Fun Times

We have loved the beautiful weather outside the past few days in MI! On Friday and Saturday we took the kids out sledding. This time we took them down the hill between our neighbors and our house, a much bigger hill that had been melted to almost all ice. The kids LOVED it!! We took some video of Mady and Johnathan, listen to Johnathan’s big giggle at the end. The kids also participated in building their first snowman. Annabel tuckered out early and took a nice nap on mommy, very nice for both of us!


The platform swing finally came this past week so B.J. got it up on Saturday. Annabel has been loving it, as we expected (Johnathan does too, Mady is not so sure). We are hoping it will help with some of her sensory issues as well as improve balance, coordination, and strength for all three kids. Our Early On PT was working with Mady on Friday with protective movements and we realized that she is still weak in tilting her head back; that her muscles below her neck, in between shoulder blades are weaker so we have some exercises to help her, including things on the platform swing.



Yesterday Johnathan participated in a pinewood derby with our cousin Julie. They built the car together, Johnathan mostly decorating. They made it look like Lightening McQueen and it turned out so cute!! There were 11 entries in his age group and he placed 2nd! There was a tie between 2nd and 3rd so they ran 4 more heats between them and Johnathan won! He loved watching the cars racing down the tracks.



Lately we've been doing some more artsy things, playing with playdough, coloring, etc. Here's some pics from recently playing.







Annabel has been doing some new things again lately, she has started to pull herself up to a full stand in her crib, today at naps she discovered the blinds by her crib… She has also started purposefully coming to us in her walker, we ask her to come to us from across the room and she maneuvers herself around and comes over – this is a HUGE developmental thing, very important for school!

Johnathan and Mady returned to their therapies at DMC last week after having a month off. The therapists were very happy with their progression, Mady with the strength in her legs and how well she’s doing on the stairs, as well as her language; and Johnathan with his two word combinations and his matching skills. It’s always nice to get someone’s perspective on their developments who hasn’t seen them in awhile. I was able to visit the 5 day preschool room on Thursday and learned a lot about the program. I was hoping that this visit would provide a clear picture of which program Annabel should be in, unfortunately it didn’t. I need to sit down and make a pro/con list for both programs and go from there. There is a possibility that we might do a bit of both, possibly 3 days with Mady and Johnathan in the ½ day program and then 2 full days at Pathway. We have until May to figure out so we have some time yet. On March 22nd the teacher and therapists from the ECP program that Mady and Johnathan will be in are visiting the SMILE preschool session so it’ll be good to get their perspective on how she is handling the classroom and what they may mean in their program. So many things to consider…

This week Annabel will resume her aqua therapy on Tuesday nights. Johnathan will get his new orthotics tomorrow and Annabel will be casted for her new ones (her current ones are starting to cause some problems, she has outgrown them). All three will have DMC on Thursday, and Thursday afternoon we will start swim sessions at Leaps and Bounds, alternating weeks between Mady and Johnathan. It will be good for them to get used to the water with our vacations coming up, learn safety in the water, and will also be good for their muscles and development. I’m excited for them to start!

Thank you to all who participated in the March For Babies fundraiser tonight! It was a good time, seeing good friends and catching up with some old ones from college!!

I will have to upload videos later, having problems currently...