Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope everyone enjoyed the blog for 2012.  I know I just got started but I really do enjoy writing it.

As we enter a new year, I think it is always good to reflect on the previous year.  For Caroline and I it was an emotional roller coaster, which was to be expected. It was also a very busy year for Levi with doctor appointments, therapies and the like.  Overall it was a great year for him.  He accomplished so much and we learned so much more about him. I can probably write pages of everything we learned and everything he accomplished but I thought I would share the highlights.

We learned that Levi’s Myelin issues are not degenerative.  It isn’t getting better but it isn’t getting worse.  That was wonderful news.

He is growing!  I know that this might seem like an odd statement but it was something that we had to monitor throughout 2012.  He was small at birth and at every doctor’s appointment for his height, weight and head size he had measured below the curve.  He wasn’t even on the chart.  One doctor wanted us to consider a feeding tube.  I am happy to say that Levi is now on the chart for all 3 categories.  He is at the bottom, but he is on there!

He is getting stronger.  Levi gets around pretty well with his walker these days. He is able to pull himself up and cruise around the furniture. Levi still has some strength issues in his trunk and neck.  He has learned to compensate for this but it slows his progress.  This is something we will continue to work on in 2013.

We learned a lot more about his eating issues.  His speech therapist continues to work with him and we have seen significant improvement throughout the year.

Levi has an aptitude for swimming.  It’s one of his favorite things to do.  I am glad we found something that he enjoys so much and that is good for him as well.

We learned that his cognitive schools are improving. He has also mastered the iPad.  I know this will become an important piece of technology for him going forward.

Overall, I would have to say Levi had a very good year. Here are some of things we are looking forward to and hopeful for this year.

We are hopeful that Levi will walk on his own.  He has a lot of work to do but I feel like this is the year. In the meantime, I look forward to letting him loose in Target with his walker.  If you see him coming, I would suggest you get out of the way.

Levi will start attending school in February.  The Early Steps program that he has been in ends on his 3^rd birthday. At which point, he enters the school system. Caroline and I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, we worry about him being there all day and working with the new therapist.  On the other, we think the social interaction will be great for him.  I see a lot of blogging on this topic in the future.

We look forward to seeing Levi continue with his swimming.  He is doing so well and he is so very close to being able to turn over on his back.  Once he can do that, the instructor believes he will be able to swim the full length of the pool. I can’t wait!

We are looking forward to getting Levi off the bottle.  With his eating issues, Levi is still getting a portion of his nutrition through the bottle.  As he continues to work on his eating we are hopeful that we can get him off the bottle entirely this year.

We look forward to Levi communicating more with us this year through signs and verbalization.  We are hoping this is the year he makes a major stride. 

We had a lot to be thankful for in 2012 and so many things to look forward to in 2013.  We know we have to take it one step at a time and celebrate the little things along the way. I want to say thank you to all our family, friends, doctors and therapist for all the support and work that went into making 2012 a great year for Levi.  We couldn’t have done it without you. Happy New Year everyone.  Make it a good one!