And now....

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Belated Birthday Poppa!!!

I'm sorry this is a couple days late, but as you know Mommy has been VERY busy and distracted lately! I hope you had a nice day - thanks for letting me sit beside you at your birthday lunch and helping me eat all that watermelon.

Mini-Vacation

I'm sorry that I haven't updated this blog or commented on any others in a while. We decided to take our own spring break and have a mini-vacation. We travelled to Toronto where we did some shopping, some relaxing and some swimming in the hotel pool. Once again Bennett proved to be a great traveller and managed to make friends with every employee at the hotel. We just got home on Friday night and things have been hectic - more on than later. In the meantime here are some pictures from our little holiday.

Walkin' Grandma

Since it was such a nice day yesterday, Bennett decided to take Grandma for a walk. I'm glad he did it rather than me - I find she pulls way too much!



As you can see, we still have lots of snow - but it's melting!

Grateful

Overall, I would say that we have been very lucky with the medical professionals who have treated Bennett. Other than his initial pediatrician and an incredibly arrogant AFO guy, our experiences have been very positive.

Bennett is currently receiving treatment from a physiotherapist, speech therapist and occupational therapist. How great is it that we like and respect all three of these people? I believe that they really want to help Bennett and care about his progress.

Barbara from TherExtras will appreciate this story I think. Bennett goes to daycare for two mornings a week. As part of his treatment, the therapists visit the daycare to address any concerns and to help make sure that the environment is accessible. When Bennett recently moved rooms it became apparent that his feet no longer touched the floor when seated at the table. As Barbara has pointed out in her blog on many occasions, it is important for everyone to have proper posture when seated. There were no loaner chairs available so to remedy this situation our occupational therapist came out to the daycare and built the chair you see in the picture above. It took her over an hour but it does the trick. Bennett is set but unfortunately, all the other kids are still sitting in chairs that leave their legs dangling.

I try to thank our therapists on a regular basis and let them know that I appreciate their work. I really am very grateful for what they do. The picture above is just one example of their dedication.

King of the Potty

Before anyone gets too excited, I have to admit that the King of the Potty is not Bennett. As the title is not Queen of the Potty, it is not me either. That leaves Jim. Yes, I must give credit where credit is due - Jim is indeed King of the Potty.

Our potty training efforts to date have been half hearted at best. We'll keep trying but frankly I'm not expecting to complete this process for quite some time. Part of the problem is Bennett's reaction whenever I get him to sit on the potty. He thinks it's the funniest game ever. He sits down, then he stands up - he sits down, then he stands up - then he decides to go for a walk - then he sits down, then he stands up. The entire time he is laughing at me. Now some of you might think that I'm taking his mocking of me personally and that he's not really "laughing at me" but rather just laughing. Well, I beg to differ - I have no doubt that my son is laughing AT me and my feeble, pathetic attempts at potty training.

On the other hand, it seems like every time Jim has him sit on the potty, he pees! Just like that - he sits, he tucks, he pees and then they party. I come in after the fact for clean-up duty, empty the bowl and sweep up the confetti and the balloons - forever, relegated to the sidelines.

I just don't get it I guess but I have to hand it to Jim. Without a doubt, he's King of the Potty in our house!

Calling Grandpa

Bennett is liking the phone lately. Tonight he decided to call Grandpa...

And a bonus picture from the weekend when Bennett went out to help Daddy barbeque - something we insist on using all year long!

I promise that I'll have a more serious post up soon. In the meantime though, how cute is that hat!!!

Clean Sweep

Seriously, why is it so easy to get a 2 year to do this but I can't seem to get a 37 year old man (who will remain nameless, but I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about) to even touch the thing?

Bennett is so good that I don't even need to explain to him why it is important to sweep UNDER things too!

Happy Birthday Mummu!

I don't know if you still read this Mummu but I wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday! I hope you had a nice day with lots of rest because I'm comin' over!!!

Love, Bennett

Oh Yeah - Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

Happy Birthday to my Grandpa and my best friend! I hope you enjoyed spending the day with me even though I'm feeling a bit under the weather...

Love Bennett...I think you'll have to clean your glasses again!

School Days

Bennett has just completed his first month of a program offered by our local Children's Treatment Centre. It's called Junior PATH - I forget what the letters stand for - something about assessment and therapy. It's a great opportunity for Bennett and one that we are very excited about.

So what is it? It is two mornings a week - 3 hours each day. Bennett goes to a classroom with 4 other children, all of who need a bit of extra help in various areas. While there he gets treatment from a physiotherapist, occupational therapist and a speech therapist. There is also a teacher present as well as the odd student and/or volunteer. All of his therapy goals are incorporated into their activities. It is a fantastic program and we have noticed improvements already. He will continue for this semester - until the end of June.

The other day I stayed for the entire morning as I had to be present for an assessment that I will be blogging about soon. It was fun to watch him interact with the other kids and participate in all the activities - circle time, finger painting, snack time, clean-up, etc. While the kids were fingerpainting rainbows, there were 3 kids and 7 adults present around the table. Somehow, even with that amazing ratio, Bennett still managed to eat paint! I guess he was still hungry...