Inspiring.

Thanks so much to everyone for their warm wishes on our big news. It is exciting. And daunting. And has been pretty much dominating my life  for the past 2 months as I’ve been so unwell.

I can’t tell you how relieved I am that the morning sickness is now easing. Not fun.

Hopefully I’ll be back to blogging more frequently.

For today, a quick post -a link to an article about a truly inspiring Australian.

And from him – paralympian Kurt Fearnley – who is soon going to crawl the Kokoda track – this is the quote of the week:

In February, he visited a refugee camp to speak about life with a disability. He spoke of his family and how important it was to encourage a child to believe.

“If they get their kids to feel confident, anything can happen, they can do absolutely anything on the planet and to see these mums’ and dads’ eyes open and then start crying, it was incredible.”

OGOL IS COMING!!!

So, I bet you’re wondering. WHO is Ogol?

I won’t leave you in any suspense.

THIS is Ogol:

Ogol is the much wanted FINAL member of our family, who is currently living it up in my tum and who has been giving me the worst morning sickness I could have imagined.

Why Ogol? Well, you can thank BC for that.

Because I have had such terrible morning sickness, I didn’t wait to tell BC that I was pregnant. I had to be able to explain why mum couldn’t play, why mum wouldn’t take him to the park, why mum was lying on the couch, or in bed AGAIN. OR why mum was throwing up in the kitchen sink (sad, but true)….

I told Bean too, but he’s not that interested. If it’s not a Wiggle, or a Clue (as in Blues Clues), if he can’t draw on it or climb on it, well then he’s just not that fussed – I am sure things will be different when the baby is here!

BC named the baby Ogol. I don’t know why. But it’s cute. And it’s stuck.

He asks me at least once a day “How’s Ogol?” and he was thrilled to see the photo above that I just brought home an hour ago following my 12 week scan – which in fact turned out to be an 11 week and 4 day scan as my dates were a little out.

I was very nervous about the scan. Terribly worried that given the horrible morning sickness I’ve been having (which I didn’t experience at ALL with the two boys) that maybe I was having twins. Or triplets. Or Octuplets! Or Or…..

Suffice to say there was a loud, audible sigh of relief from me when the sonographer could quickly confirm that there was indeed, just one little heart beat racing in there.

And racing it was. In perfect range for his/her age. Everything else was also in perfect order. She even gave Ogol’s brain an extra look over after I told her I had a child with CP.

But what a wriggler! Ogol barely stayed still the whole time of the scan. A mini acrobat in action. It was amazing to see.

We need to wait 3 days for the ‘official’ scan results, but the sonographer assured me that if she’d seen anything untoward today, she would have informed me.

So. There you go. Ogol is coming. We are thrilled, excited but also, just a little bit terrified. Baby no 3 will definitely complete our family, but he/she will also keep us very, very busy!!! .

Excited!

One of the things that excites me when I think about BC’s future is the part technology will be able to play. It excites me that with so many developments taking place RIGHT NOW,  in the future there will be more and more great products and innovations that will make life easier for my lovely boy.

Most recently, I have been thrilled to learn about a new AAC (Augmentative and alternative communication) application available on the iPhone.  It’s called Proloquo2Go. Thanks to Gina from InkyEd for telling me about it!

At the moment, BC has a ‘Dynovox Minimo’ that looks like this:

It’s big. It’s heavy. It’s clunky. And it’s not particularly reliable. We have had several programming and other errors with it and to be honest, we just don’t use it that much.

It’s true that it’s an outdated model, and the newer Dynovox  devices are lighter, more reliable and more technologically advanced. BUT they also have price tags to match. Around AUD $7,000  last time I looked. Hhhmm.

So naturally, I have been very excited about THIS new iPhone application. I LOVE the idea that in the future, BC wouldn’t need to carry around an additional device. I love the thought that if he’s having trouble conveying something to someone, he could simply pull his phone out of his pocket and quickly and easily say what he wants to say.

The application is NOT perfect. For a start, BC has no way near the fine motor control to accurately press the right icon on such a small screen. A keyguard (as yet undeveloped, but hopefully to come in the future) would definitely help resolve this problem.

I also would worry about him dropping and damaging the phone itself. So a bodyguard of some sort would also be great (or even better, a durable ‘outdoor’ iPhone model?).

Also, I look forward to a bigger range of ‘voices’ on offer.

So it’s not perfect for us, just now. BUT Proloquo2Go costs less than US $200 and a 32GB  iPhone would set us back around AUD$1,000 – so all up, considerably cheaper than a Dynovox!

For now, we have downloaded Proloquo2Go on to BC’s dad’s iPhone. And we are enjoying playing with it. We’ve already made new sets using photos of all the members of our household and close family and friends. We’ve altered some of the other entries because they are particularly US focused (ie ketchup, jello, baseball shoes and ginger beer). The editing process is very user friendly. We’ll continue playing with it, adding and adjusting and letting BC feel his way around it.

When BC’s dad’s phone contract expires, and he upgrades to a NEW iPhone, maybe this one will become BC’s. I hope so.

The potential is there. I am so excited about what gifts future technology will bring!

In case you’re curious, but have no idea what I am talking about, check out this video from the Proloquo2Go website:

Not the stories or statistics I want to be hearing…

It worries and saddens me greatly to wake up this morning and read this story of a teenage girl with epilepsy who was (allegedly) treated in an abysmal and discriminatory manner by her school.

And with BC just 18 months away from entering our public school system, I really, really don’t want to be reading these statistics:

recent figures obtained under freedom of information show that disability discrimination claims against the [Victorian] Department of Education have more than tripled, from six in 1999 to 19 in 2008.

I suppose I just have to HOPE that the increased number of claims is not actually a case of increased discrimination, but increased awareness of student rights and families feeling more empowered to take action. I really do hope that’s the case. I definitely applaud families for taking a stand against discriminatory treatment, but it makes me so sad that there would ever be such a need for them to do so. The education system should not let ANY child down in such a terrible way.

And speaking of being let down, the headline for this article leaves me rather cold too. How about “Teacher ‘kicked ball at student with epilepsy’. ” (rather than “Teacher ‘kicked ball at epileptic’.”). I think editors of this newspaper could do with a little education in ‘People First’ language. I feel another letter coming on…

HOLIDAYS!!!!

School holidays are here!!!

2 whole weeks with no therapy sessions, no appointments, no kinder drop offs. YAY!!!

Now just got to find ways to entertain the two boys before they turn in on themselves – yes, the biting continues ;-( .

BC’s favourite phrase these days is ‘I want to make something’. And the pressure is on for me to find new things for him to make. He loves all the usual (play dough, painting, blocks, drawing, pretend play, train set etc etc) but he also craves diversity and is always trying to get me to find him something ‘different’ to do.

Any suggestions for a craft loving little 4 year old?

Oh, and also best suggestions for cleaning texta marks off the walls? That’s Bean’s favourite new past time – actually, it’s not just the walls. It’s books, shelves, train track pieces, his face, my jeans……

These holidays are also signalling the start to us SERIOUSLY looking for a house to buy. We saw one today which I adore, but it might fall just a little out of our price range. It ticked nearly every single box EXCEPT the house is not on a level block so there are steps to the back garden. I THINK it will be possible to turn the steps into a ramp. I think. But the rest of the house is so beautifully open planned and perfect for our needs. I think we are going to put in an offer. I really hope that it will be enough.

Wean the Bean – progress report.

Thanks everyone for your good wishes!

So far so good. Sort of.

If we measure success by the fact that Bean hasn’t had any feeds since we began, then we have 100% success rate.

IF however, we measure success on how much sleep I’ve had as a result, then…. well, we’ve still got a way to go!!

The problem that we have is the problem I was expecting to have. It’s not that little Bean is sad and resistant to giving up his ‘mim mim’.

No, that was always going to be something we’d just have to get past.

The problem is that when little Bean gets upset, he gets hot and bothered. And when his skin gets hot, he gets eczema. Terrible eczema. Eczema that sends him into a spin of scratching and clawing at his skin, all over his body. And eczema that means sleep is impossible.

So, we’re taking this kind of step-by-step. Once he starts to scratch, I’m not pushing the cause of self soothing to sleep. Instead, we’ve been getting up to watch middle of the night episodes of Maisy Mouse or Teletubbies.

Yes, I am sure Supernanny would massively disapprove, but I feel confident enough that I know my little boy. Once he’s used to the fact he doesn’t need the mim mim to get to sleep, he will also get used to the fact that middle of the night Maisy is not going to be an ongoing treat.

So yeah, I am feeling pretty good about how we’re going so far, but I really could do with some more sleep myself. And I am so sick of Maisy. It’d be so much more fun if I were weaning a teenager and we could watch Rage or old Friends episodes and eat popcorn in the middle of the night .

Operation Wean the Bean

It’s been a long time coming.

But now it’s finally here.

It’s time for my little boob loving Bean to give up his ‘mim mim’.

It’s going to be a tough road ahead, because if there’s one thing I know for sure it’s this – he’s not going to give it up without a fight.

Wish me luck, and strength. There’s going to be a few sleepless nights ahead!!

Melbourne Museum.

We love the Melbourne Museum.We have a membership, thanks to my wonderful aunts.

We hadn’t been for a while, but went this afternoon and I was reminded just how incredibly, wonderfully, simply accessible it is for BC and his walker.

There are so many open spaces and wide paths that even though it was  busy (silly me for forgetting that all the government primary schools had a curriculum day today!) , it was still really easy for BC to get around.

There are lots of displays just at his height, so there are things he can look at, buttons he can press and exhibits he can explore without needing my help. He especially loved the dinosaur walk, the giant squid and the forest trail.

I can’t remember the last time I saw him so happy!

Little Bean was also more engaged in the exhibits than he has been before. He particularly liked pressing the buttons in the ‘Bugs Alive’ section and looking at the giant hairy tarantulas (yeek!).

AND they both really enjoyed playing with the quoits, hoops and stilts  in the outdoor play area of the Children’s Museum – but it was a bit too icy cold out there for me!!

Only downside was that one of the lifts wasn’t working which meant access to the second floor was only available via a long ramp OR the lift at one end of the building (so there was a bit of backtracking). Here’s hoping that they get their other lift in order soon so we can give them their full 5 stars for accessibility .

And silly me, yet again forgot my camera.

Promise to take it when next we go. Which I am sure will be very soon. We hadn’t even reached the car to leave before BC was asking ‘When are we coming back?’.

Happy Birthday Queenie!!

Yesterday was the Queen’s Birthday public holiday. (For those of you outside Australia and the Commonwealth who might be wondering why we have a holiday for the  birthday of the Queen of England,  it’s not because we’re overly patriotic. Remember that we’ll have any excuse for a holiday here. We even have a holiday for a horse race in November.  Anyway, the actual Queen’s Birthday is in April. The June date was the birthday of a long forgotten king, whose birthday was just a more suitable middle of year for an extra holiday, so that is where it has stayed)….

Quite appropriately for a day when we remember our links with the mother country, it was very wet. And freezing cold. And we all have the sniffles.

So we stayed home. And there wasn’t really much else to do, except, of course, hold a birthday party for the queen.

It was BC’s idea. He’s really taken to the idea of having pretend birthday parties lately. We seem to have parties of various complexity at least once a week. But he was particularly taken by the thought that we were having a holiday for the Queen and her birthday. So the party preparations began in earnest.

We made a cake. We blew up balloons. We invited the teddy bears.  We played pass the (royal) parcel. We played pin the crown on the Queenie and musical statues. We sang her happy birthday and blew out the candles. BC even made her a little present.

She didn’t make an appearance, but I am sure if she had time to receive an invitation she would have been here for sure. It was a huge success. BC won the pass the parcel and is still enjoying his new crayons. We think Aunty J might have cheated with the pin the crown on the queen, but we gave her a prize anyway. The musical statues was a bit of a fizzer as BC couldn’t stop laughing and little Bean didn’t stop screaming in complaint whenever the music was turned off. But it was still fun.

And we had two little boys who went to bed very tired and happy at the party’s end.

Then late last night, once they were sleeping, as I was trawling the blogosphere, I came across these fabulous crowns.

It seemed far too coincidental that I’d discover these on the Queens birthday, so once I’ve determined that they can be sent to Australia, hopefully I am going to buy one each for the boys. You can order them in a wide range of colours and designs and with your own children’s names on them. Best of all, they are being made by Daniel’s mum over at BetterThanNormal, to help pay for his therapies.

And there’s nothing better than getting a package in the mail.

I am still not sure if I’m going to be able to resist telling BC when the crowns arrive that they are actually a thank-you present from the queen for her fabulous birthday party .

Teeth

Yesterday, I posted about BC’s saliva control and mentioned that he doesn’t have very good awareness about when his lips are closed tightly.

Well today, I can definitely verify that he knows for sure when his teeth are closed tightly – or to be more precise clamped tightly around something. Usually his brother’s leg. Or ear. Or Arm.

Yes. We have a biting problem in our house.

To be fair to be BC, he didn’t start it. Little Bean has been a biter from a long way back. He started biting pretty much as soon as he got teeth. And aside from one spectacularly embarrassing incident a while back when he bit the finger of a friend’s new born baby that he was rather jealous to see me holding, he usually reserves his biting for his big brother. And occasionally his dad when he won’t get off the computer to play with him.

It’s works rather well with his dad. He moves impressively fast once he’s been chomped.

As far as the 2 boys go, for a while now, there’s been a rather familiar sequence of events that results in a biting frenzy. It starts with Little Bean taking something that BC is playing with. BC lunges at Little Bean with his most effective form of defence – the giant bear hug. Held in that tight embrace, Little Bean has no real option but to take a good grip of the nearest body part he can see with his fangs. Then of course, there are tears on both sides.

It also usually ends with Little Bean giving a spirited and heartfelt repetition of one of his favourite phrases ’sorry, sorry,  so sorry’. It’s hard to ever stay cross with him when he says that in his cute little voice.

However, BC has, in very recent times, upped the ante by turning the tables and started to initiate the biting.

I don’t know why. Maybe because he’s seen how effective if it is when he gets bitten. Maybe he’s figured that if it’s OK for Little Bean then it’s OK for him too.

We’ve discussed with him that biting is not allowed in our house by ANYONE. We’ve also discussed that as the big brother he has to set the standards for acceptable behaviour and THAT comment that I can hear coming from my own mother’s mouth ‘you’re older! You should know better’.

I hate the biting – from either of them. But I’m not quite sure how to stop it.

I’ve consulted my ‘toddler bible’ about how best to deal with the biting Bean and have been informed that it’s “an intentional experimental/defensive/aggressive/emotional action amongst toddlers” (whatever that means).  The bible also tells me that it ‘tends to disappear over age but’ (and here’s where BC comes into it as well) ‘preschool children and even older children sometimes bite when antagonised’.

But there wasn’t really any further constructive advice that’s helped me. Apart from reminding parents that it doesn’t ‘require biting back which is demeaning for the parent and teaches the toddler that biting is OK if you get mad enough’.

Really? Was my response to that piece of advice. You really need to tell parents that’s wrong? Guess I get a few brownie points at least for that solution never having entering my mind!

But apart from telling me what I shouldn’t do, the bible  doesn’t tell me what should I do?

BC has never been a naughty child and aside from the biting, little Bean is hardly a mini menace, so I don’t really have an armoury of effective discipline techniques up my sleeves.

I’m considering getting muzzles for them both, but would appreciate some more practical advice is anyone has any!