November 29, 2010

Life is Busy!

Ya so I have been slacking more and more on this whole "Letter of the Week" thing lately.

"J" week was a JOKE unless you count all the JELLO we ate. I also let him JUMP on my bed.

"K" week was even worse. But I have been doing my KEGELS! Does that count? Ha!

We have still been learning the alphabet in sign language but that is about it. We will carry on until the end because I hate to give up on something that I've already started. But we will probably try it again when I am home on maternity leave and have more time to plan things.

Right now I have absolutely no energy after getting home from work and the weekends have been so busy and they just seem to fly by. It feels like there is barely time to do the bare necessities of life, let alone anything extra.

It feels like we're not doing much at all with it, but then once in a while he surprises me with what he has remembered. On Friday, he was in the car with daddy when it wouldn't start and John had to call CAA. Then Gavin started saying "C-A-A" and signing the letters. I was so proud when John told me! :)

Our main focus over the past few weeks has been working on potty training and Gavin is doing really well! He now wears underwear throughout the day and only wears diapers during nap time and bed time. He is so funny. Any time he sees me using the washroom, he says "Good job mommy!" and claps for me.

As for his new arm, at first he was more excited about it and the first day he brought it to daycare he wore it for two hours straight! I think he was all caught up in the extra attention everyone was giving him. He still brings it every day, but only wants to wear it for a few minutes. He likes to show it off to people who haven't seen it yet, but as soon as his brief demonstration is over, he quickly pulls it off and tosses it aside. We haven't been forcing him to wear it. We are just glad he is consistently wearing it on a daily basis, even if it is for such a short time. He wasn't used to wearing anything for most of his life, so it is still a big step for him.

And the important thing is that he is getting used to having it on and he is learning how to use it. He still needs a lot of practice to fine-tune the art of picking things up and holding different objects, but he is getting the basic concept.

It has become his "mighty machine arm". John started calling it that and it stuck. Also, sometimes he makes motor noises when he's using it. And I tell him to "back it up" when he wants to release something and he will say "Beep beep beep..." like he's backing up a truck. He's such a boy!

Here he is showing me how he can hold his Tonka colouring book:


I tried to get some action shots but I'm in need of a new camera so they are really blurry. (Getting a new one for Christmas. YAY!) He was so proud of himself for holding his puck!


November 14, 2010

I is for Ice cream

"I" week was pretty non-existent. I wasn't feeling well and ended up taking a few days off work, so I guess you could say "I" was for ILL :(

Gavin cheered me up every time he asked me "Sick, mommy, sick?" in a concerned voice. And now every time I cough, he asks me, "OK, mommy, OK?" in the same voice and sometimes rubs my back. He is such a sweet boy.

We got some books from the library about INSECTS but he really wasn't into them. I did end up learning that what separates insects from other bugs is that insects have 6 legs. So spiders are not insects. INTERESTING!

We did manage to make it out for dinner one night and Gavin's kids meal came with a giant bowl of ICE CREAM!

He is carefully pouring the Smarties pieces on top of his ICE CREAM sundae!


And then digging in!


It was pretty huge and I ended up eating most of it. But I definitely didn't mind. Ice cream is one of my favourite foods of all time :)

November 11, 2010

CHAMP Photos

Another thing I love about CHAMP is how they send us a CD of pictures after each CHAMP seminar. We just got one in the mail today. Most of them I can't share because they feature other CHAMPS and there is a strict policy against that. But we got a nice family photo and without the tacky 70s backdrop this year! These were taken at the end of September at Gavin's second seminar.


Our busy little CHAMP didn't want to stand still to get his picture taken and was walking in circles!


WOW. Look how much he has grown since last year!!!!


November 10, 2010

Gavin's Body Powered Helper Arm!

Today was an exciting day! One we have been awaiting for several weeks...
Look what Gavin got today!


Its his new body powered prosthetic arm! He designed it himself by picking out the fabric (Can you tell?)

The strap goes over his right shoulder and when he makes a reaching motion or shrugs his shoulders, the hand closes! When he pulls back, the hand opens.

We debated a lot about what kind of prosthetic to get for him but we decided on this one because it is more functional than a passive and not nearly as heavy as a myoeletric. Since he's not used to wearing any sort of prosthesis, we needed something lighter to get him used to wearing something again.

He did really well with it and was already learning that when he stretches out his arm, the hand closes and he can grasp small objects. It will definitely take a lot of practice to fine tune it.

Lisa, his occupational therapist, helped him use his new hand to grip the scooter.


And he had no problem pushing the shopping cart down the hall at lightening speed! (Before he declared, "No like it mommy!" and pulled it off...)


I'm SO incredibly proud of our little guy. I'll be sure to keep you posted with how he is doing with it. For now, Lisa asked us to try to get him to wear it for about half an hour a day and work up to longer periods. She also gave us a list of activities to help him learn to use it.

He will also be bringing it to daycare tomorrow so I will need to give them a little tutorial but they are excited about getting involved.

November 8, 2010

H is for Halloween

"H" week was timed perfectly, because it just happened to fall on the week of HALLOWEEN!!

We got a few Halloween books from the library but the only one Gavin cared about was called "Jack-o-Lanterns". When it came time to carve the pumpkins we asked Gavin to choose his two favourite Jack-O-Lanterns from the book and then Grampa worked his pumpkin-carving magic.


The book had happy, sad, scary and funny faces and Gavin chose two of the funny ones. They turned out really cute!

We also went to "Boo at the Zoo" with Gramma, Grampa and Auntie. Gavin had so much fun seeing all the animals. The monkeys are definitely his favourite! We also saw a HYENA. Unfortunately the HIPPOS weren't out on display. But it was a very HAPPY day! :)


One of Gavin's current favourite books is "HUG" by Jez Alborough. Gavin loved the way Grampa read it and he couldn't get enough. He asked Grampa to read it to him over and over and over...


H is also for HENNA! On the day we went to the library they just happened to be having a celebration and one of the activities was Henna art. I have always thought Henna was really beautiful so I decided to get my HAND done.


It is supposed to last for about 2 weeks but with the amount of times I wash my hands in a day, it barely lasted a week!