CHICKEN POX on your Birthday

Well need less to say B enjoyed her first birthday cake..She wasn't feeling so good that night..but that did not slow her down...the more the girls giggled the more she tore in..

I noticed a spot on her head Wednesday night but we had been outside so thought a bug had bite her and thought nothing more of it..So Thursday morning getting her ready for PT I saw 2 more around the same area..So after PT I was changing her and decided we should call the DR..she had something...

A little cake for Daddy..

So the Dr said come on in as always..they are so good about that..we waited and waited..by this time I was positive she had chicken pox..She had little red spots coming up faster then I could count..when it was our turn to see the DR he said "no way..I haven't seen chicken pox in years" But sure enough he was surprised to say yes Chicken POx...

By that night she had red spots all over and it was obvious she was ITCHING...It was a blessing she didn't know to scratck..she rubbed behind her ears a little but other then that she was a little trooper..so we give her the baths every couple of hours to help..benadryl, and lots of cuddling..

The girls wrapped up some things we had gotten her for her birthday and she was happy with the paper more then anything else..It is a god thing we are celebrating her Birthday next Saturday, Because this past she would not have been good company..

Happy Birthday B..

We love you more then you will ever know!!

look at me now!!

New things are happening new things...

B is now able to get her self up on her knees and hold herself in this position for about a minute!! It takes so much effort because her trunk is so weak, but she is getting stronger daily..
And she can get herself back into setting from her belly..This is big stuff!!

Plans for the big day..

I am trying to get things together for B's party..It will be here when I turn around..The invites are all most done , just have to go print out the picture to go on one side..and having a hard time choosing..Address's on the cards, and hopefully in the mail tomorrow..

I am making her banner and something to put on the front door..pulled out some scrap book paper I have had forever!! And picked up a new stack and some ribbon to match..

Lots of sweet treats arriving soon..

Ot evaluation

This morning to our surprise, B had an evaluation in her OT session..This is something that done every 6 months and we talk about goals and progress we would like her to make..

So today we went in a room she hasn't been in before and she was very distracted..

So we closed the door and the blind in the window and that help a little..

Our OT asked B to take some block of a stand..and after a couple of tries she did with no trouble..

She asked her to put them back and she could not do this..

She showed her a toy with a string attached to it to see if she would pull the sting to pull the toy to her..no such luck..

She gave her some puffs and watched her pick these up to eat..

She asked her to give her a block to see if she would release it in her hand..

Not yet..

So after all the little test we talked and come up with we think she is functioning at about 8 months OT wise..

After OT we had speech which is going so well..B is eating and starting to feed her self with ease..and wanting to do this more..she is losing interest in the spoon fast..And no more baby food for her..she is on to way more tasty things..she is chewing great and keeping her tongue in the right position..something I had never noticed until speech..

We talked about introducing her to a cup but not one she has to suck from..just sip..which equals mess.. :)

We talked about mixing her formula with some whole milk and slowly changing over..I assumed we should keep giving her the formula for a while longer but our speech therapist said "don't hold her back" she is ready..we also talked about taking her bottle at one year.. and after thinking about this a lot and taking to Travis we have decided to wait on that..

It wasn't until last week that she really started holding her bottle on her own..I think we should not put a number on these kinds of things and watch to see when B is ready..

I look at it like you would not take a baby's bottle at 8 months so why would I consider doing this now..So many decisions..I don't want to enable her or hold her back in any way..but still want to enjoy every stage of her life..

11 months

our B is 11 months..can't believe in just a couple weeks we will be celebrating her first birthday..And we will be "CELEBRATING"..I have plans in the works..

She has made so much progress in such a short amount of time..

She is so motivated..And So Happy..Always smiling..

I love when she wakes up..She has smile before she opens her eyes..

Her spirit just shines..

she is eating so well..

Drinking small sips from a cup with help..

making progress every day feeding her self..

scooting all over the floor..faster every day

All over the house in her walker..

She can now make it go where she wants, and having so much fun getting in the trash..which has found a new home in the laundry room..ha ha..

Madison's 6th birthday

Can't believe how fast time goes sometimes and other times it just drags..

Our Madison turned 6..wow.. doesn't seem right..this past year has had me in a little fog..We have been so busy..but 6 it is..

She is the light of my life..so carefree..so messy.. so compassionate...so pays attention to every little detail..We call her our fashion police..She tells us "are you wearing that"...

She is doing so well with the school change and reading up a storm..I love to listen to her sound words out..she gets so excited..

We had a small party at home with family and a few friends..lots of laughter and good times..

We are so blessed..

"Sensory Issues"

"what" never heard of that before..I am not sure I understand it..

But needless to say we will do what ever..

So Tuesday in B's Ot session we were talking about her Really over reacting sometimes with just a small touch.. And the things I would think would make her freak out she doesn't..
Also her muscles seem to be asleep sometimes..making it hard to support her body..

Alot of this is so hard to understand..

So our Ot gave me a soft bristle brush, something like you would see doctors using to clean their hands before surgery I guess..

So the plan is to "Brush her "every two hours following with a massage to the muscles stimulated and joint compressions..
"the proprioceptive firing provides a flood of strong calming or inhibitory input to balance the effort of the brain centers that are firing so much excitatory flow" yikes..

All I could say is I will do my best..
This is a proven technique.we should be positive changes within several days..
time to brush..

call us crazy..

We had a super busy week last week with an appointment everyday..Monday B saw the opthmoligist for her 2 bi-month check..He told us he saw some progress and changed the pattern to patch her eyes due to her left eye being a little weaker..



We had ot, pt and speech all twice and had a play group we tried out Friday..

This was fun ..I think B enjoyed it..

It is so hard to label your child as special needs..I still have a hard time just saying it, but it is was it is..And our B is very special that for sure..I told Travis we were going to the play group for special needs children and he said what for, why?

speech

This is Madison's idea of speech for Bristol..and B likes this pretty good too..Sunday morning we were putting the finishing touches on lunch for after church..We were having some friends over..and Madison was licking the bowl and B was helping..Little tastes like this is why our little B is not liking baby food any more..Why eat blue berry oat when you can have home made cream cheese icing..This was Her first official day in speech therapy which is actually working on feeding..She is extending her head way too far back while feeding and we has a weak tongue..So we are doing some exercises with her every day giving her input to the muscles in her mouth, tring to just make her more aware..We still thicken her bottles with rice cereal so it doesn't choke her and she has more control..We are using the puffs to crumble in her food with every feeding to introduce her to texture..And she is doing so well with this already..We are introducing her to juice with this cup you see..it bends and is see through so we can correct her tongue if needed..she wasn't liking the way we wanted her to hold her head down while she drinks..I learned so much in this hour session ..
She is such a little trooper..usually she is happy the entire time ..

Look Who's setting up unsupported!!!

B has been setting on her own for a couple of weeks, but just started with no support..She is making wonderful progress..

And I read on another blog this morning..We are learning to celebrate

"Inch stones"..

not milestones..