Thursday, April 30, 2009

Matthew working hard in his bumbo

We're trying many new positions to get Matthew working on head control. He tolerates his bumbo for a very short time. Here he is working hard in it. Notice around 21 seconds into the clip where his head falls forward and he is able to lift it back up...that is something new for him

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A hard day

Today we said goodbye to our awesome OT, Jo. She's leaving us to head for sunny California. I am unbelievably sad and we are going to miss her greatly. This whole week I have been a mess of emotions, but I handled today better than I expected. We are only hoping that we can stay in contact with her and that when she ventures back to Nebraska, she stops in.

Matthew was super exhausted in this picture as he'd had a full hour and a half of therapy, and hadn't taken a nap yet.




Matthew's goodbye gift to Jo


While Jo was here, Beth (our PT) had a vendor bring out a "Kid Kart" to try. A kid kart is a pediatric type wheelchair. This will help us get Matthew in a bet position and get him more upright so he can work on head control. This made the day even harder. No matter how you try to word it, this is one of our first pieces of equipment specially designed for kids with special needs. Up till now, we haven't needed anything-but this is a reminder of Matthew's need for 'special' things and its hard, no matter how you look at it. Matthew actually loved the seat and smiled the whole time he was in it. This is just a trial seat, we're going to get to play with it for 1 week, to see how we like it. There is actually one other brand that we want to see, before we make our decision. It is called the 'Kimba' and we'll hopefully get to see that one within the next couple weeks, so we can make our decision. Here are some pictures of Matthew trying out the new seat.


Monday, April 20, 2009

Preparations

Being that today Matthew is 11 Months {where did the time go} it is time to start making preparations for the big birthday. A friend of mine had this super cute shirt for her little girl for her 1 year birthday with her name monogrammed on it. I've seen them on etsy.com and thought...I could make this myself. Well, the boughten sure are cute...but this one was made by me. I wonder if I can wait a month for him to wear it?






I'm not quite finished with it. The final step.... I will be monogramming the #1 on his bottom!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Another week

Boy, I haven't posted for a long time: and it's been an interesting couple weeks. I'm just gonna start rambling and see where I end up.

Last week, Steve found out the shop he has been temporarily renting was sold. Yes, sold. See, he is in a small part of a VERY large building that has been unoccupied for over 6 years. So the person who owns the property stated he could use it until he got a strong clientele or the building sold. Now this place, like I said, has been vacant for 6 years or so. One would think that we'd have some time in there(We were hoping for a year). Well, as luck would have it, it sold. And Steve has to get out, like immediately. So the mad rush began for Steve to find another building. Today, I am happy to say that he found a shop. The location isn't as ideal as we'd like, but the price is right and the landlord is very gracious. My dad will be here in the morning to help Steve dismantle his old shop and move over to his new location.

Easter was fairly uneventful at the Soldatke's. I worked the whole weekend; but the kids did get to hunt some eggs throughout the house Easter morning. And Matthew got to wear the cutest outfit to church..that I tried to photograph..but he was too crabby for.

Matthew has been fussy off and on for the better part of 2 weeks. Something just wasn't right, and I couldn't put my finger on it. Monday and Tuesday night we spiked fevers of 103. So Wednesday afternoon, his pediatrician wanted to see him just to make sure everything was ok. She really wasn't sure what was wrong, and with his fussiness and his fevers, she thought it would be best to send him to Children's ER to have some tests done. I am proud to say that this was the first ER visit to Children's that we were not admitted!!! Yay!! After some blood work and a thorough assessment, it was deemed a combination of a viral infection, teething and the need to have a HUGE bowel movement (which was produced shortly after a rectal temperature) Thursday he was a new man!!

Thursday we had physical therapy in the morning and then we were off to the Children's museum with my friend Jaime and here cutey nephew, Easton. I will upload pics of the event hopefully tomorrow (although I didn't get too many because Matthew screamed through most of the museum) We went out for lunch downtown and then headed home for our occupational therapist to come over.

Matthew did so good today. Not only did he have 2 therapy sessions in one day, but he tolerated OT for over an hour. We are starting to notice his vision improving because he is consistently hitting at objects and at PT he got a glimpse of his foot and grabbed at it. It's an amazing thing to watch! It's so great, I really am ecstatic about it! I bought him a ball (that I'll take pictures of ) that he absolutely loves. It's perfect for his sensory needs (and it was cheap too!) Then, his OT told me the bad (very bad)news. She put in her two weeks this week and her last day is next Friday. She's moving to California. When she told me, it felt like I'd been punched in the gut. I totally got the wind knocked out of me. I was (and am) so sad. Matthew has THE BEST occupational therapist. THE BEST. And she's helped us get where we are today. I feel like Matthew and I have connected with her so closely. Like, I catch myself saying, 'well my therapist says......{fill in the blank}' numerous times. People must think I'm getting psychotherapy or something (which I probably need) and then have to rephrase my sentence....'Matthew's therapist says...'.I am truly devastated and can't talk about it or type about it without crying. I know, it's crazy, but it's true...we'll be losing a tremendous person that comes into our home each week. I'm not quite sure what we'll do. I was already having anxiety and trying not to think about her not coming to the home and doing Matthew's therapy when he turned 3 years old (once children are three, their therapy happens in the school setting) So this was a blow I wasn't expecting. I thought I still had 2 more years. And sure, another therapist will start coming into the home each week, but it's not gonna be the same..........okay enough about that, my eyes are so swollen I can hardly read the screen.

Well, that's what we've been up to the last few weeks. Not the most positive of weeks, but our life none the less. I'll try to upload pics soon.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Writers block...

I keep thinking..I need to update on my blog... but I can't think of anything to write. Everything is going so well..not that I only blog when things are bad. :)


We really don't have any Dr. appointments this month (we just have a weight check next week) but other than that, its just therapy this month...Yay!!!


So, hopefully, this writers block lets up. Until then.. enjoy this cute pic of 2 of my babies!

Friday, April 3, 2009

New Picture...by request!


Another creation

Last week, I got some new fabric that I've been waiting for (I ordered it from a fabric co-op) and it is super cute! Matthew wears cloth diapers, so during nap time I made this for him. The outer material is waterproof (it's called PUL) and it works perfectly for leakproof diapers. Isn't it cute! I just need a few more naptimes to make more! {and a cleaning fairy so my house gets cleaned while I'm sewing and supposed to be cleaning}