April 11, 2006
April 11, 2006 | Updates
Just wanted to let everyone know that we’re still hanging in there :). It’s been pretty crazy the past few weeks since our “mother’s helper” who normally comes each day and helps with dinner, wash, dishes, cleaning and carting the kids to and from activities moved away. We’ve been working on finding a replacement, and in the meantime, doing it all ourselves. It definitely makes things harder. I think hiring her when we brought Samuel home was one of the smartest things we did. We just decided that since there is no program we have found that will provide Samuel with nursing care or even respite care, we needed some kind of help. And we’d rather have someone do the housework so we could be with Samuel, since we had the choice.Samuel had another pretty good week. Towards the end of the week, he was a little more upset than usual, but I think he just gets tired with all the traveling we’re doing. Just 3 weeks of hyperbarics left and then we’ll get a nice break!
Samuel got a new toy this week that he really loves. It’s just a small “wall” of beads that play music when touched. It’s amazing how well he can use his hands and arms when he really wants to. When we put the toy next to him on the floor, he gets himself right by it and sticks both hands in the beads and moves them around to get the music playing. It’s good to see him so interested in something.
We were pretty brave this week and took Samuel with us Saturday to run all the kids to and from soccer games and then we even made a trip to the grocery store. He was good through all of it. That night, we even took him along to a family BBQ near Lagoon and he was great considering all the noise and people. And then on Sunday, we ventured to church together as a family for the first time since last July. Samuel made it through the whole 3 hours of church (though mom barely did!) By the end, he was pretty wiggly and I had held him about all I could for a while.
The past few days, I’ve noticed that Samuel seems to be getting better at moving himself across the floor. It’s not that he’s moving in any different way. It’s just that he seems to be going where he wants to more than in a circle. Everytime I leave him in his room, he basically ends up with his head and arms in the closet where all his toys are. And when I leave him downstairs, he moves from one end of the room to the other. Sometimes I wonder what in the world he could be after. But I think he just wants to be moving somewhere - ANYWHERE :)!
Samuel is still smiling quite often. Today, I put a stuffed monkey on my head and then pretended I couldn’t find it. I kept asking Samuel if he knew where it was and he’d look at up my head. Then I said, “Is he on my head?” and Samuel grinned. When I looked up and finally “found” the monkey, he really let out a smile. He loves to watch his brothers run around and wrestle with dad or get tickled or just play. And he is always happy when they are doing things with him. I don’t even know that he cares what. He just likes having them around.
Well, that’s about it for now. We’re excited for summer and trying to figure out some sort of stroller that Samuel will be happy in so we can go and do things in the nice warm weather (when it gets here!)
Keep praying. We certainly are grateful for everyone’s prayers and help. And maybe when you pray, you could ask God to bless all the children who suffer and struggle through trials such as Samuel’s. We have met so many others who have such difficult trials and it breaks my heart to know of the things they endure also. There are a few specific children in my mind right now who I know are struggling. I pray for them and their parents that things will get easier SOON!
Love,
The Jewkes
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