Paul's Update - 05/02/07

Dear Friends:

Tuesday Paul started out with his coffee before going to the dining room for breakfast. He seems to enjoy this. It also seems he likes sitting in different chairs. He sits in Dad's chair for a while and then wants to move to my chair, or the couch. He likes to sit in the dining room chairs to eat instead of the wheelchair! Dad worked with Paul to do his numbers & letters after breakfast. He sat at the table and worked on some worksheets that Brooke gave us. They are from a workbook to teach a child how to count. Paul walked a lot. He now walks from the living room to the bathroom almost without any help. Dad stays close behind him just in case he loses his balance. He also walks from the bathroom to the porch and back. Dad has been encouraging Paul to sit down with more control instead of just turning around and flopping down. If he flops down in the chair Dad makes him try it again. He is getting better control with getting up and sitting down. Brooke (speech therapist) came around 4pm. Dad had gone out to get a tatoo so Carolyn was here with Max. Brooke had Paul do some puzzles. They are the wooden puzzles that Tabby bought for him. They only have about 8-10 pieces but he can do them almost by himself. One of them has numbers that are different colors. We are trying to get him to recognize the numbers by seeing them. Brooke also worked on some object recognition ... identifying items in the room and also identifying his facial features. Carolyn suggested that he may recognize eyes, nose, mouth etc better by using a doll ... she is going to see if Alysa has a doll that has prominent features that we can use. Brooke also wants us to start having Paul identify objects in the rooms that he goes into.

Wednesday was a mostly quiet day. Dad had some phone calls to make and then he went out to try to find some large storage tubs. He plans to put Paul's things in them so they are more protected than they are in the cardboard boxes. Since they are in the garage they are subject to more dust, heat & cold. Dad said that Paul didn't even use the wheelchair AT ALL today. He walked everywhere he went ... all day! He didn't do any other exercises ... I don't think he needed to!! Dad also noted that Paul tried to reach back with his hands to hold onto the chair when he went to sit down. He doesn't usually do that. It would help him sit more gently if he used his hands! Tonight was bible study night and Ronda brought dinner. What a blessing it is to have such a good friend! We were able to eat out on the deck. We were going to stay out there for our study but Paul wanted to go inside so we moved back to the living room. Paul sits with us during our bible study. He sat up for a while after everyone left. It was about 10:30pm when he told Dad he was ready for bed. Thursday Paul will have physical therapy. I think Cathy will be pleased at Paul's progress with walking!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl