February 2, 2007

Christine shares the following with all of us from their day together on January 31st: "Cousin Paul Rex has it right, laughter is the best medicine! Lately, I have heard Amanda laugh & giggle all of the time! She makes jokes, gets my sarcastic sense of humor, and gives it right back to me. It’s been great to see her so happy!

Last week, in the Discharge Conference at CNS, we went over some suggestions for the future care of Amanda. There were only 2 points made that Mandy disagreed with:

1) 24 hour supervision (do not leave Amanda unattended during waking hours)
2) Encourage Amanda to do all tasks independently. Be there to assist if she cannot complete, but do not allow her to expect you to complete the task for her.
We think she is becoming very comfortable with all of us doing so much for her! Okay, I’m guilty! We told her that if she does more of #2, she gets less of #1. Motivation to be independent…

Today’s picture is of Mandy in her hand-made scarf & hat, a gift from Joyce while she was still at Baylor last year. She went on about how beautiful & soft they are & how everybody she sees should comment on how adorable she looks:) It snowed in Lewisville today, so this was appropriate attire for sure!

Our day was pretty lazy for a change. Breakfast at IHOP started our morning just right. Then back home for Mandy to check her email & read the blog. She’s using a laptop now, and discovered Solitaire. Each time we’d say “we’re stopping after this game”, she would go ahead & deal again, giggling the whole time. It reminded me of her playing Catch Phrase…she will not pass the game to the next person!

Our day was short due to a doctor appointment. I took her to meet Kurt at his office, with Amanda giving direction the entire way! How cool is that??"