Author: katherineambos

We are loving today’s home journal comments from Madison’s teacher.

“Madison was so excited physio Suzanne was working in our classroom today so that she could walk down the stairs. She kept repeating “it’s my lucky day!”

“Physio Suzanne said she did really well with her. I think it made her feel more confident as she spontaneously left her walker to take 4 independent steps when walking into the story room.”

Madison had a wonderful afternoon with her Aunts Janine and Suzanne. They had a special birthday lunch and Madison loved her new ballet book that she wanted to read more of at bed time. 

Today Madison celebrated her third birthday! It’s crazy to think that three years ago she decided to surprise everyone with an early entrance into the world and she continues to make her mark with her determination, brilliance, humour and beauty.

 Madi is truly meant to do amazing things and continues to inspire and bring joy to everyone she meets.

Madison had lots of fun with her friends celebrating at school. She shared pink cupcakes with all her friends and loved visiting with Tiffany after school who gave Madison a beautiful hand made card and pink giraffe.

After school Madison went to Nana and Papa’s house for her birthday lunch! She loved having pink birthday balloons and cupcakes and played with all her favourite toys.

After a good nap, Madison went to her first movie with Mommy! Madison saw Secret Life of Pets and loved it! She had the whole theatre to herself, was able to pick multiple seats to sit in and even got the volume changed to a quieter level. She danced up and down the rows and had lots of popcorn and M&M’s.

Daddy brought home a special birthday dinner and dessert, she blew out her candles, opened some special presents, visited with Pam and Medford and opened some more presents and then went on FaceTime with Auntie Em before bed. Madison was full of energy all day and loved celebrating her birthday! Thank you everyone for all your birthday messages and wishes, she is a very lucky girl!

Today Madison had her first ballet class! She was so excited to go that she asked Mommy all throughout the day when it was time to go. 

Mommy decided for today that Madison would try wearing her ballet slippers with no AFO’s to let her get a feel for what the teacher was instructing everyone to do with their toes and feet. Madison has better balance and movement when wearing her AFO’s but sometimes it’s the right choice to let her try new movements without. 

Madison followed along with most of the instructions and took her time taking it all in. Two little girls in the class were very caring and wanted to help Madison get in and out of her walker and held her hand or Walker when moving around the room. It was so reassuring for Mommy to see how kind other children really can be. They tried some different foot positions, followed different arm movements to music, pretended to be different animals and sang different rhyming songs. This was one of Madison’s first experience being integrated into a regular class environment and it was a big success! She had lots of fun and Mommy was so proud of her for being brave and trying something new. 

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Today after school, Nana took Madison to a dance store to buy Madison her first pair of ballet slippers and ballet clothes. Madison was curious about everything in the store and wanted to crawl everywhere and look at everything. Madison starts a pre-ballet class tomorrow. She is very excited! It will be one of her first experiences of being in a class environment with the majority of children being typically developing. The purpose of choosing a traditional ballet class over an adapted or modified class for children with disabilities is:

1) preparing Madison for what kindergarten and the rest of the world will be like

2) Immersing Madison in a class situation with LOTS of bodies so she can learn to use her walker in crowded spaces and feel comfortable with her personal space and others space

3) Giving her the opportunity to “feel her body in space” and learn how her body can move without her AFO’s or Walker 

4) TO HAVE FUN WITH OTHER LITTLE GIRLS HER AGE!!!!

Madison picked a pink outfit that she loves! Nana had the brilliant idea to buy two pairs of ballet slippers. One pair that fit her bare feet and the other that fit her AFO’s in case she ends up wanting to wear them for more support with some of the activities. Stay tuned for a report tomorrow on how her first class goes! Thanks for the ballet gear Nana!

Madison started off her Sunday like most other Sunday’s – a play with Nana & Papa! She slept over last night so when she woke up she met up with Nate for a play at Variety Village. Little did she know today’s visit was to keep her busy and out of the house for a special surprise!

While Nana & Papa were keeping Madi busy, a special surprise was starting at the house. Madison was fortunate to be the recipient of a playground from Million Dollar Smiles. The charity builds playgrounds in the backyards of children battling illness or different exceptionalities to brighten their day and provide them with a safe place to play and learn new skills. The organization arrived bright and early to set up registration and breakfast for the volunteers. In the past 4 months the charity has completed 65 builds. They operate by donations from companies who sponsor the playground and are also the ones who complete the build. Today’s sponsor and builders were from Tonino’s Pizza in Brampton. They were amazing workers – very efficient and worked well as a team so they were pretty speedy. Once the build started they asked Mommy and Daddy to say a few words about Madison and then they started. They only stopped once for lunch. It was amazing to watch!

Once the build was finished, Nana and Papa took Madison home for the big surprise. They played music while Madison entered the backyard. She was greeted by family, friends and all the volunteers who did the build. She was shy but smiled and was very excited for what she saw. She wanted to go in the playhouse right away and climb to the top to go down the slide. When she was sitting on the slide for the first time she waved thank you to everyone and blew lots of kisses. Her adapted swing was also a huge hit. She will be able to fit in it and swing safely for many years to come. Once all the thank you’s and speeches were finished Madison had lots of cake, was presented a medal to remember the day and then had a super fun play with her buddy Ben and cousin Nate. Madi played and played until the sun went down. Thank you Tonino’s Pizza and Million Dollar Smiles for Madison’s amazing gift!

Madison started her day with a family trip to Costco! She loved sitting next to Jack for the first time in the shopping cart.

Next on the agenda for the day was a trip to see Shannon for a massage and some tape. Madison responded really well today, but Botox can’t come soon enough! Shannon did a great job of trying to work through the stiffness and tried a new way of taping her calf and heel cords. Jack also was able to get his shoulder and upper back muscles released. He is never a big fan of the release but hugely benefits from it.

Madison was super excited for Nana and Papa to pick her up after dinner. They took Madi to get some ice cream and then back to their house for a sleepover! They played with the play kitchen and food and then had a bath. Before bed, Nana read Madison her favourite book from when she was a child – Madeline! Madi loved it! She also has a new bed at Nana and Papas that she is trying for the first time tonight. It’s low to the floor so she can get in and out herself. Tomorrow morning is the build of Madison’s surprise playground, so having a sleepover was the perfect way to get her out of the house for the surprise. 

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Madison was thrilled to find out this morning on her way to school that Medford had found Stitch and that she was safe at home! Thank you Medford!

Jack didn’t seem to notice Stitch’s return- he was preoccupied by Madison’s large drum for most of the morning. 

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Madison had a wonderful first week back at school. She settled into routines nicely and loved seeing her teachers and friends.

Madison worked very hard with Stephanie this afternoon at physio. They did lots of dynamic stretching, slow patterned walking with her walker, treadmill training and some work on the obstacle course mats in the gym. 

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​Madison was happy to have lots of playtime with Stitch before bed.

Madison has a different confidence about her at school. Her teachers reported yesterday and today that she is confident, being a leader and using her big voice when prompted. She is playing with everyone and helping some of her friends who are new at school. Mommy and Daddy are proud of her and are happy to hear about the skills she is building that will help her be successful when she starts kindergarten. 

Jack is trying to keep up with Madison’s energy. Today he bounced and laughed with Madison for so long that he fell asleep while bouncing. 

Madison, Jack and Nate had a special photo session tonight with Nana! Stay tuned in the next few days for some sneak peek photos!

Today was Madison’s first day back at preschool! She was thrilled to see her friends, teachers and meet some new friends and volunteers. Madi has big plans this year… She wants to learn how to write her name, work more on her walking, play on the trampoline and do lots of crafts. Her big goal is to work on her loud, confident voice to help her prepare for kindergarten next year. She did some painting this morning, played in the gym and sang some new songs during music. It was a great morning!

Madison then spent her afternoon with Nana relaxing while Mommy and Jack had some appointments. Madison was so happy to get a present from Nana to celebrate her first day back!

Jack finally has his helmet fixed and can wear it comfortably now. He was at the orthotist to work out the changes and then to Grandview for a stretching session. On his way home, Jack helped Mommy pick up some party supplies and took his first ride in a shopping cart!

Madi and Jack finished their day with no power in the house, so they watched the rain with Daddy and Carter and looked for Stitch.

Madison was up bright and early with a plan of what she wanted to do right after breakfast. Her kitty Stitch has been missing since Sunday. Madi is upset and wants to find her. She tried making posters to hang in the neighbourhood and then asked Daddy to make some at work once she realized how many she would have to make. She asked Mommy several times to go out for a walk in the stroller to check the neighbourhood. She took her job very seriously. She shook a container of cat food for Stitch to hear and yelled “come home Stitich! Where are you Stitch!” Madi is such a caring little person and asks about Stitch and how she can find her constantly. She looked for Stitch three times today and once more with Daddy before bedtime. 

During one of her daily stretches she wanted to make Stitch out of play dough 

She has been trying to pet Carter and feed him all day thinking he might leave too

The hunt for Stitch continues… Cross your fingers!