The past month has been fairly quiet, but it has come with some fun. We took a road trip to see Grandma and Grandpa in Atlanta, GA a few weeks ago. This was our first trip to Georgia this year. It was pretty big event since it was the first time Sherry has been under the same roof with both of her siblings at the same time since we started dating almost nine years ago. The first two pictures in this post were taken while at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We all had fun and look forward to seeing Grandma and Grandpa again soon.
I added the picture on the right because to me it seems to capture the growth and maturity that Caden has shown in the past few months. Caden amazes us almost on a daily basis with his communication skills. A few days ago Sherry saw Caden pick up one of Riley’s puzzle pieces. We normally don’t let Caden play with the puzzles because he still likes to chew on things, and you know what cardboard looks like after it gets wet. 
Sherry started towards Caden to take the puzzle piece. Caden turned and dropped the piece into the box and then signed “clean up”. This past Wednesday, we were having our weekly breakfast for dinner night. Sherry gave Caden a little jelly to eat. She asked him if he liked it and he nodded yes and signed “more”. He just moved the jelly around in his mouth instead of swallowing it, but he did seem to enjoy the taste. One day last week Caden signed that he wanted a bath. Last night Riley was getting a bath at the time Caden was getting put to bed. Sherry brought Caden in the bathroom to say good night to Riley and me. She then took Caden in a laid him in his bed. He immediately raised his arms as he does when he wants to get “up” and started whimpering. He obviously wanted to take a bath. Caden loves taking a bath almost as much as Riley does.
This picture shows Caden’s awesome physical progress. Caden is regularly standing for as much as a minute without holding on to anything. He has taken a few steps without the walker, but he still needs to build his confidence a little more. You can click HERE for a short video that was taken on Friday 8/25/06. That is just over a month after after the last video that was posted back in July. The video in July was taken before we unlocked the front wheels on the walker. The walker still has little latches to keep it from rolling backwards, but Caden can now steer it for himself. Caden is actually stopping and clapping his hands in excitement at times. He is also stopping, stooping down to push his toy car, and then standing back up so that he can use the walker to catch up to the car.
There is no new information to share on the pacemaker. We did the halter monitor and returned it in person the next day. We have also downloaded the pacemaker data via the telephone several times. We have not heard a word from the cardiology folks at MUSC.
We did take Caden in for a visit to the orthopedics team a few weeks ago. Caden was diagnosed with scoliosis back in February. We didn’t realize it back then, but there was key piece of information that would have been very helpful when making decision on the pacemaker. It seems that if Scoliosis progresses, as it has with Caden from 20 degrees to 40 degrees of curvature in six months, that there is a test that can be done to determine if a neurosurgeon can help the Scoliosis. The test is an MRI. Unfortunately, an MRI is one of the few things that a person with a pacemaker must strictly avoid. Had we known about an MRI possibly helping to determine a course of action for the Scoliosis, then we might have asked for the MRI before the pacemaker was implanted. Even though the pacemaker and or the lead may not be functioning properly, Caden can not have an MRI because of the effects the magnetism can have on the pacemaker and lead. This situation exposes our one real complaint about MUSC. They just don’t seem to have services to support patients with coordination between multiple clinics. Patients and families of children with multiple serious diagnoses are not well supported from a holistic perspective as far as I have seen in the past two years.
Enough about all that health stuff. Let’s get back to some more fun. The last picture in this post is of me and the boys at the water park back at the end of July. It was a great day. It was Caden’s first time to the water park and he and Riley loved it. Sorry for the nasty crop job. Oh, an I loved it too, even though it seemed like it was 153 degrees out there.
I want add a short note about the email list. You can subscribe to Caden’s Page by following the instructions on the subscribe link found in the sidebar. I have also added a page called Whitelisting Instructions if you once were receiving the update notifications, but are no longer getting them.
I encourage you to check out the September Daily Bible Reading schedule on my personal blog. God has spoken to Sherry and I in so many ways through our reading on that schedule. Everyone who wishes to seek God’s will should get into the Word on a daily basis. You will also find the first blog post by Aunt Robin titled Granny’s Helper. God Bless you all and thanks for your prayers!