In Which Spring Is Finally Here

Connor had another amazing day today!

Really, I could get used to this.  Maybe the kid had such a rough run of things so I would appreciate it so much more when he actually had a good day.  That's pretty much the strategy I used on my mother in regards to cleaning my room pretty much my entire childhood-- I figured if I kept it really messy all the time then her standards would be lower and she would be really excited the once a month or so that I actually cleaned it up.  I don't think she was really thrilled with my theory. 

Sorry, Mom.

Anyway, so once again he had no big seizures, and he had a great time at his physical and occupational therapies despite having gotten about four hours of sleep the night before.  I think I should pretty much expect to be spending Tuesday nights up for the next month until we're completely worked down off the medication.  Thankfully his insomnia only lasts one night and he's fast asleep right now. 

We saw some pretty amazing stuff at his physical therapy session; we had Connor standing and he was not only allowing us to rest his hands on the table top, he was actually keeping them there and bearing some weight through them!  That puts him one step closer to being able to stand on his own, and it was pretty exciting.  I've noticed a definite improvement in his balance over the last week or so, and he's now jerking only once about every fifteen minutes instead of once a minute.  The change is pretty incredible.

Even Mother Nature got in on the act today; the sun came up through the clouds and stayed out the entire day, and it the weather stayed warm enough that Connor didn't even need a coat on outside!  Since we live in the Pacific Northwest, we all go a little stir crazy in the winter time and the return of the sun is a pretty important occasion.  I threw open all of the blinds and while I did laundry and cleaned the house I wheeled Connor from one window to another.  Every time we passed one his whole face lit up and he signed "Light!  Light!" while he squealed in complete and utter joy.  The cats were just as thrilled, and we had to dodge them on our circuit around the windows because they were both sprawled out on the floor underneath whichever window had the best light at that particular hour.  And every time we stood in a patch of sun and I heard my son laugh I felt a little bit lighter myself, as if some great weight I'd been carrying on my shoulders was being lifted up and swept off with the retreating clouds.

I know that the weather up here is pretty fickle, and it's likely that tomorrow we'll be back to a whole lot of gloomy skies and rain. 

But right now, it feels like Spring.