Just Another Manic Monday

Mondays are Sophia's therapy days.  They are typically pretty hectic days with our house serving as a hub for therapists coming and going.  Here's a glimpse at what today held...

1 am      -  Sophia wakes up for a feeding, then I put her back to sleep
3:30 am -  Up for another feeding, I attribute this to the fact that she is teething, I put her back to sleep
3:45 am -  She is still awake so Rusty gets up to give her Ibuprofen, I'm pretty tired so I let him handle  this one
7 am      -  Drew wakes up and wants to watch cartoons, Sophia follows suit
7:30 am -  I've gotten dressed, now it is time to get the kids dressed, fed and medication administered
8:35 am -  Everyone is dressed and ready to go, Sophia & I take Drew to school
9:30 am -  Vision therapist & mobility specialist are here - We work on getting Sophia to reach for things just beyond her arms length.  She is sitting independently now and we are wanting to encourage her to start crawling. 
10:30 am-  Mommy's counselor is here.  We talk about warm fuzzy things and the not so warm fuzzy things.
11:30 am-  Mommy's counselor leaves and it is time for us to go pick up Daddy for his Birthday Lunch
1:00 pm  -  Back at our house, I feed Sophia and put her down for a nap
2:30 pm  -  Sophia's physical therapist is supposed to be here, but she is running late...
3:05 pm  -  Sophia's PT shows up.  We work on getting Sophia comfortable with the way her body needs to move to start crawling.  She does not like this at all.
3:50 pm  -  We leave our house to head to Mommy's chiropractor. 
4:00 pm  -  Mommy's chiropractor is running late...everyone is running late today
4:15 pm  -  We see Mommy's chiropractor & Mommy feels so much better afterwards
4:38 pm  -  Back at our house.  Sophia's Occupational Therapist is here.  We work on getting her to sit in a side sitting position.  Yet again, she doesn't like this.  Towards the end of therapy she is getting very frustrated and tired.  Lots of tears and cuddling.
5:30 pm  -  Sophia's OT left her keys in her car - so she is waiting for her son to bring her keys
7:00 pm  -  Daddy gets home right as Sophia's OT is leaving.
7:20 pm  -  We all go pick up Drew from school.  Mommy has not had time to go to the grocery store today so we also have to go pick up dinner on the way home.
8:30 pm  -  Back at home.  Mommy & Daddy eat dinner while Drew watches cartoons and plays with Sophia's therapy toys.  Sophia is fast asleep after a full day of therapy.
9:00 pm  -  Just finished giving Drew a bath, Mommy & Daddy give Drew his medicine, brush his teeth, say nighttime prayers and tuck him in.
9:10 pm  -  Mommy & Daddy finally have a moment to talk.  Mommy types away on Sophia's blog while listening to Daddy.
11ish      -  Mommy & Daddy go to sleep, at least for a few hours. 

Beeping Easter Egg Hunt

Ever heard of a Beeping Easter Egg Hunt?  Well, neither had we. However, that all changed on April 21st when we got to experience one first hand.  Sophia's vision teacher told us about this mystical egg hunt that the vision services department of DISD puts on.  Instead of a traditional egg hunt where the kids all line up and start running after eggs when someone says "go", a beeping egg hunt is exactly what it sounds like, beeping eggs.  The organizers scatter eggs that beep around a big open area and right next to the beeping eggs is a basket full of candy.  The kids use the beeping sound to locate the eggs.  When they reach an egg they pick up a piece of candy from the basket and continue on to the next beeping egg, making sure to leave the eggs for the next child.  Of course Sophia is a little young to participate in the egg hunt, but it sure was cute to see all the other kids getting their candy.  Not to mention give us something to look forward to in the years to come.

Beeping Easter Egg

In addition to a Beeping Easter Egg Hunt, we were able to enjoy a morning full of activities with other visually impaired children and their parents.  Sophia was particularly fond of the petting zoo.  A local petting zoo that has therapy certified animals came to allow the kids to have sensory input through tactile stimuli.   They had lots of different animals for the kids to touch, baby rabbits, baby chicks, a snake, and a lizard.  Then they also had bigger animals, a couple goats, a sheep, a pig, a dog, and an enormous rabbit.  I'm pretty sure that the animals weren't expecting such a petite little girl to have so much strength.  She grabbed and held on to them like her life depended on it.  First, one of the baby chicks almost lost a tail.  Then the enormous rabbit became a little less furry on one side.  And to top it all off, much to my dismay, she really enjoyed touching both the snake and lizard, yuck, yuck, yuck!Despite Sophia's tendency towards animal cruelty, it was so amazing to see her interacting with the animals.  Sophia typically keeps her hands balled up when she is touching something new for the first couple of times, but with the animals she touched them all with fully open palms and was so excited to feel their different textures.  I was so blown away by her interaction.  Maybe as she gets a little bit older we can put her in pet therapy or horse therapy.  Who knows...

Sophia's bunny ears

Sophia & the goat

 

Sophia & Papa

At the Beeping Easter Egg Hunt we were lucky enough to meet some other babies and their parents who also had visual impairments.  I'll be honest, I didn't know what to expect.  I thought there would be lots of little elementary school kids and younger, walking and maybe running around with their white canes.  But I was surprised to see that the majority of the kids there had multiple issues, just like Sophia.  They didn't just have issues with their vision, they also had other medical issues including physical or cognitive delays.  There were at least 3 other kids who had microcephaly and I spoke to each of their moms.  It was so nice to speak to a parent who knows what we are going through.  While I know that there are other parents out there who have special needs children, I don't personally know any of them.  I take care of people with needs all the time at work, but they are adults, not children.  So it was a nice bonus to be able to connect with other parents who have some insight into a part of what we are going through. 

Needless to say, the Beeping Easter Egg Hunt was a huge hit for both Mommy & Sophia.

Sophia & the enormous bunny

Sophia, Namaw, Mommy & Papa