Author: katherineambos

As the journey to St Louis gets closer, Madi has been saying her good byes and see ya soon’s to friends and family. Today she went for a play with her friend Evelyn who made her an awesome card and they gave each other lots of hugs.

Madi has been negotiating the need for lots of iPad time lately…she’s addicted at such a young age hahaha…So Mommy’s negotiations are now: if the iPad is on…the Gaitors are on. 

Madi did a great job using her strong voice at riding today with Jorge. Her confidence has really improved and she  did a great job playing basketball while trying to keep her balance on his back. 

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Madi & Jack finished their day with a great visit & dinner at Pam and Medfords house. Madi loved all the fun crafting scissors she practiced her cutting with and Jack played with his ball all over the house. 

Madison was up bright and early and was thrilled to see eggs sitting outside her bedroom door! She woke Jack up and the two started hunting for eggs all over the house. Madison logically and carefully placed each egg in her basket. Jack loved to throw the eggs around to try and break them open. They followed a trail all the way to the family room to find their baskets filled by the Easter bunny!

After breakfast, Madi and Jack went for a visit to Pam and Medfords to bake cookies, open presents and play with bubbles! 

Madi and Jack then headed to the beach for the annual Easter Parade!

After the parade, everyone went to Nana & Papa’s to open presents, play games and get ready for Easter dinner.

Easter is always a fun time with the family, but was extra special this year. Everyone got to meet our newest family member- Callum, and Madisom was able to spend time with everyone before departing for St Louis next week. 

This morning Madison and Jack went to Variety Village for their gym class. After class Madison met up with a friend named Chenoa who was one of the recipients of money donated from the Romano family. It was so nice to hear of their success story in St Louis and for the girls to visit with one another. Cheonoa showed Madison the scar on her back and Madison now will tell you that Dr Park will be putting a line on her back.

Madison and Jack celebrated Easter tonight with Auntie Em & Grandma and Grandpa Ambos by having lots of food and laughs.

Today was a glorious day! The sun was out and Madi had a free day…no appointments!!

Madi & Jack left the house bright and early to meet up with family at High Park. They went for breakfast and then checked out the zoo and famous wooden castle playground! On their way out, they went for a ride on the park’s train. It was a beautiful day filled with lots of fresh air and fun!

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​  Madi & Jack spent the rest of the day with their best buddy, Ben! They played lots of fun activities, played outside on the swing and even gave each other tattoo’s! Ben gave Madi the cutest pink bear with a Blue Jays outfit he made her from build a bear- Madi is snuggling in bed with it and asked to bring it to St Louis with us. Thanks Ben!

Madi had a busy day. It started with a visit to a new therapist that a few of her friends see for a therapy called Medek. Mommy had been looking into it for a while but never followed up until now. The therapist wanted to meet Madison prior to Madisons surgery. She was excellent and worked Madison very hard. She was exhausted after. They did lots of balancing activities, weight transferring for walking and used a vibration plate for the first time. 

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After her session, Madi headed to lunch with Alex and Suzanne and then went to March of Dimes for an afternoon of conductive education. While she was busy with that, Mommy & Daddy went to a meeting. The meeting was with her school team for JK to plan for her transition to kindergarten in the fall. Things that were discussed were: support with transitions of the day, toiletting and outdoor play. Equipment needed for the school was discussed so it can be ordered in time. There were 9 adults who all shared their work with Madison and what they will do to support her. It was an incredibly positive meeting with lots of next steps and plans put into place. 

After school, Madi & Jack went home for lunch and then picked up Pam for a special afternoon outing. Pams friends at the Ajax/Pickering Gamma Gamma Master sorority invited Madison over for some nibbles and tea. They wished her good luck with her upcoming surgery and presented her with a cheque for some fun activities to keep her busy in St Louis after her therapy sessions. They also had an Easter basket for her and Jack full of treats and one of the sorority members made Madi a home made doll. We are so grateful for all the support surrounding Madison’s upcoming journey to St Louis. Thank you!!

Madi had a great session at Grandview today working on combined PT & speech. They focused on maintaining a long/smooth sound of voice for speech. She did lots of core for PT. Her planks on the ball were pretty impressive. Jack was a super star and kept himself busy with some new OT toys. 

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Madi had her last ballet class of the year tonight. She has been dancing once a week since September, so everyone was sad that it was the last one. The rest of the class is continuing until June when they will dance in a recital. We are hoping Madi can join the class again next year and dance in the end of year recital with her new legs! Thank you to Suzie and Denise Lester Dance Academy for a wonderful experience that was inclusive and so much fun!

Madi ended her busy day with Shannon to get a massage. Her new bolster was ready for pickup. This will serve her well for stretching and floor time. Thanks Shannon!

Madi and Jack had a great time at WindReach Farm this afternoon. Jack visited with the horses while Madi had her lesson with Jorge. ​​​It was a beautiful day for a ride outside. Madi was thrilled and worked hard. 

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The back trails are much harder to manage then the even ground inside the stables. That,combined with all the fresh air knocked Madi out for a few hours. 

After dinner, Madi headed to the Village for a swim with Ryan and Jessica. She was exceptionally stiff today, so the warm water and lots of water walking really helped.

Madison loves all things music and dancing. Ever since her class has been dancing during gym class, she has really found her rhythm. She was excited to go see Mary Poppins the musical today with Nana & Suzanne. The original plan was to stay until intermission as it was a 2.5 hour show…but she loved it so much she managed to watch the whole thing! Thank you Starlight Foundation for the tickets and continuing to provide kids like Madison with wonderful opportunities.

After the show Madison went out for dinner with Nana & Papa.

In between sessions at the swim meet, Mommy started packing for St Louis and getting all the gifts organized for all the wonderful people that are going to make Madison’s experience amazing. Almost at our two week countdown!

Helping most toddlers work towards a skill can be tricky, as we all know three is the new thirteen! Some days trying to work with Madison towards her goals takes a lot of patience and creativity. Here’s how we conquered some skill development today:

Madison LOVES Peppa Pig and LOVES talking about hospitals and doctors. No better way to pass some time reading, reading and reading some more “Peppa Goes To The Hospital” while trying to use the potty. Thanks for the book Nicole!

Dorsiflexion exercises consisted of painting toe nails and trying to wiggle her toes and flex her feet to help the nail polish dry.

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Some OT skill work also happened today by making sure all her cousins had Easter cards for next weekend. Card making is serious business. 

Oh no! We ran out of glue and glitter for the cards! Time to hop on the bike and ride for an hour to the closest dollar store to stock up and pick up things on the “to do ” list for St Louis!

Madi worked her butt off today and had a blast doing it!