Relaxation, rejuvenation, carefree, fun, spontaneous. These are the words I would use to describe what vacation means to me. This is one of the first vacations we've taken with the children that wasn't completely planned out. I've been nervous about what things would be like. How our children would behave without a consistent schedule, or bed to sleep in. Meeting lots of people for the first time although these people already love our children and can't wait to see them!
After day two I can say that things are going extremely well. The flight from Seattle to Milwaukee was a little more than four hours. We watched things out the window, had lunch, took a nap (yes, both children actually slept), listened to music, and read books.
We arrived in Milwaukee and got a rental car with a surprising amount of ease, and then it was off for a short drive. Eric brought a GPS. Although I also brought my trusty maps that I confide in when he's not looking!
We've seen Sister Evelyn (more on her later) and toured the Jelly Belly Factory! We tasted some yummy samples, and maybe some not so yummy!
Today its off to Bridget and Scott's wedding which will entail about a two hour car drive, seeing Grandma and Papa for the first time in several months and seeing my sisters and brother-in-laws as well. Its going to be a full day and hopefully tonight we'll all fall into bed exhausted and happy!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Leaving the Nest
I never thought that parenting would be easy, but I had no idea the challenges and obstacles one faces when being a Mom. Last Friday was Alexander's last day of Stepping Stones at Kindering Center. Stepping Stones is a peer model preschool. Some of the children have delays of various types (such as down syndrome, speech delay, or in Alexander's case low tone) and some of the children are typical children who are models for other students.
Lets start at the beginning. . . .
When Alexander was an infant we attended a baby class at Valley Medical Center headed up by one of the lactation nurses. It was a wonderful group of moms with their babies. We would talk about a topic of the week, but also about our struggles and challenges of being first (and sometimes second) time moms. It was here that I realized that Alexander wasn't keeping up physically with his peers. By his nine month Well Baby visit he wasn't able to do many of the physical things that were on the checklist. And so at 10 months he began Physical Therapy.
He began Physical Therapy at Valley Children's Center; however, our crazy insurance would only pay for 10 visits a year and when you're going weekly, well that's a lot of money. So we were referred to the Kindering Center (a nonprofit neurodevelopmental center that works with children with special needs from birth to age three). I was so nervous changing therapists. God has a way of just working things out. Our therapist came to our home and worked with Alexander. She brought us a walker that Alexander used when he was learning to walk. He took his first steps Thanksgiving weekend in Dallas, TX during church. Eric had taken him to the back of the chapel and he walked from a cement column to a bench. It would be another 6 weeks before he was walking unassisted.
To qualify for therapy Alexander was tested for gross and fine motor skills. During this process he was diagnosed with hypotonia (low muscle tone). Typically hypotonia is a symptom of something else. So instead of waiting for the something else to rear its ugly head we chose to get him tested. We had a genetic screen done. They look over his DNA and determine if there's any significant deletions or additions. In his case, there's a very small deletion, but at this time they don't even know what that specific gene is used for. That was a relief. Our Alexander only has Hypotonia. PRAISE GOD!
Physical Therapy worked well for a while, but there came a point in his therapy when working with a therapist and his mom at home wasn't going to cut it any longer. He had a mind of his own and he didn't want to play the silly games we wanted him to play. In September of 2010 Alexander began Stepping Stones. It was here that I really began to understand and accept that Alexander has a disability. His Stepping Stones class has a one way window that I could watch him play with his peers, interact with the teachers, and eat his snack without his knowing I was peeking in on him.
It has been fun watching him grow into his little self this year. He went from standing on the outside and observing everything and everyone very carefully to being a leader and anticipating the next thing to happen. He also came to an understanding of friends. He had two friends that he would sit by or seek out to hold hands with. It was pretty entertaining!
In the mean time, I was able to sit with other parents and talk about our children. What it means to be a parent of a special needs child, how to make life easier at home, how to help them without hindering their need for doing it themselves...it was true growing and learning experience for me as well.
And so it is time to close this chapter in our book. The Kindering Center has done us well. They have taken us into their little nest, loved on us, pushed us, stretched us, and now it is time for us to fly on our own. Alexander will always have hypotonia, but he's learned to adapt well and overcome, thanks in large part to Kindering Center.
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Lets start at the beginning. . . .
When Alexander was an infant we attended a baby class at Valley Medical Center headed up by one of the lactation nurses. It was a wonderful group of moms with their babies. We would talk about a topic of the week, but also about our struggles and challenges of being first (and sometimes second) time moms. It was here that I realized that Alexander wasn't keeping up physically with his peers. By his nine month Well Baby visit he wasn't able to do many of the physical things that were on the checklist. And so at 10 months he began Physical Therapy.
He began Physical Therapy at Valley Children's Center; however, our crazy insurance would only pay for 10 visits a year and when you're going weekly, well that's a lot of money. So we were referred to the Kindering Center (a nonprofit neurodevelopmental center that works with children with special needs from birth to age three). I was so nervous changing therapists. God has a way of just working things out. Our therapist came to our home and worked with Alexander. She brought us a walker that Alexander used when he was learning to walk. He took his first steps Thanksgiving weekend in Dallas, TX during church. Eric had taken him to the back of the chapel and he walked from a cement column to a bench. It would be another 6 weeks before he was walking unassisted.
To qualify for therapy Alexander was tested for gross and fine motor skills. During this process he was diagnosed with hypotonia (low muscle tone). Typically hypotonia is a symptom of something else. So instead of waiting for the something else to rear its ugly head we chose to get him tested. We had a genetic screen done. They look over his DNA and determine if there's any significant deletions or additions. In his case, there's a very small deletion, but at this time they don't even know what that specific gene is used for. That was a relief. Our Alexander only has Hypotonia. PRAISE GOD!
Physical Therapy worked well for a while, but there came a point in his therapy when working with a therapist and his mom at home wasn't going to cut it any longer. He had a mind of his own and he didn't want to play the silly games we wanted him to play. In September of 2010 Alexander began Stepping Stones. It was here that I really began to understand and accept that Alexander has a disability. His Stepping Stones class has a one way window that I could watch him play with his peers, interact with the teachers, and eat his snack without his knowing I was peeking in on him.
It has been fun watching him grow into his little self this year. He went from standing on the outside and observing everything and everyone very carefully to being a leader and anticipating the next thing to happen. He also came to an understanding of friends. He had two friends that he would sit by or seek out to hold hands with. It was pretty entertaining!
In the mean time, I was able to sit with other parents and talk about our children. What it means to be a parent of a special needs child, how to make life easier at home, how to help them without hindering their need for doing it themselves...it was true growing and learning experience for me as well.
And so it is time to close this chapter in our book. The Kindering Center has done us well. They have taken us into their little nest, loved on us, pushed us, stretched us, and now it is time for us to fly on our own. Alexander will always have hypotonia, but he's learned to adapt well and overcome, thanks in large part to Kindering Center.
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| Alexander using his walker. Halloween 2009 |
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| Alexander's first day of Stepping Stones. Sept 2010 |
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| Last day at Stepping Stones July 2011 |
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| Dora and Alexander reading books at the beginning of class. July 2011 |
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| Celebrating Alexander's Birthday. |
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