Morning fun in her jammies. Using her walker to go to the potty.
Madison spent her day celebrating her Papa’s birthday! She went with the family to Famous People Players to see the show Mistletoe Magic! It was a very yummy lunch followed by a fantastic show that both her and Nate loved! They even had a special visit with Santa! The music and lighting was awsome! After the show Madison had cake and ice cream and helped Papa open his presents. It was a great afternoon!
Today was Madison’s first official day of her winter break. The day started with a physio session with Stephanie at VV bright and early. She continued to work on her independent standing with her ski boots and she also tried doing some reaching and cross body activities while standing in the boots. She also walked to the treadmill and back by herself in her walker and did 100 steps on the treadmill today! She had a great morning workout!
After physio, Mommy and Madison worked on a special project at the house. It was recommended that we create some kind of chart to motivate Madison to use her walker more at home for transitions. We made a special chart of water. Everytime Madison uses her walker at home she can go to the chart and put a sticker of a fish or mermaid or other sea creature in the water. We will also use the chart to reward her for when she practices standing in her ski boots at home. Now that Madison has her school walker at home for the next 2 weeks we are going to really push it’s use. So far so good.
After some work in her walker, Madison enjoyed some sensory play with red jello!
Madison’s day ended with a special Christmas tradition. A Christmas party with the skating girls! She played with Sonia and Jon’s dog Alice and loved her gifts from Anne and Kyle. The gingerbread cookies Sarina made were a big hit with Madison. It was nice visiting with everyone and catching up.
As Mommy and Daddy were trying to get things organized for bed, Madison seemed to get her second wind . Here is a video of her new favourite game in her tower. ..playing peekaboo in the dark.
Today was Madison’s last day at school. All the parents were invited for a holiday party. We decorated gingerbread houses, sang Christmas songs and had a visit with Santa. Madison was very brave to sit with Santa and was happy once he gave her a teddy bear. Her teachers did an excellent job gathering crafts to bring home and organizing a special gift for the parents. Madison made a mug painted for warm winter drinks. It was a great way to start Christmas vacation!
Later in the day Madison had a therapy session with Stephanie at Variety Village. It was a very special and exciting session! Shortly after Madison was diagnosed at 13 months we had heard of a method some therapists use with children learning to stand and walk – using ski boots! Janine and Suzanne found some very tiny ski boots and gave them to Madison. Madison had been too small and not strong enough to try them… until today. We brought her boots to her session and she tried them on for the first time. They were fabulous! She was able to stand independantly for over 20 seconds for the first time! We were all in shock and so thrilled to see her standing. She even tried to walk with them. The boots work well for Madison as they act like anchors to hold her feet to the ground and support her ankles so she can focus on engaging her leg and core muscles to learn the balance needs for standing without holding onto something. If Madison can learn to stand strongly in the boots and start to do activities and walk with them on they may be the way that she learns to stand independently or walk stronger with a walker. She was so proud of herself!
Madison’s teacher sent an email this morning updating us on her progress. She told us Madison has been taking more risks and trying new things like climbing up the side of the jungle gym instead of using the stairs. She is identifying her name when mixed together with other children’s names and she has been playing with new kids she hasn’t played with before. She is also able to identify letters in her name and is starting to put the letters in the right order. Her and another little girl also hug each other goodbye when they transition from each center. We are thrilled to hear about the gains she is making not just with her physical challenges but with her cognitive and social skills.
Madison spent her afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Ambos. She did lots of Christmas crafts and made a pretty centerpiece of greens for Mommy and Daddy. Swimming was cancelled tonight so she was able to have some down time at home before bed.
Madison had her last conductive education class this afternoon to have a few weeks break over the holidays. Her teacher Monika planned an amazing session with Christmas lights, a tree, an inflatable snowman and Christmas crafts! Madison worked very hard but also had lots of Christmas fun that ended with a special video message from Santa! She talked about it all night and loved her class today – thank you Monika!!
Madison was also a great helper in the kitchen tonight getting good use of her learning tower. She helped Mommy make dinner and then jello for dessert. Her coordination and balance when using both hands for a task while standing is getting much better. We are hoping by having the tower she will be able to practice these skills even more.
Madison received her letter from Santa today! She was excited to see the paper it was written on and told us Molly her elf told Santa to send it. It was really cute.
Madison also received an early Christmas present today. ..her Learning Tower! For the last few months Madison has been super interested in what we cook and make in the kitchen. She tries to stand holding onto the cabinets and looks up to see what we are doing. She is not strong enough with her balance to stand on a stool or chair. We decided to find a tower that will bring her to counter top height so she can safely stand and participate in what is happenning in the kitchen. She tried it for the first time tonight during her evening ritual of making smoothies with Daddy and she loved it!!!! She helped peel the bananas, put the berries in and was able to see them get blended up for breakfast tomorrow.
Madison also tried out a new Kaye walker at Grandview tonight and did so well and loved it!! She moved so smoothly in it and at some points she was running!
On her way home from school today, Madison and Suzanne stopped off at a street filled with large snowmen and penguins decorating the street. Madison loves looking at Christmas blow up decorations and lights so we don’t know what she will think once Christmas is over.
Madison spent her afternoon with Nana. They finished decorating their Gingerbread house, played with her baby and puzzles. She also loved to look at the Christmas lights at the front of the house.
After dinner, Madison spent her night with Emily. They played in the basement and worked on different activities like sitting and standing to reach toys and using the step stool to get up and down to her play kitchen. Tonight was their last session together until after the holidays. Emily gave Madison a big book of princess stickers and colouring pages for Christmas that she loved!
Today Madison attended the Worlds Greatest Christmas Party at Variety Village. It’s such a wonderful tradition at this time of year. Mommy and Uncle Mark use to go every year as kids and not much has changed. There were lots of fun activities, good food, Christmas vendors and Santa! It was especially fun for Madison with Daddy working for the police at the event. Nana and Papa helped Madison play while Mommy took it easy. It was a great morning.
Tonight Madison had family date night! She went to the Bubble Guppies Live Show and then out for dinner. When she got to the General Motors Centre she was very excited to see pictures of the Bubble Guppies everywhere. The seats were excellent! She wasn’t too sure when the show started what was happenning and for the first minute when all the other thousands of toddlers were screaming and clapping she was a bit scared. But after a minute or so she was very happy and excited and loved every part. She called out all of their names over and over and waved hi, danced in her seat amd clapped her hands. It was so much fun to see how into it she was and how much she loved it and it was even more fun to do something as a family that didn’t involve appointments or therapy – just regular fun stuff toddlers like to do.
Madison loves driving around and looking at all the different lights and snowman and Santa’s on people’s lawns. Suzanne took a scenic route on their drive home today from school. She found Madison a street with super large Santa’s on everyone’s lawns. Madison loved it!
Madison spent her afternoon with Nana. She had a great nap and made a gingerbread house. When Mommy and Daddy picked her up she told us how she made the house. She said, icing then candy. She loved eating the candy.
After spending the afternoon with Nana, Madison headed to physio with Stephanie at VV. Madison had a special visitor at physio today. Emily went to learn from Stephanie and see Madison in action. We were appreciative to Stephanie for teaching Emily and guiding her through all the steps of exercises she does with Madison. Mommy and Daddy learnt alot too so it was a great teaching oppertunity for everyone. Madison also tried knee gators which are braces on her legs to keep her legs straight to get a good stretch. She wasn’t a big fan but she entertained us and gave them a try. She did some good walking, good sitting and listened well to all of Stephanie’s prompts.
Madi Moves 