Happy Halloween!

Tonight was Noah's second Halloween but his first experience trick-or-treating.  We dressed up head to toe in our matching turkey costumes and just went down the street to a couple of houses.  It was a lot of fun and Noah had a chance to get some great goodies.  He has just mastered the sign for "more" so he put it to good use showing off to get more candy.  Always such a cheeky little boy!

In addition to being Halloween, today is the last day in October and the end of a very long month.  October 1st marked 6 months from Noah's first MRI and his stroke diagnosis.  Because it had been 6 months we had a ton of appointments this month and I felt like we were at Children's every other day.  I am so grateful for being so close to such an amazing hospital but I never thought I would ever be there as much as we have or I would ever know my way around there so well.  The big appointment of the month was Noah's follow-up MRI.  Although Noah didn't handle it as well as the first (I swear Noah knew something was up the minute we walked through the door) there has been no change since April.  We reviewed the results in the stroke clinic last week and we are very thankful that nothing has changed.  The neurologist who runs the stroke clinic, Dr. Rivikin, said Noah was doing amazing and said we had to continue to be "aggressive" with his therapy.  It was very encouraging to hear and I think it gave both Brad and I the extra motivation we needed to keep up with Noah's home exercises and constraint therapy.  I have to admit it's not easy trying to do his exercises every day, get him to all his therapy and doctors appointments every week, and just be a normal new mom with a one year old.  There are days when I'm totally overwhelmed and I have no idea if I'm coming or going.  I have to stop myself and look at Noah and see how far he's come.  I know we have no other option but to keep moving forward to help him in every way we can.  He is doing amazing-army crawling, starting to baby sign, and even pulling up to a kneeling position.  A doctor we saw this month took a look at Noah and couldn't believe all he had accomplished already given the extent of the damage he had seen on his MRI.  It truly is remarkble how the brain can compensate and adjust in so many ways.  I'm so proud of my little man and can't wait to see what he'll do next! 

Although the month was filled with a lot of appointments it was broken up by some wonderful things including Noah's 1st birthday, my brother Martin's 30th birthday (with a great trip to Miami), a great friend's wedding, and our 11th Canadian Thanksgiving with our friends.  I am so thankful for all these wonderful events and the amazing family and friends we spent them with. It definitely made the month easier for all of us and their love and support keeps us going everyday. Here are a few pictures from the month!