Hi Everyone,

It is very exciting to see each new change building upon the movements we saw from the previous day. I want to share three of today’s highlights.

I “won the prize” a few days ago when Corey opened her mouth for the cold spoon exercise. Twice today, she opened her mouth and attempted to show us her tongue so we could brush her teeth. This might seem crazy to you as the reader, but for those of you who haven’t heard, Corey has had her teeth clenched for the last 3 months. Not only clenched, grinding in refusal to open her mouth! We’ve noticed that the grinding has decreased considerably and she is relaxing her jaw more releasing her clenching reflex. She will only widen her mouth to yawn. So the fact that she parted her teeth and allowed the toothbrush in is a BIG accomplishment.
(PS-you should have seen the face she made…she wasn’t thrilled)

Another 1st…Corey has to wear ankle socks with the multi-flex braces. Each time we remove the braces we also remove her socks to check that there are no red marks and she’s tolerating the new devices (we don’t want skin breakdown). This morning when we removed her left sock, Corey lifted her left knee to a full bend to pull away from us. That is the first time we’ve seen her move her left leg!

Her night nurse and tech were changing her and asked for thumbs up. Corey’s hands are not moving yet but they thought they’d try asking. The girls got creative and decided since she’s wiggling her toes so well, they asked her for a “big toe up”. Her right toe, and only her right toe, came straight up! We laughed out loud and clapped! She repeated the request 4x!

Corey was tired from her day so we watched Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium tonight. It’s one of her favorites. You may remember in October I posted her senior quote which came from this movie; ‘We must face tomorrow, no matter what it holds, with determination, joy and bravery’. I wonder when Corey chose this quote if it was something she was trying to aspire to? There was another line from the movie that made me think of her, ‘Do I Sparkle? … it’s something reflective of something bigger that’s trying to get out’.

Corey you Sparkle! You are a living example of both these quotes. Thank you for the joy you gave us today. Sharing each nuance with you lifts our heart, energizes our spirit and renews our faith. We love you so much! Happy dreams, xoxo