Have you ever shown Aviana an iPad?
I have tried to use our iPad with her on several occasions. Part of her newer program is to read Kindle books, so I do that. She is sometimes very interested in looking at pictures and videos on it, but not much in the way of touching the screen. My dad has looked up various apps he thought would be beneficial for her, and I have taken some of your advice on here, but unfortunately many of them are much more involved then Aviana can be.
Aviana is very interested in my phone though. Last week we were sitting on a couch at the mall waiting for Dave. She was sitting on my lap and I started to play my turn on Scrabble. She began moving her arm. At first I acted like I wasn't paying attention to her because I wanted her to continue. She kept reaching, closer and closer, to the phone. I then asked her to help me play the game. I told her to touch the letters and put them on the board. She reached and reached and finally her hand was touching the home button of the phone. I told her how great that was, but if she could move her hand to the Scrabble board. She backed her hand up, and then pushed it forward and onto the board. I was so proud of her. I have Scrabble on my iPad, so I am going to open it and see what she does ;O)
Why does Aviana need to lay on the floor so much?
I was going to type out the entire reason, but then remembered I had a post about it = )
http://avianareese.blogspot.com/2010/01/upside-down.html
Have you considered putting Aviana in school?
Before we went to The Institute for the first time in December of 2009, I toured the Special Education class of our local school. I completed the mountain of paperwork and was thinking of putting her in 1-2 days a week. I completely changed my mind in light of the Institute program. I am now reconsidering and thinking of letting her go for a few days. I am going to see if we get any progress from her modified program here at home first though, and then if the results are still few, I will move forward with school. I am thinking I will still give her program 6-12 months.
I am already fearing the day. It is going to be truly bittersweet. Sweet for her, bitter for me. Aviana will probably speak her first words and have her first real smile that day. I can see it now....I am a wet ball of tears and she is waving goodbye with a big, bright smile on her face. As I am about to turn my tear soaked face away, I hear that old familiar, sweet voice, "Bye, Mommy." I will walk away thinking....sheeesh, all this time, and all I had to do was give her a break from me and put her in school!
Are you going to start hippotherapy?
I called and spoke with them and then printed another mountain of paperwork. I have yet to fill it all out and start. I was unsure of my unintentional hesitation, but then as I was speaking to my uncle it all came out. I feel I have an Institute hangover. We went 1000% for so long, that I am feeling like I need to relax a little with the modified program before diving right into more. It's also starting to rain, and as much as I love the rain, I don't like transporting Aviana back and forth.
I also have so much going on with all the different entities that are involved with having a brain injured child. Keeping them all straight and in a forward motion is a full time job in itself. Sometimes the new and next form of therapy is the very last thing I want to think about.
Lately, I just want to relax and enjoy life a little ~ oh, and make pie.
How is your relationship with your husband?
Thankfully, I have a great relationship with my husband. We have always had the same views of raising children, before and after the accident. We pretty much agree on everything we do with Aviana and which way to go. We go easy on each other and always respect each others opinions and decisions. We are cognizant of the need for one another to go out, and have fun as individuals too. Being married to him is one of the easiest and most enjoyable things in my life. We are a united front in everything we do and try to make the best of our situation. Above all, we laugh always. Although there is a lot of sadness in our lives, and although I dump it all out here, with Dave and I, there are always good times. That fun of course includes Aviana, but mostly Rainey. We have a funny approach to this whole thing and it tends to be a super sick and dry sense of humor. Sometimes I imagine being a fly on our wall and hearing some of the things that come out of our mouths. My friend Jen taught me the saying, "You better laugh or you'll cry" and I live it, for sure ;o)
This is all very interesting to me, because our first year of marriage, (you know when you are supposed to be loving newlyweds) was an all out World War 3.
Have you thought about adopting another child?
No. Just no :o) We do not want to adopt anymore children. I do see many more dogs in our future though :o) Aviana is quite enough for us. We know ourselves well, and are both just not interested in that journey again.
Did you happen to watch Oprah's Lifeclass this week with Gary Zukov and the story of Baby Ryan?
Yes, I did and at first I didn't think it pertained to me, but later realized it did. I internalized every word and have carried it with me ever since. Lifeclass has helped me so much and I am thankful for it!
No Halloween Pie?
Not exactly on Halloween, but we did make this last night...actually we made two! Our pies come in pairs : )
Does Rainey have a best friend?
Okay, guilty as charged. No one asked this question, but I thought you might like to know. Rainey does have a best friend and his name is Oski. Our neighbors got this little pup a few months ago and he is adorable. Rainey and he have been best friends since and play often. Rainey is always peeking over the fence to see if he is there. When he is, she wags her tails so hard her entire butt shakes. They both cry and Oski is a hound dog so he sometimes howls.
Rainey peeks over the fence all day long, but one day this happened....
Our neighbor lifted his puppy up to see Rainey and all was right in the world!
~ Happy Friday All ~
To whoever asked about your and Dave's relationship, I can attest that it is great. Although I only had lunch with you guys and were only together a few hours, I've talked to you on the phone and again, your relationship is amazing. There are few people who have what you guys have and I'm so glad because I can only imagine that this would be just that much harder if your marriage wasn't strong. Again, I think you guys are just great. So much obvious love and respect between the two of you.
ReplyDeleteI just had to say that :)
Oh, and you do have a super cool, dry, dark, sense of humor.
Those puppy kisses are pretty darn cute. :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad Rainey has a BFF!
ReplyDeleteI can attest to your relationship/marriage too! What you've got REALLY REALLY works....
Thanks for the update/answers to the questions that I would've asked....had I thought of them :) ...I did actually think about the iPad....every time I use mine I wondered....
Thanks for the answers to the questions, especially the ones I asked. ;)
ReplyDeleteOne of my spec ed teachers that works with visually impaired babies (0-3) has some cool Aps on her iPad that the kids can use. If you're interested, I can ask her for the names.
I'm trying to diet and those pies look heavenly. I need to step away.
XOXO
Dixie
We have a xylophone app and a fireworks app that requires very little effort. School has been amazing for Christian. I underestimated the influence of other little people.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Tell Avianna to hit me up on words with friends. ;-)
That is so cute, how they picked up Oski see Rainey over the fence. I bet Rainey was a bit confused at first. :)
ReplyDeleteLove me some rainey. :) and hooray for happy, strong marriages in tough times. I have that as well. Thank goodness for it. Take care :)
ReplyDeleteM