Denver Diary Day 2: Down and Dirty

Day 2 of our trip has finished, and it has been an exhausting one.  Today Cade started his occupational therapy at the STAR Center.  We met Julianna, Cade's OT for the next month.  We were thrilled to see that she was eager and completely "in charge" - she was immediately able to channel Cade into following her instructions and being cooperative...mostly.  She went right to work on his evaluation.  Today's evaluation will determine how Cade's therapy will proceed.

This is the zip line in the sensory gym at the STAR Center.  Of course this was Cade's favorite thing!

Today we got down and dirty.  We knew that OT at the STAR Center would be exhausting for Cade, but I was hoping we could get a couple of days into it before that happened.  Nope.  A "screaming at the top of his lungs for 30-minutes in the car" meltdown ensued shortly after we arrived back to the Ronald McD House to pick up Eric and Kai for lunch.  He has struggled a little all afternoon, but a forced nap did help things a bit.  Hopefully we will see many fewer of these meltdowns as his sensory system begins to get more balanced and under control.

Today we have again met such wonderful people here.  Everyone has quite a story, but we definitely all share the common bond of wanting what is best for our special kids.  The boys are having a blast -- Kai had an especially great time playing with a load of kids who came with their families who cooked supper for us tonight. 

I have included some pics from yesterday that didn't make it into last night's post and some more video of therapy this morning.  Thank you, again, for your continued prayers and thoughts.  After today we truly know what a long journey this will be here in Denver!

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore greet us when we come in to the House

Kai loves Ronald McDonald!

The Monkey Bars in the sensory gym at the STAR Center