Month: January 2016

Madison is slowly feeling better. She had a super quiet day at home with Nana and Mommy. She spent most of the day on the couch again, played on Nana’s iPad,  played with her babies and watched some TV.  Madison, Mommy and Nana had a super long nap. After her nap Madi seemed more like herself and decided to play with her quiet book and latch puzzle to work on her fine motor skills. If you have a little one working on using buttons, snaps, zippers etc. The Quiet Book is an awsome thing to have! Nana and Papa got Madi hers for Christmas and she loves it.

Baby brother update. ..Mommy is 39 weeks tomorrow. …baby is still cooking!

Madison had a great start to her day. She went to Pam and Medfords for a special breakfast. They leave for Florida tomorrow so Madison enjoyed her time with them. Medford made Madison special pancakes in the shape of an M and a snowman. They had a nice play and then Madison headed home around lunchtime. Bon Voyage Pam and Medford have a safe trip! Madison is looking forward to her facetime visits.

After lunch Madison started to go down hill. She had a cold most of the week but this afternoon brought on a higher temp and lots of sleep time on the couch. Nana helped Mama and Madison while Daddy was out working. It was early to bed and hopefully no more puking tonight. 

Today Madison visited with Eric who designs and makes her AFO’S.  Madison is approaching 1 year since receiving her first pair.  She has outgrown her current pair so Madison was casted today for a new pair. She will pick them up at the end of February. The physical design for her feet will stay the same but they will be bigger for her growing feet and taller for her change in height. Madison chose her new design and has decided to go with a Blue Jays theme. Stay tuned for the look of the final design.

Madison had a great afternoon with her Aunts Janine and Suzanne. They took her to March of Dimes where Madison worked on her standing balance while twisting and reaching for rings with her hands. She stretched out her shoulders by lifting a bar up and down above her head and practiced sitting down on a bench all by herself.

After MOD Madison went to Nana and Papa’s house for dinner while Mommy and Daddy visited Madison’s school for a parent meeting. Nana and Papa took Madison home, played and went to bed after being silly eating socks,  singing lots of songs and chasing Carter and Stitch up and down the stairs.  Mommy and Daddy were happy to hear that Madison ate broccoli and cauliflower which is not a normal food choice for her and she also went straight to bed – no funny business.

Mommy and Daddy visited Madison’s school to learn about the transition to kindergarten. They listened to a panel of parents who have a child with special needs talk about their own experiences of looking for the right school, all the steps involved in enrollment and school meetings and how to start preparing for the transition. A Kindergarten teacher also presented on full day kindergarten and all the possible ways it can look for a child with special needs.  It was very helpful to hear the different experiences and next steps to take in making decisions of what will be best for Madison. The hard decision lies in either choosing a specialized school that will focus on therapy during the day and then taking part in social oppertunities at night or the weekend or integrating into a regular kindergarten class for the social importance and curriculum during the day and continuing private therapy at night and on weekends. The first step for Mommy and Daddy will be to book some tours. They will visit both the Catholic and Public home schools in the area and visit the Bloorview school and Cambell’s school. The tours will most likely be in March as Madison’s brother should be making his debut any day now.

Madison has enjoyed reading about pizza at school this week during story time. Today her and her class made pizza and Madison told us she ate 5 pieces!  It’s been a lot of fun to hear Madison talk about her days at school, what they read, who she plays with – her memory is fantastic!

After school Madison spent her afternoon with Nana. She had a nap, some lunch and then played with her babies and read books. Papa took a break from work and stopped by for a dance.

Madison worked on lots of standing today with Stephanie.  She also did a fantastic job transitioning from standing, to squating to pick something up and then back to standing. She has been putting lots of thought into her movements and trying to check her balance before moving on.

After some hard work at Variety Village Madison visited with Pam and Medford for dinner. She had her favourite meal, loved drinking her water with a straw and had lots of laughs. She was playing tricks with her bunny hat that had everyone laughing. 

Madison had a great swimming lesson with Ryan tonight. She worked on walking up and down the ramp and pulling herself out of the pool by herself. An important skill they continue to work on is transitioning from a back float to an upright position to try and get her feet on the ground to hold onto the side. She is learning to tuck her chin into her chest and engaging her stomach muscles to pull herself upright in the water. Ryan uses a ball that Madison reaches forward for to try and pull herself forward. Her lesson ended with lots of laughs as she threw a ball many times at Ryans head.

Madison’s Monday in photos with Grandma and Grandpa Ambos:

Today Madison celebrated Uncle Marks birthday with a trip to Memories of Japan. Before dinner, Madison wanted to make something to give to her uncle for his birthday. She wanted to draw him a puppy and make him a necklace. She ended up doing both and also made him a painting with glued on pasta that she painted. The gummy lifesaver necklace she made him took the longest because she put each and everyone on the string by herself. It was a great fine motor workout!

At dinner,  Madison and Nate closely watched the cook. They wernt too sure about all the fire and tricks but they seemed to enjoy it. Papa had a special gift for each of them – Toronto Blue Jays baseball gloves and a training ball! Madison can’t wait to use hers as she tried throwing the ball several times in the restaurant. Madison did a great job sitting up in her high chair and feeding herself. Happy Birthday Uncle Mark!

Tonight Madison celebrated the retirement of her Great Uncle Lou with family and friends. The party was at the Granite Club and Mommy and Daddy parked at the wrong elevator so Madison started the party with a 20 minute walk through the halls. She is getting so strong in her walker – she gives any distance a try and does not want to be carried. The party started with a curling match that she and Nate watched from the lounge. She cheered really loud for Daddy. After curling Madison wandered around in her walker to visit with everyone and loved her chicken and fries and ice cream sundae! Her and Nate had a great time using her walker together. It was a great celebration! Happy Retirement Lou!

Madison has been given her first set of chores around the house. She is always asking to help with everything and likes to do things by herself. She often says “Madi do it” and ” big girl by self”. Mommy and Daddy decided to re-arrange the kitchen storage to allow Madison to easily access her plates, bowles and cutlery. Her job is to take her things out of the dish washer and put them in her new shelf or to get the things she needs from her shelf for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Madison’s things use to be stored up high but now she has her own space in a low cabinet that is easy for her to access and is organized for her to be able to learn how to sort everything. She also knows to only touch the things that are in pink bins. So far so good and nice to have a little helper in the kitchen.