Happy Halloween

 Our little Tiger and Mini Mouse seemed to know that they were all dressed up. They rolled about and enjoyed each others company with big smiles as they watched Mom and Dad slowly chew away at the chocolate bars bought for 50 odd kidlets that came to the door. Both kidlets were alot more interested in the wrapper themselves rather than the chocolate itself!

Thanks to Erin & Kelly, Francis had a fabulous costume for her first Halloween!

Therapeutic Riding

I've been meaning to get Alistair involved in the Prince George Therapeutic Riding Association and one thing always led to another. WELL fortunately Barb the president of the organization gave me a jingle and said there were four slots open to new riders. So for the next four Thurs Alistair gets to ride on a horse. It was so neato to see his delight in doing something different. We weren't sure how he'd react to it all to start with or if he'd react but he was all smiles! 

This fellow held onto Alistair as another lady led the horse around the arena. Alistair went about three times! One of the nicest things to see was his fathers delight with it all....and he doesn't get on horses!

The season is over mid November and then starts up again in May so hopefully we can get in on a regular slot. I've heard so many good things about it that it be fascinating to see what it does for Alistair. My one friends daughter started last year and she needed support just like Alistair and now she sits alone. SO who knows! I've heard wonderful thing in regards to how it benefits the kids but whatever the case its just lovely to see him enjoying something else in life.

VIDEO: Here is a cute video of Francis talking with her Dad.
CLICK HERE

Pictures of Proof

 Alistair continues to be motivated with what he learnt in Edmonton and here's the proof. Never before would Alistair have sat like this unassisted. Now I don't leave him like this as he will loose balance and fall back but just the fact he's motivated to sit this way is fabulous in my eyes.

Even the fact he  knows to put his left hand down to balance himself is great. He was doing this before but he is using his arms all the more purposefully.

Thanks to the CDC here in town Alistair has an endless amount of motivational toys. This particular one is his all time favorite at the moment. If he hits those colorful buttons the whole thing vibrates and the little convetty things fly around. He loves putting his teeth right on it and feeling the vibration...anything that vibrates at the moment he thinks is fabulous.

O and here is our little Francis looking hilariously cute. Dad combed her mop of hair all forward and she looks ready for halloween...it almost looks like a toupee.

I was thinking the breast feeding pillow was a waste of money this time as I hardly ever use it as Francis is so darn big I don't really need it. Yet, its turned out to be the perfect little support for Alistair.

O ya just being cute again!

The whole family is proud of Alistair's accomplishments.

Perhaps the copious amounts of photos of Alistair sitting is indicative of my excitement.

He continues to amaze us.

How could he not?

VIDEO: Here's Alistair...guess what he's doing....SITTING!
CLICK HERE

Heading Home thru Winter Wonderland

Heading back home to BC we got some gorgeous scenery.

Everything just looked sugar coated ...my favorite!

Actually my favorite is when spruce trees such as these are laden with wet snowman snow. It almost looks like youre looking into a cartoon the way they present themselves.

The bighorn sheep were strutten their stuff down the highway enjoy the salt left behind by the road crews.

Could it get anymore beautiful?

Well as you can see the kids were more than delighted when we finally decided to call it quits with the driving and grab a hotel in Jasper. What is it about kids and being naked? They love it!

Francis was soon off to Never Never Land

Alistair on the other hand has been eatting like crazy since the therapy and well en route one has to use some critical thinking to make things work. We love corners!

However, he did finally call it quits. One of my ingenious moves was buying a chunk of memory foam. I got it originally as I noticed Alistair was a lot more mobile on moms lush carpet. So it now lives in the middle of our living room. However, its also super convenient to roll up and slide in between the front and back seats. So its been to the beach, friends houses, stops on the side of the highway and so on. Anyhow, until now I had been using the playpen for Alistair but it just has gotten too small for him. So at Georges I should have taken a picture of his sleeping arrangement. But bascially I squished this foam into a closet so that it wrapped up the sides and then I just had to block off the end with a laundry basket and Alistair had an instant bed. So as the picture shows above we did something similar at the hotel and it worked like a charm!

I finally had to try to let Alistair stretch out in the truck. Thats the bummer with the snow I couldn't lay out the foam on the ground and give him a break. So thats what I'm hoping to beable to do with the van thats coming is make a little area that I can use to change his diaper or let him stretch out for a few minutes as we all can use a break now and then.

VIDEO: Alistair at home on his new deck....which is almost finished!
CLICK HERE

Albertan Friends & Family

 

While we were over in Alberta getting therapy for Alistair we managed to catch up with several people. It was Francis first time to meet her Great Uncle Holger and she seemed to take a liking to him! He was actually our minister for when Jason & I got married back in 2005. For a wedding present they said we had to come back to their place and collect our present as both Uncle Holger and Aunt Helga are very talented with wood work and dried flowers.

So Finally 7 years later we made it  back and remembered to collect our gift! (We have been back before but just forgot the gift collecting) I had seen one of his carousels in a picture and was hoping one still existed. It did and Francis loves it! I believe Uncle Holger said the design is from 1830. Its so unique and works beautifully.

 Aunt Helga had some yummy danish pastries for us to dig into along with some tea and coffee. We've had many a wonderful dinners in this house...fond memories!

Uncle George was pretty incredible while we were out. His two bedroom apartment was suddenly full with four extra human bodies for the week. It was good times and cosy. The kids LOVED all the attention they got.

It made our stay so much easier being able to kick our feet up between therapies.



My buddy Candace, that I went to nursing school with, made a road trip up with her little Ellie to see us. It was wonderful to catch up although way to short a visit.

Francis wasn't so sure what to make of little Ellie as I had grabbed Ellie at the door and came around the corner with her in my arms. Francis was not impressed to say the least. LOL

She soon warmed up though.....although she did remain cautious as she wasn't sure if she was being replaced.

Alistair took an interest in Ellie. I think he loved the fact she was similar in size. The funny thing is is that Ellie is 11 months and Francis was about 4.5 months at the time and when they both stood up Francis was taller! This kid of mine is growing like a weed. I'm now having to buy 12 month sleepers!

George's friends with their little kidlets came over one night for pizza. Ben thought it was pretty neat he wasn't the smallest in the room!

Well my brother definitely is a rockin Uncle. The kids couldn't get enough of him

and Francis was game for whatever was on the itinerary.

 

VIDEO: Grandma just bought the kids a helium balloon which they love....here's Francis having fun.

CLICK HERE

ABM Therapy

Mid October Mom, Alistair, Francis and I headed East to Edmonton for some trial ABM therapy. Its something that I've been looking into for some time. Actually, I've always had it in the back of my mind that I would like to try some alternative therapies with Alistair but wanted to make sure it was something that fit with my way of thinking as well as making sure it wasn't going to break the bank....Also I feel there is a lot out there to take advantage of the bleeding heart parent and wanted to make sure we also didn't go down that path. 

Anyhow, believe it or not I first heard about ABM therapy on Facebook. I'm part of several different forums on facebook where parents with higher needs kidlets communicate about there various concerns, findings, and learning curves etc... So ABM has been a hot topic lately and listening to parents testimonials on the therapy and my own research I felt it was something to pursue for Alistair.

Grandma Hedges came along which was fabulous for so many reasons but of course Francis thought it was wonderful that she could get all the hugs she required/requested

.It didn't take much to keep her entertained......well until she realized if she squawked she'd get lovin!

Alistair of course just loves the fact that Grandma gets down to his level and enjoys just being with him.

So this is Carla our ABM practitioner from Sherwood Park! For 5 days at 930am & 330pm Alistair got therapy. So what is ABM therapy you ask? It really is a non aggressive therapy for sure! Which I like. Basically they are working on making "new connections" in the brain rather than fixing the brain. So its based on the whole belief of neuroplasticity i.e. that the brain is plastic and can learn new things. They do this by working on the pelvis, ribs, spine and sternum. When I say working its really subtle. From my perspective it looks like they are massaging these areas to bring attention to them. But they are obviously doing more than massage.

There is a definite process to it all but at the same time they work with where the kid is at. So for my son I was worried he'd be all overstimmed and stressed. I was just amazed at how well he did. He had a few moments but then Carla would back off and give him some time to take it in. However, as the lessons went on I found Alistair more Carla and actually really enjoying himself with lots of animation in his face. It was neat to see. He loved Carla! So as I said they work with where the kid is at so if he wanted to be on his tummy then she worked there. She definitely had a plan but if Alistair didn't want to go with it then a different route was taken. Alistair was extremely exhausted after each session which floored me even though I was told he would be. We'd drive back to my brother George's downtown Edmonton and sometimes we couldn't get there quick enough before he'd crash. I've never seen him sleep so soundly.

There were a few key things we were to do with him one of the big ones was NOT to praise him when he did something new. Sounds odd right. Well it isn't when you hear her reasoning. When you praise the kid you take his focus off of what he's doing and during that period of time he should be solely thinking about what he has just done....why, how, what, when, where....this allows the kid to make the connections in his brain. Another big one is that the kid needs to be happy or positive as when they are irritable or angry there is no point in working with them as nothing will be learnt. Hence the fact Carla really worked with where he wanted to be. Carla made no promises, which I liked right from the start. "Each kid is different in what they take from the lessons" However, right after the first lesson Mom and I saw a lot more eye contact and for the first time ever I saw him watching t.v. He was actually looking at the screen and scanning over it. Now if any of you have been around Alistair you know he can get this vacant looking into space look. Well this and a lack of eye contact was quite common lately. Since the ABM I notice a ton more eye contact and general awareness. Mom and I went in skeptical yet open to the whole idea so when we started seeing changes we'd look at each other and go "really?!??!"

Carla did say the most common thing they see initially is an increase in awareness and that was a for definite for us. So from our set of lessons we've seen more awareness, more eye contact and he has figured out his sitting bones and was sitting up just three days after therapy. It isn't perfect and he doesn't last forever BUT he's doing it! Before this therapy it was really common for me to have him sitting up and then he'd push his butt forward to get himself in a horizontal position. Now he actually sits and leans forward on a table to play. Again he'll push back but its different and not as much. Anyhow I'm hooked. I just wish I could have Carla a little closer.

I am looking into bringing her here to Prince George in January which she is willing to do, but I need to find three more families willing to commit. So if you're someone that is interested let me know! Her rates are reasonable. The other thing I appreciated about Carla...well so much..but she too has a young daughter who has higher needs so she understands what parents like ourselves are going through as she too has taken the journey. I think it makes a difference.

 

Well I'm going to post this...I have a bunch more to post but because so much has gone on I'm going to break it up over several blogs :D Talk to you SOON!

Turkey Time



 Well turkey time came and went and we sure have alot to be thankful for. One of them being that Jason's sister and family have moved to town. It was actually their second night in their new home so I think they were a tad thankful for a meal outside of their new home in which they are working to organize.

Its such a nice time to have family move closure when the kidlets are still all little and can really enjoy the benefits of having an Aunt, Uncle and of course cousins to grow up and know well. I forsee a great deal of good wholesome family times. Love it! 

My brother George also made it out from Edmonton so it made for a nice cozy table full.

 Francis of course enjoyed all the cuddles that were being handed out.

 But enough was enough for this little lady and she decided it was time to crash.

 Dad gave her a prop after she fell asleep!

Another thing we are so thankful for is PRESCHOOL! You know I was fairly sure it wasn't going to work but I knew that I was going to do my darndest to try and make a go of it.  I just figured since his sleep schedule was in the morning, he sat up in his chair for only an hour max at a time, and my concept of what preschool was going to be like made me all think it wasn't going to work. WOW was I ever wrong. After day two I think it was, I was basically twiddling my thumbs...actually more like sitting on my hands to stay out of the road and well stop being the hands on mama. Heather, Alistair's fabulous support worker I might add, came over to me and gave me a gentle nudge saying it was ok if I wanted to leave. Well it didn't take me long to get out the door. I couldn't believe it. Still can't really. I guess I saw them dealing with a screaming child for 2 1/2 hours which wouldn't be good for anyone let alone his fellow preschoolers. I also remember the very first day seeing another little higher needs girl getting carried. I was for some reason shocked that the support workers would actually carry our kidlets about or do much lifting. So ya this mama has been in her own bubble and thankfully was proven way wrong. Actually, I think they all can teach me a thing or two ie the support workers and teachers as they obviously have had a fair amount of exposure to little peps like Alistair. Anyways its so good for this mamas brain. I get a good two hours three times a week where Francis and I can zip about and get stuff done which in turn makes this brain of mine much happier. I just don't have the weight of "stuff to do". But its not only about me LOL. As soon as I get Alistair into the CDC he starts to smile and calm. He gets in the room with the other kids and seems to be taking in his environment. He's generally happy when I pick him up and well he just has presented himself different even within our own home. I can't really put my finger on it but I think its contentment. He's finally getting stimulation that is different, fresh and new from his mundane routine that any family can get into. Not that I'm putting down our home environment but its just so nice for Alistair to get this new stimulation.....AND it warms both Jason and my heart to know he's getting lots of socialization. Just the fact that other kidlets will come and play with the toys he has in hand or solely the fact that they are around him obviously impacts him in a fabulous way.

 

I'm just so thankful to all of Alistairs "team" as without them it would be a heck of a lot more challenging for US.