Hello 11 months!
We’re 28 days away from Mr. Harrison Greene’s first birthday.
Making this the penultimate post of year 1.
You’d think this would be a calmer post. A calm before the storm-type post as it were.
As is such, there is no such thing as calm when it comes to Harrison.
One of the good things about keeping a blog and a Facebook page is that you can look back. I fully admit I had to look back this time to keep everything synchronized in my head.
We’ve had first snows, casts coming off after 10 weeks, park and old bridge visits. Between our 10th visit to Greenville, and getting back into the swing of things therapy-wise while working around this crazy January weather, it’s all proven to be a bit of a blur.
Back in October of last year, before hip surgery, spica casts, and the lot, a certain little boy started rolling over. A sizeable milestone for our little guy when you consider everything. So much so it almost felt unfair that he would figure out his own way of doing it, just before having surgery and being in casts for months.
After being in casts for as long as he was, we were curious to see how long it would take him to return to his rolling glory after he found his legs were free again.
The answer: about two weeks.
However, rolling over now, compared to before, is much more controlled, much more deliberate. He can bring himself up onto his side and hold himself there. This is great because on his side is when we see the most arm movement right now. Arm movement that he is aware of and in control of. He’s realized that if he rolls onto his left side, he can bring his own hand up to his mouth, under his own power.
A pretty big accomplishment, and one I wasn’t sure if or when he’d reach it, but we’re there!
The only caveat is that he hasn’t been able to get himself fully around while wearing his new brace. He’s still learning how to navigate with it on, but zero question that he will get there sooner than later. (Update: He managed to roll over in his brace with this post sitting in drafts. So you can check that off the list)
Therapy these past few weeks has also kicked up a notch as we’re working on sitting up and standing up with the help of knee immobilizers. Up to this point, we’ve never bought Harrison any shoes. We bought his first pair while we were down in Greenville, as they’re now a big part of his therapy and an important tool in his progress.
Harrison isn’t able to crawl because of his lack of arm movement, so going from sitting to standing is the goal. Putting weight on his feet will help continue their progress, along with helping him to continue strengthening and improving his hip stability and flexibility.
We’re doing all of this as we wait to schedule an MRI at U.K. to gain a better look at his spine. While the initial x-ray gave us a borderline curvature that would require casting, we’re likely looking at at least 6 months’ worth of casting in the coming year to help with his scoliosis. We’ll learn more in the coming months as we have the MRI and make our next trip to Greenville in early spring.
After nearly a year’s worth of therapy, and castings, having a month occupied with therapy, a Greenville trip, and cast removal is old school. The focus now: to continue to get stronger, work on sitting and drinking from a straw, watch lots of Bluey, and ya know, just little man’s first birthday!
Bring on the celebration, because I’m pretty sure we deserve it! 🙂
