A, B, Cs

So I finally decided to start a blog, I am calling it “Follow Jake”, because the blog will mainly be used as a tool to keep track of Jake's progress.

The latest and the biggest news as of Oct 3rd, 2006, is that Jake recognizes all 26 letters. We are very excited and proud of his latest accomplishment. I started to imagine and actually believe the possibility of him reading and writing in the future. I even went to Toysrus this morning, and bought him a leapfrog toy that teaches kids how to spell 3 letter words. I know, I am jumping a little bit ahead of myself there.

For those who don’t know Jake, he is an adorable 4 years old boy with a neurological disorder called Dandy Walker Variant. The disability level with patients who suffer from this disorder varies from very mild to very severe. I suppose Jake falls somewhere in the middle.

But with this blog, I really want to focus on what he can do, and not what he can not. I want to remind myself to look beyond his disability, and focus on his ability.

It hasn’t been easy for me to reach this point. I have spent many hours crying over the lost of “what was suppose to be”, and I have asked God a million times “why me, why us, why Jake.” I have tried to drink a whole glass of wine (I don’t drink at all, I have no tolerance for any amount of alcohol), just so that for even a few seconds, I could numb myself of the pain I felt inside. I really envy those who can get drunk and forget about their troubles for a few hours, but that didn’t work for me. Slowly, I came to the realization that I needed to find strength within myself if I want to smile again.

So this is the beginning of “Follow Jake”. Focusing on ability, not disability.