Author: katherineambos

Thank goodness it’s the long weekend! Traffic was brutal…took me 1.5 hours to pick up Madi from daycare. When I got to daycare I realized Madison was suffering from something teenagers have to deal with…acne! Madi had zits around her eyes….great! You all know what that meant…trip to the walk in. ..just where I wanted to be on the last day of school before the long weekend. The good thing about the kids walk in where we go is you can drop your health card to hold your space in line, leave and they will call you when you are next to see the doctor. Its so great we don’t have to sit in a room filled with germs while we wait. So Madison and I went to pick up her new bags we had made by Mini Pixies!

The top bag is to keep her AFO’S in while they are off (naps, swimming etc.) and the other is to keep her puffers and meds in when we are out and about/for daycare.  We then went back to the clinics parking lot and sat in the back seat together watching bubble guppy episodes on my phone and ate berries.

After an hour wait we got in with the doctor. Good news is that it wasn’t viral. Turns out she is teething so much she is drooling out of control. Her hands are in her mouth constantly and then she rubs her eyes which is what caused the zits. Quick trip to the pharmacy to pick up some cleanser and cream…picked up dinner…and home 3 hours and 15 minutes after leaving school…I’m currently enjoying a glass of wine…bring on the long weekend!

Tonight Madi had her first solo swimming lesson. We swim together all the time and she has participated in a parent and tot swim class with James, but tonight was her first lesson with her “coach” Ryan at Variety Village.

Ryan is a speed swimming coach of the Flames swim team and he has lots of experience teaching kids with CP how to swim.kids with CP like Madison can learn how to swim but the process and techniques are different then how the average kid learns how to swim.it was important for us to have her working with someone who not only understands speed swimming but also understands how cp can effect how your body moves in the water. Madison is still young, but our goal right now is to allow her time to get comfortable with Ryan so that as she gets a bit older she can start learning from someone other then her mom.

This picture was taken after her lesson when Ryan left to work with his next person. As you can see from the look on Madison’s face it did not go so well. I didn’t start in the water with them. The first half of the lesson Madison and Ryan just swam together. Madison cried the whole time and got so worked up she puked in the pool. They scooped it out in time so that they didn’t have to shut the pool down. Thank god she wasn’t responsible for a pool closure on her first lesson. After she puked we decided I should get in the water with them. She calmed down a bit but still cried the entire 30 minute lesson. Ryan was such a trooper and assured me it would get better and we are going to try again next week. I was shocked at how upset she was. She sees so many people with all her therapies and doctors Appointments that she warms up to people and is comfortable pretty quickly. I’m hoping each week will get better as the pool will be an important place for her in her life to be able to stretch out, relax, activate her muscles and to compete in a sport that she already loves to do. Stay tuned for how next weeks lesson goes.

This morning Madison had a bit of a meltdown for her Dad so daycare was not an option. Off to Grandma Ambos’ she went.

Guest post by Grandma Ambos:

“We had a great day together. We went to No Frills to shop for our dinner. Madison held a cucumber while shopping and kept it all the way home. I was so excited that she did not drop the cucumber that we left the grocery store and walked all the way home with only the cucumber. Red faced I went back to get the rest of the groceries. Our cashier was smiling when we came back and had all our groceries packed up ready to go. I said I came back to complain, I just paid $29.00 for only a cucumber. Then we went for a walk around the block while Madison had a power nap. Madison enjoyed lunch of fruit, toast and baked beans, beans not so much. We then went to deliver the Bluff’s Monitor just like her Dad did when he was young. She then napped for 2 hours. For dinner she enjoyed Sheppard ‘s pie. Madison then played with cars and Grandpa  too. She didn’t play with Stanley today – he rolled in something yucky.”

Madison has been cutting some new teeth in the last couple days so she has been an extra pleasure to be around lol.

She usually gets a bit of a rash when she is teething, but this morning she woke up with quite the rash. Her daycare asked us to get it checked out to make sure it was nothing else…which meant…another trip to the doctors! After James dropped her off, he got the call, went back to pick her up, drove around Pickering for 45 minutes waiting for the walk in to open, got Timbits to entertain Madison, got her in to see a doctor,  got the letter from the doctor that she wasn’t contagious with anything and then dropped her back at daycare. An A+ for Madison for being such a trooper and an A+ for James for being flexible, understanding and a great Dad!

Madison has discovered a new love that was introduced to her today by Stitch, our crazy cat. Bird watching! She spent a good chunk of time sitting on a chair in the kitchen looking out the window with Stitch, hunting together. Stitch hissed and Madi banged on the glass. They made a good team. Her bird watching was cute, but I was more impressed with her ability to sit on the chair with no back lol.

Madi also did some painting today for an Easter craft. She loves to smash the brush against the paper to see what happens with all the colours. She kept making the more sign with her hands to add more colours to the plate so she could scoop them out and add to the paper. Stay tuned for the final product.

So nice to be home with my little family!

Thank you to the greatest husband. ..AKA Super Dad for caring for our little peanut all week and to all our helpers! It’s nice to be home!

Today’s blog is written by James:

Today is day 4 of 5 since Katherine has been in Texas and Madison and I began the day in true Madison fashion… at a doctors appointment. Yup, yet another follow up. Well, Madi is guilty of this one as she has proven to be a houdini and escape from her right AFO. Good news is Madison continues to receive compliments on her new hair do!
On behalf of Madi,  we thank everyone who has helped us over the past few days!
Madi and I will be happy to finally see Momma tomorrow!

Madi hung out with Grampa and Nana today. She had a blast and it has been so awesome seeing pics of her while being away.

Helping Nana with her TPN

Playing with her animal sounds puzzle

Reading with Nana

Loves her books!

Practicing getting off the couch

Can’t wait to see this cutie in a few days!

Thanks for all the pics Nana & Grampa!

March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month.

Thank you everyone for your love and support of Madison today. It’s amazing to see how many people think of her and are cheering for her! It warms my heart that she has so much love.

This picture of Madison was spread all over today. It was spotted on various social media such as Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy, CP Awareness USA, March of Dimes, Easter Seals, Three to Be, Variety Village, Grandview and friends and families pages. Madison received over 700 likes, shares, comments, views which means so much to James and I  that people have taken the time to be a part of her journey and spread awareness to others.

Here are pictures that different people posted today on different types of Social Media to spread the word about Cerebral Palsy Awareness and to show Madison love.

Madison is a very lucky girl to have all of you amazing people in her life! Thank you!!

Grampa Gregoire wrote:

“Madison and I got home at 5:45 pm from daycare . Madison kept asking Nana ? Nana ? When we got to the house she started Mom ma , dada dada ?Mom ma ?
She ate a bit of her pasta ,drank half her milk and I gave have some of the Heinz squeezable vegetables .Madison kept asking Apple ? We then sat at her chair an played with the farm animal puzzle . I think she thought it was funny when she pulled up a piece I would make the noise and she would throw the piece on the ground .I think she thought this was a good game ….have grampa fetch the pieces ! she sat in her floor chair for a while and we watched treehouse .She then started crawling over to the book shelf and tried to get a book off the book shelf to bring to me . We read six books ( about 6 times each ) . When ever she handed me a book she would scoot across the floor to the couch to read .
Just before James got home we raced around on her musical car .