Home sick

Someone has been sick pretty much since I got back.  Sam and Amanda got it first and it lasted about a week... I've been trying to kick it for weeks but I suspect the lack of down time has made that hard.  Ashley was miserable for a few days.  We've had a lot of snow days so for the most part it hasn't impacted school.  So now it is Dennis' turn... he's had a low grade fever and been congested since yesterday.

He takes well to the chewable grape junior tylenol and benadryl... he acts noticeably better afterward.  The hard part is figuring out what he wants to eat.  He will eat a little bit of english muffin or bagel with butter but nothing else.  He did eat a good dinner of chicken and rice which I was really surprised... though it was S that really didn't like meats with sweet sauces (odd since we had a lot of that in Ukraine).

I will probably give cooking borscht a try this weekend.  Someone from Ukraine recommended Varenyky as a comfort food.  I showed Dennis pictures on wikipedia and he said he liked the non-sweet ones.  So now to see if one of Melissa's friends has a recipe.  I had to push him to eat half a bagel this morning... but he took his vitamins and medicine without issue.

We discovered this summer that his stability increases when he's taking vitamins.  I am really curious to get some more tests done as B12 can help some people with CP. Until then we'll keep doing what we know works.  I've been really impressed by how he is doing.  This summer, showers were a bit hard and I was thinking I might need to put one of those bars in the shower but he's doing fine.  He can even squat down and stand back up again without support.  I've only needed to help remind him to step on the carpet in the bathroom and not the floor with wet feet so he doesn't slip.

Another test has been his new DSi.  He learned to do animated slideshows on it with music and has spent HOURS on that.  I'm impressed that he's figured this out without really having any computer experience and not being able to read the buttons.  He's repeated it several times so he definitely gets it.  Physically the test has been him going up/down the stairs with it.  As background, at the orphanage he always had someone's hand where ever he went... and you could see him use it as a crutch... totally not paying attention to actually walking and just making the other person control his fall.  It took a few times before he learned he needed to pay attention but with the DSi folded in one hand and the other on the rail you can't even tell he has CP.

He's working on figuring out the home theatre system and can change between the Wii and the DVD player with no issue -- I may have an issue with it but he doesn't.  The Wii is something I didn't think about as helping him as much as it does... if you've ever used one you'll know that even without stability issues it can be a bear to use the menus and press the right buttons.  It really makes him focus and concentrate on keeping steady.  At some point I'll get some time and we'll work on balance exercises and games on Wii Fit.