MAKING WONDERFUL PROGRESS!!! GO TERRY!!!

Terry had riding therapy on Friday, and he did great! He really did not need much support! I am so proud of him for how he is doing! He has not been doing this long, but he is really showing great improvement already! It is AMAZING TO SEE HOW THIS IS REALLY HELPING HIM! Terry is advancing do fast I can hardly keep up with everything new he is doing. This is one determined little boy and I believe he is not going to let anything stand in his way! To watch him do things with suck persistence gives the the strength to do things too. Terry is such an inspiration in a lot of ways. I only hope that he keeps it all up! I know he has to get tired of doing therapy all the time, but I know that it is good for him...and I think he know too. Some days he is just not in to it, but we all have our off days! why shouldn't he be allowed to have an off day too! For the most part he is ready to work when his therapist comes in to the home! Unless he is really tired or just didn't sleep well the night before! Well Terry mommy is proud of you and i know you can do it baby!!!!!!!!!!! The big dog you see... well he is the resident dog out at the ranch and he just loves terry, this dog is so big that Terry could ride him like a horse!!!!! (NO KIDDING)

VIRGINIA BEACH 2009

This picture was taken at the beach, it was so windy but Terry did not care. All he wanted to do was play in the sand... he had such a good time. He got so upset when we had to leave! Terry loves to play out side! He is so fun to just watch. We spent the week at the beach in September and the entire time we were there he was so good! but then he always is! He is always such a happy little one! Sometimes i wonder how can he be so happy given all that he has gone through? I know why now, because he is so very loved by everyone! as long as he is happy i am happy too. terry has an ear infection right now and is not feeling the best but he is still smiling for the most part, unless the pain get to be too much for him, which it has here in the past few days. I hope the meds will work for him soon. he has been on an antibiotic since last week. But I am thinking that they are going to have to give me a drop for his ears. He has really small ear canals and this makes his ear infections harder to treat, sometimes his little ears canals will swell almost completely closed... that's when i know the infection is a bad one! this one has not been like that. I am so careful in paying attention to his actions and keeping an eye out for something not being right, and so far i have been right on target to what was going on with him. Sometimes I wish I was not a nurse, I see more that the average person does, and that can be a bad thing. I know it terrified me when Terry was born and in the NICU, I would catch things before his nurses did, and sometimes that really got to me. Sometimes it is hard to separate your self from your profession and just be a mommy..... But then maybe this is why I chose to be a nurse, everyone says things happen for a reason. Terry doctors always tell me that Terry couldn't have chose a better mom. that makes me feel good! I do the best I can, and sometimes i doubt my judgement, but i am usually right so i need to learn to go with my gut feeling and not doubt myself! I don't think there is anyone else that knows terry like i do!! I have taken terry back to the NICU to see the nurses and they can not believe how big he is and how far he has come since he was there... not that he was ever really small. he started out rather large at over 8 pounds!

MY BIG BOY!

So Terry is doing great! He is making so many milestones... not really your typical ones but they are milestones nonetheless! I am so proud of the things he is doing, and he does new things everyday! I have seen major changes since he has started the riding therapy! I am just blown away at the results we are seeing already! Sometimes it can get overwhelming, but I just have to tell myself that there is no stopping this lil guy and there is so much more he is gonna do even if it takes him longer to get to where he is supposed to be... well that is OK because we have plenty of time! He had adapted his own way of getting around on the floor... we call it "the side winding maneuver" and he is a pro at it! One minute he is by the TV and the next he is by the window, and he is fast at it too! I have to admit he has had a hard time getting to where he is but he keeps on going and he is always happy! I know he has to get tired of all the therapies but he just keeps going! Sometimes I wish I had his will because his is the strongest of anyone I know. He has taught me a lot in his short time here. We all have a different view on a lot of things! It can get aggravating when you hear people talking when you walk by and you are carrying terry, and people say.. that boy should be walking...yes he should be but he's not, but he will be soon! (in his own time) sometimes I feel like just telling them to mind their own business! I just smile and keep on getting it! I really do not care what people think, all I care about is making sure our son has what he needs! I would move mountains to get him what he needs... sometimes I think I have moved mountains for him just to get the simple things he needs. But you will do what ever it takes for your kids no matter what! When I get down or discouraged I just look at him and think of all he has been through, and I feel better! Terry has his gait trainer now and is working on getting used to it, but before he can learn to walk in it he has to build the strength in his legs and hip area... which is where the horse riding comes in!

FALL IS HERE!

Well here we are! The first part of October, and Terry is doing great! He is making leaps and bounds. He does something new and exciting every day! I am telling you he is a truly amazing child! He just got his gait trainer about a week ago, he is really not sure what to think of it yet, but he does get in it and at least try. I know this is not an overnight thing and it is going to take him time to figure out what it is and what it is for, but he WILL GET IT! Terry is a determined little guy and believe me his is going to prove a lot of people wrong.... yes there are some people out there that say he wont be able to do this, he wont be able to do that... but are we going to listen to them?? NO WE ARE NOT! NO ONE CAN WILL LABEL HIM! Sad thing is that there are so many people out there that like to open their mouth and they have no idea what they are opening their mouth about. This really gets to me! Yes Terry has a ways to go but he is on his way! He goes through a lot too and I really do not think people really know what he does in a week, so let me give you a glimpse of one of our weeks: Monday: Occupational Therapy at 10:30 in the morning, then there are things i have to d0 with him throughout the day that is also therapy related, Tuesday: Speech Therapy at 2:00 in the afternoon, then we have other therapy related things we have to do during the day, Wednesday: Psychical Therapy at 10:00 in the morning, Riding therapy in the afternoon, and other therapy things during the day,Thursday: he has no scheduled therapy, but we still have to do many therapy things to meet his weekly goals, Friday: no scheduled therapies but we still have things to do, and very often we have doctors appointments we have to squeeze in there too. and not to mention getting him in his gait trainer, and his stander so he can build muscle tone in his legs to be able to walk. So you see there is a lot involved in Terry's life but he does it, and does it all with a BIG SMILE! :O) ! Maybe if people could see what it is Terry has to go through every day maybe they wouldn't complain about silly little things! So many people take the simplest things for granted...like walking, or feeding themselves... If Terry has taught me one thing it is not to take ANYTHING FOR GRANTED! I hope to have new pictures of Terry to post real soon, but as you can see we are very busy here and it is hard to find the time to just sit down and update things. I will do it soon!!!!!