New Firsts!

Saturday everyone traveled to Columbus to celebrate Jon's and his father's birthday. Jon was up early per the new schedule and I was afraid that by the time 2:30 came around he would be a whipped puppy. As it turned out he was still going strong early in the evening. Each day he has stayed up a little longer and yesterday he was in his chair for 14 hours!

He has a new tray that fits on the arms of the power chair which makes it much easier for him to feed himself. Last night, once I cut his meat for him he did most of the work. He would ask for a drink and then go back to eating. His friend, Mark, has been there about suppertime and has kept up a steady stream of conversation and encouragement which also helps.

There's been a welcome change in Jon's attitude. Up until last week Jon was satisfied with leaving the room only for therapy. I did occasionally get him outside for a short pass down the driveway and that was it. Now that he's up longer he's more like himself and stops by various rooms for conversation....that's more like the old Jon. Being in his room is quite cramped since it's hardly made for a chair as bulky as his (plus a room mate who also has a wheelchair) so he prefers to spend a lot of time in the lounge (which also has more comfortable seating for Mom and Dad and any other visitors!)

I arrived late yesterday so I came in the middle of physical therapy and missed occupational therapy altogether. Jon was working on sitting by himself on a bench. Matt was showing him how to position his arms so that the arms worked with his body to form a triangle. When Jon mentioned that he had already managed to sit by himself for 35 seconds Matt's competitiveness kicked right in...35 seconds, 40 seconds, right up to a full minute! They were both quite pleased, as was I.

Must get going, have got to see what I've missed so far this morning.....Thanks for checking in.