Paul's Update - 10/29/07

Dear Friends:

The last several days have been full of more improvements. Saturday we stayed home most of the day. Gradis came about 7:30 am and got Paul up and dressed. She always cleans after Paul gets his breakfast. The morning was spent mostly watching TV but Dad decided to try to have Paul stand up from his chair without any help. He had him sit forward and put his hands on the arms of the chair. He leaned forward and pushed himself up from the seat. Once he was out of the chair he stood straight while keeping his balance. Dad didn’t even touch him the whole time!! What a miracle this is ... even though he still has a long way to go to be doing this on his own all the time ... this was another FIRST!! He did that several times throughout the day. He still needs someone nearby since he loses his balance easily. Gradis was so excited ... she loves watching Paul do new things. Gradis had made lunch for us on Saturday. She loves rice with every meal and she usually fixes foods that are very spicy but she knows we don’t usually eat spicy foods so she made rice and chicken in a tomato sauce that was NOT spicy. It was pretty good and Paul seemed to really enjoy it. We didn’t go to the Mexican restaurant since Gradis had brought lunch. After dinner we headed down to the church for the annual Trunk or Treat activity. Carolyn brought Alysa and Chris dressed in their costumes ... they were so cute ... I think the cutest ones there ... but I AM a little partial!! Paul walked down and got to see the kids do their trick or treating. The outreach committee also had crafts for the kids and we watched a movie at 8pm. We were there until after 10pm. Everyone had a great time!

Sunday morning Dad, Paul, Gradis and I met with Bill & Ronda and Lew for breakfast. After we got to the house Paul seemed quiet and moody. Since he has felt bad over the last couple of days we thought he may be sick. Dad tried to get him to go to church with us but he refused to get up out of the chair. Max came around 9:45am so Pap-Paw stayed at home with Paul & Max during church time. Max is a very busy toddler these days. He is on the move all the time. Although Paul doesn’t “play” with Max he seems to enjoy watching him play. Paul was a little weaker and had a little more assistance to get up from his chair but he still did most of the work by himself. He forgets to lean far enough over his knees and loses his balance as he tries to stand. Once he is up he uses his cane and walks. Dad got out a collapsible cane for him to use. It folds up to about a foot long to store easily when he is in the car or not using it. It is pretty light weight and it is tall enough for Paul to stand a bit straighter when he walks. Occasionally Paul just wants to get up and walk around the house. This is good exercise and will make him more able to walk on his own. Paul seemed to feel better in the afternoon but was ready for bed by 10:30pm.

Monday Dora showed up about 7:30am. Paul got up and had breakfast. He didn’t have any appointments so it was a quiet morning. Dad & I headed out to do some errands but didn’t get far before Aunt Shirley and Uncle Wally showed up and called us to come back home. We visited for a bit and then we took their van out to take care of our errands with them. Dora made lunch for Paul while we were gone but when we came back we ordered pizza and Paul ate two pieces of it when it came!! The evening was quiet. Dora leaves at 7pm and we watched a suspense movie on the cable after we finished dinner. He stayed up until after 11pm. When Dad had him in bed he said “I’ll tell Mom to come in and say goodnight” and Paul said “thanks”! I love it when we have normal conversation (without prompts!). Dad should be taking Paul to physical therapy on Tuesday. This is so important since he is walking more and more.

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl