Cupcake and the Super Cute Kid.

If proof was ever needed as to how much I love this child:

Cowboy Luke, Cupcake the Pony and the Flip-Flop Cowgirl.

Yee Haw.

Moments before the tears arrived.

Giddy Up.

Luke's school had Cupcake the Pony there last month for the kids to take pictures with. The older classes were stoked but Luke's class of younger kiddos were universally terrified to say the least. Fortunately, Luke loves the camera so he was willing to play along for 2 shots and 2 shots only. I wish I had little Mia's picture- she started screaming about 1/2 second after her mom sat her on the saddle. Meanwhile, Cupcake the Pony seemed resigned to his/her fate.

Cerebral Palsy.

I highly recommend this website http://www.about-cerebral-palsy.org/. It gives very simple explanations regarding all things pertaining to CP. It's geared towards pursuing medical malpractice lawsuits but it's terse, informative and easy to read.

What is the definition of cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movements and muscle coordination. It is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually occurring during fetal development or infancy. It also can occur before, during or shortly following birth.

"Cerebral" refers to the brain and "Palsy" to a disorder of movement or posture. If someone has cerebral palsy it means that because of an injury to their brain (cerebral) they are not able to use some of the muscles in their body in the normal way (palsy). Children with cerebral palsy may not be able to walk, talk, eat or play in the same ways as most other children.

Cerebral palsy is neither progressive nor communicable. It is also not "curable" in the accepted sense, although education, therapy and applied technology can help persons with cerebral palsy lead productive lives. It is important to know that cerebral palsy is not a disease or illness. It isn't contagious and it doesn't get worse. Children who have cerebral palsy will have it all their lives.

Cerebral palsy is characterized by an inability to fully control motor function, particularly muscle control and coordination. Depending on which areas of the brain have been damaged, people with cerebral palsy may experience one or more of the following:

-Muscle tightness or spasm
-Involuntary movement
-Disturbance in gait and mobility
-Abnormal sensation and perception
-Impairment of sight, hearing or speech
-Seizures

Get Up, Stand Up.

We're not quite getting up yet but we are standing. Luke has come so far in his core and leg strength as well as his balance. Linda has pretty much been working backwards with him- not being able to use his right hand/arm has made pulling to a stand extremely difficult. So right now we're helping him into standing position (with relatively minimal assistance) and then he's standing tall. Unfortunately, both legs are affected so we're just working hard on cruising (side-stepping while standing at the coffee table or something similar in height.) Luke can take forward steps while being held under the arms or by the pelvis (to help guide his steps) but we're just in the beginning stages.

Hopefully, as Luke gets older and adapts more, he'll figure out how to compensate for his weak right arm. Linda told me last week that if it wasn't for his right hand/arm he would be walking with a walker right now. A walker will definitely be necessary to help Luke contend with the tone issues in his legs. Here's an image of a pediatric walker:

At some point in the future (hopefully not too distant,) Luke will be fitted for walker with a special cuff for his right side (so he won't have to grasp with his right hand but it's stable.) Until we get to that point, we're working hard on strength and encouraging his desire to be mobile and get into the standing position.

We usually end our thrice a week therapy sessions with a walk to the door to open the door and then walking into the waiting area (with Linda's assistance.) Thursday Luke was extra motivated and even stood only slightly leaning against the waiting room couch for support. He did it for so long that I was able to run in, dig for my camera and take a few pictures.

So proud.

I may have said it already but our goal is to have him upwardly mobile by his 3rd birthday. At this rate, I really think we're on track.

Unacceptable.

That's the word that comes to mind whenever Stephanie Selinger and I go a long time without seeing each other- unacceptable. We've known each other our entire lives and we only live about 3 1/2 hours away (she's in Oakland.) Our schedules are just both so hectic that it's proven quite a feat to hang out on a regular basis.

So Luke had not seen Aunt Steph and Uncle Kevin since last July (almost a year!!) so it was long overdue. Unfortunately, Uncle Kevin was unable to make it but Aunt Steph came over to my dad and Steph's for dinner on May 2nd when Luke and I were in town.

And the proof is in the pictures- Luke just loves his Aunt Steph. She is so good with him and we all know how much he hates female attention (*snicker*) We're hoping that Steph and Kevin will be able to come down to SLO and visit again this summer. And I'm personally hoping that Luke has a "cousin" before too long...

The Child of Children of the 80's.

For some odd reason, Cabo San Luis (local fish taco restaurant) thinks that this constitutes a kid's meal toy:

It took Matt, Kate (my high school friend who we were dining with) and I back to the 80's (specifically the TV show "A Different World" - Dwayne Wayne!) but for a kid that wears glasses 24/7- it was just odd. And I think the even-worse-then-usual cross-eyed business is because he's trying to see what the heck are attached to the tops of these crappy glasses. So weird.