Lefty has come to the party!

It's been a family affair, for the last two years. Getting Elliot to incorporate the use of his left hand, often fisted and rigid, into fine and gross motor skills.

We've had a cast made for the right hand, to use in small spurts. Forced use of the left hand.

When he's had something in the right, we've put something in the left (equal input).

Ana has become his big teacher, although she often confuses the Right and Left hand, which can be quite humorous, as in, "Look, Mommy, Elliot turned on the water with LEFTY!" causing a stampede to the bathroom, only to reveal the right hand grasping the spigot.

I'm happy to report that, now, fairly consistently, Elliot uses his hand to attempt to uncap markers, to help him explore new objects, to open and close things...he's frequently sucking on it, fully aware that it's there. And most of the time, when he uses that hand, he looks around, knowing that the praise is coming.

Watching him grasp something tiny (or try to grasp and release over and over) usually makes us misty, and Ana squeezes him in intense excitement. He will watch his hand, like it is coming from outside himself. It all happens as in slow motion; everyone who's worked on this resists the urge to offer any comment or assistance. But we're held captive.

Because intense work with his right hand usually makes him tense on the left side, when he wants to do something bimanually, Elliot will slightly open his right hand (which relaxes his left). His OT has seen older children with hemiparesis do this; she wasn't aware they did this so young (gold stars on the chart for you, my prodigy!).

Pictures to come soon. Right now, I'm just enjoying watching my son's hard work bear fruit. 2 short weeks before he ages out of Early Intervention and turns 3. What surprises lie ahead on this journey! I'm so grateful to have Elliot to guide us, and love us.

Handsome

Elliot now winks, blinks, and hams it up when someone mentions the word, "Handsome."

Do we need to work on being humble, little guy? Maybe, but we can't help it. You're quite the charmer.

Yesterday, Kevin took Elliot to Hangar in Children's Hospital to be fitted for orthotic leg braces. They will likely be high, and conspicuous, and help anchor his left foot, which he keeps flexed, and keep his right foot from collapsing inward as it does.

My son will have many accessories, by then--
The glasses that need to be brought back to the optometrist every other week to be reformed because he chews on them;

The arm cast for his right arm as we work on the forced use of his left hand, applied in little bits (20 minutes at the most, at home or in therapy);

Coming soon: Scapula tape to anchor his scapula and keep it from popping out from under use and poor muscle tone; an E-stem machine to hook up to at night, zapping your weak muscles with electrical stimuli, reminding you that they are there.

I'm struggling a little bit with the feeling that you will be the Bionic Boy, and wonder if you might want to be in your own skin once we subject each of your parts to some kind of Adaptive Technology. I hope this stuff will help.

No matter what, though, you'll still be our Handsome Guy.