For those of you wondering, it looks like fall 2011 we will be living in Montevideo. This is subject to change, but as of now this our plan. We'll stay in the Twin Cities for the summer and head back in time for the start of the school year.

One week until Chicago. I think that my dad is looking forward to this more and more, and is looking forward to putting all of his energy towards improving his speech. Not being able to speak and say what is on his mind is definitely the hardest thing for my dad, so putting all of his energy towards improving it will be great. We're all excited to see what progress he makes!

Like mentioned before, the program is one month long. After coming back to the Cities at the end of May, we all head to Costa Rica. We are all very excited for this trip- especially my dad. He'll get a nice break from therapy and just be able to relax.

All therapies have been going real well. Speech is continuously making progress. Every other day or so there are noticeable changes. My dad has been more positive about his progress, too. He is realizing that although it is coming back very slowly, there is significant progress being made.

The right arm continues to make progress. Dad has surprised us a couple of times by putting his right hand out for us or guests to shake. When relaxed, his hand is usually in a fist. We're working with him on tightening it and opening it. Opening his hand is pretty hard, but it's slowly coming along. There was a motion that my dad's occupational therapist had been trying to get my dad to do with his arm, but Dad was never able to do it. The therapist needed him to raise his arm straight in front of him, but my dad would always bring it out on the side. For the first time a couple of days ago though, my dad raised it in the direction the therapist wanted him to! This motion is the key motion in getting more muscles to kick in and more everyday activities doable.