Jake had a fairly uneventful winter season, no major illness – knock on wood. There was also a lack of outstanding improvement to speak of, another reason for my lack of update. However this week, while still recovering from a cold, Jake showed improvement in his walking. Today he took 64 independent steps without falling, which is his best record yet. I was just thinking about 3 years ago, he couldn’t even stand independently for one second, today he walked 64 steps. This transformation probably takes less than a month for a “typical toddler” who is learning to walk, (it is a rough estimate on my part since I have no personal experience raising a “typical toddler”), and it has taken Jake over three years and countless hours of physical therapy. But as the saying goes, it is better to be late than never. I am more hopeful than ever that Jake will be an independent walker, at least for short distance indoor ambulation.
In March 09, we also had a stair glide installed curtsy of the NY State Medicaid Waiver program. It is a program for disabled children whose families do not qualify for Medicaid. One of the benefits is once a year the program pays for a home modification project if needed. Since we moved into our new house, Jake’s bedroom is on the second floor, we thought it was necessary to install the stair glide for Jake. Here is a picture of Jake thoroughly enjoying his new ride. The third big update is that … well, remember I wrote in the beginning, I was very sick for a few months, yeah, very sick. Let’s see, the symptoms were extreme nausea, frequent vomiting, fatigue, couldn’t keep any food down, felt horrible all the time, etc. The good news is by month 5; most of the symptoms have significantly reduced. If you still can’t figure out the source of my illness, then there is only one thing left to say, Jake will finally be a big brother this August. I just had the 20 week anatomy ultrasound, and according to the medical professionals, all is well with the baby. Still, I am nervous and I am keeping my fingers crossed that this one will grow up on “auto-pilot”, as how one of my friends who also has a special needs child describes her typical second child.
That is all for now, I hope it doesn’t take me another 4 months to do a second update.
