Week 3

Anna completed her third and final week of her intensive therapy session.  Our life has kind of been dominated by this schedule for the month of July, but it was well worth it.  Anna met or exceeded all of her goals except one; she made some amazing progress; she made some new therapist friends and continued to endear herself to others; and she still thinks therapy is a good thing.  We have a whole list of activities and exercises that we are going to try to incorporate into daily life to help her continue to make progress.

In addition to working with many, many adults, Anna was able to play a game about once a day with another girl close in age.  This other child has cerebral palsy which includes some significant motor challenges, although she is a fun and intelligent girl.  Both girls considered playing games with each other to be a highlight of their days.  They exchanged email addresses on the last day and are looking forward to keeping in touch.  These kinds of friendships are normally built at summer camp, right?  :)

The week looked a little different for Kate and Ethan.  Since Kate didn't have summer school, we just planned to drop Anna off a few of the days and then do our own thing.  Monday the three of us did a trip to the grocery store.  Boy, Kate is fun to be around, and a big help.  She pushed her own cart with all of the produce, and escorted Ethan to the bathroom all on her own while I checked out.

Tuesday and Thursday we signed the kids up for a camp session at The Little Gym.  Since the age range included both 3 year olds and 7 year olds, we thought this would work out perfectly.  It did!  Again, Kate was a huge help with Ethan.  Tuesday was even better than Thursday because Kate's buddy from pre-school, (then kindergarten, then first grade) was also enrolled, as was his younger brother (who happens to be Ethan's buddy).  It sounded like they had a great time.

Kate enjoyed herself so much that she asked to do the camp on Friday, too, instead of Matt staying home with them.  This kid is really growing up.  Even last summer, I don't think she would have felt comfortable doing an experience like this camp.

Wednesday we tried to do our bike ride on the Capital City Trail again while Anna was in therapy.  Kate loved it, but she didn't last as long as I thought she would.  That's okay.  We'll keep working on it.  After the bike ride, we cooled off at CI and had a snack before riding our bikes over to the playground and splash pad again.  Then we came back for lunch, and (thankfully!) Ethan fell asleep on the way home.  This boy has been waking up way too early for anyone's liking and his Little Gym camps were tiring him out.

Friday was party day at CI.  All four kids who were part of July's Advance program had a celebration.  Families, siblings, therapists, and volunteers were all invited.  Anna's fun Friday activity was making blueberry muffins with her therapist in the CI kitchen.  She stood and maneuvered her way around the work space for 2 hours!  Her therapists were impressed.  The blueberry muffins were delicious; everyone was impressed.  Pizza and ice cream rounded out the party.  Ethan and Kate gave the experience a thumbs up.

In the afternoons, the girls have convinced Ethan that "playing babies" is fun for boys, too.  Anna has also spent her fair share of the summer playing trucks with him, and Kate has now taught Ethan how to play "cops and robbers".  These kids!

Side note, Kate was a little bummed that Anna wasn't going to have any more therapy this summer.  During the last day, she made friends with another sibling and was hoping to come back to play with her.  Sigh.

These last two weeks Anna hasn't wanted to play in the pool in the afternoons on weekdays; she said she'd rather save her energy for therapy.  So Ethan, Kate, and I got into a habit of swimming after dinner (on the days Matt wasn't home for dinner) while Anna finished her dinner on the patio, or colored for awhile outside.  It worked well.  That way Anna and Matt were able to have some special time together while Ethan, Kate, and I finished up.

Then on Saturday, Matt, Kate, and Ethan has some special time washing vehicles together.  It sounds like they were a big help.

Looking ahead, we have quite a few appointments coming up in the next two weeks.  I put off dentist appointments, haircuts, and doctor check-ups until after July so Anna wouldn't have to miss therapy.  Plus she has a growth hormone stimulation test, her next MRI, and the neuro-oncology appointment shortly after the MRI.  It sounds like a lot, but I'm hoping to have a bit more flexibility on the non-medical days so that we can enjoy the last month or so of summer.

And look who lost her first tooth on Saturday!  After almost three weeks of a wiggly tooth, it finally came out while she was brushing her teeth.  She is so proud!  But she wrote a special note to the tooth fairy because she doesn't want to actually have to give up her first baby tooth.  Silly Kate.

Thanks for all of your prayers during the summer therapy program.  We are already looking ahead to see how we can make it work even better for our family next summer :)