Dear friends,
We have had a good start of the year. Bram is continuing to improve as you can see in the photos. Progress might seem slow but his physiotherapist and occupational therapist are extremely pleased with his progress. He has a therapy seat to train his sitting, a bath seat to make bath time easier and tomorrow he has an appointment to have a fit check on a wheelchair. Bram is determined to start crawling. He is often on all fours and building his strength and balance. We are convinced he will learn to crawl again, but this will take time. We are exercising standing up with him as well and we can see that improving as well.
With both our boys we are using Makaton (simple sign language). This makes communication a lot easier. Max still does not talk a lo but he signs all the time. And we can see that Bram is trying to use his hands more and more as well and we think he is showing the first signs of trying to sign as well. Laura will start an official Makaton course this week so she can communicate with the boys in the best possible way. I intend to do the same course when my schedule allows.
Bram’s neurological signs are still improving as well. His breathing is becoming less abnormal, his heart rate is coming down to normal levels. He has lost his chubbiness and his hair has completely grown back.
More importantly his signature smile and chuckle are shown a lot. Bram is a very happy boy.
Our life is slowly becoming normal. In the middle of December I returned to work, and I am pleased to say I completed my training successfully and I am back to flying full time. Laura has our household under full control and it starts to feel like our normal life again. Obviously we are still very busy with Bram’s care and all his appointments, but it feels different. He doesn’t look ill anymore.
Love,
Jeroen, Laura, Max and Bram
