March 2010

This month has been filled doctor appointments and bookkeeping. At the start of the month I was introduced to Diana Wade. She is one of the most amazing women I think I have ever met. She has a daughter who has downs syndrome and she is a huge advocate for NACD (National Association for Child Development). I have talked to her a lot about the possibility of Talen joining NACD and I really feel like they could help him out a ton. NACD works with the brain to restore function and I feel that this is something that Talen could really benefit from. So, I am in the process of getting him connected with that organization. We also started taking Talen to Dr. Lyman, a natural healing doctor. In the beginning I was very skeptical and knew that it would never work if I didn't have an open mind towards their methods. I didn't really see too many differences in Talen other than sleeping better at night (which I am not complaining about). After one particular session, Talen had some amazing head control and I was extremely optimistic, but as the week wore on, he declined back to where he was before. (DARN IT!!!) But I am committed to giving it a shot at least until we head up to Now I Can for our next session.
Talen also had a follow-up visit with Dr. Vaughan (ENT) to see how the tubes in his ears are doing. He said that everything looks great! We also took his wheelchair in to get adjusted and it fits so much better now.

Soccer Game

So nearly every Saturday for the next month or so is going to be spent here at the soccer field. This week, she was able to be a "runner." She did really good, but we need to teach her to be more aggressive. She has a tendency to try to line up her kick perfect before she kicks, so by the time she is ready, someone else has already kicked it away from her. But, practice makes perfect. By the end of the season I am sure she will be much more confident!

KiKi's First Soccer Game

Every day when Kennedy comes home from school I ask her what she did and who she played with. Every day she says the same thing, "I played soccer with the boys!" So, when they sent home the paper saying that Washington County was having a soccer league, of course, we signed her up. At her first game, she was the goalie for the entire game. She did a great job, but I think she thought it would be more like how it is when they play at school. At school, they just take turns trying to kick the ball into the goal, so when the real game was over, she kept saying, "I want to be a runner next time, goalie is BORING!" Sad to say, their team lost, but it was 1 to 1 until they made them do a kickoff to call the winner. I can't believe at this age they are concerned with making sure there is a winner/loser, but oh well, they had fun and that is really all that matters!

Special Needs Easter Egg Hunt

The Family2Family Network had their annual Easter Egg Hunt so we decided to take the kids. They have it set up so that there are different areas for all the kids to hunt. One field is for the kids with disabilities, one for the siblings 4 and under, one for the siblings 5 and older, and one on the pavement for the kids in wheelchairs and walkers. We got there a little early and visited with some of the other families. Kennedy got a little bored so she decided to go over to the 5 and older field to wait to be told that they could start the hunting. They decided to change it a little this time and let only one field go at a time so that those with kids in more than one field would be able to get pictures of all their children. So, they announced that they would be doing the wheelchairs and walkers first. Jay and I continued visiting since we had taken Talen out of his wheelchair. A couple minutes after the wheelchairs and walkers had started I looked over to where Kennedy was standing and she was gone. I asked Jay if he could see her and he said, "I think she is over watching the wheelchairs and walkers." So, I figured I better walk over there just in case to make sure she was there. Well, she was there all right. And her basket was completely full of eggs. I got her attention and asked why she was getting those eggs because they are for the kids in wheelchairs and walkers. She said, "Mom, I am a walker!" It was hard to be mad when she was right, she is a walker. After explaining what they meant by "walker", she gladly gave up her eggs and waited her turn for them 5 and older sibling to hunt. What a cutie pie!!!