Look at my baby!
LOOK AT MY BABY!
LOOK AT MY BABY!
Oh my. I don't even know what to write because I am overcome. With joy. With pride. With complete adoration.
My baby is walking with canes BY HERSELF. It is unreal!
Excuse me while I go dance around the house and scream in delight...
PS: To Becky, the physical therapist who said, "You know she'll never walk...": Um, yeah. Not so much.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Camp Fun
Oooh, this is so much fun! I love coming home each weekday and living out Ellie's day through pictures. My heart soars every time I see evidence of how much fun Ellie is having at her Conductive Education Camp. She just melts me.
As we can all see through the photos, it's obvious that Ellie's conductors and therapists go to great lengths to ensure her "therapy" is fun. And while I am thankful for that, I am even more grateful that Ellie is so very tenacious and strong. She fights through it every day. She takes just.one.more.step. every day. She works so very hard. Every day.
I am head-over-heels in love.
Working hard on fine motor tasks. Ellie lurves her some puzzles! It takes a lot of dexterity to put the pieces together.
Having fun in the Sesame Street playhouse (yes, I said SESAME STREET...Ellie's in heaven!) with her sweet friend.
Going down the slide all by herself! Whoosh!
Dr. Jelly B'Ellie.
Now that her mama has to rush out of the center in order to be at work on time, Ellie is always the first one of the kids to arrive at camp. She zips her way down the hall, straight into the classroom, where she waits for all her friends. Precious!
Remember playing with the parachute in the playground at recess? Well, who said that our "special kids" can't do the exact same thing?! FUN!
As we can all see through the photos, it's obvious that Ellie's conductors and therapists go to great lengths to ensure her "therapy" is fun. And while I am thankful for that, I am even more grateful that Ellie is so very tenacious and strong. She fights through it every day. She takes just.one.more.step. every day. She works so very hard. Every day.
I am head-over-heels in love.
Having fun in the Sesame Street playhouse (yes, I said SESAME STREET...Ellie's in heaven!) with her sweet friend.
H
Dr. Jelly B'Ellie.
D
Monday, July 12, 2010
Brilliant!
The title of this post refers to ME, of course!
Or, perhaps I'm the opposite of brilliant, since it's taken me so long to figure this out. Ha!
This morning, a light bulb flashed (read: flickered) in my head and I thought, "Hey, I should give my camera to Ellie's aide and ask her to snap some 'cute shots' during the camp day!" And, whaddayaknow, it worked out great.
These are the sweet pictures that greeted me upon my return home from work today:
Looks like Little Miss Ellie had a pretty awesome day! We are so grateful that Ellie's conductors and therapists turn "learning how to use your body" into something so fun. I am constantly overwhelmed when I think about Ellie's "team" and how much they continuously do for our baby.
And a special cyber high-five to Ellie's aide! Thanks for these fantastic pictures! Hopefully they'll keep comin' and I can share them with Ellie's Cheerleaders (ie: YOU)....
PS: Yes, I mentioned the "w" word. Work. Today was my first day back to the grind. Real life has fully returned. Good thing I loved every minute of it (minus the alarm clock, of course)!
Or, perhaps I'm the opposite of brilliant, since it's taken me so long to figure this out. Ha!
This morning, a light bulb flashed (read: flickered) in my head and I thought, "Hey, I should give my camera to Ellie's aide and ask her to snap some 'cute shots' during the camp day!" And, whaddayaknow, it worked out great.
These are the sweet pictures that greeted me upon my return home from work today:
And a special cyber high-five to Ellie's aide! Thanks for these fantastic pictures! Hopefully they'll keep comin' and I can share them with Ellie's Cheerleaders (ie: YOU)....
PS: Yes, I mentioned the "w" word. Work. Today was my first day back to the grind. Real life has fully returned. Good thing I loved every minute of it (minus the alarm clock, of course)!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
4th of July
In this house, we are all about dual citizenship! So, I thought it'd be a good idea to post a couple of pictures of Ellie in her 4th of July attire, so as not to give Canada an unfair advantage. Here she is, on her patriotic way to church on July 4th:
She's one cute little firecracker, isn't she?!
Friday, July 2, 2010
O Canada and Oh, Camp!
Happy birthday, Canada!
Ellie was a little confused yesterday when we started singing the "Happy Birthday Song" to Canada. She said, "No, only PEOPLE have birthdays!" It was a perfect opportunity for me, her political scientist mom, to give Ellie a little civics/history/geography lesson!
'Course, continuing her life theme, there was no rest for Miss Jelly B'Ellie on Canada's Birthday...The little Canuck had a fun, hard-working day at The Movement Centre, where she's attending summer "camp" for the month of July. The good thing is that Ellie LURVES it there! We had today off (in order to make a long weekend out of the Canada Day holiday) and she was upset that she wasn't able to see her friends. I'm so thankful for that! It tears up my mama heart to force Ellie into therapy. Thank goodness for people like her conductors and therapists and helpers who have devoted their lives to making hard work FUN!
Our goals for camp this year are:
*Ellie will be able to get into and out of her walker all by herself.
*Ellie will be able to get on and off the potty by herself or with no lifting from her care-giver.
*Ellie will be able to use scissors with some accuracy.
*Ellie will be able to use utensils in a "less messy" way while eating.
The theme for all these goals, of course, is "kindergarten readiness" (gulp)! My hope is that Ellie's school aide will be able to get through the afternoon without lifting her AT ALL. Obviously, the less lifting the aide does, the less lifting I'LL have to do at home too! Our ultimate goal is for Ellie to be as independent as possible, which means that she'll have to learn how to use her body to do these simple "life tasks" on her own. I truly believe it's an attainable goal; especially since ELLIE desires independence for herself too.
I'll keep you posted as to the status of these goals....hopefully, along with lots of PICTURES!
Ellie was a little confused yesterday when we started singing the "Happy Birthday Song" to Canada. She said, "No, only PEOPLE have birthdays!" It was a perfect opportunity for me, her political scientist mom, to give Ellie a little civics/history/geography lesson!
Showing off her Canada Day t-shirt (is it unreal-cute or what?!)
Working hard, walking with her canes while at camp. (Sorry the picture quality is suspect, but I tried to sneak a shot without Ellie seeing me...)
Spending Canada Day at camp!
Our goals for camp this year are:
*Ellie will be able to get into and out of her walker all by herself.
*Ellie will be able to get on and off the potty by herself or with no lifting from her care-giver.
*Ellie will be able to use scissors with some accuracy.
*Ellie will be able to use utensils in a "less messy" way while eating.
The theme for all these goals, of course, is "kindergarten readiness" (gulp)! My hope is that Ellie's school aide will be able to get through the afternoon without lifting her AT ALL. Obviously, the less lifting the aide does, the less lifting I'LL have to do at home too! Our ultimate goal is for Ellie to be as independent as possible, which means that she'll have to learn how to use her body to do these simple "life tasks" on her own. I truly believe it's an attainable goal; especially since ELLIE desires independence for herself too.
I'll keep you posted as to the status of these goals....hopefully, along with lots of PICTURES!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Stayin' Alive
Yes, we're still alive!
Yes, I still plan on updating this blog!
Yes, we're doing fine!
Yes, there are less than 10 weeks till college football kick-off (oops, did that one not fit?)!
I apologize for leaving you hanging for three weeks. We've been busy, settling back into "Canada Life". Since we were gone for nearly half-a-year, we had a LOT of doctor's appointments to make up. In the past 3 weeks, we've been to Children's Hospital 8 times. Gulp. This journey is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure.
Thankfully, all of Ellie's medical appointments have gone well. Most of them were simple follow-ups. Our local neurosurgeon was very impressed with her tone and new abilities, post SDR. I was so thankful that we "just" had to drive to our local Children's Hospital to see him, instead of fly out to Vancouver for a six-month follow up to Dr. Steinbok!
Of course, there is also no rest for the therapy-weary either. The day after Ellie and Richie flew home, she started back at her local Conductive Education center. Precious, hard-working girl!
Sometimes we have to get creative when doing Ellie's stretches, in an attempt to keep her still and "loose". Here, she's "calling" Daddy to tell him that she (and mommy) would like supper ready when she gets home from therapy. :-)
Catching up with our fabulous physical therapist. Ellie was thrilled to see her again!
She was supposed to begin her intensive camp (6 hours/day, 5 days per week) today, but little Missy is sick. It's a bummer, but, really, we've been so blessed with health over the past 6 months that I can hardly complain about a low-grade fever and stuffy nose. Hopefully she'll be joining her boyfriends at the center tomorrow.
We've also been setting things up for Ellie to enter SCHOOL in fall. How on earth did my baby get to be school-age? I just blinked and all of a sudden she was five! I'll post about that a little later. There are many emotions that go into school registration. I'm sure that's true for moms of typical kids, but I think it's compounded when your sweet soon-to-be-Kindergartener has special needs. I am trying to take it in stride; trying to breathe; trying to trust. I know that Ellie will absolutely love being in school and that the kids will quickly grow to look past her "different-ness". But, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't scared. This isn't the way I envisioned it. This isn't what I wanted for my precious baby. But, Ellie has taught me to rise above the visions and wants, and embrace the blessing of what IS.
(See, I told you that kindergarten is emotional!)
So, overall, we're ALL GOOD. I'll try to make sure this blog stays the same way!
Yes, I still plan on updating this blog!
Yes, we're doing fine!
Yes, there are less than 10 weeks till college football kick-off (oops, did that one not fit?)!
I apologize for leaving you hanging for three weeks. We've been busy, settling back into "Canada Life". Since we were gone for nearly half-a-year, we had a LOT of doctor's appointments to make up. In the past 3 weeks, we've been to Children's Hospital 8 times. Gulp. This journey is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure.
Thankfully, all of Ellie's medical appointments have gone well. Most of them were simple follow-ups. Our local neurosurgeon was very impressed with her tone and new abilities, post SDR. I was so thankful that we "just" had to drive to our local Children's Hospital to see him, instead of fly out to Vancouver for a six-month follow up to Dr. Steinbok!
Of course, there is also no rest for the therapy-weary either. The day after Ellie and Richie flew home, she started back at her local Conductive Education center. Precious, hard-working girl!
Sometimes we have to get creative when doing Ellie's stretches, in an attempt to keep her still and "loose". Here, she's "calling" Daddy to tell him that she (and mommy) would like supper ready when she gets home from therapy. :-)
S
She was supposed to begin her intensive camp (6 hours/day, 5 days per week) today, but little Missy is sick. It's a bummer, but, really, we've been so blessed with health over the past 6 months that I can hardly complain about a low-grade fever and stuffy nose. Hopefully she'll be joining her boyfriends at the center tomorrow.
We've also been setting things up for Ellie to enter SCHOOL in fall. How on earth did my baby get to be school-age? I just blinked and all of a sudden she was five! I'll post about that a little later. There are many emotions that go into school registration. I'm sure that's true for moms of typical kids, but I think it's compounded when your sweet soon-to-be-Kindergartener has special needs. I am trying to take it in stride; trying to breathe; trying to trust. I know that Ellie will absolutely love being in school and that the kids will quickly grow to look past her "different-ness". But, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't scared. This isn't the way I envisioned it. This isn't what I wanted for my precious baby. But, Ellie has taught me to rise above the visions and wants, and embrace the blessing of what IS.
(See, I told you that kindergarten is emotional!)
So, overall, we're ALL GOOD. I'll try to make sure this blog stays the same way!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Home
We made it!
The drive was long, and the van was PACKED, but everything went really well on the road. Gotta love those audio books...
It's like a bad scene from "Where's Waldo Ellie?"
Home.
I think we're still trying to mesh our heads and hearts with geography, but, with each reunion and unpacked box, life feels more settled. When driving home from therapy today, Ellie asked, "Are we going back to our Florida house or Canada house?" We're all reconfiguring our compasses.
Speaking of therapy...Ellie has been having a grand ole time, showing off all those new skills for her therapists and conductors! And I'VE been having a great time hearing the "oooh"s and "awww"s. Perhaps our therapists are indulgent, but it's still heartwarming.
We are adding things to the "return or get rid of pile"! Specialized toilet seat (she can sit on the potty solo now!). First Kaye Walker (she's grown out of it!). Fisher Price booster seat (no booster seats needed anymore!). All things that we were using before the surgery....but not now! Whoop!
This past week of transition and travel has been exhausting for all of us, so I'll leave you with this brief update and try to mimic Ellie:
Love y'all!
The drive was long, and the van was PACKED, but everything went really well on the road. Gotta love those audio books...
Home.
I think we're still trying to mesh our heads and hearts with geography, but, with each reunion and unpacked box, life feels more settled. When driving home from therapy today, Ellie asked, "Are we going back to our Florida house or Canada house?" We're all reconfiguring our compasses.
Speaking of therapy...Ellie has been having a grand ole time, showing off all those new skills for her therapists and conductors! And I'VE been having a great time hearing the "oooh"s and "awww"s. Perhaps our therapists are indulgent, but it's still heartwarming.
We are adding things to the "return or get rid of pile"! Specialized toilet seat (she can sit on the potty solo now!). First Kaye Walker (she's grown out of it!). Fisher Price booster seat (no booster seats needed anymore!). All things that we were using before the surgery....but not now! Whoop!
This past week of transition and travel has been exhausting for all of us, so I'll leave you with this brief update and try to mimic Ellie:
Love y'all!
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