Time Flies!!

Boogie will be 9 next Saturday--I can't even believe it! We are having a party here with some of his buddies from school and baseball. We can't wait to get these crazy kids together for his birthday!
I will take lots of pics. I am so happy Spring is here tomorrow. I don't even mind that it will be like, 43 degrees! IT'S SPRING!!!!!!!!! WOOO HOOOOOOO
We are scheduled to start Lokomat again next Monday, the 29th. That is the treadmill/unweighting system/robotic legs thing that we did about a year ago. Drew loved it, and gained muscle mass and coordination during the 8 week session. He is doing great riding his bike in our basement and I told him he can ride it from base-to-base at baseball if he works hard and keeps doing a great job.
Sleep is still an issue for us, but it will likely always be. Drew continues to amaze us and make the world a better place with his engaging spirit and sense of adventure. I love how he sees the world around him; to watch the wonder on his face when he sees the wind blow through the trees, or hear his belly laugh when he sees something unexpected makes my day. Every day.

SPRING FEVER

It is March and I am fiendin' for the warm weather so we can play outside! I miss walking outside, feeling the sunshine on our faces. I miss open windows and soft breezes. I miss the smell of freshly cut grass and grilling for dinner. I WANT IT NOW!

This winter stunk for snowmobiling. It might snow again, but at least it's March! Spring is just around the corner. I hope this is a great year for all of us!!!

Cool things

Drew did a couple cool things this week in therapy. We attend Crawl, Walk, Jump, Run Therapy Clinic and are blessed to have some of the most skilled and creative therapists in the world. They are encouraged to treat the whole person...and are reallly in tune with each child and adult they treat.
They make therapy fun!
Anne, the Awesome OT was working with Drew, and she was counting to 10. She stopped at 9, repeating 9,9,9 and he looked at her and smiled, as if to say 'ummmm, you are doing it wrong!' :)
THEN, she was spelling his name out and she purposely didn't put the E in his name. He said 'neh', meaning 'no'. I am so proud! I knew he knew numbers, but didn't realize that he could recognize his name, enough to know if it was correct.
I wish there was a way to test these kids that are trapped in bodies that don't work correctly. Their receptive language is very good--but since we can't know what they know, we keep the faith and keep celebrating the tiny victories.

I was asked to write a bit about what baseball means to us--we have played on this wonderful league for 4 years. We start in the June...come see a game!!

What Challenger Baseball Means to us:

I became aware of Challenger Baseball from an issue of Sterling Heights Special Recreation. I was looking for an outdoor activity that would entertain my son, Drew. Our days were filled with school (if he was well enough to go), doctor's appointments, therapies, working on ADL's, stretching his muscles so he would have proper range of motion and not cramp and contract, and reinforcing what we did in his OT, PT, and Speech therapies.
I wanted us to have some fun. I wanted us to join a team, where he would learn patience, responsibility, teamwork, and make friends. I wanted us to have something other than therapy and I could actually answer the question: "What's new with Drew?", since we don't really have 'Milestones'...we have fraction-of-an-inch-stones. Our successes are measured differently than most.
Challenger Baseball provides us with a place where we are part of a team, a community of like-minded, open, compassionate, fun-loving parents who want their kids to have some of what 'everyone' else has. My favorite part is seeing the look on Drew's face when he knows we are going to play. He is so proud of himself and his team. His friends and family can cheer him on, and share in our experience in being accepted unconditionally and part of a team.

2/3 done

We are almost 2/3 way done with January; my least favorite month. For the most part (see--I am off my game; starting sentances with prepositions! Not enough sunshine for me...) it is a gray, cold, no-fun month. Sandwiched between the Thanksgiving-Christmas euphoria and Spring fever.

I don't have many new pictures to share. We are having our 4th annual 'January Sucks' party on January 31st and should post some from that. We listen to Jimmy Buffet, Michael Franti, Bob Marley and other island music and will be grilling out and having a dance party to celebrate the end of icky January. His Valentine's Day dance is coming up in early February too. That is always a great time. :)

We hope all is well with our followers...love ya!!!

BETH!

Called me out YET again for not keeping the blog current. It is so comforting to know you can still boss me around from across the country. No bullshit, I am serious! :)
I miss you and will update the blog in a more timely manner. OH, and thanks for being the music trivia queen.

Drew misses his Aunt Betsy. Don't have any pics from the past weekend, but we only got out once on the snowmobile cuz it was so freakin' cold. looking forward to MLK weekend when the fam comes up, last year was a blast!!!!

THINK SNOW!!!!!

30 days in the hole...

I can't believe it has been a month since I blogged. We have been sick...thank you, Michigan weather! With a special shout-out to Global Warming--We are alternating between flu, respiratory issues, and yes, allergies! I am still coughing like crazy and am considering taking up smoking; if I am gonna feel like crap I should at least have a vice. Tee hee!!!
Drew is in the throes of yet another cold. He felt good for a few days, (after his resp. infection/ear infection cleared up) and now is super congested and coughing. That is why I titled this post '30 days in the hole...I feel like a prisoner to viruses/bacteria/and other assorted crud.
ANYWAY...Drew continues to rock our world. He absolutely LOVES Christmas and everything that comes with it. Just like his daddy! I would be a total Grinch if it weren't for him. I love seeing his face light up when he hears a Christmas carol for the 1,000,000th time. We went to my friend's Christmas service at her church, and he was sooooooo geeked every time they sang! He stares at the tree, and will crane his neck if he can't see it. Tomorrow, Santa is coming to his school--I can't wait for the picture! Last year's pic looked like Drew and Santa were old drinkin' buddies--they have conspriatorial grins on their face, like they know a secret we don't!!!
We hope this Christmas finds everyone happy and healthy. Remember the Reason for the Season! We look forward to hanging out with the family at Joan's on Christmas--attire is 'pajama party' (great idea, Erin!) and can't wait to see everyone. Well, almost everyone. We will miss the Annessa clan and the Schenk's, but they will be close in our hearts.