Today when I picked up Byron at three o’clock he had the funniest looking cast on. I guess they molded it so that it would be removable but the duck tape is a stitch! It looks like something my husband would scrap together in his shop. But it does the trick, no more right hand and arm. Byron seems very happy at Kennedy Krieger, and in general. The people are very nice and I know he is reveling in all the attention. Only once did he ask to take the cast off, and when we said no, he left it at that. His Physical Therapist said the CIMT kids usually have trouble getting to sleep the first night. Not our little man. He crashed immediately. We did wear him out at the local park first.
Overall he still has very limited use of the left hand. We had to feed him this evening, put his pacifier in his mouth, and hold his bottle. He did hold on to the swing and manipulate a little toy at the park for a few seconds.

While Byron was in therapy today I drove around Baltimore. It’s a wonderful and mysterious place. My father completed hi s undergraduate education at John’s Hopkins during the great depression and has very fond memories of the city. So I wanted to take a look. Like so many American cities it has been hit hard by the slowdown of manufacturing and railroads. It has enormous economic variety from block to block. Right next to a sign on the Johns Hopkins Hospital that says “2010 – America’s Number One Hospital” (which is no small thing) are block after block of abandoned row houses. The street looks more forlorn than Newark. Then, just a few streets up, are the most stately, gorgeous homes you can imagine. Even when in ruins, the architecture is quite lovely. The waterfront has had a renaissance and is quite modern and lively. I look forward to seeing more of the city. We have a play date on Saturday with a little boy who did the Constraint Therapy program just a few months ago. His family lives right in Baltimore and is eager to show us around.