Ok, so maybe three months is too long to go without posting on the blog. I thought I had outgrown procrastination, but I guess I was wrong. There's a bunch of stuff to catch up on .... so let's get to it!!
First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored Team Hellyer in the March of Dimes March for Babies. Even though we all didn't get to walk (I'll get to that shortly), we raised over $1200!! That was really exciting for me and it was fantastic to see how many people out there were supporting us. Unfortunately, Charlotte was unable to attend her first fundraising walk. That weekend she came down with the stomach flu and spent the night before the walk in the ER because we were a bit worried that she was dehydrated. She was fine in the end, but it was an easy decision to have her stay at home and skip out on the walk. Brian, being the martyr that he is, graciously offered to stay home with Charlotte and let me walk the 6.1 miles (convenient timing, eh? Makes you wonder if they didn't plan this whole thing out). But lucky for me Patty and Olive came along and we met up with our friends Anne, Bob and Tommy. We all had a good time and we're looking forward to next year's walk. Although, I gotta say, next year I'm getting to the front of the pack. I can't get over how SLOW people walk. I know it's not a race, but there were points where I didn't know if we were going to be finished that same day or not.
May brought a nice Mother's Day for our little clan (see pic above of the women-folk in the family). It also meant the end of my Organic Chem and Human Growth and Dev. classes, which I both aced, by the way! They were two classes that I enjoyed very much, but since I decided to take Microbiology during summer school I didn't get much of a break in between semesters. Microbiology took up most of my June, but now it's OVER and yep, you guessed it, I got an A! Wooohoooo! For the month of July I've been school-free, but in a few weeks I start Anatomy and Physiology I and Intro to Computers (nope, I can't test out of it - I guess running a software helpdesk doesn't count for computer knowledge). A&P scares me a bit - lots of memorization and we actually have to work on cadavers. I just might need a little liquid courage before class the first time we cut into one. Uggghhh!
Charlotte finally got her AFO's May and the difference in her standing and walking (supported, of course) is amazing. So much that we now refer to them as her Super Shoes. It's almost as if she's a little super-hero when she has them on. And she doesn't seem to mind them at all. Char also started her summer camp classes at the Center for Independence. There were 7 kids in her class, all with varying degrees of cp, but they all had a blast (well, maybe not the youngest one who cried the whole 5 wks, but she'll catch on eventually). The summer camp met 3 mornings a week for 2 hours each time and no matter what every morning all of the kids would walk into the classroom with either their walkers or gait trainers and they would leave the classroom walking. I love the symbolism behind that. It's great that they put such a strong focus on the goal of getting these kids to walk independently. Actually, the whole program is based on teaching kids with cp to do things on their own. Char got to experience and learn so many new things and they even taught her how to take off her own shoes and Super Shoes. This new found skill can be a bit annoying when she takes them off in the back seat of the car all the time, but it's exciting nonetheless that she can do it by herself. Summer camp ended last week with a field trip to the Shedd Aquarium downtown, complete with front row seats to the dolphin show (there definitely are some perks out there for these kids). Classes will start up again in early September and then she'll be going two mornings a week, alternating with two mornings a week at Child's Voice. I feel like I'm going to have a kindergartner on my hands here, but she's not even 2 yet!!
Feeding time hasn't really gotten much better as of late. Char's still only taking puréed foods, but I got her to put a couple Rice Krispies (Rice Bubbles) in her mouth yesterday, so maybe we're nearing a turning point. I'm currently trying to get her into a "feeding clinic" where speech therapists, nutritionists, OTs and GI doctors work together with kids in a group environment. I'm hoping that the peer pressure of seeing other kids eating might help her a bit. However, I still run into the problem that she's NEVER HUNGRY. That's so hard for me to wrap my head around. I think about eating food even after I've just finished stuffing my face at an all-you-can-eat salad bar. Charlotte is still gaining weight, albeit very slowly. She's up to a whole 19 pounds now! The good part is that she doesn't grow out of her clothes too fast and she gets good use out of them.
So, maybe eating is not her strong point, but that kid is hitting milestones like crazy! Charlotte is now a professional army crawler and can get all over the house, much to the dismay of Bart and Amy. It's wonderful to see her finally getting the chance to explore things on her own. From what I've gathered from other parents, children with c.p. tend to have delayed speech due to the low muscle tone in their faces, trunks, etc. In fact, at summer camp I didn't hear any of the other kids say anything. But not our Char. She's talking up a storm and just yesterday she said her first two-word sentence, "Bart outside". When I heard my little girl say that I got a little verklempt and said to myself, "She's gonna be just fine"!!!
Now with all that crawling comes the occasional bump and bruise. Here's a pic of Charlotte's first boo-boo (under her nose), a result of a small yoga accident. Don't let those yoga instructors fool you into thinking it's perfectly safe (just kidding)!Luckily our lives haven't been all therapy and school lately. Over Memorial Day weekend (late-May for those who don't reside in the U.S.) we drove out to Syracuse, NY to see our friends Kari, Teddy and Isabella. Yes, you read that correctly, we drove. We took the northern route through Canada on our way there and stopped at Niagara Falls for a quick peek. It was 6 a.m. when we got there and the only other people out were the joggers. It was Brian's first time seeing the Falls and we were both impressed with it's power. What we were not impressed with was the absolute insanity that is all the commercialism surrounding the Falls. And I literally mean SURROUNDING - on one side there's a Hard Rock Café, then there's a big resort with an indoor water park facing the Falls, and on the other side you've got plenty of casinos to choose from. Way to ruin one of the wonders of the world, Western Culture!! So, thank god, we were there super early and we were able to enjoy the experience without all of the chaos that probably erupts somewhere around 8 a.m. when the first bus arrives. Our visit with the Avramovs in Syracuse was fantastic - good food, good wine, good company, and Isabella and Char got along great. Unfortunately, Char and I came down with some nasty colds and we ended up having to leave early. We took the southern route back home through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. And while it was not quite as exciting as getting our passports stamped and venturing through international lands, I gotta say that Char was quite the trooper during the 14 hour drives there and back. If she cried once, then I don't even remember it. I think Brian and I complained more than she did. "Are we there yet??????" Kari, we'll definitely be back, but next time we're flying!
In June I got together with some of my gal pals from college for a long weekend of R&R in Lake Geneva, WI. Having that time away with no house to clean, no kid to watch after and no books to study was AWESOME!!! Thanks to Brian and Char for letting mommy have that time away. This was our group's 4th annual weekend getaway and each year we've gone somewhere different - Seattle, St. Louis, KC and now WI. I can't wait to see where we're going to go next year!
Around home we've been taking some trips to the zoo, hanging out in the pool and seeing some local parades. At the LaGrange Pet Parade we got to meet Hogan, a Great Dane who is just shy of being the world's tallest dog. He was sooooo sweet! Brian, can I have a Great Dane?
The answer is probably no ..... but Brian did let us get a kitten!!!! Meet, Ozzie, the newest member of our family. Ozzie was living in the neighbor's shed for a few days and after it was determined that he was either abandoned or lost we caught him and brought him over to our house of horrors. Within a week this cat managed to completely take over the place. He has absolutely no fear, the dogs stand at attention when he walks by, and Charlotte and Ozzie are now best buddies.
Brian has been keeping himself busy with his new motorcycle. A few months back he sold his motorcross bike and then just recently he bought a road bike. He finally got his motorcycle license yesterday, so I have a feeling that every spare moment Brian has will be spent on that bike. Which is fine by me - it gets good gas mileage and it keeps him out of the pubs.
I don't think I ever got around to addressing the results of the poll I had on my blog a few months back. I can't believe that "Mr. or Mrs." won as the best way for children to address adults?! I'm wishing I had a bit of demographics on the pollsters, cuz that just blows my mind away. After careful consideration I think I'm just going to have Charlotte address everyone as, "Hey, you!"
Miles left to run in 2008: 196.5
Days left in office for Bush: 181
Hillary for Veep!!!!!!
