A Little Boy and his Dog

Nickolas is FINALLY on the mend again.
We found out at the beginning of the week that Nickolas had an ear infection. And we got some antibiotics. I had really hoped that Nickolas would bounce back right away like Katheryn did the week before. But no such luck.
He continued to feel really lousy for the rest of the week.
Except today. Today he didn't want to cuddle all day. Today he was good moving around and sitting by himself and having some independence.

Today he was back to playing with the dog and eating and NOT dropping all of his food accidentally.
But Sammie can always try...

And instead of giving his food himself, Nick decided to wave it around before eating! Much to the disappointment of Sammie!

Now that Nick is starting to feel better, we have a whole bunch of new therapies lined up!

We do weekly speech therapy workshops for the next 6 weeks, and physiotherapy has started up again for our next block (8 or 12 weeks - I'm not sure). So there is lots of work to do in the coming weeks.

But today, Nick was just a little boy with is dog!

My Big Little Girl!

The title of my blog is the Ridding Family. So while I do blog about Nickolas, I talk about Katheryn as well. And I think she is quickly going to become of age to realize that sometimes Nickolas gets more attention and parent time than she does. Even though we try really, really  hard to divide our time.

But that is not the point of this post!

Katheryn is going to be 3 years old in April - in 6 weeks. 3!!! We've already talked about her birthday cake - which she picked out herself from googling children birthday cakes. And she went in a completely different direction than I thought she would.

Katheryn is really coming into her own, she has her own opinions, her own hobbies, her own favorite things to do. She doesn't want mom and dad to pick out things for her.

For example, that is how this outfit came to pass. She picked out what she wanted to wear, and then saw the purple skirt. Very, very specific. "Mommy, I want this shirt and this pant and this skirt!".
Acutaly I think it's kinda cute. In a let's stay inside today kind of way...

One of Katheryn's favorite things to do is colour. It comes out 'mommy, I want to tol-or' she loves colouring and drawing. Her favorite subjects are to draw mommy and daddy and Nick. Lots of circles and doodle - but she points out who is who.

And photography. If she can get her hot little hands on my little camera she is ready to shoot off all kinds of pictures. She started doing this in November, and for Christmas she got 2 children's cameras. But they are nothing compared to Mommy's camera.
She has actually gotten ALOT better.
Some of her favorite subjects are:
toys - specifically Dora and Boots

 Daddy (see the why do you have the camera face)

 Mommy (let's see what you can do)

 Nick (hi sis!)

One thing for sure that Katheryn is, is stubborn. Very, very, very stubborn.
Our current battle, that we keep calling a truce on, is potty training. But that final battle, the final defeat is coming soon. Katheryn has absolutely no desire to sit on the potty, and stay.

I was very surprised when I saw her sitting for 10 min on the potty. Then I turned the corner and saw this:

Just like with all of Nick's stuff I know that we will get there. With Katheryn I acutally do know that we will get there, that Katheryn will use the potty, that she will get out of diapers. So I'm not going to stress about it. She is very stubborn, just like her father.

Katheryn has been sick for the last little while. Very cuddling and staying close. Wants to be held and carried. Sick, better, sick, better ect. Now she's feeling so much better and she's bouncing off the walls! And TALKING about EVERYTHING!!

And starting to like some singing. Very slow. Katheryn doesn't like mommy or daddy to sing. But on one long car ride we started.

Happy Family Day!

Nick decided to show off after dinner today!

Instead of putting him in his standing frame I decided to try something different.

So I set him up beside the couch, put his AFOs and shoes on, supported his ankles and hips and bum and let him play.

I wasn't quite sure what he would do.

But he did it! He pulled himself up and stood there! It took me a couple of tries to see if I could let go. But I finally did, to see what he could do... and TADA!!! That is ALL NICK! Mommy strings are cut!

He was so happy with himself! Of course I yelled for Kyle and he grabbed the camera! He kept doing it over and over again, standing for about 20 seconds and then would sit back down. Then up again!

This is all from a little boy who was so sick and stuffy and leaking and feeling awful this morning! What would he be doing if he was in top form the last couple of weeks!

In Canada/Ontario today is Family Day. A holiday to enjoy with your family. The day did not go at all as I had planned because everyone was too sick to go out.

I think I'll say it went SO MUCH BETTER!



Ugg! Sick!!

Watching your children when they are sick is horrible. Especially when there isn't anything you can do. You know they feel lousy - you can see it in their face. Can't breathe, not hungry, fever. Just not interested in anything. But still trying really hard to still be happy!

Katheryn had it last weekend. Snotty and coughing, not sleeping through the night. Fever off and on for a couple of days. But still active on and off too. Then she got this lump on her neck! To say I freaked out would be an understatement. But after Kyle calmed me down and we decided it was not worth a trip to the ER, Katheryn continued to be active and we got in to see the doctor Monday morning.

Googling in this case was actually a good thing. Most cases of a lump on the neck in children under 10 years old is a swollen lymph node secondary to another infection (ear, throat ect).

A prescription for antibiotics later, and a fight for 2 days to get Katheyrn to actually taken them. And we got ourselves a whole new girl!

Talking up a storm and running around the house. She actually has so much energy that she would be racing around and stop and talk to me, and continued to run on the spot! I haven't seen her like this in months!

Nick on the other hand is being hit by a cold now.

He still has a smile for the camera, so at first you can't see how lousy he feels.

Then you notice how he just sits there with his mouth open - because he is so stuffed up.

And the constant leaking and...

OK well everyone knows the symptoms of a cold. Everyone knows how lousy THEY feel when they have this. But now I'm watching it in one or the other child and all I have is hot steam and tylenol at my disposal. And food and fluids. And rest.

Hopefully we are on the mend now. I haven't seen so much snot is a long time!

And I am really glad that I stocked up on a 6 pack of kleenex boxes last month! (I think we have 1 left)

I've been worried off and on about Nick. Is he getting enough fluid, is he dehydrated? How is his shunt? His bladder? Do inflamed sinuses put pressure on the shunt or increase ventricles? (Never heard of it, but there is always a first time). How long is too long to be sick?

Is there ANYTHING I can do to make him feel better?

And should i still make him do physio? Or is cuddling better?

I can see how harder he has to work to do things. He's not sitting as straight, he's supporting himself more. All he wants to do is be held and supported (like in his highchair). It's taking him longer to eat his breakfast.

Can we please just get over this cold!

Through all this, the not breathing, feeling lousy, snotty and generally feeling swollen and tired and grumpy. He still hams it up for the camera!

I know it will pass. But it feels like we just did this (in December).

Is it springtime yet?!

Someone you Love

Everyone has someone they love, and someone who loves them back. I bet you can list off, more than one, more than six, people that you love and love you back.

Take a moment to imagine if you didn’t have anyone who loves you. Take a moment to imagine if you were not surrounded by family and friends.

Take a moment to imagine what it would be like to be a 4 year old boy, living in an orphanage, without a family all because you were born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. And in weeks or months you were facing being moved to an ADULT mental institution, because you were born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Because your forever family was waiting in the US to adopt you, but today you are in your orphanage in the Ukraine.

Now imagine YOU could do something about this. Imagine helping to donate the funds needed for this international adoption (which is expensive) to get Shea home to a family that loves him. YOU can help. In just 3 months (since Joanna found him) over $6,000 has been raised, but almost $8,000 is needed, and time is running out for Shea.

So if you can think of people that you love and love you back please, PLEASE take a moment to SHARE LOVE, Share Love with Shea.

Click on the ChipIn to donate. It is simple and easy and safe. (I’ve done it myself). Just a couple of dollars and a couple of minutes helps Shea get home to his family just a little faster.

This was really meant just to be a comment on Facebook - but it just got away from me.

Shea is so close to getting home! So close to being surrounded by family who loves him, even if he has spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Spina Bifida and hydrocephalus should not be a death sentence, it should not mean a lifetime in a mental institution, it should not mean having no one to love.

You can follow Shea's journey at http://savingshea.blogspot.com/ (If you aren't already).

(Shea is a boy even though he's often dressed in pink!)

I can't even imagine if my Nickolas was born at a different time, or to a different family, in a different country how his life would not be apprecited, how he wouldn't know love and family and laughter and know that he'll be kissed when he goes to sleep at night, and when he wakes up in the morning. All because of what he was born with, all because of spina bifida and hydrocephalus.

If Nickolas was born overseas, in this country would he be crawling around the floor laughing when he finds a bit of dog hair, then looking up to his mommy to show off his find, before quickly shoving it in his mouth as I decide if it's just extra fibre or if I should really pry his jaws open and take away his prize....