Month: July 2017

Madi had a day filled with highs and lows. Mommy wasn’t sure if a full moon was coming, possibly a reaction to her meds which lead to her being wired, a tired toddler or change in routine but Madi was a bit out of sorts this morning which lead to a few time outs and cancelling some things to stay home. 

After some rest and quiet/calm time in bed, Madi had some lunch and seemed more herself. She went to see Shannon which was very relaxing and soothing for her tired/sore muscles.

Once Madi was home and finished dinner, she wanted to work on her walking. Madi has been walking on high knees as her warm up before practicing her walking at home. This was very difficult for her to do before SDR. She could do just a few, very quickly before falling forwards. She is now controlled and much stronger.

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So proud of our little fish! Madi started swimming with Ryan when she was 18 months old.

Here is a pic from one of their first lessons together

 In the past 2 years she has become so comfortable and loves the water. Today she conquered two of her big goals – floating on her back & picking something up from the bottom! She can even walk for multiple steps touching the bottom with no help and loves front floats! We can’t wait to see what she learns next!

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​After some running around and getting things organized for the week, Nate visited for a play! The besties played in the backyard, had dinner and then bath and pj’s! Awesome summer nights!

Madi loved cheering for Jack at his swim lesson this morning. He did some great kicking and was only fussy for the first few minutes.

Madi and Jack then went over to Bens house for the rest of the day. They played with all of Bens toys, had lots of yummy food, played with cool water balloons and checked out Bens new playground. Madi loves playing with her BFF!

Madi had a lot of fun at camp this morning. She took 16 steps all by herself! She was in charge of teaching the calendar all by herself. Her favourite activity of the morning was making lemonade from scratch. She has all the steps memorized and would like to make some for anyone who would like to try a cup. She also had a blast throwing water balloons around outside while she practiced her standing. 

Madi and Jack spent the rest of their day at Variety Village with Nate and Uncle Mark. Madi loved having Nate join her Physio session and watch her walk. She had another amazing session with Stephanie doing lots of walking and did lots of practice trying to stand up from the floor all by herself. 

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After some great Physio, the three musketeers went to the pool for a swim and then headed to the accessible playground for a snack and play!

People ask all the time the changes that we see daily in Madison since having her SDR surgery. One big change has been her awareness for having to use the washroom. She had an understanding of what she had to do about a year ago, but never really caught on to the sensation and what to control. We are happy to report that she is now potty trained! She has been diaper free since Saturday with only one accident today. She is very proud of herself. She is doing pretty well at using the potty independently but needs help getting off and getting dressed. No diapers for swimming, for sleeping, for nothing! Conductive Ed camp has been a huge help with this – they have worked with her on it everyday since she started camp almost 4 weeks ago. Thanks Monika and team!

While Madi enjoyed her day at camp, Jack ran around like crazy at his My Gym class. Today’s skill he tried was a back tuck summersault! He giggled the whole time.

Madi had a great session with Jo-Anne this afternoon. She worked super hard and did her best to try each challenge. They climbed boxes to work on her external rotation, walked accross a tilting wooden board to work on shifting her weight while walking and walked up an inclined board to work on leaning forwards while walking. Thanks Jo-Anne!

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Madi is almost 3 months post op! She worked through 3 different therapies today and she got stronger as she went. Mommy was so proud!

Her morning started at conductive Ed camp. She loves all the games and learning that they do while working on her gross motor goals. She LOVED playing Guess Who with Monika, so Mommy added it to the shopping list for later in the day. 

After camp Madi went to Variety Village for some Physio with Stephanie. Madi did some work in her walker with weights attached to the back to help her slow down and think about proper steps.  They worked on independent walking for almost 45 minutes! Madi took anywhere between 6-20 steps, took a small break and then kept going. Stephanie and Mommy had some tears watching Madi go. She finished her session doing some sets on the total gym. 

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After a rest and play at home, Madi went to Grandview for Physio with Kate who did a re-assessment of post op goals. They went through some different exercises to assess where Madi is at and what the focus should be for the next 4 weeks. One activity that stood out the most to Mommy was Madi’s high kneeling. Madi could hold that position for only 2-3 seconds before surgery. Today she held it for over a minute and could have kept going but she got bored hahaha. She also was able to do some walking in tall kneeling which looked great!

It’s been a very long and busy couple of months, but days like today make every trip in the car, every appointment, every stretch and exercise completely 100% worth it!

Madi had a fun morning at camp. They played parachute games, went outside and Madi said she we proud of herself with her walking. She then headed to see her trainer Melissa at VV while Mommy had a meeting. They did different activities around the track. Hunted for Peppa Pig characters while walking and side stepping and got a great workout!

Once Madi picked up Jack, they headed to Nates house for a play in the backyard. Everyone was very excited to try out Nates new bouncy castle! They jumped and climbed and Madi did a great job of trying to go up the stairs herself. 

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Madi’s had a very busy couple of weeks followed by fun filled weekends, so she was kept home from camp this morning to lounge in bed and have some down time. It was much needed because after some rest and lunch she was ready to attack the rest of the day!

She did an awesome job at riding today where she rode Ooma backwards for the first time!

She then headed to Variety Village to meet with a new PT she will be working with – Claire. They did some work with sitting to standing tall, transitions from kneeling to standing, some walking and some active hamstring stretches. She did great!

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After some dinner and a play with her brother and Nate she headed to the pool for a swim with Ryan.

Mommy was thrilled to see Madi’s progress in the pool! She is now relaxing on her front and putting her whole face in to look around and blow bubbles. She also floated by herself for 2 seconds! The change in the smoothness of her transitions we are seeing at home we are also seeing in the pool. So great to see!

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Madi left the house this afternoon and told Jack several times…”sorry Jack! You can’t come to my play date – its girls only!”

Madi visited her friend Sofia this afternoon for a play and movie. They had so much fun together painting, watching a movie, snacking on lots of treats and playing hide and seek. 

Madi’s friend Sofia has her own Facebook page where she and her family are trying to raise awareness for SMA which Sofia lives with and is fighting for the cost of treatment in our country. To follow Sofia’s journey and learn more about SMA check out her page:

Sofia’s Facebook Page

Link to Sofia’s News Coverage

Jack had a great swim lesson this morning! He only screamed for 10 minutes and then relaxed and was able to do some floats and kicking and bobs! We think Elmo helped to save the day.

Madi & Jack then got packed up in the van and headed to Welland. As Madison said…”I’m excited to see the Mounties!”. They visited with friends Chris, Meg, Huddy and Jax who were in Welland visiting from out West. The kids had a great afternoon playing and enjoying a BBQ and it was awesome visiting and catching up on life.