A New Journey...

Hello!  You'll have to forgive me for not writing in a while, we have been very busy at the Davison Household :)

Let's start at the beginning...my NACD evaluation.  The evaluation itself was very comprehensive. Mom and Dad were thrilled Robert Doman himself was conducting the process...he was alright, as long as he stayed on the other side of the table!  Overall, we were impressed.  Mr. Doman picked up on things only my parents have noticed, mainly dealing with my eyes. Here are the highlights...

-My central/macular vision has not developed properly (meaning my brain is not allowing my eyes to work together to focus on a single item in front of me, which is why I shake rattles and toys to the side of my head...I have been using my peripheral vision this whole time). 
-My cross pattern crawling is excellent, however, when I practiced stepping with my parents assistance Mr. Doman said he is already starting to see the stereotypical "CP walk" emerging (meaning I throw my right leg because of weak hip coordination, which will result in the contraction of my right arm).
-Tactility on my right side is very low (I can't feel stimulation on my right side very well).
-I am VERY smart, specifically when tested in social and problem solving realms. 

So what do we do?  We received the NACD plan and it is intense...like 4 hours per day intense. But that's OK, because I'm used to working hard!  The plan includes...

-Lots of eye exercises with flashlights, our iPad/iPhone in a dark room, and focusing activities. 
-More, more, more, more crawling!  In fact, Mr. Doman said I have a good chance of having a normal gate if we don't "louse it up now by allowing me to walk too soon."  So, no more walking practice, even though I'm pretty sure that I could walk right now if I tried. 
-Deep pressure exercises and rub-downs with Tactility Gloves, to stimulate feeling on my right side.
-No more pacifier...it delays speech, so Mom and Dad said I can only have it to help me fall asleep.  It hasn't been too rough thus far, but I wanted to kick him when he said that!
-My diet is excellent, except for the whole milk, which has proteins that are very hard for infants and toddlers to digest, so I switched to goat's milk with no issues.
-Speech and language exercises, Mr. Doman wants to foster my intellect and even start to teach me to read! 

Well, that's the run down. Mom and Dad will go through all of the videos and handouts this weekend when Dad gets home from Miami and we'll start with the plan on Monday.  Wish us luck! 

This weekend was a blast! We had a lot of friends in town for the PF Chang's marathon! Tyler (we call him Skyz) and his wife Theresa, as well as Theresa's sister Robin were here, and so was Aunt Melany and our friend Andrew. Mom and Andrew ran the 1/2 marathon, and Robin ran the full.  I got to see them at the finish line -- there were so many people!  It was a full house and a lot of fun...until last night when I started feeling sick.  I went to the doctor this morning and found out I have a double ear infection. Mom and Dad are really concerned--16 months without even a sniffle and now two ear infections in two months.  Back to basics around our house. Everyone will be required to wash their hands upon entering, and use hand sanitizer.  Therapists will have to wipe down their toys before each visit too...Mom has lots of Clorox wipes!  Got to keep me healthy, this pain-with-no-sleep thing just isn't for me!

A few pictures for you...

This is Inger, she watches me on Friday while Mom and Dad work!

This picture wasn't even Mom's idea...we were in Downtown Phoenix and this ant had high heels on.  Dad and Skyz thought it was funny...I just played along!

Have a great week!