It's hard to believe that a whole month has passed since our last update! Time certainly is quickly passing us by. Charbel's routine has been basically the same as always with little, but important improvements from the month before.
The two main areas of Charbel's progress this month have been in eating and vision. Charbel's control of his mouth and tongue has been steadily improving - so much so that he can now eat solid food! This is a HUGE deal to us and him because he has been on mashed up and liquid foods since he started eating last year. He can now bite and chew! An awesome improvement for Charb who has been able to enjoy real food, finally! A couple weeks ago Charbel, Chantal, Mom and Rachel went out to A&W and Charb ate a hamburger - the whole thing, all by himself and he enjoyed every minute of it! He has since been eating a variety of food, from rice and beans, to eggs, and cake.
Charb's vision has also shown signs of improvement this month. He is able to see smaller letters now, and read short words. The fact that he can read is a very exciting development! His vision is not perfect and he sometimes mixes up his letters because he doesn't always see the full form of the letter clearly, but usually he can read short words, and he can see the letters and spell out longer words. He has a long way to go before he's back to seeing normally, but he has shown tremendous development in this area and we are very hopeful that he will be able to fully re-develop his vision. Reading was never one of Charb's favourite things to do, and he's just happy that he can read movie titles to pick out which DVD to watch!
We had a lot of fun decorating the Christmas tree together and you can check out the pictures in the Photo Album.
Last year at Christmas Charbel began to talk and we were blessed with the miracle of his recovery. Since Charb started talking we have spent so much time laughing and enjoying our time together - we laugh more now than we ever did! We are very blessed to have been given the chance to be a family again after such a devastating accident.
Christmas is a time of miracles and also a time to think of those in need. Our condolences go out to the Smith family for the loss of their son Brandon. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and Jared during this difficult time. May God bless you and help Jared recover from his injuries.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope that the New Year brings love and peace in your lives.
