I teared up

For a while now I haven't been with Bradley to his therapy sessions. He was going to this one place then got switched to another place and so Rachel and Rex have been taking him to the new place. Rex has really been sick so today I took Brad to therapy and I'm SO glad I got to see what I saw.

I guess since I haven't watched him in therapy for a while, I was SHOCKED (in a good way)! Shocked to the point of tears in my eyes. He did so good. That's just an understatement. He worked so hard today. Let me try to explain his sessions:
I'll just hit the highlights:

1. Physical therapy - He was sitting in his wheelchair facing the parallel bars. He was to reach up with his good hand (the therapist placed his bad hand on the rail for him) and pull himself up. He did it GREAT. I asked the therapist, "did he do that" and she told me "yep, it was ALL him" Go Brad! He's getting stronger! Next, he transfered himself from his wheelchair to the mat, which he needs some help with but does very well.

His right side is the side that doesn't work very well (yet). But, he was lying on his back and today I saw him move his right arm several times. I thought my eyes would pop out of my head. Seriously, I could not believe it. I don't know if it was the position that he was laying or what but it was awesome. I kept having him do it to see if he could and he did it about 3 times.

2. Speech therapy - this boy knows everything such as numbers, letters, spelling things and such like. One way they get him to communicate is showing him a board with all the letters on it, and when they ask him a question, he can point to the letters and spell his answer. He has NO problem doing this. He can spell anything, without help. The therapist read him a short story. The story was about the Jones family that went on a picnic and then took a nap. She said they had hot dogs, hamburgers and chips. She then asked Bradley, " What did the Jones family do after their picnic?" Bradley pointed to the board with the letters.....N...A...P!!!!! Again, Go Brad! So, his listening skills are also working!

3. Occupational therapy - (this is when I teared up). He was sitting on the mat with the therapist beside him. She would hold a bean bag up in the air. Bradley's job was to reach for the bag then bend over and put it in this bucket that was sitting on the floor. He dropped one of the bean bags before he got it to the bucket BUT, he reached all the way down to the floor, picked up the bag and then placed it in the bucket, then sat himself back up right. When he did that the therapist looked at me and I looked at her and she said "that's the best he's ever done".

It was just a really good day for Brad. You may read these things and think to yourself that they are really not a big deal but for Brad they are a huge deal. He's made MAJOR progress since April 2, 2006. MAJOR!!!!!!

As slow as it may seem to us sometimes, I got to see for myself today that he truly is making progress. It was a long day. We were there 3 hours but it was awesome.

I just wanted to share this good news with you guys. I know there are those that pray for Bradley everyday and appreciate hearing about his progress. Please keep praying!