Madison had her first trip to the dentist this afternoon. She loved it the second she went in! They had a big fish tank, balloons, a treasure chest, tvs in the ceiling playing Tree house and lots of toys! She let the dentist tickle each tooth and look at all her teeth with a mirror. All teeth are looking good and no cavities! It was nice going to a “regular” appointment for once. She was a pro!
Mama was busy in the kitchen preparing food for the next day, doing dishes etc. while listening to Madison play in the next room. It was then quiet for a few minutes so Mama went looking for Madison. Madison was no where to be found. Finally a loud “Hi! ” filled the room and Mama noticed Madison on the stairs. She was not the usual 2-3 steps up on her own….she was 10 steps up (halfway up the stairs) all by herself! There were mixed emotions of proudness and excitment but Mama was also terrified as Madi could have tumbled down the stairs too. We were so proud of her courage and determination and confidence to do it all on her own. We’ve now realized the stairs are fair game in her mind so they have to be watched.
After an excellent morning at school Madison visited Dr. ERIC this afternoon to get her AFO’S fixed up. She still continues to grow at a quick rate and the way her straps were fused to her “boots” they didn’t distribute the pressure evenly on the top of her foot. It then was leaving red marks and then leaving Madison not wanting to wear them for long periods of time.
Madison loves to visit because they have the best toys to play with. Their wide selection really helps when the appointments that tend to last 1 to 1.5 hours.
Madison has been responding really well to her stretches lately and it really showed today. Some may not think this is a Big deal….but it is!….look how close to the ground her heals are while she is playing. Free play usually tends to bring Madison straight up on her toes. ..but not today!
Once Dr Eric finished his magic in his back workshop Madison was much happier with the fit of her AFO’S. He widened the padding on the top strap to better distribute the pressure and he bumped out the ankles and fused the insert to her boot. Here’s hoping we won’t have to go back for a while.
Madison will be one of the recipients of funds raised at the Mike Gregoire Memorial Golf Tournament this year. Funds collected for Madison will go towards her various rehabilitation programs she attends weekly to help her work towards her goals and to be able to add additional therapies and equipment in the future.
Madison visited Papa’s store today to pick up some of the very generous donations made towards the silent auction! Thank you to everyone who has participated so far and for all your generosity!
The countdown is on….13 days until the tournament! We are still collecting silent auction items and hole sponsorships. Please join us for a day of fun and/or dinner! If you can’t attend but would like to contribute, visit our website to donate directly.
Please visit: http://www.mikegregoirecharitygolf.com
Madison had a great day celebrating her birthday at Riverdale Farm and Nana & Papa’s. Her and Nate loved looking at the pigs, horses, cows, sheep and ducks. After a nice walk through the farm she went to Nana and Papa’s for her birthday lunch. She loved her Bubble Guppy cake and all her wonderful gifts. Madi and Nate love to play with all the fun things at Nana and Papa’s and their hang out time together.
Madison had an exciting afternoon with her family at her soon to be siblings gender reveal party!
Her Aunt Nadia and Uncle Mark hosted a fun afternoon that included a secret coloured cake, a box full of balloons, pizza and time with family.
Everyone wore either pink or blue based on their guess for baby #2. Three people wore pink shirts and seven people wore blue. Aunt Nadia was the only one who knew the gender. She hid balloons in a box in baby # 2’s colour and had Madison open the box.
Madison is excited to announce that she is going to have a baby brother!
We knew with the V.V. Pool closing that Madison would miss going to her lessons, but not so much that she would pretend to jump and dive in the house. Madison was full of beans tonight and pretended that Carters bed was a pool and she practiced her diving into the pool. She loved it so much she dove into the bed for well over 20 minutes. She even swam with Grandma Ambos this afternoon at a neighbours pool but it clearly wasn’t enough as she still wanted to do her dives at the house. If you have us on Facebook we have a video posted of her excellent technique. Good form Madison!
After a great morning at Pre-School, Madison spent her afternoon with Nana. She had a long nap, big lunch and read through lots of books. Papa stopped in for a visit and found Madison playing with her stuffies in her crib after her nap chatting away.
Madison then went for physio at Variety Village with Stephanie. She worked on balancing on a ball doing rotations to help with transitions with crawling to sitting to standing. She also worked on using her walker around the Fieldhouse and also walking without the walker with hands on her hips. Stephanie has set the goal for Madison to take 2 steps by the end of October. Fingers crossed!
Madison worked up a big appetite after physio and was happy to visit Grandma Ambos for dinner.
This afternoon Madison, Mama and Nana went for a visit with Dr. Cooper who is a Neurologist based out of Stouffville. She works in conjunction with Sick Kids and Ajax/Pickering Hospitals. She is in her 30th year of practice, she was very detailed and spoke to us for 1 hour 45 minutes.
Madison went for a consult for an MRI. We discussed the pros of having an MRI which were: obtaining a baseline image of Madison’s brain, to do a spectroscopy to measure chemicals and metabolics to rule out any biomedical/biochemical problems and to rule out any genetic abnormalities in the brain or issues with the spine impacting her ability to walk. The MRI would be done at Sick Kids in 6-8 months and would be a 1 hour procedure. The cons of an MRI would be having to sedate Madison with anesthetic to sleep for the procedure. The Neurologist feels there is more to be gained then lost and she wants to make sure the CP diagnosis is correct and that Madison does not have something else that is presenting itself as CP.
Her physical examination was very extensive and said if the CP diagnosis is accurate that Madison is classified as spastic diaplegic.
We will take a few days to think about everything and decide. A big thank you to Nana for taking detailed notes and entertaining Madison while Mama asked questions to the doctor.
Most days Madison waves at Mommy’s belly to say hi to the baby, she gives it kisses, snuggles and sometime lifts Mommy’s shirt up and bites her tummy.
She is also obsessed with two baby books she has entitled ” Big Sister” and “Welcome Home New Baby”. She reads each book a few times each day – her choice of course. She also loves to feed her cabbage patch dolls, take their clothes and diapers off and burps them on the back.
So when Mommy and Daddy brought home pictures of baby #2 today she was very happy. She blew the pictures kisses and said “Hi baby!” Madison stayed home with Nana so she could have her nap and lunch while Mommy and Daddy went to see baby #2. The gender was seen and Madison will be revealing it with the help of her Aunt Nadia on Saturday! ….stay tuned.
Lunch Time with Nana
Baby #2
Madison also had a nice visit with her cousin Nate, Aunt Nadia and Uncle Mark who brought her a birthday balloon and some gifts that her and Nate explored on the front lawn. Madison had a great day!
Madi Moves 