Doing great!

Wow. The last few months have really been difficult. We saw Gus go through many of the stages he went through in the hospital and we were pretty shaken up about it, besides being exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. Through many tears and prayers, the progress seen over the holidays has increased. A couple of weeks after the Christmas holidays, we noticed Gus becoming more and more relaxed, to the point that he was at before Thanksgiving, when the chickenpox hit. At that point, we thought the medications might be too much because he was so relaxed, but they were never changed. During the last couple of months, we addressed the issue of increasing them and the doctor felt that we just needed to wait this out.

We are now at a place with Gus where he is relaxed and working hard on his muscle strength. We are so excited that God is so good to us! Gus loves the exercise: squats, tucking his chin and lifting up his torso, putting weight on his arms in a crawling position...and anything else we are advised to do. Last week and this week he did some new things at physical therapy: last week he 'walked' (the therapist made his legs move in a walking position) in a light gait and this week he kicked and did squats in the pool.

His response time is also becoming faster - he looks more quickly, tracks a little better, laughs faster and longer, opens his hands when told, says 'hi' when someone else says hi, is just beginning to grab a little at toys, and doesn't have as many problems with swallowing. More and more we feel the pleasure of God in giving him back to us. It's fun to see that he doesn't like bananas or orange juice but loves curried lentil stew. He loves movement, which is so typical of a 20 month old boy: he loves swinging upside down, being thrown up in the air, twirling around, and being tickled (all over his body). Any movement that can accompany "weeeeee" he loves.

Last week we had the 6 month review for the in-home therapists that work through the public school system. It was so encouraging to hear how he was just 6 months ago: didn't smile, didn't laugh, communication was difficult, wasn't sleeping well, muscle control was very difficult, had a hard time swallowing drool, was generally unhappy. What a difference. All of the people at the meeting were really encouraged about the progress. Along with the physical therapist, the occupational therapist, and the therapy coordinator, we were able to have Jo come from the 'Delta Gamma Center for Children with Vision Impairment'. She was the vision evaluator for Gus just before Thanksgiving. The evaluation had lasted over 2 hours and at the end, he could see better. She was really encouraging about the prospects of Gus having vision therapy. We followed her advice from the evaluation and have seen improvements in his vision already. His eyes move more together and he responds to visual stimulation, even without noise (like wiggling your fingers in front of his face makes him laugh). We were able to establish monthly visits with Jo and continue our current schedule of therapy (once a week from in-home therapists, along with twice a week at Ranken Jordan).

Besides the encouraging news about Gus, we are excited about the new baby. Gus loves children and babies so it will be really fun to see him interact with this one. He loves any picture of babies and when I tell him the baby is kicking him, he smiles. We now have a due date of March 4 (there was some debate...) and we are getting ready for him/her. The older kids are really thrilled.

Again, thank you. Your prayers are performing a miracle. gratefully, esther