unfinished posts lol! and Oatie's huge progress

Phil is this a good team???

I tend to use my ipad these days with keyboard and rarely go to my desktop apart from syncing with itunes.

I found some unpublished/unfinished posts on my blogger on my desktop that I haven't seen for a really long time.  Anyway they're out of date now lol!

Need to ask my dear friend Phil, if this is a good team, I found this cap and have no idea! lol!

Oatie has made huge gains in self development.  He has been clean and dry day and night for over 3 weeks now!  He got his Mario Kart DS game, he was so over the moon!

WOW!!!!

So Happy he got his Mario Kart DS!

He did the Terry fox run/walk in his wheelchair (super bumpy terrain) and next year I think I'll let him take his bike, I can't lift it at the moment as it's super heavy but next year should work quite well.

New Wheels!

In the middle of October, he is riding his bike on a sponsored walk, one of my daughters has a life threatening blood disorder and the kids/we are walking to support her friend and his family.  So he will be riding his bike for the 1km distance, he is very happy to be able to join in and not be pushed...

His Sentences have come on a long way and there have been no complaints about him or his behaviour at school at all...he started to try on his antics again... and we told them to not have it and be strict with him and he stopped...  (he has a temp aide as his real aid is away on compassionate leave). so Oatie tries as any kid will do see how far they can push it/get away with stuff...

The only aspect I don't feel happy about is not being able to do Oatie's Manual ABR, he's grown rapidly recently and I can start to see bad changes in his physique... I know returning to his manual ABR will sort this all out... but I feel bad and he's complaining he's in pain and I feel bad about it...

Well if there is a positive, ABR SO DOES WORK!  he's not getting worse from not rolling him, it's because he's grown and that's when the "bad" changes happen.. All i can say is thank you ABR for your night machine as Oatie gets 10-12 hours of that a night, we restart it before we go to bed...

Oatie with his "big boy lego" we said he could have a set when he used the potty, he built the ship it took us 5 hours to do over 2 days but he did build it himself I helped him orientate the pieces and i told him what came next but he found the pieces and put them on where I showed him where they go:) I was so proud of him!

Oatie and his big boy lego!

Water Spray Park.....

First time at the spray park, we didn't go before as Oatie could't get around it, he couldn't crawl on the concrete... so none of us went.

But this year, he had his walker and so here's Oatie....

Decided to enjoy one of the last +30oC days before we enter the -30oC days lol!

Someone whom I would like to meet... fab article, I wonder if she would endorse ABR?

Oatie has been asking about Karate. His dad, big brother and Sister all do Karate and well naturally Oatie wants to go too. Each time we drive past the school, he says that's where Karate is... and now he's doing super with his potty training, he says, now I can do the potty, I can do this _____________ (whatever activity he's thinking of at the time).

So just 2 days ago he mentioned Karate.... and yes my husband immediately said... "I wonder what Sensei would say?", (it's a family that run our local centre, husband and wife and 2 sons who are all black belts.)

Well me being me, I said I'm sure he'd say YES, he would HAVE to... (I don't think Oatie is ready to do that now, but maybe in a few years...., I wouldn't write it off at all).

And then we had the cliché bit, where hubby said, "but it's all about balance and co-ordination and the very things that people with CP are challenged with", but I then said that's why it would be so good for him!

I know from my own personal experience of ice skating, that the more you skate the better your balance is... and same for riding a bike, if you haven't ridden for 10 years and get on you're a bit wobbly... but after a few mins you're a lot better and more frequent the better your balance is....

Well I know that they an immediate family member with CP, from what I have gauged from a conversation in the past.

So I said yesterday that I would be Oatie's aide for Karate, not tomorrow lol! but when we feel he's "ready"... So while I was looking up the "viability" of kids doing martial arts with CP... I found this article, might be a bit old... but I would sure love to meet this woman.

Cerebral Palsy and Martial Arts, NY Times

My Favourite quote from the article above is:
''No one expects someone with cerebral palsy to be good at martial arts, which require focus and motor control,'' Dr. Brunstrom said. ''Yet some of these children learn to take down a 6-foot-2 black belt. It really opens people's eyes to what someone with cerebral palsy can do, and it gives the kids a real sense of accomplishment.''

Still going strong now in Elmo's

Wow! Well Oatie is still going strong! He cried when the pull up's ripped, which they do by midday so today I decided to get out the Sesame street Elmo (REAL) underpants that he chose about 1 year ago!

So today he is wearing REAL Underpants, Elmo ones, he loves them and says how comfy they are and what he likes the most is how that they don't RIP! and how that they are comfortable.

His racetrack shaped chart that I drew and stuck to our magnetic board is going down a treat, his magnet is his car and each day he get closer and closer to his MarioKart game :) he is so happy, I'm so happy! Oatie is even dry at night!

So we agreed Diaper/Nappy at bed, Pull up's for school and Cotton REAL pants for home. He seems happy with that and when I'm confident that they will let Oatie get to the potty when he needs to go at School, then he can wear real pants at school too, but I'd rather he has a pull up on just in case so he doesn't suffer humiliation in front of his friends.

What's nice is that he's actually enjoying being clean and dry, and just so proud too:)

If you asked me a year ago if I thought he would be potty trained this time next year, I would have thought no...

So over 8 - 9 days of not one single accident, that I am hoping that Monday at school goes ok, it would be so sad as I think if he wets himself I think he will be devastated and very upset and yes.. on Monday he has a New Aide too! The other aide loved him which was really nice and she'll be back in 2 months. His new aide is a lady who already works at the school as a floating helper and for the time being while the other lady is having leave, she will look after Oatie. This lady like Oatie's current aide has know our daughter since she was 3 and she is really very nice too.

Such a difference being out of the preschool that was "hiring" one of their rooms to being an actual part of the school.

My eldest is coping really well with yet another change of school and really enjoying it and his new classmates some of whom he has skated with a few years back or danced with are in the same class and as it's a split class, my daughters friends from Preschool when she was in the preschool are in my eldest's class (my daughter was after the Feb cut off so ended up in the grade down), so far so good. My daughter is so glad to be back, I never thought I'd ever hear her say that but she loves the small school feel and seeing both her brothers all day around school in the hall, eating lunch with her big brother and getting to kiss her little brother in the playground on the cheek has made her so happy. Long may it continue :)

He's Still going:)

Still not wanting to jinx this... but Oatie is still on a ROLL!  Whoo hoo!

I don't want to jinx this but I thought this day would NEVER come! sorry if TMI!

Well since Oatie left the French school last year, after his "aide" shouted at him for not producing a "result" on the toilet.... (and my daughter in the next stall/cubicle overheard)....

We've had a long and very up hill road with Oatie to use the potty.

Easter came and I did stock up on those foil wrapped chocolate eggs as enticement in the end for him to just sit there for 30 seconds...

Gradually and gradually... he started to use the potty but needed constant reminder.

Then about a month ago, some days he would be dry and other he wouldn't bother... and didn't have any success with the non-peeing side....

So I set up some more tangible bribes, I've never bribed mine to do anything, actually I did bribe them to learn to swim. So this is my second bribing lol!

Well last weekend it was a huge breakthrough!

So after x days he got something he really wanted which was a DS game, and today he earned it... it wasn't available anymore so I had to go to the secondhand games shop and pay brandnew prices for it ROL (Roar of laughter!)! but he is so happy! so during the day he's in pull ups...


So for 48 hours, Oatie has been clean and dry, he wasn't at school today as last week on his first day they "accidentally" gave him a Greek yogurt, which they didn't realise was Cows milk... a parent brought it in and they never checked with me... so the poor love won't be going to school tomorrow, but with that, he will have another day hopefully of being clean and dry and I'm hoping he likes it and doesn't look back. I remind him every now and then but he suddenly gets up and says I need the potty! ! !

I've have never been so excited about a potty in my life before! He won't go at school so I am not sure how that will work out yet... especially that's where he got his phobia from.

I have to say it was ABR when I rolled his Pelvic floor for 6 months solid that gave him the function. it wasn't there before at all.... and after rolling him for 6 months he did have bladder control but didn't want to use it like he does now!

ABR is amazing and I'm feeling bad as my hours at the moment have dropped off... he still getting his bench at night but I am keen to get rolling again with him hopefully in a few weeks time.

Our local leisure centre

Annual Shutdown... 2 weeks, will they actually do what they say they will.... repair and fix the facility?

This has been like this for well over 6 weeks, this is the disabled toilet in the ladies...

Yep, that one of the shower curtains... nice eh?

We've been here 4 years and the place just gets worse and worse each year....

Like when was the last time this was wiped down?