Paul's Update - 04/15/06

Dear Friends:

What a blessing today was. Our family & a few friends spent most of the day together. It was a beautiful day which allowed us to be outside a lot. We had a weekend CNA today. Dora gets the weekend off. She arrived around 7am. Bobby & Tabby did the meds this morning so Dad got to sleep in late and get some things done at home. It was actually a nice break in the routine that we've had. Paul was very alert all day. It seems that having lots of activity is really good for him. He pays attention to all the people around. Alysa's birthday was last week and so we had ice cream cake & a small birthday party. Tabby gave Paul a little taste of the ice cream cake. He seemed to really enjoy that! He chewed & SWALLOWED it. She gave him several bites. Tabby's parents were also there today. They brought foods for an Easter Dinner. It was great and we enjoyed having a meal together. Dad got brave and gave Paul a little bite of mashed potatoes. He loved it!! So Dad proceeded to give him more along with some sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and two kinds of cobbler. He didn't really eat a lot of food but he really enjoyed all of what he got. It was amazing to watch him chew and swallow ... and want more!! I'm sure any good speech therapist wouldn't approve of this but since we don't have a speech therapist currently ... we are "winging it" and as long as he does well with it ... why not give him some things he can enjoy? Tabby also worked a little more with some sign language. He does pretty good with hand movements but doesn't really do the sign language quite yet. Dad decided to try getting Paul to use a pen & paper to see if he could draw something. With some assistance he traced his hand and did a little scribbling. We had an occupational therapist come today. He worked to stretch Paul's arms, shoulders & legs. He also got him up to work on some balance. Paul took a couple of steps but he was tired (he'd been outside for over an hour at that point). Sunday will be a special time for our family to worship together at the Sonrise service. Bobby worked hard to get a cab that could bring Paul ... nobody wants to be out that early on a Sunday! We have much to be thankful & praise God for this year. I hope you have a Blessed Easter!

Love & Hugs, Carl and Lynne