So today was my first day back to reality.  I left Marty in the fine hands of his parents and off to work I went.  Kudos to my peers at work.  My team had everything all caught up for me.  I was not very far behind after being off for over a week.  It was nice to have the distractions at work, but my heart was definitely still at home.

Marty's mom ventured out to Walmart with him today.  It was like a sight seeing tour.  They slowly did their shopping allowing Marty to take in everything.  I think they shop at the same pace. 

During their discussions today Marty was able to remember his address from when he was in Elementary school in Green River WY.  He remembers helping lay sod at their new church in Green River as well.  He remembers camping with his family and his dad making animal shaped pancakes.  Marty's long term memory is really coming back quickly.  The last year still seems to be gone, but sneaks in occasionally.  Today he remembered the car (red Camero) that his dad drove when Marty ran the 40 miles.  He still doesn't remember nor believe he ran 40 miles.

This afternoon, our angel friend Roberta Collins, came and did an assessment on Marty.  She found he has some weakness still in his right hand and gave him the same advice his doctor did to squeeze his ball multiple times a day.  She also gave him homework to mark a calendar and write the day of the week and the date every morning.  This will help him keep track of time.  She also found that his tongue muscles needs strengthening.  She gave him homework to lick applesauce and peanut butter off a spoon.  Rough homework!  Roberta also got Marty to say his own name! 

Roberta was going through some basic signs Marty could use until he can verbalize what he needs.  When she did the sign, sorry, Marty wrote, "I dont understand that word".  We tried to explain it, but that's a hard word to explain.  After a few minutes Marty wrote "If it comes from the Heart is it a special word"  Yes, Sorry is a special word.  What an awesome afternoon!




For Christmas, Marty got a gift certificate to Steak and Shake.  Marty wanted to take the family out for dinner.  It is one of Marty's favorite spots and he would eat there daily if we'd have let him.  He ALWAYS eats the same thing, western BBQ burger.  When he ordered tonight, he pointed to the shooters instead.  We all found that funny since he has never tried them before.  I suppose he's open to new ideas :)

On the way home, the car in front of me came to an abrupt stop.  I guess I wasn't stopping fast enough because Marty yelled out "STOP!".  He then covered his mouth and looked shocked.  His heart was racing from what he thought was going to be a car accident (it didn't even phase me, it really wasn't that close, just a hard brake).  He then couldn't force himself to say stop again.  His parents and I were cheering and laughing at the spontaneous speech.  Now, if we could just get him to talk on a regular basis and didn't have to scare it out of him.

Little victories every day.  Marty can now say about 20 words.  Children usually know 2500-5000 words when they enter Kindergarten.  If Marty were to accelerate his learning to 10 words a day, he'd have the vocabulary of a kindergartner in 8-16 months.  That's a little depressing, but for now, we will take the words he can say, plus his ever increasing written skills. 

He seems to be constantly fatigued.  He told Roberta today that he is not sleeping well and is having nightmares.  She indicated that it is normal and for him to have me help calm him down to get back to sleep.  Getting lots of sleep and good oxygen flow will be important to his brain development.  We will continue to have him take catnaps through the day as he wears himself out.  All this thinking and learning is hard work.

I am grateful for the continued support we have from our family and friends.  I can see a long road ahead of us, but I can also see a full recovery.  If we can unlock the door that is holding back his verbal skills, we'll be in GREAT shape!