a great day

 

 Yesterday was a great day. We've decided to still consider them great even though we are tackling the insurmountable right now. 

Rico is doing much better congnitively, which helps so much and on several fronts. 

First, he was able to communicate to his physical therapists why he needed to learn to walk a different way than they were showing him. Despite me explaining to anyone who'd listen, that he'd already had to relearn to walk differently, I couldn't explain how it was different for his body. But yesterday he was able to take charge. They attached him to a zero gravity belt, which allowed him to walk unassisted without the risk of falling.

Basically, he was suspended from the ceiling by a magnetic track. The therapist was able to control the whole thing from a remote device. The cool part is that at any time, the therapist can (and did) utilize the "trip feature", which unexpectedly tried to jolt Rico off balance. He made it to level 4/10 in one day without falling at all.

Second, he's able to call out on his phone a bit more and without assistance. He's been able to make calls for a while, but his vision was so limited that he almost always needed help. Now he's in much better shape. It's still a little tough to read texts, but he's working on that too.

Third, he is able to make fun of us - which is the true test of Rico's spirit. He declared both Noah and I incompetent to assist him with walking and said he'd place more trust in Neeks or even the dog. He ain't wrong. Technically we're stronger, but also much less inclined to focus on where we're walking, let alone anyone else.

Fourth - STAPLES OUT (and it was a loooot of staples)!

We left him to nap around 7:00, and headed home, where I was able to take Kaia and her best friend Saija out for something I'd promised a year ago. When each of our kids turns 18, we take them out to a local casino for a buffet and hand them $20 to lose or double. We couldn't go last year, and honestly nobody was feeling it this year. But with Neeks and Noah happily immersed in art and video games and snacks, we headed out for a very late dinner. It was just what we needed -  lot of crying at first, some good music, a toast with Shirley Temples, some laughter, and losing almost all of the $20.

Tomorrow is a new day, and we hope it's great too.