvement in LJ.  Sadly they were a mobile unit and moved to Wisconsin for awhile.  That was in February 2010.  So since we are a no-go for the botox, I think we are going to try to find a way to do 20 sessions at this new HBOT place. 

And the last bit of fun news is that Nate and I are off to join my dad, brother and nephew in Park City for a little skiing and tail end of the Sundance film festival.  Nate is so thrilled to see snow.  (They got a foot of snow last week.) Whereas we had a couple inches here in NOVA which promptly melted overnight and turned our front yard into an icy mess.  That didn't matter; Nate still wanted to wear his snow boots and play outside...making crunching noise on the ground and picking up ice blocks and launching them at stationary objects.  Magic carpet ride here we come!!!  {Checking out the adaptive ski program for LJ for the next time we're there too}.

Netflix Taste Buds

Lately LJ has been requesting cooking shows in place of the ole stand-byes, Yo Gabba Gabba and Sesame Street.  He created his own sign to indicate a cooking show instead of movie. LJ requests it by using his good, left hand to pretend he's holding a wooden spoon & he moves his hand in a stirring motion.

Here's a brief run-down of his latest viewing activity:
Cake Boss
Man v Food
Best Food Ever
Oliver's Twist (Jamie Oliver)
BBQ Pitmasters
Take Home Chef (Curtis Stone)

We get to watch these foodie shows, then he insists we go in the kitchen to make something. Here's a picture of his pretend mixer and microwave he got thanks to his grandparents for the holidays.  We break these out especially when the kitchen's closed.

Look out world, here comes the next Iron Chef!

Happy {Chilly} Trails

We had a lovely time at hippotherapy in the 28 degree whether this past week.  Siblings and all.  Don't know if I mentioned that Lee Roy (the loving, old horse LJ used to ride) moved out of state with his owners so we've been riding a new horse named "Bo".



Bo is pretty quirky.  Although perhaps the experience was due to the chilly temps and the fact we had LJ wear his ski hat underneath a larger size riding helmet which sort of came down over his eyes a few times. And maybe also because thirty minutes of freezing your bottom off in a horse barn riding horses probably doesn't loosen up the muscles so well, LJ kept asking to "be all done". That and his hands were so frozen he could barely hold on to the balance bar on Bo's saddle.  His hands were like popsicles when we got back to the car.  His face did brighten up at the end though, when we got to feed "Bo" a special "cookie" that Kristen boasted was supposed to taste just like an apple.  Next time I will remedy the situation and have some mittens with extra grip on the palms for him to wear.  And a real apple.  But all in all, he did an awesome job this week!

Scenes From New Years + A Video from Aqua Therapy

Red Velvet Cake recipe from the Magnolia Bakery

Thought I'd share a few moments from the NYE celebration. The red velvet cake had sparklers on top which the kids got to light outdoors. Then the "big kids" played a rockin' game of Apples to Apples. The boys stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop and ring in the new year. Thanks so much guys! Had a blast!! Now we're regrouping a bit as we get back into a quasi-post winter-break-routine. Here is a random video of LJ at aqua therapy today (he's standing on an underwater platform. M is trying to get LJ to hold up his own weight using the "shark" hula hoop).