Paul's Update - 07/05/06

Dear Friends:

No therapists came today so Dad & Tabby decided to do a regimen of exercises. They started with rolling Paul onto his stomach which he wasn't happy about but he did. After he rolled over and back the first time Dad asked if he was ready to do it again ... he said "no". Dad corrected him by saying it really wasn't a question of whether he wanted to do it ... just if he was ready!! He rolled over and back three times. Then Dad rolled him to his stomach and tried to get him up on hands & knees. They did that three times as well. When he'd finished Dad let him roll back over onto his back by himself. Next Dad had him work to scoot over to the far side of the bed and then back. He did that three or four times. Then it was time to stretch the legs and do stomach crunches. He started with upper stomach crunches by bringing his legs up to his stomach then lower crunches by raising himself up at the waist. He did ten repetitions of these each. Then Dad asked him to raise his legs up at about a 45 degree angle one at a time & hold it for five seconds. He did that about five times each. By the time they were done the bed needed to be remade so Dad told him he needed to stand up. Dad made him scoot his legs to the edge of the bed to sit up. He wanted to grab Dad's hand but Tabby said that he needed to use his stomach muscles. He was able to come up onto his elbows but couldn't come all the way to a sitting position by himself. Dad & Tabby held his knees and was able to use his stomach muscles to come up to a sitting position. Once he was sitting Dad told him to stand up. He grabbed Dad's arm and stood up by himself. What a triumph! He hasn't done this since the seizures. He really go a great workout today. Tabby demonstrated a lot of the moves and he was able to copy her! Later Tabby was holding the baby and Paul held out his arm to hold him. She gave him Max and he pointed to the baby bottle. Tabby asked Paul if he wanted to feed the baby and he nodded "yes". She handed him the bottle and without any other direction Paul started feeding Max!! He really has the process of feeding figured out! The rest of the day was pretty quiet. He earned some rest! Tomorrow the visiting nurse will come. Paul has a couple little bruises on his back and some stretch marks that Tabby is a bit concerned about so the nurse will take a look. We haven't heard from the therapists yet. Tabby plans to call the neurologist's office to see if the results are back from the blood tests.

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl