Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Max reaches a milestone

and why am I blogging about it? Because after having Jake, I don't take any of the milestones for granted. One day I was at a kids' birthday party (and this was before Max was born, in fact, I wasn't even pregnant with him at the time), I over heard someone made a comment about his daughter and kids in general :" one morning you wake up, she is crawling, a few weeks later, she is walking and talking..." I remember so vividly thinking to myself :" not all of us are so lucky..." I am not saying my friend's husband was taking anything for granted, I am just explaining why it is so special for me to see Max growing and reaching his milestones naturally. Max has brought alot of joy and normalcy into our lives, and I feel much better knowing that Jake will have a brother who will love him and help him in the days ahead.

OK, back to the actual milestone, Max has been doing this for the past few days, Then this morning, he started doing this:

Then late this evening when most babies are probably sleeping, he was doing this: But of course no one actually saw the progress in motion, because i was in the shower, and my husband who was suppose to be on baby watch duty, apparently went out of the room (which I had specifically told him not to do). He only found Max at this position.

I am off to bed, I was so tired earlier that I took a 3 hour nap, a rare treat.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Holiday Greetings

Happy New Year! May all of your dreams come true!



Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Long Island Park for Special needs children

A friend of ours forwarded us this link http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/CountyExecutive/NewsRelease/2009/10-09-09.html. The article talks about Let All the Children Play Foundation (LATCPF), a not-for-profit charitable foundation that promotes inclusion of children with disabilities and their able-bodied peers is building a state-of-the-art two acre universally accessible park and playground at Eisenhower Park, East Meadow, NY. The park will offer inclusive play opportunities and challenges for all children, including adapted structures, ramps and swings, as well as accommodations for parents with disabilities, including accessible parking, washroom facilities, pathways, and seating.
For those of you who live in this area, the playground is expected to be completed by summer of 2010.

I remember it like it was yesterday one of the most painful memories I have related to dealing with Jake's disability was walking by neighborhood parks. I heard children laughing, I saw children running free like birds, and parents sitting on the benches chit chating with each other, or just looking at their children playing. But here I was, pushing a child in his stroller who was unable to walk, talk, relate to his surroundings, let alone play in the playground. I avoided walking by the parks as much as I can, but then Jake's therapists were always telling me, "take him to the park, let him watch other children play, maybe he will want to follow..." So holding back tears I took Jake to the playgrounds as often as I could. The only thing he could do at the time was sit in those baby swings, and as I pushed him on the swings, i tried my hardest to block the happy images and the sounds around me, but still, almost every single time, I walk away from the park with tears rolling down my face. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Fast forward to today, seven years later I am no longer as sensitive and I am able to take Jake to the playgrounds without having a meltdown. But still parks and playgrounds aren't my favorite places to take him because there, it is so obvious that he is different, that he is disabled, that he can't play the way his able bodied peers can...it is there I am forced to face the reality that instead of planning what college my child will go to, and dream of how many children he will have, we must plan out who will be his care giver when we can no longer care for him.

Ok, so after all of these sentimental looking back moments, I am really looking forward to this park being open. A place where children like Jake can play on adapted swings, and walk with their walkers/wheelchairs on ramps, and where parents like us can take our children to without feeling so alone.

So it is date, we will see you at the park...hopefully they don't run out of funds in the middle of the project!

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Great play date

Today one of my husband’s co-worker came over with his wife and two daughters, and it turned out to be a GREAT play date for Jake. The girls were age 2 ½ and 5, and both were a bit shy. In the past, most of the children who came in contact with Jake were either too active for him, which left him unable to keep up; or they also could not engage in group play, which made it very difficult to facilitate interactive play. But these two girls were perfect play mates for Jake - they liked table top games such as puzzles, stickers, finger painting, simply board games, which are all the things Jake is familiar with, and can participate in, AND they were so patient which allowed Jake to take his time to do his part.

The kids did a lot of activities together with parents’ help, because not only Jake needed help, the 2 ½ year old also needed some help. Particularly, they kids played the Brown bear Brown bear What Do You See board game, where the players needed to match the animal cards. Jake actually played the entire game from beginning to end with some help. He did so well waiting for his turn, and matched the cards on his own. The only thing he didn’t get is the whole idea that whomever matched all the cards first wins the game, but other than that, he did well.
They also played the Let’s Go Fish game. Again Jake surprised us by his persistence to catch the fish, and he actually did catch a few all by himself. His fine motor has really improved even beyond my expectation. But most of all, it was evident that his social skills and his desire to play in a group setting have improved significantly. The kids also did many other activities that Jake attempted to do but didn’t do too well, such as bean bag tossing, finger painting, play dough, and this other shape board game which was really quiet complicated. But all and all, we were so impressed by Jake, as he held his own and demonstrated his abilities and happy attitudes.

Go Jake! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!