Thursday, September 8, 2011

Noah's AmTryke




And suddenly fall is upon us, without much of a warning. The changes however that I want to come the fastest come the slowest. The closer we inch to Noah's third birthday the more I wish we were so much closer than we are to recovering gross motor development. Patience, I try to tell myself - but it doesn't work. I still feel so restless for all I want for Noah. Noah watches Luke now with such awe. He is quite aware that this little being half his size on the floor is gunning for all the toys he cannot play with. He now recognizes he must share my time and attention with someone else. Yet he remains lovingly curious about his little brother. Luke likewise has this amazing understanding of Noah's challenges and watches me intently as I feed or carry Noah from place to place. It is such an intriguing dynamic to have two very opposite children with very different physical abilities.

I found these fantastic little swim socks for Noah that prevent his feet from blistering while standing assisted at the bottom of the pool at therapy. I tried several swim shoes without success, they were simply too heavy for him and rubbed his ankles until they were raw. It's amazing how something so simple can make my day. Swim socks - who knew? Noah's daddy also finished putting his AmTryke Adaptive Bicycle together. Noah made his official debut today in his new bike. It was unsually comforting to watch his legs move up and down as any other child would... well with the exception that his feet were strapped in to simulate regular pedaling. It's hard to believe this little bike when you look at it, is as expensive at it is. It's much like something you'd buy at Toys R Us, except with adaptive hands and feet and a special harness. Noah had a great time. We decided not to strap in his hands yet to give him an opportunity to get comfortable with the fact that his legs were now doing something different than ever before.

I'm still trying to pursue getting Noah equipment, my never-ending daily challenge. I'm trying to still get him a free-standing toilet system, although the equipment vendor isn't responding to my inquiries. The seating system of course is still a problem, and his is quickly outgrowing his infant high-chair. It would be fantastic if I could find someone to custom make something just for Noah's particular body and needs. I also have been looking into seeing if I can get Noah and adaptive velcro spoon to work with self-feeding. Each spoon, left or right handed costs nearly $30 each.

Noah's attachment for his daddy is beyond words. I mean literally nothing to Noah as soon as he sees his daddy. Poor Chris can barely even get away to mow the yard. Noah insists Chris never leaves his side. I don't know what I would do without Chris. He is the most amazing father. The two of us are giving all we have for our two little ones.

I was at Target the other day, as it seems to be the only place I can buy Noah's particular brand of diapers, and found him a Crayola - Mess-Free Finger painting Kit. It is super neat. With all of Noah's sensory issues, touching regular finger paint drives him to the moon. It causes him to gag and cry, as he is overwhelmed with the texture. The mess free is so neat, you dip a finger in a little container filled with a uncolored substance that feels a bit like lip balm and magically color appears when you touch paper. No water, no mess, no fuss, and one happy Noah. I highly recommend this for any little one with sensory problems. We plan to paint a picture for daddy soon and post in on the refrigerator for all to see.

"Dear God, Please send to me the spirit of Your peace. Then send, dear Lord, the spirit of peace from me to all the world. Amen." Marianne Williamson

Love,




Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.