Interesting week.

This Monday marks a year since I heard my Dad speak to me with the voice I'd grown accustomed to for 35 years. It's kind of weird, though. I've gotten so used to his new voice, that when I hear that old voice (on our home answering machine), it takes half a second to recognize that person on the machine. I could go into fine detail of all the things this next week represents, but I know he checks in and reads this, as does the rest of the family. They don't need a reminder, and my Dad certainly doesn't need to feel sad.

We spoke of the big day coming up, and he said that he should be walking and talking by now. I completely disagreed with him, reminding him that just seven months ago, he was closer to dying than any of us want to see ever again. Most of the encouraging stories I read when this all began had one thing in common, the first year is always the hardest. Then things start waking up. I told him he is making huge strides given his condition seven months ago. He can now feed himself via the mouth. We still have the tube fixed to him for his nutrition, but he gets small doses of real food such as chicken, green beans, mac & cheese, and his favorite...ice cream!! We have a outdoor event coming up that he has set a personal goal for, and has been working very hard to accomplish...two words....hot dogs. :)

I don't recall if I blogged about this already, but he got his new teeth back from the dentist. His original set "disappeared" from the hospital, and he really hasn't needed any since. Now he has a HUGE pearly white smile when he laughs. It's quite a comedy.

My Mom has been having a hard time with this month. Understandable. At least her Mariner's are doing better. :) Gooo BIG RUSS!

There is so much more I want to put down that is in my head & heart right now, but it's family stuff. Maybe if I make a book out of this, it will make the book. ;)

It is still amazing to me that we still have some faithful viewers of this blog, despite my lack of writing lately. I know this has probably turned some viewers away, as there aren't as many updates, but as long as he continues to progress, I will continue to write. The day you get a phone call from him asking if you want to meet for a round of golf is the day this blog will end.

(I'll be teein off with my old man)

MOOORE UPDATES!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th!!

Much to write about, so let's get rolling...

I finally finished his standing frame, which he has been using for up to 40 minutes at a time! His swallowing is so far so good. My mom has been starting to give him pieces of banana, ice cream, and his favorite...Mac&Cheese!! :) I think we are about a week away before the Speech Therapist is going to try some chicken. He seems to be getting it down nicely, we still worry where down is, of course...haha, but they've been monitoring his lungs and everything seems to be ok.

The singing is a hit! We started him off with something a little slower that is an old classic. "You were always on my mind" by Willie nelson. When we first started, he could barely finish a verse...now he is getting through the whole song. Not clear, by any means...but improving!

He has several posts that I need to copy/paste in here, hopefully this weekend. The picture above is from our weekend excursion to Mt. St. Helens on 4th of July.

So we drove down to Helens on Saturday to escape not only the heat, but the fireworks. I have to agree with my Mom on this...since when did it become alright to give drunken idiots small explosives to set off in close proximity to other houses??? Do any of these people even understand the value of the holiday?? We were driving home from Helens later that evening, and you could feel the shock wave from some of these fireworks from inside your car ON I-5!!! Crazy, just crazy. I wrote off the entire weekend to hang down at their place in case the neighbors did something stupid and caught our house on fire. Shame that we have to worry ourselves with such things.

Anyway, back to Dad. As I was working out in the garage, Brad and Dad were practicing some walking, and decided to take a break on one of the chairs in the living room. Dad sat perfectly in this chair. No leaning, no struggling...sat there like he's been doing it this whole time, and it didn't even have arms! It just seems lately, he has been "waking up", and much of his body is getting tired of that wheelchair. He is accomplishing things the doctors would have never forseen.

I have a feeling the voice will be last to "come back". He has lost 8 lbs since his last weigh-in, as you will see in the picture. Hopefully he can get off the tube soon, and start putting some of that weight back on.

He gets his new teeth soon, which should help in a lot of his speaking, AND chewing.

Overall, his spirits are pretty high. To quote him on our way back from Helens....

"It's good to be alive"....."Thank you for my life"