Skip to main content

Going Crackers!


We've been busy bees at Camp Leo these past couple weeks.

We gained a new member to the family, a rescue doggie with a mysterious past, but the sweetest and kindest disposition. It's definitely a win-win!






Our commander-in-chief, the Lion man himself, has in addition to his usual tricks, been doggedly growing his repertoire.

Who know that the word "Hi!" could make mum and pop get all weepy?
I'm sure Leo didn't expect his crackers to be quite so damp and salty when he asked (craakaa?) for them...

Our life is filled with everyday Leo miracles.

 And since it never rains, it hurricanes, (though we didn't sustain any damage at all during Sandy's bender, for those who might have been wondering) Leo has also improved his balance drastically! We are all crossing our fingers for a Christmas gift that sounds like the pitter patter of his little feet walking alone... But right now, he is able to walk with very minimal hand holding, and sometimes stands up and takes one or a half step on his own.

So, as it is, we are all keeping our sense of humor out and holding our breaths in for the next big development in this mad, mad, mad, mad world.





As always, our love to you and thanks for reading! (And watching!)





Comments

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

Kinda Like 'Nam.

First off, sorry about the disjointed nature of the posting from yesterday. I was updating via text messegaing from my phone and because the service is patchy in the hospital not only were the posts chopped up but they were frequently out of order. You have to be a sleuth to figure it out. On the other hand, I guess it was a direct reflection of what we were experiencing! Between getting little bits of info and there, we had no clue what was going on. This is what we have been able to piece together since yesterday. The surgery itself was a definite success, though there were a few surprises. One of which being that when they took out Leo's shunt of 8 months they discovered that it was not working. Huh??? He never showed any symptoms of shunt failure and brain compression, so what the heck? In between the sobering list of items now holding risks for our guy, the nuero surgeon dropped this little bombshell on us. Does that ...
18 comments
Read more

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...
18 comments
Read more