It's the Little Things...

The Spears family had a wonderful Christmas. We were surrounded by family for 3 days straight. We got lots of nice gifts, ate way too much good food, and made a lot of memories. I know that many times family gatherings can sometimes be stressful, annoying, and just not the top on the list of things you want to do- But this year, I realized how truly thankful I am to have such a big family that lives so close. Jamie and I are blessed to have both sides of our families within less than an hour of our house. They love and care for all 3 of our children just as much as we do. I could call on any single one of them in a moments notice and they would drop everything to help however was needed. You know, I think I have taken this for granted. I guess I always thought this is just how it was and will be. But then I realized that there are people who have lost their parents, were only children, or who live far away from family- and I don't know how they do it. Our families are truly a blessing to us and we couldn't make it without their love and support.

Anderson seems to have finally recovered from his recent surgery. I really pray that this shunt works and does not get infected because I am not sure if I can watch him go through that again anytime soon. Would you mind to continue to pray for Anderson and, specifically, for the success of this shunt surgery? Thanks. We had a little scare last night with a fever that hit the "magical" number. We called the neurosurgeon and he gave it 2 hours to come down on its own before we had to load up and head to the ER...praise the Lord it slowly lowered itself back down through the night. Anderson does have a really bad cold, though. He doesn't feel good at all, but we can deal with a cold- just not an infected shunt this soon after surgery.

Speaking of surgery, we are absolutely AMAZED at the progress Anderson has made now that he has a shunt that is fully functioning. About 2 weeks before his surgery, we began to notice some things that started to worry us. We felt like he was beginning to really fall behind developmentally. We noticed that he had quit doing things that he had already been doing. One of the most noticeable things was that he had almost completely quit using his left arm/hand. He could move it, but he wouldn't reach for anything with it, hold on to anything with it, or even grip an object tightly with it. His eyes seemed to be getting smaller in size and just weren't bright like normal. His coordination seemed to really be off, and simple things like picking up an object -he just quit doing.

So, in the last week Anderson has blossomed! He is doing all sorts of new (and old) things. The funny thing is that to most people, these things would be so little, they may go unnoticed. I can assure you we wouldn't have noticed these with either of our girls. They aren't BIG milestones, but for Anderson, they are milestones. And we celebrate each little step just like it's a BIG one.

For example, when he would sit in his Bumbo, his arms would be straight out at his sides, or they would just hang down. He would not bring his hands together to touch each other at his midline. This movement requires both sides of his brain to communicate with each other ( remember that is the job of the corpus callosum?) . Well, after this surgery, Anderson is using both of his hands to do all kinds of things- he even brings them together. Last night at supper, he sat with his hands folded together almost like he was praying. He also can now transfer an object from his left hand to his right hand, which is a big deal. Another thing he can now do is hold an object in each hand at the same. For example, if he is holding something in his left hand and I offer him another toy with his right hand, he used to drop the object in his left hand before he would grab the toy with his right. Now, he keeps hanging on and holds both in each hand.

We are amazed at his physical progress just since he recovered from the surgery. Verbally, he has now started with consonant babble sounds and proudly says "DADA" all the time. I don't even care that he didn't say MAMA first (or has said it at all yet). I am just so proud of this verbal milestone for him.

The brain is an unbelieveable organ. They say that if the pathway isn't there that it needs, it figures out a different route- kind of like a detour- or it creates its own, new pathway. Anderson's corpus callosum is not there- there is no question about it, but his little brain is working hard to find ways to do everything he needs to do. Just another reminder of how awesome God is, and what great detail he put into creating the human body. Anderson's brain is remarkable, but it doesn't get all the credit. The credit and glory all go to God. He is hearing all of our prayers (if you are a reader, your prayers are included in that "our"), and he is answering them. We couldn't be more thankful and proud of our little guy. He is a trooper.

We did get a new video camera for Christmas. It's digital ( I guess they all are now) and as soon as I figure out how to add video on here, I would love to show you Anderson in action with some of his new tricks. I will try to figure that out soon.

Until then, we will continue celebrating each little milestone as it comes along...because sometimes the best things in life....are the little things.