Sorry for the delay in posting - it has been a busy week and we continue to have computer issues, so it is even harder to work computer time into the schedule. On Saturday, Ginger Whitler (OT) met Gabe and began working with him on oral stim. She has worked with DH babies before and we hear she is the best! Her husband is also on the police department, so we have a lot in common. She was absolutely fantastic with Gabe and I think he responded reasonably well to the stimulation exercises. She was back yesterday and we learned even more. Between the PT and OT work, I think my head spins sometimes trying to figure out everything we need to do with him. In OT she has us working on desensitizing Gabe orally and by deep "brushing" & joint compression. In PT we are working on Tummy time, he sits on the ball and works on his trunk strength and we also do some "bench work" in which we use a cushion and Gabe kneels in front of the cushion and has his elbows propped on the cushion. It is working wonders for his ability to lift his shoulders and even his chest off of the floor. It seems like he has really taken off in the past few weeks. He can sit in the bumpo seat for up to 10 minutes on a good day with minimal assistance now and his reflux has gone way down. He doesn't even reflux every day anymore!! We have actually gone through an entire day without having to change his clothes! Gabe is also "talking" a lot more. He uses his lips and tongue to shape his sounds now. In fact, he is chatting away from his blanket on the floor as I type this. Justin and Kendrick are off of school for the holiday and are playing with their "Cars" race track in another corner - I actually just returned from settling a racing dispute. All was settled peacefully and no drivers were ejected or fined. For the moment, and I am certain it will be brief, all is quiet and under control.

I finally finished Dungy's book "Quiet Strength". It is a very worthwhile read, even if you are not into football. I was getting ready to put it away for the night when I got to the section about his son's suicide and I couldn't put the book down. Their story of strength and perserverance was nothing short of amazing and inspirational. They reached out to so many, even in the midst of their own grief. In one excerpt, Dungy talks about a father who wrote to him, worried that his own son may be contemplating suicide. Dungy actually wound up calling to talk to the father and son, who did not kill himself. As a family, they were able to turn their grief and pain completely over to God, which allowed so many good things to result from something so terrible. The book also gives powerful insights into all that is still good in the world of professional sports. You hear all the time that there are fewer and fewer role models for our kids, but I don't think that is true. All that is wrong with the world seems to make better headlines, but that doesn't mean I buy into it. I have seen first hand that there are plenty of great people for my boys to look up to. One says he wants to be a policeman and the other a fireman - how's that for hero worship? Appropriate, I would say. And as they get older if they should decide their heros are professional athletes, as many young boys do, I have restored faith that there are many out there I woul be happy to have them emulate - even if they don't make headlines. Another reason I am a proud Colts fan - win or lose. They seem to understand what is really important in life and many of them choose to follow the tremendous lead of Christian values, hard work and perserverance set forth by their leadership. We saw players at the hospital this summer and Kaci (Josh's sister) told us of a player who visited the injured husband of a teacher she works with. Most are active members of their churches, frequently sharing all that have been blessed with and ministering to those who are struggling. Whatever the stats may say, or the scoreboard (which is also usually GOOD) all of the good they have done and will continue to do sum up my definition of real men - those are the stats that make them heros. Performing well and winning games just helps get peoples attention and provides a platform for a more important message about what really counts in life - that was clearly outlined in the book.

Ok, I am off of my soap box. Time to get back to the many tasks at hand. We got some PT in, but time to get some feeding work done. I'll try to post more pictures later.