As you can tell from the pictures, William stood by himself today at therapy! It was so shocking that I didn't even think to count off how long he stood unassisted. I didn't have my camera either, so I'm especially grateful to Liesa who happened to be walking by, grabbed her phone, took the pictures, and emailed them to me.
William has stood unassisted before, but always for very short spurts and without his knowledge. Once he's realized he's standing alone he has immediately sat down. Today was different in that he had an intentional stand alone and held it while we cheered for him! And he did it several times in a row!
He's had a lot of sensory input recently - it appears to be paying off. Laci has been using the compression suit on him and will be adding a new component to that next week. This is basically the same as the vest we tried before, except he wears shorts as well, which covers more of his body and gives more input. Liesa started him on electrical stimulation (E-Stim) last week and has ordered new orthotics. She also walks him on the treadmill at therapy, among other things. She had mentioned that she'd like to see him getting in at least 300 steps a day, so we bought him a pediatric treadmill. We count his steps to be sure that he gets in 150 in the morning and 150 in the evening, both after his E-Stim.
compression suit/treadmill
You may have noticed in the pictures that William does not have a processor on his left ear. The port went bad on the new Nucleus 5 so we sent it in for repair. He is refusing to wear the old Freedom! I spoke with his audiologist and after trying several things to make sure the Freedom is working correctly, I think the Nucleus sound is so much clearer that he doesn't like the distortion he gets from the Freedom! I'll be glad to get his own set in soon!
Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Thro' eternal ages let His praises ring;
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword,
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
List'ning every moment to the Spirit's call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God...
"He has given us His very great and precious promises." 2 Peter 1:4