ANDREW DAVIS BENEFIT

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Jen, Mya, and I are now in California visiting Andrew and our parents. We all survived the flight out here. Mya, who is almost 10 months, did especially well for her first time on an airplane. Yesterday we rented a car and drove to Andrew’s new home, Rancho Los Amigos. Luckily Andrew was finished with his therapy for the day, so my parents brought him out in his wheel chair to meet us. It was very exciting to see his eyes open and him alert.

Andrew actually got to hold Mya in his lap. He put his arm around her and kept his eyes on her the whole time. Andrew could not really communicate with us in any way. He looked at us as we were talking, but still does not say anything. Andrew can hold his head up now and move his left side of his body without trouble. He did chew on a few ice chips while we were outside and we did get a smile from him. He even laughed once. Teddy, Andrew’s best friend, surprised him with a visit as well. Teddy is staying until tomorrow night. Between all of his friends, Teddy, and us girls, he is showing even more expression than before (say my parents).

This morning Teddy and my Dad visited Andrew first. Teddy even helped Andrew during his therapies. Teddy said that Andrew got to play baseball Wii and shoot a basketball into a low hoop. When Mom, Jen, Mya, and I arrived around noon, Andrew was already in his wheelchair and ready to greet us in the courtyard. Of course, we had him hold Mya first. She is great medicine for him! Then we decided to take some pictures. So we got all combinations with him. He doesn’t seem to mind getting his picture taken and if he does he isn’t showing it. Actually it was kind of funny because my Dad was giving my Mom bunny ears and making faces at him when she was taking a picture of Andrew and I and he ended up cracking a smile and giving a little laugh. We got a picture of him smirking.

After our picture taking, we walked a little bit further and Andrew and Mya worked on a puzzle together. It was interesting watching him showing Mya where the puzzle pieces are supposed to go. Andrew was then wheeled back to his room, where he relaxed watching TV. Mom and I stayed with him for a little bit until he fell asleep.

Dad, Teddy, and I returned to his room after lunch and spent some more time with him. We noticed that if the TV is on, he has trouble focusing on conversation. So a couple of times we turned off the TV to reminisce about old times with Andrew. The three of us took him on another walk with his wheelchair around the courtyard. We walked around his floor for a litle bit too.

Later his roommates came to hang out with him for the remainder of the night. I thought since they were all there it would be great to get his photo with his friends. So I had them all get around him and took his picture. We were all surprised when he smiled real big for the picture! That was the biggest smile we’ve ever seen him give since his incident. I’m attaching it to this post.

****Mom and Dad are sorry they have not posted anything in awhile, their computer has not been getting good Internet reception since the move to Rancho Los Amigos.