Month: April 2015

While I was out all day at a synchro competition,  Madi & Daddy spent the day vegging on the couch…Madi had a rough day being under the weather. Madi had several naps, only wanted to cuddle and held her balloon on a stick most of the day.

I asked James to make sure Madi drank a lot during the day- I was worried she would be dehydrated. This pic proves that it happened…Madi double fisting her bottles lol.

The day involved lots of naps

Good news was that she ended up eating a full dinner and had a good night – by bedtime she looked much better and seemed to be back to her regular self.

Madison started her day with a visit with her Social Worker Stephanie at Grandview.  Stephanie helped us fill out our Special Services at Home forms and Access to entertainment card.

Madison had a great visit that ended with her throwing up on James’ pants and Stephanie’s carpet. It was so random, so we packed up and headed home.

Love these two…covered in puke and ready to head home.

Madison seemed to bounce back at home so we prepared her art for the Grandview auction.

This girl loves to color and paint!

Here is Madison and her painting she will be auctioning off for Grandview next week.

She was still under the weather so we decided to go outside for a walk in the beautiful weather to get some fresh air.

Madison loved walking up and down the block following Carter and waving at cars as they passed. She did a great job on the uneven sidewalks but then things continued to go downhill. Madison ended up under the weather and was in bed by 6:30.

She held on as long as she could today but it seems our little peanut has a bug.

Madison and I went on the hunt tonight for new running shoes. Her other runners were still in good shape, but with the addition of the tongue to the inner AFO boot last week she had no space for her toes. Putting them on this week was a bit of a disaster so she went without her AFO’S for a few days. After 4 stores we found shoes that fit her toes and AFO’S well. They are half a size too big so hopefully they will work out – and she got to keep the same style!

In other news…Madison will be taking part in her first art show next week!

Young artists are putting their paintings up for auction to raise money for Grandview Kids where Madison receives her services in physio, OT and social work. The paintings will be on display at the Pickering Town Centre and then sold in a silent auction. We will be creating her contribution tomorrow so stay tuned.

Here is where the art will be displayed at the mall.

Here is the flyer and if you are interested in more information on supporting Grandview Kids please let me know.

Tonight was parent teacher interviews so Madison and Daddy had a dinner date and a hang out together before bed. Daddy treated Madison to McDonald’s and she fed fries to Carter.

Here are some more pics from her swimming lesson last night with Ryan.

Madison had her third lesson with Ryan tonight.  She was fussy on and off but overall did a good job and lasted the whole lesson with him. I swam in the deep end while they had their time together which was nice.

Madison and Ryan had a visitor from Swim Canada join their lesson. Ryan and Cori (head coach of the Flames) organized for Janet Dunn, SWAD National Development Coach, physiotherapist and classifier to visit the Village this week to provide guidance and her expertise to their growing program of Para swimmers. Madison was very lucky to have these eyes on her and for Ryan to get some suggestions of ways to best work with Madison to continue developing her mobility and comfort in the water. Her adventures in swimming continue…

We’ve learned to incorporate Madison’s “obsessions” into her therapy. Anything to keep her happy and motivated! Madison is currently working on sitting on her high knees, alternating reaching hands to work on her tummy strength,  leg strength and balance. Our ultimate goal is for her to be in this position independantly on the ground so she can play with her toys vertically. She is doing this using one of her chairs for support to kneel on while reaching for an object. In the following pictures she is reaching to point at the different Bubble Guppies characters on the poster. We say the name of a character and she points to the right one. Scary that she knows all their names.

Madison is pumped to watch the home opener tonight!

Go Jays Go!

Not all, but many kids with CP take many medications throughout their life to manage things like muscle pain, stiffness or spasms, seizures or constipation. Madison is not at the point of needing all these things just yet but we have decided to be preventative of muscle issues and add a little essential oils regime to her life.

Madison has already used essential oils such as breath when she has colds in her humidifier, lavender and serenity when she is having sleep issues, on guard and deep blue on her muscles Etc. Etc. But we are trying some new mixtures specifically to target muscle stiffness/pain and constipation. Today I met with a friend if mine Theresa who helped me with research of the best ways to work with oils for Madison. We will be trying things like cedarwood, Frankensence, white fur, balance and a few others. We are excited to add this to Madison’s daily care. We will let you know how it goes. If you are a parent looking for specific mixtures of this kind for your kids, let me know and I’ll send you a list or put you into contact with Theresa.

While I was coaching this morning and visiting Theresa, Madison spent the morning with Nana and Grampa.

Guest post from Grampa Gregoire:

“Madison was a big help today with Nana and Grampa. Madison came over early today to help Nana with her TPN. Madison held the line while Grampa changed it. She held the pump for Nana as well. Once we were all done Madison, Nana and Grampa went out for breakfast.”

Madison helping with Nana ‘ s TPN cord

Madison helping with Nana ‘ s pack

Cheese!

Selfie with Grampa’s phone!

The Beacher for breakfast

Madison was up bright and early ready to play with Stitch.  She’s now figured out that if she shakes something Stitch will attack it. Today’s choice of toy was a balloon. It ended up being great exercise for both…Stitch running and jumping and Madi in her 4 point position.

Madi then played with her new bubble machine that the easter bunny brought her. Madison’s therapist uses bubbles during her sessions to motivate her to do different things or to distract her. We have been using them at home to get her to reach her hands up to pop them while in a crawling position. This will improve her balance, strengthen her core and eventually give her the strength to sit up on her knees unassisted…and bubbles are fun to pop- we love bubbles!!

She enjoyed her evening at Nana & Grampa’s and hanging out with Uncle Mark and Nate. She went to check out a new sparkly kitchen, then ate pizza and watched birds while Mommy and Daddy helped stuff envelopes.

Nice photo bomb Grampa!

This morning James took Madison to see Doctor Eric who takes care of Madison and her AFO’S. Madison had some problems a few weeks ago with them, he did a repair and today he was checking on the changes to see how they are going. Since the changes, they haven’t popped off her feet so it’s been going well. Today he added a tongue to her inner boots so that her skin won’t get pinched.

While they waited for Doctor Eric to make the changes in his workshop in the back, Madison played and worked on her sitting. James said she did a great job sitting independently with the help of the karaoke game. All is good now with her AFO’S and we will visit back in July.