And here's her sign:
Camille, there's never any need to beg her for a photo. I actually have SEVERAL poses of her:
Elijah:
And the traditional, act like you love your sibling photo:
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
New School Year Has Begun
Today the kiddo's started back to school again. They were all actually looking forward to it and ready to go this morning with much anticipation of seeing their friends and seeing who's new in their classrooms. Tristin is no longer a "newbie" at the Middle School so she was much more confident heading off this year verses last. She was however not corporating with mom today to get her 1st day of school photo taken. Its a tradition for the kids to make a sign with the grade they are going into (mostly so I can remember myself) and hold it for photos the first day. So..... since she didn't want to corporate with me I'm posting her silly photo on here too...See I'll getcha back girl LOL!!!
And here's her sign:
Camille, there's never any need to beg her for a photo. I actually have SEVERAL poses of her:
Elijah:
And the traditional, act like you love your sibling photo:
And here's her sign:
Camille, there's never any need to beg her for a photo. I actually have SEVERAL poses of her:
Elijah:
And the traditional, act like you love your sibling photo:
Your Baby Can Read - Month 5
We are still keeping up the Your baby Can Read Series this summer, although I must admit we have slacked off a bit due to so much going on. Caleb in his SPICA cast, five kids at home with their own busy schedules, gardening and canning, and just everyday chaos that finds us here at home...ends up being my only excuse for this. The one new development that we tried to catch on camera and didn't manage to do too well is that I am writing words on a MagnaDoodle and the twins are signing them almost before I even have the word entirely written. I will try again to get this on video as its so darned cute. When I mentioned that we are slacking off I meant that we have not progressed to Video #4 yet. They are still watching Video #3 and doing the 1, 2, and 3 flashcard set and books as review. I went ahead and got the next series out of the box tonight and we will begin them this week with the new video and new book. Now that the all the kids are back in school and I can get back into a routine that I can control I plan on including this program into their daily routines again.
Keep checking back, keep with us here, we ARE still making progress, we ARE still totally amazed that our almost 5 year old non-verbal twins both with PDD Autism and Down Syndrome are responding so well to this program and are beginning to read even before starting kindergarten. They still have another year to learn to read. I am hopeful that their future has been changed just by one program that is teaching them in a way that we would have never thought of on our own. We have put ALOT of work into these boys over the past four years, they amaze us each and every day and they give us so much to brag about to those that didn't think they could do what they are doing. I have three older "typical" children before the twins and I can tell you they were not reading the word elephant, arms up, point or hippopotamus before they started school.
Keep checking back, keep with us here, we ARE still making progress, we ARE still totally amazed that our almost 5 year old non-verbal twins both with PDD Autism and Down Syndrome are responding so well to this program and are beginning to read even before starting kindergarten. They still have another year to learn to read. I am hopeful that their future has been changed just by one program that is teaching them in a way that we would have never thought of on our own. We have put ALOT of work into these boys over the past four years, they amaze us each and every day and they give us so much to brag about to those that didn't think they could do what they are doing. I have three older "typical" children before the twins and I can tell you they were not reading the word elephant, arms up, point or hippopotamus before they started school.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Cast Cooler - A product review
So a few weeks back I was blogging about Calebs accident and posting photos of the lil guy in his cast, when I had a nice gentleman leave a comment showing his concern for Caleb and wishing him well while in his cast. He then went onto suggest a product for me called the CastCooler. I went ahead and checked out the site with an open mind, after reading the stories and the testimonies I seriously thought this might be something I would be interested in purchasing. I was hesitant to click on the purchase button fearing the "price of medical equipment" would be to high for me to even consider buying it. I was plesantly surprised at the very low cost and decided to give it a try. BOY am I glad that I did.
Caleb is a non-verbal 4 year old child with Autism, Down Syndrome and Sensory Processing Dysfunction. I knew he was in pain or discomfort just by his actions and body language but I didn't know exactly what was going on with him. I read about the Cast Cooler and decided that it was worth a try. In all honesty I thought I was going to buy this product and never be able to even use it on Caleb as he's not much for being right near the sweeper when its running. The first time I put the cast cooler on him, I did just that. I put it on and we talked about it. The next time, I explained to him that I was going to try to help him with his boo boo. He looked confused but he permitted me to put the sweeper on the attachment. It was amazing his reaction, I was thrilled that the reviews that I read on the CastCooler site were actually happening right here in my own living room. He looked relieved, he was not scared, he had such a nice relaxed smile going on that I had to capture it with a photo. Below is his reaction:
The cast is made of a very porous material, the cast cooler and the sweeper actually circulated the air from inside the cast and provided Caleb with some relief from the itching and it kept the cotton inside dry. It also sucked the odor out and kept him smelling fresh like for the 8 weeks he kept the cast on. We the cast was cut off today I was anxious to see if it was smelly or not. It was NOT!! Other than the little bit of urine that gathered in the diaper area that could not have been helped, it just had a slight body odor scent, nothing terrible like some of the stories I've heard before.
If you or anyone you know breaks a bone in the future (I hope not) I would recommend the CastCooler!! I will be storing this away in a safe place for future use. With five children, I'm certain that one day or another we may need to use this again.
Cast Off Day!!!
8 Weeks..... 8 Weeks.... that was Caleb's (and our) entire summer.. From June 24 to August 20 he wore the "big purple cast". He sat in the stroller and on the couch for countless hours watching television, reading books, and sleeping his summer away. Since it was not really fair for the rest of us to be outdoors enjoying the pool or doing lots of activities we all pretty much stayed home and sucked up the air conditioning right along with Caleb.
Amazingly, the 8 weeks went rather fast. He had some amazing positions that totally did not look comfy to any of us at all....
But I guess when you don't have a choice you make due. Caleb was a true trooper and I would never ever ever!!! wish this on any child, but if it had to be one of my kiddo's Caleb was the one that would just go with the flow more than the others.
Today we got his SPICA cast removed. It was not a pleasant experience for an Autistic child with Down Syndrome and Sensory Processing Disorder to endure, but once the sawing was all done and the cast was removed he was actually quite exited that he could see his leg again. He was anxious to get into the car and come home. This was a photo I took in the car on the way home
Talk about dry scaly skin!!!! He kept itching it the whole way home, but I think he was doing it just hard enough to remove some of the skin, he didn't make anything bleed or anything. The GROSS GROSS thing and a recommendation I can now make to anyone traveling home with a child who just got off a very large cast in the summertime. WARNING: Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT roll down the windows to let air into the car. You will have dry skin floating all over the car, including in your hair, around your face, and out the windows.. EWWWWWW!!!
We got him home and to celebrate we had his favorite dinner of Pizza and then he got into the tub for the first time in 2 months and sat and soaked and splashed in a Mr. Bubble Bubble bath for more than an hour..
I must say, I am SHOCKED and surprised that they did not recommend physical therapy for Caleb. We were told that the healing is going to take several months and they said that sometimes physical therapists can be hard on the patients to get them back up to par quicker and she did not see any reason to make this child suffer more than he already has. She said the his fracture site is not tender or sore, however, his joints and muscles are stiff and sore. We are to give him tylenol for the next several days for pain and she said that if he's motivated to move around ( he is!!!!) then he will figure this out much like he figured out how to get around in his cast like he did. Makes sense to me. We will go back in 6 to 8 weeks for a follow up, if at that time he is still not walking to his full capabilities then we will discuss further therapies. WoW, go Caleb.. I am excited to see how things come along in the following weeks. I will say that we have been home a whole two hours at the time of this blog and he is not moving his leg hardly at all, its still straight out and in the same position it was in the cast. At one point, I think he got brave and tried to bear weight on his knees and fell to the ground crying.. just like an animal has instincts on how to heal, so is true of my boy Caleb. We shall see how he progresses and I will share it all with you.
We plan on hitting the pools next week, the last week of summer before school!!!!
Amazingly, the 8 weeks went rather fast. He had some amazing positions that totally did not look comfy to any of us at all....
Today we got his SPICA cast removed. It was not a pleasant experience for an Autistic child with Down Syndrome and Sensory Processing Disorder to endure, but once the sawing was all done and the cast was removed he was actually quite exited that he could see his leg again. He was anxious to get into the car and come home. This was a photo I took in the car on the way home
Talk about dry scaly skin!!!! He kept itching it the whole way home, but I think he was doing it just hard enough to remove some of the skin, he didn't make anything bleed or anything. The GROSS GROSS thing and a recommendation I can now make to anyone traveling home with a child who just got off a very large cast in the summertime. WARNING: Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT roll down the windows to let air into the car. You will have dry skin floating all over the car, including in your hair, around your face, and out the windows.. EWWWWWW!!!
We got him home and to celebrate we had his favorite dinner of Pizza and then he got into the tub for the first time in 2 months and sat and soaked and splashed in a Mr. Bubble Bubble bath for more than an hour..
I must say, I am SHOCKED and surprised that they did not recommend physical therapy for Caleb. We were told that the healing is going to take several months and they said that sometimes physical therapists can be hard on the patients to get them back up to par quicker and she did not see any reason to make this child suffer more than he already has. She said the his fracture site is not tender or sore, however, his joints and muscles are stiff and sore. We are to give him tylenol for the next several days for pain and she said that if he's motivated to move around ( he is!!!!) then he will figure this out much like he figured out how to get around in his cast like he did. Makes sense to me. We will go back in 6 to 8 weeks for a follow up, if at that time he is still not walking to his full capabilities then we will discuss further therapies. WoW, go Caleb.. I am excited to see how things come along in the following weeks. I will say that we have been home a whole two hours at the time of this blog and he is not moving his leg hardly at all, its still straight out and in the same position it was in the cast. At one point, I think he got brave and tried to bear weight on his knees and fell to the ground crying.. just like an animal has instincts on how to heal, so is true of my boy Caleb. We shall see how he progresses and I will share it all with you.
We plan on hitting the pools next week, the last week of summer before school!!!!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Beautiful Butterfly
Camille loves butterflies. Butterfly clothing, necklaces, school notepads.. rarely do we get the chance to find a big beautiful butterfly and enjoy it. We went away for the weekend to an amazing lodge near the Pennsylvania Grand Canyons. We wanted it to be a simple weekend with no agendas and I think we did a rather good job. Camille got to chase after and find herself a big monarch butterfly. She played with it for almost an hour before it decided to move on. Here are some photos:
Then Camille took the pretty butterfly over to meet her twin brothers. I was a little nervous about how rough they might be with it but our gentle Caleb was very interested in the butterfly:
Then she took it over to our rough houser Isaac.. that wasn't so pretty...LOL
Then Camille took the pretty butterfly over to meet her twin brothers. I was a little nervous about how rough they might be with it but our gentle Caleb was very interested in the butterfly:
Then she took it over to our rough houser Isaac.. that wasn't so pretty...LOL
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