January Update

Sam will finish is second full week of school and daily therapies tomorrow. He is continuing to make great progress, which means he is getting stronger every day, which improves his balance, which improves his walking!

Sam will return to Gillette for his first follow-up visit on Feb. 23rd, which seems a long way from now! But,in the meantime, he is enjoying working with his physical therapists at Children's Therapy (Rachel and Lori) and through school (Laura), as well as his occupational therapist through Children's Therapy (Jen) and the school district (Jennifer). Sam and Gabe are going to start a kid's yoga class next week - Mom gets to come to help Sam (yea!).

We are surviving the frigid cold by dressing in our warmest clothes and trying to get from the bus/car to our front door as soon as possible! Sam is even agreeing to wear gloves and a scarf!

Sam is adjusting to life without continuous catering, and so are the rest of us. It is not easy to parent a child in an extended hospital situation, and there is a tendency to over-indulge a bit. Now that the holidays are over, and we're back to a more regular routine, we've cut back dramatically on the indulgences. So, we're trying to consistently, firmly and kindly remind Sam of how we all need to work together to get our different jobs done each day (for Sam it is his stretching exercises, brushing teeth, getting dressed, etc...).

I forgot to mention that on New Year's Eve we ran into Sam's buddy from Gillette (had surgery on the same day),Jack, and his family, at the MN Science Museum. It was so fun to see those guys again! Jack's sister Sydney was happy too, because she finally got a chance to say good-bye to Sam.

Also, my sister told me this weekend that she and her fiance set a date for their wedding - August 28th! YEA! And, she said I can help her with the planning and dress shopping - double yea!