I take that back

Earlier I was talking about Karsen walking and shooting for October, just in time for Halloween. Well, I take that back. After spending some time at a friends house combined with this morning, I changed my mind. I'm thinking it is going to be a lot sooner. 

Yesterday, he took four independent steps, lost his balance so I helped him gain it back, four steps again, then again, and again! What?! So this morning I put him at the end of the hallway and he decided to do this....

He's pretty amazing, I'm one proud mama over here.

Free standing

Karsen has, once again, blown me away. I think a small break from therapy was just what he needed. He started pulling himself up to stand just before we left for Vegas. He only had mastered this task with out his AFO and SMO on, these prevent him from moving his feet more freely. Once we were back from Vegas, he had it mastered with them on, he's pulling up on nearly everything. Now he has started to cruise along the furniture and even take a step between things that he has to get. I even had him free standing for a good minute, watching him start to loose his balance but gain it back. I'm beyond thrilled. Feeling like I can see the light, he'll be walking soon!!!he wants to walk everywhere now, he does it no problem, holding on to our hands but is still not balanced and lacks the confidence. He'll get there. I'm thinking by October he'll be fully walking,,just in time to go trick or treating.

 

We've been battling the glasses a little, as you can tell in both pictures, he isn't wearing them. He's all the sudden decided he doesn't want to wear them, they are starting to get pretty scratched up and I'm wondering if that's part of the problem, or he's just being a toddler which brings me a certain amount of joy I can't explain. We have an appointment next month with his eye doctor, so we'll descuss the problem then.

His birthday is next month and this mom has been slacking in the party planning department. I need to get on it! We'll be keeping it low key since Karsen doesn't handle large crowds well, after all it is about him. I can't believe he's going to be two! His communication has been so much better, which therefore has brought frustration levels a lot lower. He now signs more, which is double special since he uses BOTH hands, all done, yes, no, and I've seen eat a handful of times. Starting to feel like I can tackle this, ha. Things seem to be going pretty well in the Williamson house. So of course I felt bored, I interviewed for a job with early intervention company (they are in charge of all meetings and iconic and play ayes for special needs families), and I got the job! I'm more than excited. I feel like this is where I am suppose to be. And since a new job isn't enough, m looking for another full marathon to train for. I might do the same one I did last year, not sure yet, but I need something for me. 

Well, there ya have it, free standing, almost walking, eye glass issues, using sign language, a new job, and looking to train for another marathon, that about sums up our most recent. 

Tough talk

Today I had to do something I'm sure no likes to do, I had to fire Karsen's PT. Do you guys remember when I talked about Karsen's last PT visit that we had to cut short. Well, the decision is something that didn't come easy for me. How would you fire a PT when you feel like it's just not the right fit? Well, we talked today after Karsen's OT session this morning (which by the way went amazing). Tom, his OT, talked to me and said he had heard through the grapevine things weren't going well with Vickie. Well, in walks Vickie toward the end of our session, and before I have anytime to get sick to my stomach or nervous about it, Tom pushes me to talk to her right then and there. I'm very grateful he did that. It made it go very smooth and was over before you know it. So, after Kuper and I get back from Vegas (that's right, Kuper and I will be going to Vegas SOLO!) We will have our first session with our new PT, Pat. 

We had group today, but it was at a park which was a nice change of pace. It was combined with all the other groups that our early intervention program puts on. I got to catch up with a few other people I never get to see and see their kids run all over the park which was so exciting. Well, Karsen decided to fall asleep in the car on the way home and woke up right when we pulled into our driveway.... :-/ I tried to put him back down for a nap.... with no luck. I heard him playing, so in I went to pull him out. I opened the door to see those two beautiful blue eyes staring at me from above the crib rail. Did you hear that?! Above the crib rail! He pulled himself to standing! Of course he does it when I'm not looking, little stinker. I'm pretty amazed at what he has figured out to do "his" way. 

He's one tough cookie. Each day we both seem to be getting less frustrated and the communication is starting to click. Not only is he using more signs (even in the last day) but I'm picking up on them fast. Makes for a much easier day for all. 

I'll leave you with a sweet picture of my boys bikin and walkin. 

In three days

In three glorious days, Karsen will be seizure free for ONE YEAR, one year people! How amazing is that?! As always, I'm on watch, just waiting for them to return but it's been amazing being able to have one full year of him not being put on hold. 

I haven't been on here much because we've just been busy. We've been busy with sickness in our house which seemed to last for a good solid month and the whole time I was super stressed just waiting for Karsen to have a seizure since he had a high fever. Thankfully not a single one. We've also been taking a bit of a break from PT. You know, the one where we had to leave 35 mins early because it was so horrible. Yeah, that one. We wont be seeing her again until two, almost three, weeks from now. We've been enjoying summer. We went to Tahoe and broke in our trailer for the first time, the boys loved it, they also did really well. We also made a day trip to Tahoe to just hang out on the "beach" aka the lake shore. It's been surprisingly relaxing. 

The one thing that hasn't been so relaxing was the stress I was putting on myself of the pressure for Karsen to start talking. There was mention by someone (and I can't remember who) that maybe a communicative device was needed. That just broke my heart. So what did I do? Stress. A lot of good that does. And then Karsen just decided a few days ago he was going to say UP. That's right, he said up and even put both arms in the air while saying it. That was the light I needed. I also just got baby signing time to get his communication up a bit. I will try anything. Tonight was our first night watching it and he actually was trying to imitate the babies on the video! He's said up a handful of times now, even said it for my mom. :-) It was the glimpse of light that I needed to pull it together and get out of my funk.

His drooling is still REALLY bad. I was told by a fellow hemi, their OT suggested kinesio taping around the jaw to keep their mouth more closed so they have any easier time swallowing. I need to look into it more but it's worth a shot. After reading that it turned on a light bulb for me, Karsen is always mouth breathing. I wonder if he has a hard time breathing through his nose? Maybe there is some connection there. So, the next time we see his pediatrician I'm going to bring that up and see if we can get some progress there. 

We still aren't walking yet. He'll walk holding your hand and is still not 100% stable but we're making progress. He still isn't pulling himself up to standing but I have the feeling once that happens, that's when he's going to start walking and taking off. I'm really not in any rush for myself, it just breaks my heart that he can't play the same way other kids his age are and also wants to be able to.  He's a tough cookie and puts up with a lot. I just wish I could take on some of that struggle for him, who am I kidding, I wish I could take all of it for him. 

Other than that we've been dealing with regular toddler behavior and some not so regular behavior but it seems to be getting better now that he's starting to communicate better.

We are still taking it one day at a time here but it's starting to get much easier on everyone.

Happy Summer!