Hallelujah!

I was sitting in the kitchen with Peej the other day & a song came on from my favorite album. It was a different rendition of Hallelujah, and I was overcome by the gratitude of the blessings we've had the past year.

So it goes to show that the only time I have to reflect on the many happenings in our lives is when the house is sleeping or quiet, (or mostly gone!). "C'est normal", they would say in french. Of course I can't think about how I am feeling when I am leading the troops 7/7 or seven days a week. It's only when all homework is done, spellings have been quizzed, "poesies" have been "acquis", and everyone is bathed, fed, and sleeping that I have a moment to chat with John, and think about how the world is spinning around us, or with us. And how we are actually doing in that world.

And then I heard about the Hallelujah flash concert in Macy's in Philadelphia, USA a few weeks ago. It was fitting for me this week, and you can check it out here--Just beautiful! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU

We hosted a potluck Thanksgiving at our place last weekend, and I have cooked enough pumpkin cookies to feed 3 little bilingual armies in Abby, Hannah, and Axelle's english classes this week as I did Thanksgiving presentations with some dear mommy-friends by my side.

So we've been oh-so-busy, but thankful.

And I couldn't help but think where we were at last year at this time,

and how I was feeling,

and how far we have come.

Last year at the Thanksgiving dinner table at our dear friends' (The Lees) home someone asked the typical traditional Thanksgiving question: "What are you most thankful for this past year?" And I practically burst into tears. The death/life veil was still too close to talk about for me and John & Peej....and he had been having alot of seizures.

But THIS YEAR I FELT NOTHING BUT GRATITUDE! And lots of it.

Hallelujah!

I was praising God all week for Parker's progress, and the fact that he's been walking for a few weeks now...and getting better at it.

Every few days I witness a few tears from another dear friend who is surprised by his upright forward motion, and all I can do is smile...

and say thank you...

So, thank you.

Thank you to all of you who continue to pray for Parker. I know the prayers are working. I KNOW IT. I feel it. I know that God hears & answers prayers. So keep them coming, cus we've still got ALOT more work to do.

Thank you, dear, dear Lord for continuing to bless Parker. Thank you that he was not hurt by the motorcycle that hit his stroller this week! Seriously. Another story...for another time.

But Hallelujah we are farther away from that life/death veil, and all of the frailties I felt there. I am so happy & proud of Parker & his progress, and he's proud of himself too. He loves his little deaf school, and he's got ALOT to be thankful for this week.

Praise him. Praise Him. Hallelujah , and Happy Thanksgiving!

Walk My World

Parker had very solid walk weeks and we feel we are on the cusp of overcoming one piece of uncertainty.

On Monday morning, as usual, I fixed the cochlear implant to Parker's head before lifting him out of the crib and onto the ground beside me. While leaving him propped up beside the crib for balance I reached for a diaper. Parker casually walked over to his toy car garage some 10 ft away, put his hand on top of it to steady himself and then stood there playing with his cars like a normal boy. I sat 10 ft away in utter happiness.

The day before, Sunday, while at our friend Richard Shurtleffs house for dinner, we were having Parker walk between Renee and I, bribing him to go to someone else holding his pacifier. At first he hesitated, looking for us to hold his hand and scaling along side the couch. Then the other children thought we were playing a game and started running between the different adults and the fireplace laughing. Parker, shirking his inhibition, forgetting that he was handicapped, joined in with the other children laughing too.

Our apartment has a narrow hallway that is probably 75 ft long with red carpetting. Saturday Parker walked up and down it several times-- arms stretched out to the sides and pushing off or steadying himself every so often-- but walking unassisted nonetheless.

The French have an expression "ca y est"; --roughly translated as there it is -- but connotes a sense of that's now done. It feels like, this week for walking, ca y est.

He isn't graceful, he has a certain aspect of drunken sailor in his walk, but he is upright and deliberate.

After his first walking week we left for 10 days travelling in the UK and he continued his progression, getting continually better at avoiding obstacles and re-balancing after a sister brush-by. In one apartment we stayed in he was begging for the drink I had in my hands which I finally gave him. He held it in one hand, walked 15ft across the entry way and through the front room to the coffee table where he placed his free hand for balance, then proceded to down the drink.

At the swimming pool he would walk on the wet cement, slip a bit but regain control and continue his progression to the water.

We have even seen him walk across the room, stop midway and pick something off the ground, and continue walking.

He still prefers to hold my hand and when he gets tired he wants to be held. He also tends to crawl when he doesn't have a fixed reference point, but still, everyday you will see him just walking by randomly, or decide for no reason to leave the couch and walk to the table.

The girls all walked at between 10 and 13 months. Parker has taken at least twice that and it may be some time before he totally masters it and uses it as his main method of transportation-- still, one worry seems to have been lifted as one more fear seems to have disappeared.