Month: August 2016

Ryan and Mommy were so proud of Madison tonight. She tried swimming in the deep end with a life jacket for the first time! She kicked her legs and did 25m with Ryan. Swimming with a life jacket will help her learn to start feeling the water herself because it’s a different feeling then when being held. Great job Madison! 

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Jack is on the move! He and Madi were playing around at Nana & Papa’s and he decided to chase a beach ball all over the place. He is feeling much better now that he has his ear drops and some sleep. 

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Madison had a great morning at March of Dimes camp. She continues to make such great progress and is starting to show some consistency with the potty training skills they are teaching her and seeing them transfer to home. She has been especially stiff in the mornings when she wakes up, but when Mommy picks her up from camp, she is always looser and more relaxed in her AFO’s.

After camp Madison spent the afternoon with Janine and Suzanne. They went to visit her Great Grandma Gregoire to celebrate her birthday and have some birthday cake. 

After dinner Papa and Suzanne picked Madison up and went down to the Blue Jays game. 

Mommy is a part of the Three To Be online Facebook group of parents and caregivers of children with neurological disorders. They posted that they had the opportunity to offer tickets to a suite on behalf of the Jays Care Foundation and Northbridge Insurance. Mommy put Madison’s name into the draw and she was one of the kids that was picked! 

THREE TO BE aims to create infinite possibilities for children with neurological disorders and their families through education, support and empowerment. Madison was thrilled to have the opportunity to attend the game hosted in the accessible suite of Northbridge Insurance. Thank you to Amanda from Three to Be and Dan from Northbridge Insurance for giving Madison and her Papa the opportunity to see her favourite Jays and have such a wonderful evening together. The suite was an amazing experience for Madison to use her walker and not have to deal with crowded hot seats. 

Madison was spoiled with lots of treats! Hot dogs, cookies, popcorn and an ice cream sandwich and lots of swag! She loved watching all her favourite players but commented that “Jose had the night off to sleep and Edwin didn’t bring his parot tonight” haha

Madison and Papa sang ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ the whole car ride home. Madison had an amazing time!

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Madison started her day at camp with all smiles and giggles in her new Conductive Education shirt. She was thrilled to wear the same shirt as Monika! She worked hard on her walking and has improved so much with her confidence and independence going up and down the accessible ramp outside of the building. 

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While Madi was at camp, Mommy and Jack went to pick up his helmet to start his cranial helmet therapy. The helmet will help to shape Jacks skull in the right position as he continues to grow and change the flat spot that has developed at the back of his head as a reault from his torticollis. He will wear the helmet for 22-23 hours a day until he is one. The helmet did not fit so great and some adjustments had to be made to insure there was space where the head needs to shift. Mommy and Jack left without the helmet and went to Grandview for some side neck stretches and rotation stretches. Later that afternoon the helmet was ready for pickup and it fit great! Madison loves “Jack the Blue Jay”. Jack is not a huge fan of it but is tolerating it ok. 

It was fitting that the only book in the evaluation room was “The Little Engine That Could” which defines not only the determination and willpower of both Madison and Jack, but Mommy’s push to get through a very long, emotional, tough day. 

While Mommy and Jack were out, Madi spent some time with Pam and Medford. She didn’t nap for Mommy today so she was tired and liked taking it easy on Medfords chair with their iPad. 

Madison started back at March of Dimes Camp this morning for another two week block. This week the theme is circus! Monika noticed Madison’s stiffness which has changed in the last 2 weeks due to a growth spurt and Botox that is slowly on its way out. Stretching is going to be Madison’s friend for the next month to help until the next Botox appointment. 

After her morning at camp it was time to see Joe! It was a beautiful day up at WindReach. Their inside arena is now updated and repaired so they started in it today to try and stay out of the hot sun. Madison practiced transitioning from a slow walk to a fast walk.,she also held a cup in one hand and then switched. The cup also got placed on and off poles. For the last part of the session they went on a nice walk on the outside trail to say hello to the other horses. 

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Mommy and Jack had some fun hanging out on the grass watching all the horses and cheering on Madison. 

Madison and Jack started their day at Nana & Papa’s house. They went out for breakfast and then went down to the Bluffs to watch the boats and to feed the birds. Madison loved feeding the swans and ducks but did not like the seagulls. 

Jack is on the move! Wherever Madison is, he tries to go no matter what is in front of him. 

After Mommy picked them up, everyone headed to the zoo. Madison made a list with Nana of all the animals in Africa she wanted to see. Madison made sure Mommy followed the list and nothing was missed. 

When she got to the zoo she met up with her friend Ben! They were finished their visit for the day but had tickets for Madi and Ben to ride the carousel together before leaving. Madi also had a special gift for Ben to wish him luck with his surgery this week. Ben told Madi last week that the doctor is going to give him super powers to help his leg muscles, so Madi got Ben a cape to remember his special day.

Madison is usually nervous to ride the carousel. Some of the animals frighten her so she likes to sit on the benches on the ride. But today Ben gave her the courage to try one of the animals that move up and down. She held on tight and was a bit scared but after the ride started to move she loved it! She cried when it stopped because she didn’t want it to end. Bens Mommy had extra tickets so they went a second time together. Madison rode the monkey both times. Mommy was so proud of her for trying. 
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After they said their good-byes, Madi and Jack went to visit Africa with Mommy. They saw the zebras, white lions, monkeys, giraffes, penguins and hippos. Madison loves to talk and wave to each animal and likes to know “how they feeling today?” and “how’s their summer?”. She would go to the zoo everyday if she could. 

Everyone was up bright and early for a busy morning. Madi went to Nana & Papa’s for breakfast while Mommy and Jack went to the chiropractor. Sarah was very happy with Jacks alignment today which was nice to hear. His structure always responds so well with Sarah and he is less tight in spots.

After some adjustments, it was time for a visit to Variety Village. Both Madison and Jack had physio with Stephanie. Madison focused on stretching with some deep squats, working on sitting to standing from the floor and lots of walking! Jack worked on strengthening his right side rotation when on his tummy by trying to reach with his right arm at a toy. Stephanie did lots of neck stretches with him which he never enjoys but they are extremely important. Stephanie also showed Mommy a few more exercises that can be done at home. It was discussed that Jack has to take the priority with physio for the next little while. 

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After some physio, Madi and Jack headed to the pool to watch Ruby’s practice with Mommy. Madison loves to watch and wants to coach like Mommy. 

Potty training update: Madi is still inconsistent, but this afternoon/evening went great with a few uses of the potty and dry underwear! 

This morning Madison took Jack to the zoo for his first visit! He slept through most of it. Madi met up with her friend Charlotte and her Mommy. The girls explored the pandas, monkeys, gorillas, giraffes and the baby rino. They also stopped by the splash pad to cool off. Madi did a great job with her walker at the splash pad but because she was barefoot she has many cuts on her feet from dragging her toes. She decided to try going up a structure to go down a small water slide all by herself. She ended up stopping half way because she was scared so Mommy helped her. Mommy was so proud of Madi for wanting to try.

Later in the day Madison went to see Ryan for a swim. They swam in the bigger pool to start which Madison was so proud of. They worked on walking up and down the ramp, back floats and bobs. They finished with some fun in the fish boat. Madison had a funny smile on her face while she tried running over Ryan with the boat.

Madison and Jack ended their day with dinner and playtime at Nana & Papa’s house and then some fun with Daddy while Mommy had a meeting over Skype to plan for Brazil. Daddy daycare was a success! 

Madi and Jack both saw Shannon bright and early this morning for their massages. Both kiddos were a bit of a mess- unbalanced, tight, you name it! Both are also going through growth spurts at the moment which doesn’t help tightness so it was a good day to visit Shannon.

Madison decided to colour while Jack had his turn. 

Madi and Jack then went to pick up Sara and Ruby and headed to Grace and Susan’s house for a mini synchro reunion. Everyone caught up over lunch and Susan pinned and helped with some synchro suits for Brazil…25 more days!!

After lunch, it was time to head to Grandview for physio. Today it was for Jack only which is rare. Madi was jealous that she couldn’t “play” with Kate today, only Jack. When they got to Grandview Kate had a little station of toys and colouring set up for Madi to entertain herself so she was happy. After some evaluation it was clear that Jack has re-gressed. Jacks neck has been extremely tight the last few days. He is now 6 months old and Kate is concerned with the lack of improvement. Mommy has been stretching Jack by herself several times during the day to try and lengthen his right side of his neck but now he is too strong and fights the stretch or moves to a different position so Mommy can’t get a deep and long stretch anymore. It was decided that extra appointments will have to be made in 15 minute chunks a few days a week in order to do team stretching with 2 people. The days that appointments are not possible at Grandview, Mommy will have to find helpers to hold Jack down flat while his head can be rotated and neck stretched. His helmet should be ready next week as well. 

When Madi and Jack got home from Grandview they went for a visit with Pam and Medford while Mommy did some work for Brazil. Madison played catch with her favourite pink ball with Pam, organized her china cabinet and then decided to pretend to be a clown with a giant pink nose. Jack had an awesome 1.5 hour nap which was a huge success as he is teething badly and hasn’t slept for more then a few hours at night. As you can see in the picture, her “W” sitting battle with Mommy continues. 

Madison visited her school this morning for their annual speech assessment. The schools speech pathologist Chris re-assesses each child every summer to pass forward goals and plans to the teachers for September . Madisons vocabulary, receptive and expressive language skills are age appropriate and she was able to demonstrate the majority of her initial sounds. Goals for the year include continued work on projection/volume and clarity of voice. 

After her assessment, Madison and Jack headed to Daddy’s office to visit him for lunch. 

Later in the day Nana visited to help Mommy with some things around the house and to check out a new dance studio. Mommy contacted a few dance company’s in Pickering about ballet classes for Madi and then decided on The Denise Lester Dance Academy. The goal of the class is to give Madison another opportunity to be social and active with “typical kids” her age to help her prepare for JK next year. Mommy wants Madison to feel confident and free in her own skin to move the way she wants to move. Madi loves music and loves watching people dance, so hopefully ballet will be something she will like. She went on a tour of the studio, met her teacher Suzie and also met a dancer who will be her helper during her classes. She also popped into a big girls hip hop class to watch them dance – she loved it and didn’t want to leave! Mommy was happy to hear about the structure of the class and how they naturally adapt the class when needed and have a flexible approach for what will work for Madison. Pre-Ballet class starts the second week of September. Stay tuned for super cute photos of tutus, ballet slippers and PINK!

When Madi got home she watered her flowers and had a nice visit with Pam who made Madison a beautiful turtle pillow case. Madi loved snuggling with it at bedtime – thank you Pam!