After an in-depth conversation with Johnathan’s low vision consultant we decided to get him in yet last week on Tuesday to ophthalmology to have his retinas checked to make sure that nothing happened when he was kicked in the face and had fallen at home, given that he had run into a few things over the weekend. Thankfully, everything looked fine, however, at this age they are not able to get a clear view of the outside edges to verify that there hasn’t been any tearing so the plan is to bring him in again in June when Annabel sees the optometrist to check once more. Such a scary, scary thing and something he’ll have to worry about for life.
Last Thursday Annabel and Johnathan had their audiology appointment. Johnathan was able to have each individual ear tested for the first time and he did great! His hearing loss is stable so that was great news! The audiologist is going to submit for approval for him to get new hearing aids, if insurance will cover them they will be much smaller, will blend in better, and will provide him with a larger range of hearing at the higher frequencies. Annabel also did well with her testing, resulting in her falling in the normal range as we’ve previously suspected. Because Annabel is harder to test and we’d like to get a good feel for each ear individually, we are going to have an ABR done when she will be sedated for her MRI in November.
Last Friday B.J. and I met with the Early On therapists and teachers of the ECD preschool in Brighton for our planning meeting for the kids. I am happy to say that its official, all three kids will start together at Miller in the fall! Everyone was in full agreement that Annabel belongs in the 4 day classroom, this was a huge relief! Now we have 3 IEP’s this month. Mady’s was this Thursday, Johnathan’s on the 14th and Annabel’s on the 25th.
This past weekend was a busy but fun weekend! We had our friends the Krohns’ over and B.J.’s fraternity brother came to town to celebrate his 30th b-day with the guys. The guys went to a Tigers game and golfing and my friend Dani and I hung out with our 6 (soon to be 7 – her, not me) kids and took them to the farmers market in town on Saturday. Annabel had PT Saturday morning and had another great session and Mady and Johnathan had their first gymnastics class, which they did really well at! The facility has a large foam pit, which Johnathan went right in (have to watch his hearing aids in this that he doesn’t lose them, yikes!) but Mady was hesitant at first. When they went back to it at the end of class she jumped right in and went all the way across. I was very proud of her!
Over the past week and a half we’ve been fighting allergies/cold and the kids have definitely had their moments. I ended up taking Annabel to the doctor on Monday and sure enough, she has a BAD ear infection. She was started on amoxicillin and is doing much better. Mady and Johnathan have both been a lot more clingy to me, I think they’re all ready to feel better again. It has been a very tiring few days.
Tuesday night Johnathan and Annabel both had PT at Leaps and Bounds. Last week at OT Johnathan was kinesio taped to help his abdomen to provide him with more rotation, better protective reflexes, and overall core strength. His therapist was so happy with the results of the taping for him – he was like a different kid in his session last night! The plan for him is to continue taping consistently for a good month or so and then start weaning, he may not need PT long at all! Due to his great success with the taping we decided to start taping Annabel as well, so we’ll see how it impacts her, not all kids respond nearly as well as Johnathan has. I spoke with Mady’s PT at DMC and starting next week we will be taping her too. Hopefully I can learn to do this at home so it won’t have to be done during therapy for all 3!
Annabel’s PT session on Tuesday was also a great one! It started by me helping her walk from the vehicle all the way inside! That type of walking alone is getting so much better, she now rarely leans back at all when taking her steps, her posture is upright and is looking so good! We tried her in the Crocodile walker, similar concept to the Kaye except this walker has a strap around her in the front and a small backsupport. Eventually it can be stripped down just like the Kaye. Seeing her in it, these slight bit of extra supports seem to be just what she needs right now. She amazed the therapist and I in that when she wanted to walk; she grapped the handlebar with her right hand, held on and went! She has never held on like this before!! She was able to get up to a table nicely in this walker to play and in between walking she was able to stand the whole time, only slightly resting on the back support periodically. This is much better than the Miniwalk in which she was constantly leaning back to relax and sitting on the seat. With the Crocodile there is a sling we could put on if needed but it’s looking like she won’t need it. The other good thing about this one is that it folds up for travel more like the Kaye, which is more practical. We have a few others to try but right now the Crocodile is the front runner for what we’ll order. The great thing about this one is that we can use it to work on her developing a proper gait but she can also be independent with it, not requiring us to constantly be working with/supervising her and will be able to use it to get around school. She is so close to starting to take her own steps independently, you can tell that she’s thinking about it, just isn’t quite confident enough in herself yet. If she had the use of her left hand, I am sure she would already be walking. It is too bad that CHAMPs is still a few months out, I think now would be a great time to target the use of her left! We will have to do all we can at home to work on it with her. It is such an exciting time for her right now!!!
This Thursday Annabel did another new thing, for the first time she pulled herself up along the fireplace and got into sitting! The first few times she fell back down but kept trying and eventually got it! Once she figured it out she quickly went into a tall kneel and then started banging on the glass, this is exactly what Johnathan and Mady were doing about a year ago! So exciting!!
Mady and Johnathan had gymnastics again this morning. They both did really well, much better listening and following instructions this week and Mady even mastered the bear walk, and on the balance beam! The instructor also commented on her somersaults, saying that the form is far ahead typical 3 year olds, and she’s not even 3!!
Play time has become so much fun lately! Mady and Johnathan are really getting in to imaginative play and are finally able to follow directions better and Annabel is starting to catch up and is more involved. I picked up Buzz and Woody for the kids at a garage sale this week and they love them. So, we watched Toy Story last night which is the 1st movie Johnathan and Mady sat thru. We have been playing outside a lot lately with the nicer weather and it is great seeing Annabel get stronger and able to participate more, she can now ride in one of the cozy coupes, even propelling herself!
I’ve also been able to snap a few pictures of them sleeping lately (sometimes these are the best shots). The one of Johnathan is with my dad, whose sleeping too, I thought it was pretty precious.
It truly is a fun time in our house right now, granted, there are the terrible 2’s tantrums, whining, trying us, puking (I swear, no other kids puke as much as mine)etc. that we’re dealing with and can be quite overwhelming x’s 3 some days, but there are also 3x’s the laughter, hugs, kisses, and all the developments they’re doing! With Mother’s Day approaching I have been reflecting on my children and I am so proud of them and am SO honored to be their Mom!!
2 comments:
They are too cute and sounds like things are going well for you all. I love keeping updated on the kids via your blog. Hope to see you soon!!
What an exciting post! I check in on your triplets because my son has hydro and a shunt like Annabelle. I wanted to compliment you on the great job you do of nurturing hteir individual skills and strengths without making them hold back to wait on their sibling, or making the sibling that is not quite ready feel inadequate. This always comes across in your posts.
We are trying to get Randy to use a walker so that he can have more independence when we are away from home (just can't crawl everywhere). Thanks for sharing your expereinces.
Post a Comment