Author: katherineambos

Madison and Jack woke up nice and early and hit the road for their first road trip as a family of 4! Madison was excited to go on a mini vacation with Nana, Papa, Uncle Mark, Aunt Nadia and Nate! On the way to Niagara Falls everyone stopped off for a lunch theatre show called “Oh Canada Eh!” The family style food was delicious and all three kids loved the music and dancing. Papa loved the Canadian trivia and everyone loved all the Canadian music being played. 

After lunch everyone checked into the hotel, had some quiet time and then it was time to walk to the falls. The kids loved seeing all the water and all the lights and interesting places up and down Clifton Hill. Madison loved the pink lights on the falls and can’t wait for more excitement tomorrow!

Madison had a pretty relaxed day to recover from her cold. She got up nice and early and headed to Pam and Medfords for breakfast. She was very lucky to have eggs, fruit, bacon and toast. She had a wonderful time – thank you Pam and Medford! 

Later in the day Madi and Jack met up with Nate for a visit to the local fire station. They learned about fire safety, toured around and saw the equipment and checked out the fire truck. Madi’s favourite part was spraying the fire hose.

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​After a marathon of a nap Madi and Jack went to cheer Mommy on at softball. Her cold is starting to clear up and her tone is starting to calm down a bit. 

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Jack Update:

Jack is 6 months old next week. He weighs about 20 pounds, is sleeping well, is wearing 12 month clothing, loves tummy time and playing with his sister and loves to eat cereal, carrots, bananas, peas, squash and sweet potatoes. 

He is doing really well battling his torticollis. He responds really well to massage and chiro but HATES the stretches Mommy has to do on his neck muscles. 

Jack was assessed this morning for a thermoplastic molded helmet. After all his positional therapy and stretches, his head shape is still flat and he is at risk for his skull not closing up properly by the time he is one. They scanned his head to get a digital image of his skull on the computer and with those numbers they determine where on the severity scale he lies. 1 is somewhat normal and a 5 is severe. Poor Jack is a level 5, so the measurements were done, the helmet is ordered and follow up appointments booked. He should receive his helmet in 2 weeks and then he will have appointments every 2 weeks until he is one. The helmet has to be worn 22 hours a day. The orthotist designing the helmet also does Madi’s AFO’s and is using her Blue Jays design as inspiration. Stay tuned…

Madi is a bit under the weather with a cold. After a full morning of lounging she got some fresh air at WindReach during her session with Joe. It was scorching hot! The ride was a bit shorter today because of the heat, but she loved her visit and her ride on the back trail. She was happy to see Pam and Medford who watched her ride and then visit with Joe after to give him his carrot. Madi worked again on taking deep breaths to project her voice with her commands and she practiced keeping her posture tall while taking her hands off. Her confidence has really improved.

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Madison and Jack spent some time with Nana later in the day while Mommy got some things done and some more forms mailed. The amount of paperwork and forms that need to be done to provide support for a child with special needs is absolutely insane! It could be a full time job! Uncle Mark also wrote an amazing letter to a local foundation requesting support for Madison for a special home project…more details coming soon…thanks Uncle Mark!

Madison finished her day with a visit with Emily. They worked on walking, stepping up and down stairs and did some good long stretching with her Gaitors and the Nada Chair. During her recent shopping trip to the States, Emily found the socks Madison uses with her AFO’s that have been discontinued here. Thanks Emily!!

Madison was looking forward to today for a few weeks. She would ask every couple days, and then this morning when she was told today was the day….she was SUPER EXCITED! Madison went to the zoo with her buddy Tiffany! Madison’s school is exceptional due to the amazing volunteers that work 1:1 with each child. Tiffany was Madison’s Wednesday volunteer. Mommy and Daddy saw very quickly at the beginning of the school year the special friendship between the two and Wednesday’s quickly became Madison’s favourite day at school. At the end of the school year Madison was sad to learn that she wouldn’t see Tiffany for a few months so everyone exchanged info and made plans to meet up a few times over the summer.

Madison met Tiffany this afternoon at the globe at the front of the zoo. When she saw Tiffany she was so happy and excited. She said hello and then told Tiffany right away what she wanted to see. Mommy left the two of them and off they went.

Tiffany was kind enough to take pictures of their day together. They went to see all of Madison’s favourites: the monkeys, giraffes and zebras. She spent the longest time watching the gorillas. She didn’t want to leave – they were her favourite!

They also saw a really big peacock on their adventure. She really liked it but it scared her when it got close.

They also got some delicious ice cream and played at the splash pad. Mommy & Daddy were thrilled to hear that she used her walker at different points and used it in the splash pad to check everything out. She was so brave!

Madison has been showing an interest in taking her own pictures lately. She used Tiffany’s camera to take a few shots. She did pretty well!

At the end of their visit they went to the carousel for a ride and then it was time to head home. Thank you Tiffany for everything today – Madison had a wonderful afternoon!

Madi started her day with a walk around the neighbourhood to check out a street sale. She picked out some play tools and some dress up magnet games. Her and Nate then went to the park to try the big slide and swings. Their visit to the park didn’t last very long with the heat so they headed home to the AC.

After family nap time, Nana & Papa picked up Madi & Jack to take them to the splash pad to cool off. They played with the snail fountain at the splash pad and kept cool. Madi has a hard time keeping cool on days like today so the splash pad was a perfect choice of activity. Mommy and Daddy were out for a date night so Madi headed out for dinner with the gang and then headed home for bath and bed. 

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Madi started her day bright and early with breakfast with Nana while Jack and Mommy visited with Doctor Sarah for some adjustments. It was then time to go work with Stephanie at Variety Village!

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Madi and Stephanie did LOTS of walking!! She also climbed up and down a tower of mats and tumble forms and practiced crawling to standing on slanted mats. 

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Madison enjoyed an afternoon at the local early years centre for a class called “kids in the kitchen”. Today’s menu was three tasty recipes with a roll theme. She learned to make a cheesy chicken roll, a cucumber sushi roll and a fruit roll up Rice Krispie roll. Mommy was so proud of Madi for her participation in the class. She listened and followed instructions well, she was able to manoeuvre herself around the classroom in her walker pushing chairs and tables out of the way and figured out how to access the sink by herself to wash her hands. 

Madison is still hesitant at entering new environments in her walker when others are not in walkers and often will say things like “I’m a little bit tired” or “carry me and leave the walker” but with encouragement and redirection towards an activity of interest she moves forward and becomes more comfortable and confident. Mommy and Daddy’s goal for Madi from now until kindergarten is to give Madi one opportunity a week to be in an inclusive environment with mostly “typical” children her age to give her more experience and exposure to what her world will be like in JK. 

Madison and Jack had a nice visit with Ruby and Sara this morning. Madi played with Ruby’s toys, they went for a quick dip in the pool and played with both kitty’s. Madi also had her favourite lunch-chicken and fries! 

Later in the day Madison had her swim lesson with Ryan – her second swim of the day! She was not very cooperative with practicing back floats and bobs but she was happy to practice some walking down the ramp and playing in the fish boat. Ryan did a great job trying to switch things up for Madi, but her mind was clearly set on playing today. 

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Madison and Jack had a great time at the library with Nana this afternoon. Madison sat and read some books before the show with some other kids. The puppet show was based on the book Petunia. Madison loved watching and asked questions throughout the whole show. Her love for books and stories is awesome!

After nap time, Madi helped Jack in his jolly jumper. Most likely not the best decision for Jacks neck, but worth a few minutes of giggles and sibling fun!

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Madison had a great morning with her buddy Ben! They played with his kitchen and food toys, and then went outside for bubbles and some chalk fun on the wall while they both practiced standing in their walkers. For lunch they had Madison’s favourite- chicken fingers and fries! After lunch they played in Bens cool playroom. Madi didn’t want to leave so she shut the door and barricaded it so herself, Ben and Bens Mommy couldn’t get out. She is already asking for another play date – she had a fun morning!

Madi then headed to Grandview for the afternoon for both PT and OT. It was her last sessions and she is now on a break until mid September. Kate adjusted her walker to make it taller and took some measurements of Madison’s feet and muscle catchments to use as comparisons before her next Botox scheduled for September when her blocks start up again. They finished with some walking in her vest. During OT she worked on finger strength and control with the putty and some pinching activities. 

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