b-a-bay, b-e-bee, b-i-bickey-bye, b-o-bow...

gen had a good day today. dr terry was in this morning and saw her wiggle her toes. he asked her to squeeze his hand and she did. he had to pry his fingers loose from her grip. I reminded him that he didn't tell her to let go, and he laughed. he okayed a change in feeding schedule for her. she'll still get 6 meals a day, but they will be at 3-hour intervals from 7am till 10pm, instead of every 4 hours day or night. this will put her on a schedule more like the rest of us who (at least theoretically) stop eating at night. some new things she is doing today: moving her right knee, making sound through her trach tube even without the speaking valve in, and moving her lips to form words using all the different lip-teeth-tongue variations. it might seem weird for her to practice mouthing words, but she has to relearn all the mechanics of speaking. she started with opening her mouth, then unclenching her teeth, then moving her tongue and moving her jaw. now she is working on making words. she has mastered "w" and "m", is getting better at "s" and "d", and still has work to do on "f" and "th" and "e" which seem to be the hardest. just for fun, pretend that you don't know how to talk, and really pay attention to all the different contortions your face goes through to speak. it's amazing. gen's attitude is great, as it always has been. she is still the genevieve we know and love. she has a great sense of humor (she even did harpo marx's gookie face this evening while we were all sitting around quoting marx brothers movies.) it is my turn to stay the night here. josh and leighton and randi have all left for the night. thank you all for your prayers and care for us.

susan.