Day 104 - Sept 12, 2008

This was by far probably the most amazing day we have had yet to date! We did so many things today that my head is just spinning!!

First, Kevin ate pudding today! And he even would take the spoon from the therapist's hand and feed himself. I would say he ate about 1/3 of one of one of those pudding packs. And he even used a napkin to wipe his lips when he needed to.

He also automatically covers his mouth when he yawns now. I guess that is just instinctual, lol!

And today, he got on the tilt table. A tilt table is a table that will tilt upwards until the person that is strapped to it is standing up. Due to Kevin's ankle having been fractured, we have not put any type of weight on that leg until today. Needless to say, the right leg hasn't had any weight either. But today, we had him standing nearly straight up. We kept him at an angle, but only because it's been 3 1/2 months since he has bore (is that the right word?) any weight on either leg. I am pleased to say that he handled this extremely well.

I also gave Kev his dog tags this morning and he kept putting them up in front of his face and then cradling them to his chest. And once I saw that he seemed to understand what was really going on today, I gave him his wallet. His eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree. He flipped it around on his stomach to get it open and held it up to his face to see what was in it. I pulled out all of his cash and cards and he reached for the cash first (he's not dumb, lol). I shit you not - he used his thumb and fingers to spread the cash out in his hand and I honestly think he was counting it. We then went through all of the cards and we talked and I made a comment about his military ID looking like a convict and he actually smirked at me. And when I came across a fake NY driver's license with Al Pacino's face on it, I joked about being mad for him having a fake id and he truly grinned. It was so hilarous! And so wonderful to see! Anyway, when I went to put everything away, he put his hand up and stopped me. He pulled the money out of the pile and tried to give it to me! I told him "NO! I'm not taking your money" and he just shook it at me! We then had a long discussion about money and I do believe he understood everything.

And I mean everything! I told him it was time for him to brush his own teeth and handed him his tooth brush. The first time today, he tried but struggled. He got frustrated and quit. I gave him the "Don't get frustrated" speech and when I gave him the toothbrush again tonight - he brushed exactly right. He rubbed back and forth and even did his back teeth and his tongue. Unbelievable. And once he was done, I had him put the toothbrush back in it's holder and put the lid on. The first time, he didn't get the lid on quite right and told him 'no way, buddy. Get it on there right' and he did!

And Breezy gave him a pen and paper tonight. He did a lot of scribbling and it went on way longer than it did when we used the dry erase board.

And for the pièce de résistance: My son said his first word tonight!!!!!

We have been trying to get him to say "HI" for a couple of days now, but we haven't been trying real hard. Tonight I came back after dinner and we really worked on it. After a while, he said it real quietly a few times and we started calling everyone we could call. As time was going on, he was getting louder and stronger with it and I wish y'all could have seen the look on his face when he shouted "HI". I think he surprised himself and we all started jumping and smiling and laughing and the look of pride on Kevin's face was so amazingly wonderful! He was honestly grinning from ear to ear right along with us! It was all me and Breezy could do not to start crying. I just can't believe that Kevin can talk! They told me he never would! And yes, I know it's only one word, but if he can do one - he will do them all! I believe that!

Isn't this all just so amazing? I kept thinking he was in there and we needed to just bring him out, but today was honestly more than I could have ever hoped for! If he keeps up at this rate - we will be home next month, lol. (and yes - that is an exaggeration - grin)