Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Little Harry Potter

Yes this mama finally got her butt in gear and got some glasses on his head. I say this as I got the perscription for them back in early July when I was down to see the specialist. I just didn't get too motivated as I figured my little man wouldn't keep them on his face for more than 5 seconds if that! Well of course he proved his mom wrong and now I think the poor little guy could have been seeing that much better for the past two months. Ack! Anyhow I guess I can add that too my list of little guilt trips I can give myself. So yes he does keep them on his face until of course he decides he has enough. But sometimes we can go for a good hour or more before he reaches this point. Its obvious that he does benefit from them as he is a bit more interactive and purposeful with his approach to things.
The thing I find really funny though is sometimes Alistairs ability to use his hands and arms are limited. His arms can be quite stiff and he doesn't utilize his fingers and hands like one should. BUT that being said when its time for the glasses to come off hes able to hook his little finger right under the left arm of his glasses and he just keeps pulling until they pop off! But I've always found that with Alistair if there is something specific that he wants to do with his hands he will.
We've also been taking our physio sessions with Lynn at the rehab pool in the hospital. Its lovely as the pool is like a warm bath tub. Right now there is just another mom and myself who come to the sessions. Alistair and Kale (the other boy) both seem to quite like it. Mind you Alistair has always loved the bath. If you remember thats where we headed when he had that month of what i call colicy spells. Anyhow we just spend 20-30 min helping them to interact in and with the water whether its splashing their feet and hands for them, or floating about on their tummy on a big foam mattress. Whatever we do it seems to be a good fit for Alistair and I have to say I like that we are changing it up a bit. Plus it gives me a chance to meet other moms whose kids have challenges as well.
Well these next two weeks are BUSY! Tomorrow Jason, Alistair and I are driving southeast to Yoho National Park where my friends Lise and Troy are getting married at Emerald Lake Lodge. The nice part is its taking place over a whole weekend so its like a little holiday for our family as well! Then we're going to drop in to see my Aunt Rosie and Cousin Eden and her kidlets who are all hanging out in Golden and then we'll make it home. Shortly after that Alistair and I'll pack up again to head North to Fort St John. My friends kindly holding a Meet & Greet up there for us as it makes it so much easier to have people come to you then only get to meet up with 2 or 3. So that will be fun as I haven't seen most of the people up there since I left in May 2009 when I left for Vancouver to be monitored and have Alistair. Yes thats right I never did get back "home" to FSJ after I left so it'll be a nice visit. But we aren't only going up for that we also are going up for my Aunt Val and Uncle Walts 40th anniversary. So another nice get together with family. Then we will finally come home and I will jump right into my first orientation shift at PG Emerg on Oct 5th. Yes its hard to believe but my mat leave is officially over! : ( But hey i was fortunate enough to have an extended mat leave as it didn't begin until Alistair was discharged in Sept and then i had some vacation pay saved up! So bonus for that!

Anyhow the world hear is absolutely gorgeous and golden. Hope you all can enjoy it as much as i am! Cheers Julie
PS I just had to add this picture. I so laughed when my father-in-law Rod MacMillan took off his sandals and walked into the house. Lets just say that in the summer he is one dedicated sandal wearer! LOL

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Busy Busy Busy

Three Generations of MacMillans
O my goodness one plans and plans for things and then all of a sudden all these plans have been experienced and become part of the past! All last week we got to enjoy having Grandma and Grandpa MacMillan with us. It was such a treat to have them here as they live all the way over in Nova Scotia. Good ol' Cape Bretoners! : D You could tell they enjoyed themselves and so did we. Grandma Polly couldn't get enough of Alistair and he definitley enjoyed her attention. Lots of chatting, smiles, and even the odd giggle!
Grandma MacMillan & Alistair
The last night they were here we decided to have a good ol' weiner roast. It was a nice mellow way to spend our last evening and I found out the the baby monitor will pick up all the way over at the fire pit. Its got to be a good 500 feet away from the house! We're hoping that we can make our way out East next year prior to Alistair turning two so he can still ride the jet as a freebee!
Anyhow, Friday morning we said our goodbyes to Grandma & Grandpa MacMillan and then I ran around with my head cut off getting organized to assist with our Adventure Camp weekend out at Ness Lake Bible Camp. This is the second year that the PG Deaf Children's Society has had this particular camp for the kids and what a success it was! We had a total of 37 individuals of which 16 were kids, 4 were profoundly deaf adults, and 2 adults with severe hearing loss. We had gorgoues sunny weather for most of it. Saturday was jam packed with canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, archery, ultimate frisbee, a scavenger hunt, sign language games, tons of crafts, and lots of time around the camp fire watching sign language campfire stories by Greg Warren who had us all roaring with laughter! One of our meals was out at the campfire. I had never done this before but you roast bannock on a stick. Once its cooked you pull this cylindrical bun off the stick, fill it with condiments, and then shove your weiner in it and voila you have dinner! It was definitely a fun and yummy process. But you did have to be patient cooking that bun.I had full intentions of bringing Alistair out with me but at the last minute Jason and I decided he was better off staying home with daddy for the first night. Well they ended up coming out the next day and once again we decided he should stay with dad for another night. It was actually a really good thing as it gave me the opportunity to really get to know the deaf and hard of hearing community up here in the north. So kuddos to dad as it was the first time it was just Alistair and Jason home alone together and you know at the end of the weekend Jason said "you know that was the best weekend of my whole summer!" Now thats one incredible dad! As my mom says "he's definitely a keeper!" I on the other hand had a bit of a hard time the first night going to sleep with out my little guy. Not that I was worried as I knew he was in good hands but I just didn't feel complete. I lay there thinking I should be in my glory at the moment enjoying the solitude and uninterupted sleep but alas that was not the case. I probably woke up more that first night then I do with Alistair. Anyhow to keep my mind busy I repeated all the words I learned in sign language that day. By the end of the weekend I had learnt over 50 words. There is definitely a lot of incentive to learn when there are people present who solely communicate in this language. I just love learning it! I find it amazing that even though I have a limited amount of signed words, all the people at the camp who primarily sign can still get their point across. You know I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this but its a lot like charades....and I've always loved charades! Anyhow most signs make sense to why you use your hands that particular way to interpret that word. Actually, if you want to check out a few signs go to Signing Savvy. Anyhow it really was a fantastic weekend and this camp solidified for me the reason why we have the society and the positive impact we can make.
One last bit of news before I head off to bed is that one of Alistair's little chiclets FINALLY broke through! Yep at 14 months his bottom left incisor came in. Actually it was while I was gone for the weekend....Sept 11th. Another milestone. You know I laugh as you think is he ever going to get a tooth? With everything you just wait for your kid to reach these milestones and if i'm not careful he'll be 18 and i'll have forgotten to really enjoy these days!

K time for bed...hope the fall is as gorgeous where you are as it is here! Cheers Julie

Monday, August 16, 2010

Not a Great Mix!

Yepperoosy its been a month of constipation and teething. My poor little munchkin has not been the happiest camper but hey who would be with those two things nagging at your body all the time. Luckily, we finally got the one sorted out for the most part ie constipation. However, two little chiclets keep threatening to push through his lower gums . So ya, I was just feeling the bliss of him sleeping through the night when WHAM it all got changed about again. One good thing is when we came back from Manitoba we decided to move down stairs and Alistair finally got his own room. Its great! For one, I don't wake at his every movement or random squack as I turn down the monitor so that I only hear him when he really wants his mama. So on the nights that constipation and teething weren't an issue (which are few and far between) I got some amazing sleeps. So bonus for that!I really can't believe we're at the end of August and here I haven't written at all this month. Sometimes one can say ...no news is good news! Basically thats the truth! Alistair has been doing just fine apart from the above complaints. The only problem is is he also became pretty wingy too. He's getting pretty clever actually. Mom comes in the room and the whining begins. Mom leaves the room and the whining stops and out comes the smiles! The part that has been really bugging me though is the fact that I can't do my regular physio with him as the little gaffer literally hyperextends backwards and cries his little heart out! So yes an abrupt stop came to the sitting, the weight baring on his feet, and the kneeling in crawl position. I just find it a real bummer as it was the one thing I could do to help him moving forward and progressing. Its definitely been a 3 steps forward two steps back month. But as usual Lynn at CDC helped take the pressure off my brain. She just helped me realize that I shouldn't beat myself up about this and to focus on what I can work with rather than what I can't. Sounds simple hey! Well it is once someone gives you the ok! Today we got Alistair in a very odd looking appartus that basically straps him into a standing position. He managed 15 minutes for his first go. Not his favorite thing but he was willing to tolerate it somewhat. Anyhow, we do keep seeing little bits of progress here and there. Its just that this month its all in the details! For instance, with his hands he's starting to curl his fingers around the side of his high chair and he keeps himself proped up with hands. He also seems to be following stuff with his eyes a lot better now as well. So since our physio side of things have slowed down I'm trying to put an extra effort into enhancing his hearing and vision and I think I'm seeing some positive changes. Sometimes I just wonder how much is wishful thinking and how much is actually occuring. Anyhow his vision is a far cry from what it was in February. However, he still isn't too keen to focus on the face. Mind you right when I tell people this he turns around and looks at them! You may wonder how one works with the vision. Well basically you just stimutate you kidlet with visually stimulating things that aren't too busy. Plus you always want to present them the same way. So not upside down, sideways etc. So we use a lot of colorful things and as soon as he looses interest we move onto something else. I incorporate the hearing stimulation with the vision a lot too. So using items with bells (he LOVES bells!), or squeeky toys, or toys that make noise when he touches them. Thankfully, the CDC and IDP provide a lot of great toys as a lot on the market is basically out there to entertain the parents then help the kids. Ooo some other good news is on August 9th Alistair had his last dose of phenobarb (one of his anti-seizure meds) and just the fact that I don't have to crush and mix a med everynight is a bit of a treat. It seemed to take forever to get off the med as one has to slowly decrease the dosage over time. I think it was about eight weeks ago that we started decreasing the phenobarb, so ya its been awhile. Now the goal is to see if he can handle being off the Ranitidine, which is his anti-reflux med. The pedicatrician's plan is that he will hopefully "grow out of it" and it seems to be working as he has been on the same dosage for the past 5 month or so. Would it ever be nice if he was just down to one daily med!
Well thats the gist of it! I continue to be busy with the PG Deaf Children's Society. We have our Adventure Camp out at Ness Lake here in a few weeks so thats keeping me a bit busy. Plus an instructor that works at CNC is pretty keen on working with our society to develop a new logo and website for us. So I'm pretty pumped about that. As for the soccer, the summer season is winding down. We have a couple more games to play and then hopefully I get on an indoor soccer team! As you can see we've also checked out a bit of back country and if you can believe it these lakes are all within an hour of moms farm! Kuddos to Jason for loving the back country as I had never seen this part of PG!
So ya life continues to be busy! I thought as the cooler months started to arrive my little daily planner wouldn't look as caotic but that doesn't seem to be the case! But one should just be happy that they have the opportuntiy to enjoy the caos as you know in this last month there has been a couple of people I know who have received some shocking news in regards to their health. So if you've got it....appreciate it and take care of your body as its the only one you get!
Well I had better send this on. I hope it finds you all well and I'll do my darndest to blog sooner than the last one!
TTYS Julie : D


Monday, July 26, 2010

Sun, Sand, & Sanity

O it was lovely....lets just say I was able to read a book under a tree and watch the pelicans fly overhead and sip on a cider while listening to the water lap against the beach. BRAIN BREAK CENTRAL! Ya it was good for all of us. It was a bit of a long haul for Alistair in getting there as it was about a 12 hr door to door trip with the flight and drive combined but once we got there it was so super nice. Jason's Mom and family have a 160 acer island 1/3 of the way up on the East side of Lake Winnipeg. Its gorgeous. The last town is Pine Falls and then you keep driving for another 1 1/2 hours. Gorgeous! Brian's grandfather who was Metis bought the island in 1906 but first he had to give up his native status to do so. He bought it for $10.

Just being on the water was good for the brain

One of Jason's absolute favorite things to do is go pickerel fishing or just fishing in general. So several times we went out to the channel and through in a hook. The funny thing is the very first cast I made was not exactly ideal and I started to real in and VOILA Julie caught a fish! I rarely have the patience to catch the poor things but today was my lucky day as I literally had been fishing 2 minutes! Jason was delighted as we were the only ones into eatting late that evening so we had a good big feed of it.

The weather was absolutley amazing the whole time we were there. Even when we had a 2 hr interval of dark low heavy thunder clouds roll in it was still amazing. Family across the water called to warn us that golf ball sized hail were coming but we only got a few marbles. However, the clouds were so intense we were actually ducking! We even came up with a game plan if a tornado decided to touch down as the sky was that bizzare...no joke!
When we do make it out to Loon Straits (the area where the island is) we generally try to go around the annual golf tournament. Its not your average golf tournament though as the golf balls are baseballs and the clubs are well.....

This was my team. Uncle Lester, Alistair's Auntie Shyan and myself. Lester ended up being one off of the biggest cheaters (aka winners) and I was one off of the most honest players (aka loser). Its always really good times and no we don't play 18 holes but we do play nine!

The local transportation comes in all forms......
(Jason & BJ were moving the couch to the small cabing)

and getting back from the beach
I have to add the next couple of pictures as Brain, Jason's stepdad had this beard for the past 30 years. The only time Anna had seen him without it was when they very first met! He figured the kids needed to see his cheeks! To my surprise the guy didn't have any tan lines on his face....
We tried out several looks before he went and had it all trimmed off. Good times!
It was so obvious how much Nana enjoyed having the little man about. It was great for him to be held by so many other people and just get out of our monotonus routine that we tend to get in while at home.
Nana entertaining Alistair with her musical talents
And Alistair even had his own mini violin to try out although he was not too interested!
Trying on Auntie Shyans sunglasses! : D
We celebrated our FIFTH Anniversary (WOW time flies), and Alistair and Auntie Shyans Bday
and we also all got in a ton of relaxation time......
Dad & Alistair in the gazebo watching the lake.
Auntie Shyan, Angus (the cat) & Alistair mellowing out in the 30 degree weather
Anna and her boys

Well pictures are worth a thousand words....BRAIN BREAK!