just another rainy day

I wanted to let you know that Gus did good again on 'walking' today. It was really hard work for him - he was so tired and who, on a rainy, gray, St. Louis day can blame him? (Our dog, Jack, however, is anything BUT tired. We just got him back the other day - a big THANK YOU to James and Heidi for taking care of him this past year.) Here's a few pictures of us on such a sleepy-ish day.


Gus is doing well this past week. The more we do with him, the more he wants to do. He is learning to play with blocks, picking them up and letting them go (into a loud, noisy tin). He is still eating well, enjoying food. We offer him food every 2 hours and he often eats about 1/4 cup. We'll try to keep him gaining lots of weight so that the dietician will let us give less formula.


The rest of the family is doing well. This week we were visited by a fever but it wasn't too bad, especially since Gus stayed healthy. Thank you for your prayers. Please pray that Gus moves purposefully, with clear control and that he learns to communicate with us (and please pray as well, that we learn to understand him better) to reduce frustration for him.

Up and down

Back and forth. That's what they kept saying to me but the words didn't really hit home. Brain damage recovery is always going back and forth. Some days, one area is better than another. And then other days, nothing is going well. For months he would improve and then do nothing. Hope would soar high and then get shot down, only to rise again later.

(This picture is of Gus in his stander playing with shaving cream and marbles with his occupational therapist here at our home.)

For the past several months, Gus hasn't improved much. I didn't update the blog often because I could think of little or nothing to say that wouldn't be too redundant.

Hope has been hard to maintain. All day, Deborah and I work through a long checklist of therapies to help Gus of which he complains through most. Progress is difficult for us to notice but the therapists keep us going. They tell us he's improved and what to do next step.

God has been gracious. This past week, we've seen Gus do more and more:
On Tuesday, at his speech therapy appointment, meeting also with a dietician, we realized Gus is gaining a little too much weight with all of the extra food he's eating. So we can now give him less formula and more regular food (mostly mashed up).



On Tuesday afternoon, with his appointment with a vision specialist, Gus started to play with a 'light box' (now here at home) and a special box called 'A Little Room'. A Little Room enables kids to explore their world and learn to play on their own. (check it out at http://www.lilliworks.com/products.htm) We were thrilled to have Gus playing more on his own with the light box and A Little Room.

Wednesday, Gus was attentive, supported his muscles really well, and was happy most of the time.

Today, Gus did really well all morning, and did fantastic at his physical therapy appointment this afternoon. Today, they had him in the lite gait again (for walking practice) and he smiled and laughed throughout almost all of the time. He picked up his knees and then put them down again with full weight on each leg. I haven't seen him move his knees that much for the past year.

With this encouragement, our energy is renewed to keep up the work. God is good to us. Thank you for praying.

Please continue to pray for better coordination, complete recovery for the brain, and hope. Thank you!

Thank you

...our hope, our prayer for Gus:
“...but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not faint.” Isa. 40:31

Thank you for being with us through this past year. It has not been easy and you have stood by us through it all. We had a lot of fun at the party on the 17th. Gus loves little kids and we had a bunch.




Gus continues to do better. Yesterday at OT (occupational therapy), Gus enjoyed playing and manipulating the toy to get the sounds he wanted. He even looked a little confused...something we haven't seen in over a year.

Soon, we'll be working on giving him liquids by mouth here at home. Please continue to pray that he grows in his ability to eat and drink and can get rid of the g-button.

His legs are getting stronger and his ability to pick them up and kick a little has improved lately. When we pick him now, he is a lot stronger and holds himself up better. It makes it a lot easier to throw him up in the air.

Thank you for praying for us. From a grateful heart, the lockerbys

Thank you for your incredible support of our family this past year. As a celebration of how far Gus has come, we invite you to join us for his second birthday.

We are holding the celebration on April 17, 2010 from
2:00 pm - 6:00 pm at the Lockerby Farm in Alton, Missouri. Please RSVP at lockerbys@juno.com or call 314-423-2373 and let us know if you need directions.

a full year has gone by

March 16th was the anniversary of Gus' accident. In the past year, he has come a long way. We were given no hope of life, let alone of all of the recovery that has been gained...and we still have much hope for the future as he continues to move, laugh, kick, and play.

Again, Gus went into the pool for therapy. The weightlessness allowed him to move a lot more. This week, he gets to try a bike while his muscles are stimulated to contract. It's great to see him respond so well to the therapies.

We hope soon to get him off of formula. We have given him whole grain, healthy foods when he has been ill before and he has done really well on it. A dietician will work with us soon to figure out what all of his nutritional needs are.

Please continue to pray for us. His brain is probably done with the swelling at this point and progress usually slows down (that's what we are told). Please pray that progress doesn't slow down. Please pray for wisdom as we meet each day, hoping to do our best for him as well as all of our kids.

Thank you, esther