Paul's Update - 01/10/07

Dear Friends:

Tuesday morning Dad worked with Paul's numbers. He was able to count to ten by himself. When he got done with that Dad asked him if he knew what the numbers were and he nodded "yes" so Dad told Paul he was going to test him. He held up three fingers and Paul said "three" then he held up two fingers and Paul said "two" and finally he held up four fingers and Paul said "four"!! This was so wonderful but then a few minutes later Dad held up one finger and Paul said "eleven". Later that evening Tabby and Max, Dad, Bobby, Carolyn & I took Paul to visit at Manor Care in Fair Oaks. This is the nursing home where Paul was at this time last year. There was only one of the therapists still there that had worked with Paul. She was so excited to see how well Paul was doing. When he left there he wasn't talking and didn't even really make eye contact with anyone yet. The therapists there were wonderful and were able to get Paul to do things that were pretty amazing at the time. They always had hope for him to be better and worked really hard with him. It was nice to be able to go back and show Ashee (the therapist) how well he is doing now. He was able to get up and walk with the parallel bars with only minor assistance to keep his balance. She was so amazed! After we left Manor Care we all went out for dinner at the Japanese Steak house in Fair Lakes which is only a couple miles from the nursing home. After we got Paul home he was pretty tired and said he didn't feel very good. Dad & Tabby needed to get Paul's coat off of him but he wouldn't let them. When they tried ... he struggled with them. It was almost comical how hard he worked to prevent them from taking off his coat. They finally got it off but he had almost worn himself out fighting with them. After they got it off Tabby reached over to hug Paul and although he hugged her ... he immediately pushed her away again. He was pretty mad at them!! LOL A short time later it was time for bed and he was exhausted! Wednesday Paul was very uncooperative. He didn't want to count or exercise. I suppose he was worn out from Tuesday ... or maybe he is a little discouraged that he cannot do better. I hope it was just exhaustion. Dad didn't push him and let him have a quiet day. When Dad arrived this morning he found Max STANDING in his crib. Since the mattress is still up pretty far he was up higher than the top rail. Needless to say Pap-Paw had to lower the mattress today! Max is growing so fast!!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl