Noah was invited to attend a parent and toddler swim class this week. At first it was a disaster with Noah crying knowing what the pool was from last week and knowing he was going to get wet. It took him around ten minutes to finally adjust and calm down, with me in the pool holding him the entire time. After a while he felt safe and I was even able get him to let go of the tight bear hug he had on me enough to let his legs float freely behind him.
Towards the end he even let the therapist hold him in the water and we practiced trying to loosen his stiff arms, kicking off the side of the pool and even holding his own head above water, which he did for a good minute or more before he started to get tired. I really think that warm water therapy will really benefit Noah. He gets so frustrated in his little body. He wants to do so much but has all these physical limitations. I know that his body is often very uncomfortable for him. It's hard for him to sleep at night because he can't move freely, he gets stuck in positions he can't get out of, often times this leaves him a bit restless.
We're still planning on enrolling Noah in warm water therapy and a five to ten week parent and toddler sensory class starting the beginning of September. I have thirty days to creatively figure out how to fund all of it for the next six months.
In the last week Noah's "swatting" at his bottles and spoons have increased. I genuinely believe it is his attempt at trying to hold his own bottle or spoon. He doesn't know how to flex his stiff arms so that's all he can do is just swat to try to get them. But we are so proud of all his efforts as uncoordinated and ungraceful they may be.
Noah got his special needs Britax Traveler Plus EL car seat yesterday. It is truly one big car seat. Hopefully it's going to fit in my very small SUV. The weight limit goes past a hundred pounds for a special needs child, so it will be a seat he will have for a very long time. Realistically, Chris and I both know that our "little vehicles" will not accommodate all of Noah's gear in the future. But on only one income plus all of Noah's special needs costs, finding a larger vehicle will be another difficult thing for us. But with everything we'll try to cross that bridge when we come to it, unless we find that that this car seat won't fit and then I guess that bridge might be coming sooner than we thought.
I think Noah is also making more of an effort to voice his opinions. Chris and I can't help but laugh every time we turn the vacuum on. He literally is telling off the vacuum, it's the only time we ever get to see Noah mad. But he hates that vacuum and takes every opportunity to yell at it. It's the funniest thing, and Chris and I can't stop laughing at how serious he is. We can't understand any of his words, I'd like to say it's a form of babble and that it may lead to speech later on.
We're also looking into attempting to get Noah and IPad. We've heard so many success stories from so many special needs families that have purchase the IPad for communication assistance. Unfortunately, Medicaid will not cover the cost, and even the basic model at $499.99 for us is currently out of reach. Most applications would only cost us an additional few dollars, but there is one speech application called the Proloquo2go, that would cost us around $200. Chris and I really think Noah would benefit from the IPad, and I'm hoping that we'll find an avenue to pursue that will help us be able to get him one in the near future. You can view this website that discusses the benefits and other children with special needs using the IPad at:
Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Towards the end he even let the therapist hold him in the water and we practiced trying to loosen his stiff arms, kicking off the side of the pool and even holding his own head above water, which he did for a good minute or more before he started to get tired. I really think that warm water therapy will really benefit Noah. He gets so frustrated in his little body. He wants to do so much but has all these physical limitations. I know that his body is often very uncomfortable for him. It's hard for him to sleep at night because he can't move freely, he gets stuck in positions he can't get out of, often times this leaves him a bit restless.
We're still planning on enrolling Noah in warm water therapy and a five to ten week parent and toddler sensory class starting the beginning of September. I have thirty days to creatively figure out how to fund all of it for the next six months.
In the last week Noah's "swatting" at his bottles and spoons have increased. I genuinely believe it is his attempt at trying to hold his own bottle or spoon. He doesn't know how to flex his stiff arms so that's all he can do is just swat to try to get them. But we are so proud of all his efforts as uncoordinated and ungraceful they may be.
Noah got his special needs Britax Traveler Plus EL car seat yesterday. It is truly one big car seat. Hopefully it's going to fit in my very small SUV. The weight limit goes past a hundred pounds for a special needs child, so it will be a seat he will have for a very long time. Realistically, Chris and I both know that our "little vehicles" will not accommodate all of Noah's gear in the future. But on only one income plus all of Noah's special needs costs, finding a larger vehicle will be another difficult thing for us. But with everything we'll try to cross that bridge when we come to it, unless we find that that this car seat won't fit and then I guess that bridge might be coming sooner than we thought.
I think Noah is also making more of an effort to voice his opinions. Chris and I can't help but laugh every time we turn the vacuum on. He literally is telling off the vacuum, it's the only time we ever get to see Noah mad. But he hates that vacuum and takes every opportunity to yell at it. It's the funniest thing, and Chris and I can't stop laughing at how serious he is. We can't understand any of his words, I'd like to say it's a form of babble and that it may lead to speech later on.
We're also looking into attempting to get Noah and IPad. We've heard so many success stories from so many special needs families that have purchase the IPad for communication assistance. Unfortunately, Medicaid will not cover the cost, and even the basic model at $499.99 for us is currently out of reach. Most applications would only cost us an additional few dollars, but there is one speech application called the Proloquo2go, that would cost us around $200. Chris and I really think Noah would benefit from the IPad, and I'm hoping that we'll find an avenue to pursue that will help us be able to get him one in the near future. You can view this website that discusses the benefits and other children with special needs using the IPad at:
http://www.babieswithipads.blogspot.com/
Our hopes are the Ipad could help Noah with his communication, cognition, play, and his auditory and visual motor skills. Noah because of his physical limitations cannot play like other children his age. He cannot stack toys, put them in strange tight places, hold them or throw them across the room. My mother mentioned the other day all Noah has are baby toys, no toddler boy toys, but how do you get Noah a train set or a big tractor truck when all he can do is look at it? It's a very hard thing for us. We'd love it if he was able to participate like everyone else. In our hearts we still hold the hope that someday he will.
Chris and I put wall art up by our front door to remind us always to continue to believe.
"Everyday holds a possibility of a Miracle"
Love,
Our hopes are the Ipad could help Noah with his communication, cognition, play, and his auditory and visual motor skills. Noah because of his physical limitations cannot play like other children his age. He cannot stack toys, put them in strange tight places, hold them or throw them across the room. My mother mentioned the other day all Noah has are baby toys, no toddler boy toys, but how do you get Noah a train set or a big tractor truck when all he can do is look at it? It's a very hard thing for us. We'd love it if he was able to participate like everyone else. In our hearts we still hold the hope that someday he will.
Chris and I put wall art up by our front door to remind us always to continue to believe.
"Everyday holds a possibility of a Miracle"
Love,
Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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