A little piece of heaven

Nathan went underwater today for the first time – and did okay!

I was really scared to even try to take him underwater, as he usually freaks out if his face touches the water. But we had a lovely, kind instructor today and she encouraged us to at least try. We let her do it the first time and, lo and behold, he was okay! He wasn’t thrilled, but at least he wasn’t terribly upset. We reasured him and then he was smiling again within seconds!

This is a big deal for me, I never thought he’d ever be able to go under water, so to think that he may learn to do this is incredible. We are just so excited and proud of him! After that first time, we went under a few more times and he was okay!

Here are some of today’s pics:

visiting great grandma after class

holoprosencephaly

Nathan’s first tooth broke out on Easter day! In fact we think he has 2 teeth coming through at the same time.

He is, of course, miserable, but we are so excited!

On Easter we went to visit the Gentle Barn. It is an absolutely beautiful place full of beautiful, loving animals and people. We loved it! Unfortunately we didn’t take pics, but here is a beautiful one from their website:

They were very kind and Ellie, the lady in the picture above, has agreed to work on a program for Nathan to improve his motor and sensory skills. We are not sure how the program will work yet, but basically the idea is to take Nathan there every week and they’ll have something stimulating for him to do. We are so happy about this, we believe this will do him a world of good.

This is from their site:

“The qualities that we believe animals have are unconditional love, kindness, and a non-judgmental attitude to all. After being rescued, the animals at The Gentle Barn have so much love to give back, and with these wonderful qualities we believe that they are perfect for people with special needs. Whether they are from broken homes, foster homes, or the inner city, whether they are blind, deaf, or physically or mentally challenged, the animals love them just the same.

The Gentle Barn environment is safe and quiet, giving your special needs group the freedom to be themselves, and the room to explore at their own pace. The animals teach forgiveness, love, trust, and a sense of responsibility, which means a lot to them. ”

So look for more updates on this and hopefully lots of pictures soon.