I must be the Proudest Mummy, just about now…..

Veronika’s Physio set me a bit of a challenge. She wanted her to start to ‘cruise’ on the furniture, before we can talk about walking frames. Well that was just under a month ago. So we have been working really hard at home, 1st getting Veronika into a standing position. She just wants to climb on everything. Which don’t get me wrong, I love that she can climb onto the couch, and onto the blanket box etc, but when you are trying to teach a 3-year-old to stand, I mean stand still, not pull to stand, then up on the couch. So I have been working really hard, at getting her right foot under her, to stand up, and stand still, with her feet in a good position. Then to keep her entertained while she is standing there. We have done LOTS of puzzles during this time, and each time I would get Veronika to pass the Puzzle pieces to me, as we(I) talked about what the puzzle was about. Then I tried very patiently to get her feet moving across to get the puzzle pieces….click below to see the result.


veronika cruising for chocolate 149

and I think right about now I am the proudest I have ever been. Veronika continues to inspire me, she really is my Hero. Her determination is amazing. Her resilience to try, try again is never-ending. And hopefully that doesn’t change over time.

Veronika continues to learn new signs, and last week she mastered ‘love’. She signed ‘love’ followed by ‘Mummy’….I then asked her who else she loved, and she signed ‘W’(Willow) her best friend. Was just too cute. I find it absolutely amazing how much information Veronika seems to process. I was telling her speech therapist a couple of weeks ago, how at the dinner table one night, I was talking to her, and asking her questions. I could see her deep in thought processing the information, before she signed her answer. I can’t for the life of me remember what it was actually about, all I can remember is just thinking how much Veronika seems to understand.

Veronika is also excited to tell you that she will be an Ambassador for St Giles Walk With Me Hobart, on October 16th. We are looking forward to raising awareness for people living with a disAbility in our community. I was thrilled when Veronika was asked to be an Ambassador, and naturally yes was the answer.
Veronika and Willow have joined forces, and would like to extend a warm welcome to everyone to come and Walk With the SuperGirls…..

http://wwmhobart.gofundraise.com.au/page/SuperGirls


I have more to tell, but I also need to get some rest….so maybe next blog…

'Bouncing'

One night last week we had satay chicken for tea, and the boys wanted popadums with it. I placed to bowl of them in the middle of the table and next thing Veronika was eating one. I have offered them to her before, but she has never eaten it. She loved it, and she had 2 more. I was so surprised that she was actually eating something, made a nice change. But of course it didn’t mean that she would eat tea the next night, or the night after that, or even the night after that!

Veronika continues to learn new signs. Her favourite at the moment is ‘bouncing’. Veronika loves to go on the trampoline. She sits at the sliding door, points outside and signs ‘bouncing’. Click below to see Veronika signing ‘bouncing’

After Veronika had been on the trampoline for 30 minutes yesterday, I continued to ask her if she had finished….and she kept shaking her head to say no, then she would sign 'more'....'bouncing'(wont let me upload another video at the moment, so will try again tomorrow)

We saw Veronika’s new Physio last week. We are continuing to work Veronika really hard on standing independently, and trying to teach her to ‘cruise’. She does a little of this in the hydrotherapy pool at St Giles, but on dry land, this is a really difficult skill for Veronika. In the hydrotherapy pool her body is supported by the water, it helps to balance her. She still can’t stand independently in the water, I dream about the day she will be able to, so I don’t have to hold her the whole time we are in the water. I find I need a few extra hands when she is in the water to get her working really hard, as there is so much to do. Keep her feet on the floor for a start, balance her around her hips, without too much support so she is doing the work herself, put the toys just out of reach so she has to move to get to them etc…..If we can get Veronika to start to ‘cruise’ on the furniture at home then we can possibly look at getting her into a walking frame, but 1st she needs to have the strength in her legs, and her left arm(the side with Cerebral Palsy) to support herself

Jordan, my 9-year-old had a friend over today to play, being school holidays. His Mum and I had the chance to have a chat, in between 4 boys aged between 6-9 running in and out. She was saying she is amazed at how well I cope with Veronika’s extra needs. I was trying to explain to her that it’s really not that hard. I know for a fact that Veronika shouldnt of survived her birth, and that I would rather have her than not have her. I find Veronika an absolute delight, she is so easy-going. Most of the day she is happy and content. It’s really hard to explain, but Veronika has taught me so much, not just about her, but about myself…..and I love my 3 kids to the moon and back, and would do anything for them. And if that means taking Veronika to 4-5 Doctors/allied health appointments each and every week, then spending countless hours on top of that at home doing physio, then I will, because Early Intervention will give Veronika the best chance to maximise her potential.

Veronika is a cheeky little girl too, she continually makes me laugh.This afternoon during her therapy session at home, we were doing her shape puzzle. She was deliberately putting pieces in the wrong place(square in rectangle, circle in square) and then she would crack up laughing and clapping. Was SO cute, and yes I didn’t video it, as I was keeping her balanced as this was a ‘standing at her little table exercise’.

My 1st Time at Public Speaking...

I survived.....my 1st attempt at public speaking about my journey with Veronika, and specifically my MumSense(intuition). Well at least I think I survived......

I presented at the Mother's of Preschoolers(MOPS) leaders conference on Friday night. This is where the theme for MOPS 2012 was revealed. MumSense

Mum Intuition + Common Sense = MumSense

This has been broken into 3 parts, and I was sharing about Discovering My MumSense. It was challenging, and yes I was emotional at the beginning, as I was about to share some personal "stuff". But then i remembered to Breath, and off I went.

Throughout my last pregnancy with my daughter, I always had a feeling somethings wasn’t “quite right”. I wasn’t really sure what, I just felt as if something wasn’t quite right.

April 28^th 2008, the day my whole world changed.......

It wasn't long after this I looked around at the people listening to my journey, and wow, there were some tears. Yes my Mum always taught me that it isn't nice to make people cry, but in this instance it was different, I guess I knew at that point, what I was sharing was having an impact. 

At the same time I was also overcoming another fear....my fear of leaving Veronika over night and going up the other end of the state. I did of course have my back up safe plan, my just in case Veronika was to become sick and I needed to get home fast. I declined the offer to get a ride up there with someone else, just in case I needed to get home. I didn't need to dash home. So YEAH for me! And the bonus of this all was that I got to drive from one end of the state to the other all by myself and  I had on the music I wanted to listen too!

Yesterday I overcame another fear. The fear of taking Veronika to a public pool, that isn't heated as much as she is used to. We haven't taken her to a public pool for a while, as she tends to go blue quite fast. So after talking with one of the pool staff at the rehab pool we go to, I decided that Veronika would be wearing a wetsuit in the water. So when we got there, I explained to them that Veronika has multiple disabilities including a congenital heart defect and that she would be wearing a wetsuit in the water, to help her not go blue as fast. The lady looked at me, and she said that was fine, and just make sure I let the life guard know. Well that was a lot easier than i thought!

For something completely different, Veronika has learnt to sign 'good'. When we went to the rehab pool last week that we go to every week, Kathy who works there, asked her "how are you today girlfriend"(the question she asks her every time we go), and Veronika signed 'good' without any prompting. She had never signed it before, and its so cute how she does. It's just the basic 'thumb up, with closed fist', but the smile on her face while she signs she is good is just priceless.

 

Planning for the next 6 months......

What a buzz.....today at ECIS on of Veronika's friends who has just started WALKING.....came in the door and stood next to me as I was pushing Veronika on the swing. She had her arms outstretched after a hug. It was one of those moments, life suddenly pauses for a few moments, to take it in....this adorable little girl, had walked all the way from the car, and was so excited to be at school with her friends. It wasn't just that she WALKED, it was more than that, the joy on her face, still brings a tear to my eye just thinking about the moment. She gave me the biggest hug, and for a brief moment the world stopped, around me.....maybe that's because deep down I cant wait for that day that Veronika will be strong enough to walk....she has already mastered the art of getting a hug.

My week is only going to get more exciting from here. Friday I am off to speak at a conference on my journey with Veronika. About finding my MumSense. I am really excited to be able to share some of my journey over the last 3 and a bit years, but at the same time, a little nervous. It's not the speaking in front of a room full of people, its more about sharing some pretty personal "stuff". I will have to let you know how i get on!

Veronika is recovering from her latest UTI. She bounces back so fast which is amazing really. Tomorrow we have a planning meeting with her Physio, Occupational Therapist, hopefully her teacher from ECIS is she can make it in between appointments, and the social worker. We will be looking at the goals we set at the last meeting(which was maybe late last year). I am really excited about this planning meeting as Veronika has reached some of those goals, the 2 biggest holding her own bottle and crawling. It will be interesting what her therapists have their minds for Veronika's goals for the next 6 months too.

Stay tuned for the goals.....

Catching up on what Veronika has been up to...

Well yes I know I have been a little less frequent with my blog lately. 

So here goes more of a visual blog....

These were taken in July. We have a fence across the kitchen so 

Veronika cant get under my feet while I am cooking.

I just love these 2 photos of Veronika

We went to the Playschool Concert in July, thanks to our MyTime Group.

Veronika loved the show, but she did however find it hard to see at times, as all the children were standing and because Veronika can't really stand up, she tired really fast. She loved the Music, and at the end she went over and sat on the edge of the stage and was signing 'more'.

10th August 2011

This was taken at ECIS, or Veronika's School as we call it.

 Veronika was standing as best she could with the table supporting her.

 and when that got too much, she just climbed up onto the table to play!

 Cruising in the little purple car. Today was the 1st day Veronika managed to go forward in the car. She has been speeding backwards for a while, but was so excited when she figured out she could go forwards.

 Veronika usually heads straight for the stairs as soon as we get to ECIS. I think she would over them all session long if I let her.....

A few months ago, Veronika figured out how to crawl thru the tunnel, 

but this day she decided just to hang out instead.

Veronika got her iPad holder also on the 10th August 2011. Tascare Society for Children, 

introduced us to TADTAS, who make the Freedom Wheels bikes, to see if they would be able to modify Veronika's pram to hold her iPad. This is going to save me holding it for her when we are waiting for her Doctors appointments. As you can see Veronika was very excited!

And for another proud Mummy moment....This is my oldest son Jordan.

He recently went in the Computer Skills Competition, and he got a Distinction and

was in the top 2% of participants in Grade 3 for Tasmania.

Girly Girl!!!

Last week I finally got time to actually do something for myself.....I had my hair done! Veronika was booked in for a trim too. Off to the hairdressers we went.....Veronika was paying close attention as Jamie was putting the foils in my hair. Then when it came time for her hair cut, Jamie gave Veronika a piece of foil to hold, she immediately started putting it on her head. Jamie asked her if she wanted it in her hair and she nodded. He told her as soon as he finished cutting her hair, he would put it into her hair. Veronika was so excited when Jamie put the piece of foil in her hair, and smiled the biggest smile, and clapped.

Another proud note, was driving along today. Veronika was in the back.....listening to her CD. When we got up to Glump went the little green frog song, and she started signing Frog....so cute.

Australian Paediatrician Exams!

Well it's Thursday already. This morning I am treating myself and having the morning at home....playgroup can wait to next week. Before I am off to an afternoon appointment and then swimming lessons for my boys Jordan who turned 9 last week, and Jakob 6.

The weeks are passing by so fast. Veronika is keeping me busy as ever. Last week she was a long case study for the Australian Paediatrician Exams. We have been asked to participate for 3 years, and is something that I really like to do. I kind of feel as if it's a way that Veronika and I can give back to the hospital that we have spent so much time in. We have also been asked many times too if Veronika can be used in a practice exam, to which the answer is yes. I sometimes wonder if Veronika's file has a red mark on it or something as quite often when we are at the hospital for an outpatients appointment we often seem to have people come ask if they can do a practice exam on her. When Veronika was there in May for her MRI and hearing test we had 2 Doctors come find us!

Last week while we were waiting to get started Veronika kept crawling over and sitting in the door way, and said the usual 'ayyy' to everyone that walked past, and when they looked at her she would smile and blow them a kiss. When her Paediatrician that we see for Veronika walked past, she stopped and said, 'Veronikas in fine form today, stopping everyone on their way past.' For those of you that know Veronika I know you will be picturing exactly what she was doing!

Last week we also registered for the Better Start Program. I was really surprised when the package turned up in the post Monday morning to say Veronika was now registered. Didn't think it would be that quick or that easy! We have a planning meeting booked later this month with Veronika's Physio, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker and hopefully her teacher from Early Learning. I am hoping that way we can get some plan together as to how best to allocate this funding to maximise the benefit for Veronika

I am off now to do some messy play with my Veronika....