My weekend

Check out Ashley below at physiotherapy this week.  She is really doing well with  all the balance work.   I had her standing for 4 straight seconds in her sock feet.  

My cutie pie...

Taylor is making great progress with his motor skills too.  He is on the move walks behind our kitchen stool pushing it in the kitchen. He is also cruising along the couch at record speed. 

It's finally starting to look like winter in Canada, all day and night friday it snowed, so come saturday the kids enjoyed lots of time in  the white stuff.  Damon and James headed outside around 10 am and stayed out there for a good 4 hours until they were starving for lunch.  They dug a tunnel in the snowbank with our next door neighbour and when that collapsed they turned it into a olympic bobsled run.

This was the view of the snow out our front door..

It didn't take Taylor too long to notice the snow he wanted to get out there too.

That was my call to  bundle up the little ones up and off we went to enjoy the snow with  a wagon ride around the block. 

Your never too young for SNOW ANGELS 

I've also spent some time looking through my cook books for some new recipes that Ashley might enjoy and that are calorie and nutrient packed.   I already made three new dishes Chicken a la King for dinner which didn't go over so well with Ashley perhaps because I served it at dinner hour which I find is when she is rarely interested in food.  For breakfast I  made Ham and Asparagus stratta that was a hit with Ashley. At lunch today I made Triple Corn Chowder with corn bread however  she was too tired to eat I hope she will enjoy some when she wakes.  My husband and I enjoyed it all.   

Here it is. 

Besides cooking I found some time to relax after picking up two books which look pretty interesting at the library "The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar and Midwives by Chris Bohjalian.   I've just started the The Space between us it is set in India and is quite interesting so far. Are you reading anything enjoyable?

I guess I better stop blogging and reading to tend to  the dishes after all my cooking today  and fold the laundry  there is just so much of it with 4 kids.   

   

Good news all around.....a photo story

Good news is Ashley's eating started to pick up again.   I believe her no eating phase was related to a mild ear infection and virus that was turning her off food.

I'm also happy to post that it has been one year since she began to eat!  It's almost unbelievable to me that she now finger feed herself, chews and swallows all on her own.  When she first started eating she was pretty open to eating what ever I served as long it soft and easy to manage.   However she is getting  fussier all the time. I've listed below everything that she is willing to eat.  I worry about how  limited her  diet is all the time.  How bad does it look?

• oreos  
• ritz bits crackers
• eggos
• blueberry pancakes
• oatmeal
• french toast      ...notice the breakfast theme going on here..
• peanut butter and honey toast
• brown beans
• rice
• chocolates
• grill cheese
• kraft dinner
• pasta
• banana
• blueberries, 
• french fries
• cheetos & chips
• on a good day pizza,
•  yogurt

I do offer her lots of other foods and I do cook dinner at home nightly but she barely touches it, and then I resort to carnation instant breakfast via g-tube and breakfast foods.  At the dinner hour I'd prefer her to eat the meat and veggies I'm severing but she's usually not game.  She has quite a fit if I slip some pot roast  or chicken into her mouth.  She is really not a fan of eating meat, fish or eggs Even nicely seasoned and shredded so it's easy for her chew and swallow. 

Ashley enjoying a blueberry pancake.

 However  I'm still just very thankful that she is interested  and enjoying  food. Last January I had no idea if my girl could or would ever be able to chew.  As she was round the clock tube feed from 24 months until 3 years 11 months old  and bottle feed prior to that.  So a month before her 5th birthday I realize that I'm very blessed that her food list has 20 items on it, I just hope as she grows it will get longer and include meat. 

More GOOD NEWS..

Ashley started this week attending school for full days. She has only been going morning so far this school year..  Now  I'm a driver back and forth  all day morning drop off, lunch pick up, return after lunch and final pick up at 2:30.  She arrives about ten minutes late in the morning and gets picked up twenty minutes early at the end of the day but has been staying awake and the teachers and other students tell me she not even crying. Today they had a special olympic day and she loved it. Her class when out and  played in the snow and she was giggling. More on this in coming post.. as pics are coming from school.  

Damon also had a great week, he completed a writing project on Holidays  which he presented to his class today.  His teacher told me she was so proud of him, he spoke  loud and clear and handled the questions like an expert. She was very impressed.  He even dressed for the presentation in a Canada t-shirt.

Here's my baby, baby, baby

and again because well look at that face I can't get enough

Here's the two little ones who enjoy splashing  in the water

 on the dishwasher door while I unload it, and I wonder why the dishwasher acts up. 

Damon saw me taking pictures and jumped in. 

I can't leave out this beautiful face below either who is growing up way to fast.    He started a social skills group this week and  when asked what he likes to do he stated "study".  Which they replied that very interested I don't think it's typical of the kids in this program.   I thought I better post this on my blog so I don't forget and I can remind him he enjoys studying when he enters high school.  He is referring to his interest in science, the brain  and dinosaurs not algebra but I loved his comment. I don't think that something I realized I liked well maybe ever.   He is  reading a book a day and burns through a 300 page book  in 2 or 3 days. 

 I took this picture at Blacks Photography Shop I took him shopping for a present for a friends party and dragged him to blacks so I could dream of owning the latest SLR camera.  I think  it's required equipment for blogging don't you. 

 

What's new you ask?

Ashley is trying a new walker the dymanico.  Pictured here before it was adjusted by her therapist who removed the top bar.  She is  really make it move I worry she could run over Taylor.   We are just trying it out as she has no ADP (gov't funding for a new walker) since she bought the Kaye walker last summer. But if she can figure it out the school board will order her one that she can use at school perhaps in gym and she can bring home in the summer or school breaks.

I also had to include Ashley  looking beautiful while doing PT

Just one of those phases I hope...

Ashley's been having one of those I'm not so hungry phases and it's hard to watch. She has these from times to time and at 22 pounds (which is a good weight for her) it's hard on Mommy. I want her to eat so bad. When she's not interested in eating I'm lucky if she eats two bites sometimes.  I usually resort to making many different meals hoping I find something that she may be interested in.  She usually cries a bit at meal times on these days and Mommy wants to do that to.   I try letting her watch Treehouse and hopefully sneak in a bite or two when she is distracted however by bite number three the tears come out and I have to stop.  This morning she had toast with honey she only ate  about 1/4 of a slice  followed by 6 oz milk with carnation instant breakfast.  She can usually polish off a whole slice of peanut butter toast.  At snack she ate 6 mini oreos and a slice or two of banana with 4 oz milk.  She stayed for pizza at school, but she didn't eat anything. I came home and made her another lunch yummy pasta with cream sauce, also heated some brown beans with no luck.  Going to g-tube feed her now.. i hate resorting to the g-tube meal as it's a slippery slope.  That instant breakfast may have killed her appetite for lunch and snack.   I hope she is hungry for dinner.  I'm not sure the pot roast I'm sticking in the oven now will appeal to her. Anyone have any suggestions for yummy meals Ashley might be interested in she loves anything sweet so I'll probably resort to blueberry pancakes if she doesn't take to the roasted carrots and beef tonight.

Family Day

Today is Family Day in Ontario a new holiday the government introduced a few years ago. You have to love long weekends .. my husband managed to get a new gate up at the bottom of the stairs below is a picture of Taylor and Ashley watching daddy struggle with this task.

Ashley was snacking on chetos and encouraging Daddy on..


Taylor was hands on helping checking the gate out.

Skating at Richmond Green

This weekend my husband and I took the older boys skating twice here is a little footage of the trip.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My boys

Valentine's Day

Ashley's beautiful card for Mommy and Daddy


Yummy chocolates daddy's gift for mommy he knows what I like 1.5 pounds and I ate them already.


Ashley's Arts and Crafts made at kindergarten

Taylor is pulling to a stand everywhere...and too cute too.

Ashley's Journey to walking

Here's a clip of Ashley hard at work learning to balance and walk. She works hard at this everyday and is on her way. Thanks to her determination and her very skilled physiotherapists in Cuevas Medek Exercises or CME physiotherapy.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

SuperGirl Ashley and SpongeBob by Damon

Just one of many amazing exercises Ashley did yesterday at physiotherapy she is a CME supergirl:

Sorry the video is sideways I used a new video site that didn't have any editing tools. But here it is anyways...

Ashley Caterpult from Sherry Caldwell on Vimeo.

Here's some beautiful SpongeBob artwork by Damon