The Journey of James Weston

Friday, September 2nd, 2022 In the morning James got his first boo boo. 🤕 He had pulled down his Farrell bag that had a velcro clip attached to it and managed to clamp down the clip on his finger. He didn't react to that but as soon as Mom removed the clip on the finger and unclamped it James cried loudly. James doesn't really cry but this was different. Real tears because he felt pain. Then he took a nap. Today James had his final helmet appointment. The woman we had been working with was going to be transferring to another office so we decided to make today our last day as well. James is 20 months old (16½ months adjusted). This office stops helmet wearing at 18 months.  It can take 9-18 months before a baby's skull is fully formed. During this time some babies develop positional plagiocephaly. This means that there is a flat area on the back or side of the head. Positional plagiocephaly does not affect brain growth or development; it is purely a shape issue. James' ...

Thursday, September 1st, 2022 Dad gave Mom off for the morning since he would be busy again this upcoming weekend for Uncle Patrick's bachelor festivities. Well Dad took over he had James doing some PT exercises like practicing standing (leaning). Dad put his phone in the chair playing a Disney music playlist. He wouldn't be able to see the video unless he stood up and looked over the arm of the chair. Every time a new song started on James reach his arms up to the chair and Dad lifted him up. He then stood for the entire song but when he knew the song was coming to an end he would slowly sit back down (with help). How amazing that he knew the end of the song was coming! Yes he has listened to this playlist a lot. 😂 Combination of Moana 🌊, Encanto 💃, Frozen ❄️, and Tangled 💇🏼‍♀️. Moana is probably his favorite. James did this for 45 minutes up and down, up and down. Mom came home just in time to take photos! Today James showed off during physical therapy and was scooting a...

Wednesday, August 31st, 2022 James had EI therapy (early intervention) today and Dad observed while Mom was at a Doctor's appointment. James is going to get the most out of therapy when we set specific goals we need to accomplish for cognitive, social, expressive and receptive communication, and his fine motor skills. A few of those are: pointing 👉, using gestures to communicate like signing 🤲, stacking objects 🧱, fitting shapes into a shape sorter or puzzle 🧩, participating in “nursery games” 🎶, displaying affection 🤗, pretend play 🧸, and of course drinking, eating, and speaking. So we have a lot we can focus on moving forward! We received a box from Juju with some new shorts and a bunch of Mom's old schoolwork and artwork. James was fascinated with the tag on his new shorts and spent a lot of time looking it over. Last photo. In the evening we did another flawless trach change. Everything has become second nature. Guess it is true what they say, once you do something 2...

Tuesday, August 30th, 2022 James was all combs out ready for private school in the morning. Mom just wanted to see how long it was getting. James is due for another haircut 💇🏻‍♂️ soon and we are going to attempt this at home. Mom has watched a few videos and it seems challenging. Any tips are welcome! With just a quick shake of the head James had his curls back. They're not going anywhere. 😂 Our physical therapist was again impressed with James' weekly gains. Things are really clicking now and he is a fast mover. Our focus was being able to get up on his own on both sides. He needed to use both his left and right arms to sit up, which he did! The ventilator circuit makes it tricky because he has so many tubes and cords in his way on top of learning how to do this. These kids really do have an uphill battle! 💪 While Mom cooked dinner Dad gave James a music lesson. He gets super excited when the guitar comes out! Video below. For Dinner James joined us for peas. He is eating ...

Monday, August 29th, 2022 Peek-A-Boo never gets old with James! 🫣 It's his absolute favorite game and creates instant smiles from him! He also loves to pretend he is in Cirque du Soleil so now we can't walk away from him for a second. James has attempted to go head first off anything whether it be a chair or bed. He is so fast now that with only two little kicks of his legs he is hanging off the edge. In the last photo/GIF, Mom caught James scooting on his back almost off the bed. When he is on the floor he can't really go much farther because of the ventilator circuit. In the evening, Dad came home and surprised James when we woke up from a nap. He also had done some clothes shopping for James on his time off and scored some good deals. Definitely unexpected! 👕🩳 P.S. You can email James your love and support as often as you’d like. Mom and Dad read these email to James as they come in. We all love them! JamesWestonAbramowitz@gmail.com