not settled yet

Molly visiting the cows on the farm where her dad works.

We are going a little crazy: Matt's down on the farm in Cape working and staying there. The kids are at Grandpa's fishing, playing games, and chilling out. Gus, Molly, Aunt Deborah and I are all here left to try to sort out the kinks of moving, clean the house, and pack some more. Both babies really miss the kids and are giving us adults the hardest time they can. So, with lots of coffee, chocolate, and ice cream, we've survived this past week.

Tomorrow night, our help arrives!

Quick update on Gus: he is doing great. He is improving in small ways that add up to a lot. We've taken him again to see Chad, the ABM practitioner here in St. Louis and the difference is fantastic. Gus is starting to move his arms, hands, and really, his whole body in new and better ways. He isn't rolling over yet, but getting closer. Another big plus for us- his medicine is getting reduced more and more.

Molly is almost running around the house, keeping us on our toes as she runs away carrying everything with her.

Ian, George, and Rose are all having a great time visiting at Grandpa's. They all have a bad case of poison ivy and it rained all week long but they have reassured me that the games and movies more than made up for the bad weather and rash.

new stuff to learn, part II - a quick note

not only do we have a lot of new stuff to learn, but so does Gus.

Within the last month, we have worked hard with Gus to help him relearn how to move his body. Now, as we learn the best way for him to move, we have to reteach and try to undo some of the things we taught him. So, we mostly spend our days rolling on the floor, helping Gus army crawl, and have him push off of us. The arches in his feet are starting to develop, the curve in his spine is straightening out, his movements with his arms and hands are more free and smooth, and he is definitely more opinionated in what he thinks he should be doing (or more accurately, what we should be doing with him).

His extra tone that he always has to fight is lessening and we reduced his medications more. He is starting to vocalize more clearly and a few different sounds are beginning to appear. One great thing that seems to be happening (and we hope it continues) is that Gus seems to be developing an ability to calm himself down. If he gets really upset, he now gets over it and is back to smiling whereas before, we would spend a really long time calming him down, with little success.

We are in the middle of getting ready to move. We close on our house soon and then we'll quickly move on out, returning here to St. Louis for therapies and doctors' visits.

thank you for keeping up with us!