So, physical therapy has become a highlight of the week...but PT with Dad is waaaaay better :)
Cool "chopsticks" game
Object is to pick up the little plastic balls w/ the "chopsticks" to work on his pinch grip strength
Of course, we're ALSO working on strengthening his ankle muscles + stretching out his legs, so...
The incline board definitely adds a challenge
But Samuel is so excited to play the game w/ Daddy (and determined to win!) that he couldn't care less :)
Practicing the "duck walk" w/ Daddy to improve overall foot/ankle strength
"Leftie" has been his bigger challenge - but he is a trooper + never quits!
Incline treadmill workouts w/ Ms Lori (already getting him ready for SPEED TRAINING!)
April 4: BREAKFAST "DADDY STYLE"
Well, not really "Daddy Style" but certainly wearing Daddy's Army beret......too funny
April 9: OT W/ MS AMY
Today's occupational therapy appointment was interesting + fun. For the final "exercise", Samuel was able to choose whatever game he wanted to play w/ Ms Amy (since this would be his last official OT session - weird mix of joy + sad because we'll miss Amy). Surprisingly to us, Samuel chose Jenga. This would be slightly more challenging for him considering his recent recovery from severe neuropathy in his hands...
Samuel was excited! Amy + I braced ourselves for what could've gone either way in the confidence-building arena. And, of course, Samuel showed himself to be an EXCELLENT hand at Jenga! He was able to securely move pieces + even had some pretty ingenius strategy going on! Needless to say, we were both thrilled at his progress :)
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| Building the tower |
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| tada! |
The fun part :)
Amy also let Samuel have one last fun day in the "obstacle" room
Rope climb, jumping in the crazy barrel
Aaaaand out of the crazy barrel... I think Samuel made it a personal mission to test the limits of Ms Amy's nerves whenever in this room - he made every simple obstacle more like an all-out adrenaline-filled escapade
(GO FIGURE!)
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| Swinging from the trapeze bar - and jump landing into the bean bag chair |
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| And then napping in the bean bag chair :) |
LOVE LOVE LOVE Ms AMY!!!! Thank You!!!!!
Finally, picking sister up from the sibling clubhouse downstairs - always a good time, too!
(and no masks even in the lobby!!!!! yay)
April 11: SWIM SCHOOL!
Samuel + Trinity were both so very excited about starting swimming lessons for the first time. It was so cool to send them off w/ half a dozen other little kids and not once have to worry about whether someone may have some waterbourne bacteria or communicable illness.... ahh, the sweet simple things we now cherish.
Getting heads wet
The littler people's class - Trinity is 2nd one in from the right
Learning to put one side of head/face in the water
Getting there...almost really swimming :)
Going under :)
Loooooooooves it!
Loves it too :)
April 12: PT W/ TRINITY!
Another great day of physical therapy appointment w/ Ms Lori. In the interest of having the most fun possible, we MAY have (allegedly) broken some rules about proper use of hospital equipment so that Samuel + Trinity could end the experience on a great note :) Last session ever in one week!!!!
At least we were still "supervised" right? :) haha
April 18: FOLLOW-UP VISIT W/ DR SETTY
In celebration of our increasingly-rarer visits to the Heme/Onc Clinic, we all decided we would decorate a huge "THANK YOU" poster for all our wonderful nurses + assistants who work there. We spent the day coloring + writing + cutting out pictures so that we could surprise them w/ our special gift :)
We really do love + appreciate all of our doctors, nurses, techs, and support staff...xo
Proud of a great artistic job well done (and that's just her stickered-up shirt!)
Picture of human brain we see walking down the hallway to the sibling clubhouse - they point it out every time, and then get especially excited when we get to go INSIDE the radiology department where this image hangs on the wall (excited until the IV's come out, that is! ha)
Hanging out in the exam room waiting for Dr. Setty...
Why the crayons are in a bedpan, I just don't really know...hospital life...*sighh*
More coloring in the waiting area
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| Video games :) |
What a handsome young man!
Waiting around for labs...the face is priceless - this is what happens when you don't watch a lot of TV...
...TIMES THREE! They're practically hypnotized
Absolutely drawn in :)
*PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DEAR FRIEND GABRIEL, HE IS A TRULY REMARKABLE JOYFUL YOUNG MAN (5 days older than Samuel) WHO IS FIGHTING (AND WILL WIN!) THE BATTLE OF HIS LIFE RIGHT NOW...HE COULD USE ALL THE PRAYER + BELIEF WE CAN MUSTER TO BRING A SPEEDY COMPLETE VICTORY INTO HIS BODY - AND PLEASE KEEP HIS WONDERFUL FAMILY, Dad Jeremy, Mom Rhonda + little sister Sarah (Trinity's age) LIFTED UP FOR ENCOURAGEMENT, WISDOM + FAITH...THANK YOU so very much...so very VERY much....xoxo*
Dr. Setty! the world's greatest most wonderful oncologist everrrrr :) we're totally biased.
A special prize for being so brave today :)
And a special boy who deserves his newest little bear
We wrapped up the day w/ hot fudge sundaes...oh yeah, good times.
AND FINALLY.......
We wrapped up the month at full speed w/ TONS of fun stuff! Samuel + Trinity went to their 1st College All-Star football game (where Dad coached special teams on behalf of the Ohio Army National Guard).
Mawmaw, Papa Don + Nonna were all there with us too!
Yes, perhaps most excitingly, NONNA CAME TO VISIT!!!!!!
Celebrating "Resurrection Sunday" with the family :)
Napping w/ Nonna....xo
our All-Star landscaping team!
Great times at the pool
In their cool new suits from Nonna :)
......And that was just APRIL!!!!!
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