Making Progress

We had our first home visit with an occupational therapist yesterday afternoon, and in that short hour Ethan made fantastic progress! For the past two days, the best David and I have done is gotten Ethan to open his left hand, which until then was permanently clenched even though it was not injured. We thought of all sorts of distractions to allow us to manipulate his hand and his arm, practicing some range of motion exercises. However, Ethan would never do it voluntarily. Until yesterday! Our occupational therapist, Tanya, spent about 20 minutes observing him with me before engaging in some real time play. By the end of the hour long session, Ethan was opening and closing his hand, reaching up to grab things, and VOLUNTARILY using his left arm and hand. Wow... We can't wait to continue the playtime activities that Tanya suggested to get him to use his arm even more. One of them is getting him to push. Here he is pushing his stroller, which makes him extend that left arm.

Meanwhile, every morning I continue my on the job training for my second career as nurse! To be honest, I've really enjoyed washing his wounds and changing his dressings, even though he cries the whole time. Perhaps it's my subconscious way of healing the whole experience for me...