Author: katherineambos

This morning was very busy, but a great success! Madison had her last block of therapy with Kathy and Kate. 

At physio Madison worked on playing on her knees, crawling, sitting on a bench to standing and practising in her demo walker. We also explored a bike that we will be looking into in the near future. They were really happy with her gains this block and can’t wait to see how much she continues to change. We will be back at Grandview next week to pick up her new walker, but her physiotherapy and occupational therapy is now on a break until the end of April.

We left Grandview and headed to her fitting for her AFO’S.

For those of you that don’t know, AFO stands for ankle foot orthotics. Madison will now use them all day long to help her heel drop to the floor to develop her walking skills with better balance. Currently Madison stands on her toes due to her high tone in her legs, particularly in her hamstrings and ankles. Her AFO’S have hinges on the back above the heel/ankle. This will help when she sits, squats or plays on the floor. The hinge makes it not as rigid. They are pretty cool looking- pink with butterfly’s!

Madison is a super star and such a little trooper! The fitting today took 2 hours. They made many adjustments in their back shop to make sure everything was perfect for her. She also seems to really like them which we wernt expecting. We had heard many stories from other parents which involved kicking and screaming but she seems to be proud to wear them. We are so happy and thankful that she now has these. We truly feel these supports will be life changing for her and we can’t wait to see what happens next!

Lucky girl celebrated with a sucker!

March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month!

Spread the word this month, and on March 25th wear some green!

We had such a great time at the pool today. It’s so much fun sharing my love of swimming with Madi. Today was the first time we both went underwater together at the same time and looked at each other with our eyes open. Every time we did it she came up laughing so hard. Awesome!

Physio this afternoon consisted of trying to slide off the couch by herself and wheelbarrow on the dining room table.  The couch trial ended in tears but the wheelbarrow was hilarious. James made her laugh so hard she almost face planted on the table and almost through up twice.

Today Madison spent some time in her ladybug chair. The ladybug chair has a seat that slides forwards and back to help Madison sit with her legs at 90 degrees or to sit with her legs straight at 180 degrees. She is needing lots of hamstring stretches lately so she had some fun stretching out her legs while playing with puzzles and colouring. Deep muscle stretches and practising some fine motor skills…multi – tasking at its best!

New word: Today Madison  put two words together in two seperate phrases.

She looked at James and said “Hi Dada” and then turned to look at me and said “Mama book” pointing at her pile if books.

Great Day!

Today when I picked up Madison from daycare, she had paint on her shirt and in her hair. I was then handed a folder filled with art! My little peanut has a love for paint! I watched a video of her putting paint all over the table,  papers, on her face and in her hair and the whole time she was laughing and had a huge smile on her face. It’s so much fun watching her discover new things and seeing her be successful at them.

I was then told by one of her teachers that she successfully used her walker independently for most of the day! Go Madi! I was so proud of her that we went to the mall to celebrate! Timbits and a new stuffy! Wow what a day!

This is Madison trying to choose her new stuffy Hahahaha

New word for today: Duck!

On hard days, this book always makes me smile. We love it at bedtime!

#differentisbeautiful

Today was Pink Shirt Day!

Here is a snippet of the Globe & Mail article that describes how Pink Shirt Day began:

“David Shepherd, Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a high-school protest to wear pink in sympathy with a Grade 9 boy who was being bullied [for wearing a pink shirt]…[They] took a stand against bullying when they protested against the harassment of a new Grade 9 student by distributing pink T-shirts to all the boys in their school.

‘I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders,’ says Mr. Price, 17, who organized the pink protest. ‘Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.’

So Mr. Shepherd and some other headed off to a discount store and bought 50 pink tank tops. They sent out message to schoolmates that night, and the next morning they hauled the shirts to school in a plastic bag.

As they stood in the foyer handing out the shirts, the bullied boy walked in. His face spoke volumes. ‘It looked like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders,’ Mr. Price recalled.

The bullies were never heard from again.”

I want to teach Madi that promoting inclusion, respect and empathy in schools is extremely important. Madi wore some pink today, and I will  be spreading awareness by wearing pink with my students on Friday. Let’s celebrate diversity and freedom to be proud of who you are and to not fear of what others think. Bullying needs to be erased in schools.

My little engine that could!

Madison had a great morning at Grandview.  She loves working with Kate (PT) and Kathy (OT) every week and did a super job on supported side sitting and walking. Her legs are growing and she is getting taller which means her little hamstrings are pretty tight at the moment. I predict lots of stretching in the next few days.

We are so grateful to our supporters at Grandview. Tomorrow is ‘Tape A Toonie Day’ which is a fundraising and awareness campaign for all Grandview locations in Durham. Madison’s daycare will be participating tomorrow and her PT Kate will be visiting her and her friends.

Madi loves to do things by herself and in her own way. She’s brushing her teeth and loving it! Mom loves to see the independence but isn’t the biggest fan of the toothbrush also being used to brush her hair and clean the tub. Oh well…pick your battles and celebrate! Look at those pearly whites…what a way to end the day…love her!

At 17 months Madison has already developed important life skills that will serve her well into her school years. Like taking charge and knowing how to work a room full of people. She enjoyed visiting with the Lynch side of her family today where there were 4 generations present. No matter what successes or challenges this kid will come across…we are confident that she will always have not just a room, but a stadium full of people who will have her back.

New word of the day: bird!

New favourite thing to do: smash Mommy in the face and laugh