Look who's using his right hand!

This video was taken at O's outpatient occupational therapy visit last week.

Otis has been using his right hand, and purposefully so, more and more. Those of you who know Otis well will know that much of his brain malformation is in the left hemisphere, meaning that his right side is affected. As a result, he has always been much weaker and has had much less motor control on the right side of his body than he does on his stronger, less-affected left side...but he's not letting that hold him back!

He and Daddy work so hard every single day to practice using that right side, and we notice him using it more and more, even without his left arm being restrained. If we put his plug (pacifier) in his right hand, he is able to bring it to his mouth all by himself. This is a move he has been working on perfecting over the past several months. And just this morning, I watched him hold onto a partially deflated beach ball with both hands--first gripping it and picking it up with his left hand and then bringing his right hand to the ball to help raise it to his face as a "helper" hand. We've even caught him bringing his right hand to his mouth all by himself several times lately, as though he is exploring his new discovery. 

It is such a gift to watch his self-awareness grow!