Mover and Shaker

We've had a busy few weeks! Between a couple illnesses and busy therapy schedules, we are as crazy as usual. We've also grieved the loss of my grandmother and Mike, Dominic and I flew to Kansas last weekend for the funeral. Mitchell had fun with his cousins and Aunt and Uncle. It was very hard but the service was beautiful and a wonderful tribute to the amazing woman my grandmother was. It was also very nice to spend some time with my mom's side of the family.

Waiting for our plane

Mike and Dominic at the funeral

Some of the Blow family

The four Blow Sissies ( with cousin Steph filling in for Aunt Nancy)

Dominic is doing great! He's making some great progress with his walking and is taking steps on his own (holding my hands, of course) all the time! He's moving around a lot in his gait trainer and enjoying being on his feet. He's also getting really good and moving himself around. No, he's not crawling, but he probably won't. He does however turn himself around both sitting and on his tummy. I wouldn't be surprised if he started scooting around soon. He's also babbling all the time and has a few words - ba ba (bottle), cheese, hi and bye-bye. No Mama or Dadda yet, he's making progress!



Here is a video of Dominic at physical therapy working on walking/stepping. Yes, that is an ankle weight around his waist. He seems to be looking for a little more input from the ground, hence the reason he likes to jump a lot. The weight gives him a little more of that input and the knee immobilizers keep him from jumping up and down. These are some of the best steps he's taken! But he's not afraid to let Robin know when he's had enough for the day :o)



He's still really fighting the constraint therapy, so his OT has decided to back off a little with that. Instead, we're focusing more on bilateral use. So, rolling and throwing a ball, shaking maracas in both hands at once, clapping etc. His right hand seems to follow his left when he's not thinking about it and when we don't take away the left. He'll hold his bottle with both hands, but try to get him to just use the right and he flips out. So, the ultimate goal is to have him use his right hand as a "helper" to the left and he's doing pretty well with it so far. He's got great shoulder and upper arm strength on his right side, though, and he's amazing at upward facing dog! Sometimes I make him practice yoga with me :o)

In other good news, Dominic is DONE with Clonazepam! After 4 1/2 months of weaning him off, he is officially DONE with it. He is now down to just one seizure medication (Keppra) which he will be on at least until August, possibly longer. Aside from the Keppra, the only other medication Dominic is on is Bicitra for his kidney stones. It's hard to believe a year ago he was on 11 meds, including steroid injections!

Life is still crazy and stressful but it's encouraging to see Dominic continue to progress. He is a happy little guy and continues to bring us joy everyday!