Madi Moves

Sleep update: Daytime naps have ended. Melatonin trial is going very well. Madison got 12 hours sleep last night with only 1 night awakening. Her school is reporting she is much more awake and engaged and has limited yawning and complaints of being tired. Woo-hoo!

Madison was a wonderful Big Sister today. Her little brother Jack is pretty sick, so she helped Mommy give Jack his medicine and bottle and cuddled with him to try and make him feel better. 

While Mommy took Jack to the doctors, Madison visited with Pam and Medford! She worked on a very special project with Pam on her sewing machine. Madison loves to learn new things so she asked lots of questions, helped cut the threads and pushed the stop button. She had her favourite chicken for dinner and an ice cream sandwich for dessert! 

Today Madison went to check out The Abilities Expo. She stopped by the Freedom Concepts booth to look at their adaptive bikes. She tried one out and loved it! Biking is a part of Madison’s therapy plan for pre and post op strength building. They took her measurements, suggested some alterations and designs and will send a quote shortly. She of course chose the colour pink! She can’t wait for the spring to bike all over the neighbourhood, but until then she will hit the track with it at Variety Village.

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Madison and Tiffany started back at gym class this morning. They did different balancing activities which was perfect for Madison to do some standing and on one foot too! Madison was super excited to see Tiffany again. Jack and Daddy had gym class as well in the kids gym space.

Madison spent her afternoon visiting with friends at the house. Her Uncle Brad is home for the weekend and stopped over for a visit and to check out Madis new physio gear. Ruby was also over at the house for the day so Madison and Jack  loved playing with her too. It was a busy afternoon in the basement. 

Madison finished her day by supporting her cousin at ‘Curle’ a curling fundraiser for a man named Jerry and his family who live in Tanzania. She LOVED that different teams dressed up – her favourite was the unicorn team. If you are interested in learning more about this fundraiser please visit http://www.curle.ca/

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Madison and Jack had a great afternoon with Stephanie in the children’s gym. Madison did lots of exercises and activities all geared towards her goals of building strength, balance, independence and coordination. 
Loves Peppa Pig!

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Jack watching his big sis in action 
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Practicing rolling and planning movements in the ball pit 

Lots of squats and jumping

Lunge stretches for her hip flexors 

Planning her sitting to slide 

Made it to the top!

Walking the stairs upright 

Lifting up her legs to slide!

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Swing!!

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Jack had his first day of daycare today! With Madison’s new therapy schedule, Jack will be going to daycare one day a week to have fun with little friends and have a day free of the car and stroller. 

Madison was the same age as Jack when she started daycare…here is a pic of both their first days!

Jacks first day was great! His buddy Owen greeted him with a big smile and the two played all day. He slept, ate well and was all smiles at pickup!

Madison had a great afternoon at March of Dimes. Her time there has now significantly increased in preparation for her upcoming surgery. She spent 3 hours there this afternoon for a total of 6 hours this week. One of her activities she did there today was sitting cross legged while practicing zipping up her sweater. She showed Mommy excellent walking at pick up time. 

A massive team of people have been supporting Madison and helping her journey to SDR slowly become a reality. One of those people is cousin Meredith who created and distributed a press release today. It was shared with most major newspapers in Toronto as well as smaller community papers in the Durham area. It highlights the upcoming fundraiser at the house of ‘The Ultimate Leafs Fan’ who is encouraging press to attend the event. Hopefully the press release draws some attention and interest. Thank you Meredith!!!

We still can’t believe that Jack will be one years old in a few weeks…. He had photos this morning to mark his special milestone and smashed his first cake! Stay tuned for pictures!

After Jack picked up Madi from school, they headed to have lunch and a quick play with Suzanne, before it was time to go to March of Dimes for afternoon therapy.

Madi has been practicing more and more walking around different places using walls and doors to help her stay upright instead of crawling. She was proud to show that to Nana & Papa tonight.

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Madison did an awesome job at March of Dimes today. Lots of walking!

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Madison’s fundraising for her SDR surgery has been going extremely well. Thank you to everyone for supporting her amazing journey! People have been initiating their own fundraisers for Madison which we are truly grateful for. Another example of this happened today:
A friend of ours Shannon Wagner and her company Equitable Bank made a donation towards Madison’s SDR surgery. They came up with a creative way to raise funds with all their employees. They have a charity initiative called “Gotta Love Mondays” where they can wear jeans on a Monday to work by donating $2 to an employees charity of choice. The company then matched the total raised by their employees and they have raised $962 in counting for Madison’s journey. Thank you!!!!!

Our next upcoming fundraiser is a night at the house of The Ultimate Leafs Fan! Tickets are still available.

Madison’s Uncle Mark and Aunt Nadia also have a fundraising night planned coming up in March. Stay tuned for more details!

Madison was happy to see Papa at music circle today. Mommy, Papa & Jack picked up Madi from school to go on a special trip. Madison went to embroidery specialist to thank them for their contributions and support. They have been a major donor/sponsor to the Mike GREGOIRE Memorial Golf Tournament for the past 2 years. Madison thanked them and gave them a sign and a framed article. The whole family is very thankful for their support!

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Madison had a great swim lesson with Ryan and Jessica tonight. They spent lots of time on floats and body alignment on her back. She was super excited to get a Flames swim team sweater from Ryan as being one of the “Mini Flames”. Thanks Ryan! 

Madison and Jack enjoyed a relaxing Sunday at Nana & Papa’s. They danced to music, baked cookies, played different matching games and Madison practiced opening doors while Jack played catch and chased his favourite ball.

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​Before bedtime, Madison and her cousin Nate had a FaceTime convo to tell each other about their days and to say goodnight. So cute how much they love each other!

Madison had a great start to her Saturday morning. She had a photo shoot with Meghan at Sparks Photography to capture her true warrior spirit with some girlie flare. Madison will be using her photos for various fundraising events coming up and to continue spreading CP awareness and for SDR awareness. Her cute little outfit was made by Mini Pixies! Thank you Meghan and Jenn for helping us have such special photos of our special little warrior…these photos are from my phone – real ones to come!

Madison was super excited to have her new treadmill delivered today! Daddy figured out a way to get the 500 pound treadmill to the basement and 4 hours of building later, it was ready! Thank you to all of Madison’s donors who are supporting her in her dream to walk! We will think of you as Madi takes every single step on her new treadmill!

Madi and Jack finished their day with a visit to Shannon for a massage and then running a few errands for odds and ends for Madi’s new “training space”.

For the past week, Madi has requested “working on her reading” before bed. Tonight’s activity was sorting pictures and words and trying to make matches. She LOVED it!