A New Look

Christian's Journey gets a makeover!
Why did I decide to undertake the task of spiffing up the website? I asked myself that about five times tonight while trying to juggle codes and widgets and gadgets and HTML. It's another language. Honestly, I like doing creative things so I had fun doing it rather than outsourcing the job (thank you to everyone who offered!).
And I'm finally done! Kind of. I'm still going to add a few things. Oh yeah, why did I decide to give Christian's Journey a makeover? I've been thinking about it for a few weeks and I've finally got the time (late, late, late at night) to fool around with website stuff, other than just blogging. Also, I've also made the time to start exploring the blogs of others and, man, am I impressed! I felt so inadequate with our little baby blog. So I'm hoping the makeover will launch us into blog toddlerhood.

I chose the new blog's "look" because of a few things. First of all, to me, it signifies a journey. Past the mountains you can see light beaming ahead. It reminded me of the light at the end of the tunnel...just over those mountains. I also liked how it seemed to be set around dusk. In the beginning, right after the accident, I felt like we were in the dark. It was just...dark. And I felt Christian was stuck in the dark trying to find that light again. Although Christian has a long way to go, I think he's coming out of that darkness and there's light now, not only in his eyes, but also for his future.

And the birds. If you've been reading for a while, you know the song Blackbird, by The Beatle,s is what I pegged for Christian and I blogged about it (Blackbird) to explain why. If you look closely next to the title, you'll see a few blackbirds flying toward the light.
Yeah, I read too much into a blog template. Yeah, I'm way over the top analytical. Yeah, I should probably not stay up so late messing around with the computer. But it's perfect for now and I just wanted to share why.

As for the little man that inspires this makeover, he's doing well! We're learning every day. We, as in Christian and his family. Right now I'm just trying to figure out what position is best for him. He's laying down most of the time on his back or side because this is how he gets the most movement. He swings his arms everywhere and feels his toys and blankie. He also tolerates his feeds better like this. But his tone (stiffness in his legs) is awful in this position. It's worst out of all positions.
But when he's sitting up in proper alignment, he looks awesome. He makes eye contact, he's involved, he looks around, and he has less tone. His body is so much looser. But, he can't seem to move around as much as he'd like. We've also started weight bearing in a standing position and added more weight bearing on his knees with the peanut ball. He seems to come alive when doing these positions. His look is different and he's less likely to get into tonal patterns like he does when on his back. It's a different Christian. So it's a balancing act, really.
I've said it before but I've been reminded again, you don't realize the benefits of HBOT until you take a break and then start again. THAT'S when you see the difference. He's more relaxed in his back, there is less arching in his upper back, more focus, and more movement in his mouth and tongue, not to mention more head control in a more upright position. And I've been going into the chamber with him for the first time! I actually enjoy this because I lay him down, I stretch him out, read books, bring toys to play with, he's so much happier! I wasn't able to go into the chamber before because I was pregnant so I had to sit outside and watch the video monitor. It was hard because sometimes he would cry and get really upset. Now that I'm with him, I can make sure he's okay and we can have special mommy and Christian time.
So enjoy the new website and thank you for reading this story as it is still being written.