Happy birthday Uncle Pete!

Well you know the age old saying, when you assume you make... Well I assumed, I figured therapy would be just like last time and Friday would be only be the post-test, boy was I wrong! Tomorrow will still be a full day of therapy but since I already told Jude we get to go home tomorrow Jackie is going to start early. So we can make the 8 hour treck home after our 6 hours of therapy. So my sweet baby Jude gets to go homme tomorrow and say hi to his puppies. He is so excited. This whole month he has worked towards one goal and that is to pick up Otis, our 25lb puggle. He misses those dogs so much. And although we won't be home until about 10 we won't be able to keep grandma away, she is dying to see him. I know I will lose all love when we get home because he will be superglued to Grandma so I am getting all the cuddles I can in tonight. Jude and my mom love to make jello together so I am sure she already bought out all the jello from The grocery in anticipation. I hope Grandpa is hungry!

Today Jude worked extra hard on buttoning. It is still very difficult for him to button his pants when they are on him but he works and works until he gets it. He also has a shirt that buttons all the way down the front that he is becoming a rock star at. Maybe I didn't need to get him the economy size Sweettarts from the movie today. (I am so mean that I make him pull them out of a coffee can top that we slit to mimic the button holes. He loves it though, and what better motivation than Sweettarts!) He also got to throw water balloons at Ms Jackie today at the end of the day which he loved! She was such a good sport to let him even though she had to go to the store dripping wet after work! He was breaking the balloons on her using two hands and when he wasn't using righty it still looked great with a straight wrist. After "work" we continued with the wet theme and went to the pool yet again. We have been every day this week but I have to say what else can we do when it is 99 degrees outside? We've loved having the pool right here, I wonder how long it would take to convince Daddy to get a pool in the backyard, wink wink.

So I asked Jude what his favorite thing about Alabama was and I was shocked to hear his answer. Of course it was swimming (my child!) and fishing and the zoo. But what came next shocked me, he liked buttoning the best! I didn't ask why he included that in his top things, I want to run with it for a long time, the more he likes it the easier it is for me. I know it could be a byproduct of the Sweettarts but I really think he is excited to be like his friends. I always bought elastic waistbands for him because before ACQUIREc therapy he could not manipulate buttons especially on himself. Also, everything he does is to be just like his big brother so I am not sure if this was the motivation or the new Tony Hawk camo shorts that have a zipper and button. But like I said, I am going to run with it, makes my job much easier. He has come so far. Buttoning, zipping, tying, typing and he has little muscles now! It all comes back to the strength, without it none of that would be possible.

Jude gave Ms Jackie a gift today. He made her a Build-A-Bear puppy that sings "Who Let The Dogs Out" when you push his right (of course!) hand. She is a Mississippi grad (mascot is the Bulldogs) so she loved it. Since everything revolved around Blake and Otis during our time here we thought it would be a fitting way for her to remember how far he has come with her help. She did a fantastic job working with him. He are some photos of him building Otis.













We want to give a big shout out to Uncle Pete, it's his birthday today. We miss you very much Uncle Pete and we have thought about you at every BBQ joint in Alabama! Hope your day is as great as you are! Gracie, Jackson and Julie better give him tons of kisses and hugs from us! Cheers.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Birmingham,United States