SpiderBabe

Since Gibson was napping Gabe finally had a chance to try out his superpowers with the Spidey costume.  He thinks Spiderman should roar!  He tried and tried to get a reaction from Gavin and Anne Hope, but they would not let anything distract them from their precious screen time.  But, he had me all tangled up in his adorable web.

A Piece of Our Love Story

While working on a project for my grad class I experimented with the Windows tool called PhotoStory3.  I enjoyed putting an article I recently wrote for Anat's site into video form to share with you here.  The sound and timing aren't perfect, but we think Gabe is! ;)

Learning to Stand

This happens to be Gabe's favorite indoor activity.  Although with the wonderful sunny weather he spends most of his indoor time whining at the door to go out and chase "da ball, da ball, da ball."

Anyway, his chatter in this video makes me smile (so does the standing work he is doing!).

This video was actually taken a couple weeks ago now, but I couldn't resist sharing it.  Notice the couch cushion.  He usually  pulls one down when he wants to practice standing.  I think it is fascinating that the activity is self initiated and shows that he is a bit cautious not wanting to smack all the way to the floor while he is experimenting. Although, he is able to do it without the cushion also.
 
"Balance is not being rigid, but being able to catch ourselves, support and steady ourselves and move on....one of the things we explore is how to use support from the environment (usually the floor, sometimes a chair or the wall) to facilitate effective movement." Clyff Smith

Oh, you want to see more?
Sure!


Speaking of experimenting, while I have yet to catch it on video Gabe has been taking 2-3 steps completely independently when transitioning between pieces of furniture around our house.  Talk about exciting days in our home!

A Few Tricks for the Camera

Show and Tell

I am going to flood you with videos, but we were having fun recording Gabe's play time this evening. (Someday I will figure out how to actually edit these things)


Experimenting from Katie on Vimeo.


Keeping Up from Katie on Vimeo.


Sweet Parrot from Katie on Vimeo.

Finding His Feet

Untitled from Katie on Vimeo.

During the last few months of therapy Gabe has made progress in many small ways.  It would be easiest to measure progress in big movements: rolling over, sitting up, pivoting, crawling, creeping, etc. Yet, we have learned to watch intentionally, and celebrate quietly (sometimes), the itty bitty milestones. 

One type of therapy Gabe is receiving is called the Anat Baniel method. The theory is that the parts of our body can be mapped to our brain through light, slow touch and movement.  In fact, they believe we all learn to move through random movements that are successful.   All movement is initiated by the spine, so they teach that rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, and climbing climb can all be learned from our most natural position - lying on our backs.  We believe with them that Gabe's brain has the ability to change and form new connections in place of some that may currently be missing.  His therapist works intentionally with the movements and abilities he is displaying, instead of prematurely pushing him into positions that accentuate his diability.

A major goal in our last 3 months at BRAINS has been to help Gabe recognize his feet and to be able to rock his pelvis and bend his spine enough to get his feet up to his mouth.  This is the "map" he needs to be able to sit correctly and to eventually get in and out of sitting on his own.  As you can see he is finally initiating this movement on his own and we could not be more pleased that Gabe is finding his feet.

If you are interested in reading more, Kelly, who is trained as a "traditional" therapist wrote about her experience with BRAINS and is now in the process of training to be an Anat Baniel therapist.

You might also enjoy checking out some great clips highlighting the changes in another cutie and the way he is moving.

Who Loves You?

Confused from Katie on Vimeo.
{adamant}

Sorry I don't know how to flip the orientation, and it is pretty dark, I guess I am confused too;)  Still wanted to share the funny!

Contagious

Untitled from Katie on Vimeo.
{someone has the giggles}

Making Our Spirits Bright

7 months ago we were told that our little babe would likely not have any movement or feeling in his feet and legs.

Untitled from Katie on Vimeo.

We believe that THE babe born 2000 years ago is still performing Christmas miracles!

Note:  I apologize for the over-exposure here of our little guy's body.  I hesitated to post it because he kicked off his washcloth, but his happy kicks seemed too good not to share!