Skip to main content

The Heart Knows

Today during the physical therapist's visit, Leo was put through his paces. She had a whole list of things, 40 to be exact, of regular newborn motor reflexes and characteristics. Each one gets a check-mark (or not) and then a total score once she tallies up all the information that she observed. Although the final score for Leo really itself doesn't matter, the test was more to establish a baseline of development for Leo, and to find his strengths and weaknesses. Once this baseline is established, it will be easier to tell any progression and growth. Just since her last visit, she observed that Leo was doing a much better job of keeping his head in mid-line position. Before he would always keep it on one side or the other. She also determined during the exam that Leo definitely tracked her with his eyes and responded to sound. More specifically, to my voice. She had him on his tummy facing away from us, and she shook a rattle and made some noise to see if he would move his head. He kinda wiggled a little in response but that was all. Then she had me call his name. It was totally incredible, he started to pick up his heavy head and after a little bit of struggle, got his head all the way over to face me. I almost bawled. At the hospital they told us he wouldn't be able to distinguish between people, that he would never know me as his mother, or even see me. I had, in some way, resigned myself to that, but seeing him try so hard for me, recognizing MY voice, broke my heart again. It just confirmed the fact that these children are complete mysteries, and that the heart knows things the science can't explain.


Here is a little video clip of our little lion tonight. Enjoy!

Comments

  1. Calories and CoffeeOctober 7, 2010 at 8:50 PM

    It's amazing how much science doesn't know or can be wrong about. Great video!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KelleylynnOctober 7, 2010 at 9:47 PM

    "God-bless you!" Leo is perfect! We loved listening to him talk...we watched it twice. I do declare I see smiles upon his face and that he resembles Justin.

    ReplyDelete
  3. mamajulianaOctober 7, 2010 at 10:06 PM

    Just BEAUTIFUL! Love the little sneeze! Such a blessing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hira AnimfefteOctober 7, 2010 at 10:20 PM

    Oh! The sweetheart! I'm so glad he knows his mama's voice. I'm sure he knows you love him too. ((((HUGS)))

    ~Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  5. LisaOctober 8, 2010 at 8:26 AM

    Wow, Anna & Justin, just watching this video... His eyes are now more stable and he is so animated...his cooing, yawn and cute little sneeze. thanks for sharing! :-) Leo will continue to wow the docs with his development, and educate them so those comments they made to you early on, won't be made to the next unfortunate couple. Good for him! And for his parents who are working so hard with such love in caring for him.

    ReplyDelete
  6. EvanOctober 8, 2010 at 8:37 AM

    This is amazing! You are all in our prayers. -Evan Freeman

    ReplyDelete
  7. MGTOctober 8, 2010 at 8:39 AM

    ;-) What wonderful little expressions he has! And it sounds like he is trying to coo...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Matushka AnnaOctober 8, 2010 at 8:58 AM

    What a full range of expressions! And I love the little sneeze. (c;

    I'm sure I would have cried too when he turned to your voice. I just about did just reading about it. How wonderful. What a blessing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. LisaOctober 8, 2010 at 9:37 AM

    Best television I've seen in 10 years! Thanks for sharing Leo with us. Deacon Greg

    ReplyDelete
  10. CalebOctober 8, 2010 at 11:02 AM

    Seems pretty sharp to me. Fr Caleb

    ReplyDelete
  11. MatushkaOctober 8, 2010 at 3:09 PM

    Oh gosh what a beauty!

    M.Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  12. LeeAnnOctober 8, 2010 at 6:02 PM

    Oh, so sweet! Thanks for sharing. He's wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousOctober 8, 2010 at 8:18 PM

    That is amazing Anna! Praise God. What a beautiful little boy! He is doing so well.
    Marcy

    ReplyDelete
  14. mkarlgutOctober 8, 2010 at 9:01 PM

    Absolutely amazing! Human body is such a great mystery and science doesn’t know so much. Leo our little trail blazer is just darling, and hopefully will continue to defy the gloomy predictions of docs .Very touching video, thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. TaylorOctober 8, 2010 at 10:21 PM

    Thank you for sharing your mystery with us! It helps to soften our hearts a little in this cold world. ~ Taylor

    ReplyDelete
  16. Elizabeth @ The Garden WindowOctober 11, 2010 at 3:27 AM

    What a sweetheart ! God bless you all !

    ReplyDelete
  17. Fr Marcus BurchOctober 11, 2010 at 1:02 PM

    What a blessing to see this video! We continue to offer up prayers for all of you.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Michelle M.October 14, 2010 at 3:47 PM

    I just loved this story. He is such an adorable child. I love listening to him talking. Keep the videos coming- they are adorable. We pray for your little man every day. God bless you all!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

With Mixed Feelings

So for the past couple weeks my feed has been filled with the "back to school" and "end of summer" and "beginning of parental freedom from their annoying offspring" photos. It's ok, I totally get it. Another year, another back to school pic, another notch in the door jamb, and another chapter of growth and development with junior. Look at him go! Or not, as the case may be for many children. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease control and Prevention) one in six children has one...a developmental disability. A stamp of "not normal" across their foreheads. A number. A check mark in a box. My kid is one of them. I heard a brief segment on NPR that enticingly started out with the title of developmental delays on the rise, a 17% increase over the last twelve years. And though I turned up the volume the segment only talked about how it's probably only due to poverty, and it's only the upper classes that actually pursue diagnosis...
34 comments
Read more

Pharmaceutical Fallout

"Back to the hospital?! You're joking right?!" I'm sure you guys are wondering what's been up with the Lion this past week after our worrisome VEEG adventure.  To tell you the truth, I feel like I've been taking shots of Leo's drugs and consequently feel dull and numb and just plain depressed. That is now of course, two days ago I was running high on adrenalin and resembled a charging rhino. I'll tell you why: So after being put on his new drug, Trileptal, Leo definitely started having a cessation of seizure activity, unfortunately however, he also started having severe headaches, photophobia, inconsolable crying and then in the last couple of days, a rash on his thighs, face, and hands. Just as an FYI the word "rash" is a magic word that will open the doors of the medical castle faster and slicker than a trojan horse. It's true, one does not mess about with allergic reactions. Day 1 Day 2 (rash got progressively ang...
2 comments
Read more

The School Bus As Metaphor

A school bus can mean all sorts of different things: dread, boredom, excitement, responsibility, change...it means something different to all of us. I was primarily homeschooled as a kid, and though I preferred that, there was still an element of desire and curiosity for me every time I saw a school bus when I was young.  I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to be part of the school bus world. Of course I didn't have to wonder about it for very long because I did, in many ways, have the ideal education. There was that time I took the winter off from school instead of summer to practice my extra curricular work which was...downhill skiing and snowboarding. Then there was the part-time jobs at the local farms that I was able to do because of my own set and very flexible school hours. To clarify, because it sounds like I didn't do any academics at all in the above two sentences, I did. Lots. Tons. But I did them efficiently and completely independently, e...
Post a Comment
Read more