Nora has learned 2 signs-for all done and more. We have been using signs with her since she was born. Emma was such a great signer at a pretty early age, we just automatically did it with Nora. BUT we haven't had any positive feedback so we have gotten a bit lazy. They do them at school but we haven't seen any progress.
So Nora decides to learn "more" pretty much without us realizing it. All of a sudden, she's a signer. She signs for more m&m's, more cake, more ring around the rosy, more tickles, more swinging, more milk, more anything! She pretty much uses it all the time now. We'll have to try to get her to recognize when she wants more or if she wants help or please. It's a good "sign" that she'll be able to learn more signs in the future. (and maybe talk?) Yippeeee!!!
Emma had 2 birthday parties last night (Happy 2nd birthday Franny!) and was pooped out last night. The other party was a girl's from school and it was a sleepover. I picked her up at 9:30 just to be on the safe side. I didn't want a 3 am phone call.
It's a rainy day but hopefully we'll get some more sun this weekend. Next weekend is Nora's school's auction (the EEU). They raised $750,000 dollars last year. Thanks to all my friends and family who donated to the cause. They do a lot with autism research and teach other schools how to teach autistic children. Nora has progressed so much this year. It's pretty amazing. Hopefully we'll raise as much or more money this year.
Thanks for checking in!
Lori
This is Nora's story... Nora was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms April 24, 2007. Infantile spasms is a rare seizure disorder. Nora was put on an anti seizure medication April 26th called ACTH. Her seizures were gone after 1 week of treatment and haven't been back. Nora also has partial agenesis of the corpus callosum and arachnoid cysts in her brain. For more info, check out the history section below.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Shadow
Nora found her shadow the other day. Very cute. I can't remember when Emma did that, around 1 or so? But I was pretty impressed. And I was Q-tipping her ears the other day, and she had one too. She tried to stick it in her ear. I thought that was pretty cool too. And she holds hands with people now. She used to just pull away but now she actually holds on. Big girl.
Emma's recital is coming up. Lots of dress rehearsals and photo shoots. Very professional. And she's 4. Crazy. She's also taking swim lessons. We have a fun summer coming up. Can't wait until the warm weather gets here and stays.
Both girls love to be outside. Nora has a fit if you make her come in. She romps around and rides her toys and goes down the slide and likes to swing. And play with balls. She's getting good at rolling and throwing them. But she really loves her Boobah. Creepy old Boobah.
Thanks for checking in.
Lori
Emma's recital is coming up. Lots of dress rehearsals and photo shoots. Very professional. And she's 4. Crazy. She's also taking swim lessons. We have a fun summer coming up. Can't wait until the warm weather gets here and stays.
Both girls love to be outside. Nora has a fit if you make her come in. She romps around and rides her toys and goes down the slide and likes to swing. And play with balls. She's getting good at rolling and throwing them. But she really loves her Boobah. Creepy old Boobah.
Thanks for checking in.
Lori
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Mother's Day poem
Happy Mother’s Day: Mothers Lie
By Lori Borgman
Expectant mothers waiting for a newborn’s arrival say they don’t care what sex the baby is. They just want to have ten fingers and ten toes.
Mothers lie.
Every mother wants so much more.She wants a perfectly healthy baby with a round head, rosebud lips, button nose, beautiful eyes and satin skin. She wants a baby so gorgeous that people will pity the Gerber baby for being flat-out ugly.
She wants a baby that will roll over, sit up and take those first steps right on schedule (according to the baby development chart on page 57, column two).Every mother wants a baby that can see, hear, run, jump and fire neurons by the billions.She wants a kid that can smack the ball out of the park and do toe points that are the envy of the entire ballet class.Call it greed if you want, but a mother wants what a mother wants.
Some mothers get babies with something more.
Maybe you’re one who got a baby with a condition you couldn’t pronounce, a spine that didn’t fuse, a missing chromosome or a palate that didn’t close.The doctor’s words took your breath away.It was just like the time at recess in the fourth grade when you didn’t seethe kick ball coming, and it knocked the wind right out of you.
Some of you left the hospital with a healthy bundle, then, months, even years later, took him in for a routine visit, or scheduled him for a checkup and crashed head first into a brick wall as you bore the brunt of devastating news.It didn’t seem possible.That didn’t run in your family.Could this really be happening in your lifetime?
There’s no such thing as a perfect body.Everybody will bear something at some time or another.Maybe the affliction will be apparent to curious eyes, or maybe it will be unseen, quietly treated with trips to the doctor, therapy or surgery.Mothers of children with disabilities live the limitations with them.
Frankly, I don’t know how you do it.Sometimes you mothers scare me.How you lift that kid in and out of the wheelchair twenty times a day.How you monitor tests, track medications, and serve as the gatekeeper to a hundred specialists yammering in your ear.
I wonder how you endure the clichés and the platitudes, the well-intentioned souls explaining how God is at work when you’ve occasionally questioned if God is on strike.I even wonder how you endure schmaltzy columns like this one-saluting you,painting you as hero and saint, when you know you’re ordinary.You snap, you bark, you bite.
You didn’t volunteer for this, you didn’t jump up and down in the motherhood line yelling, “Choose me, God. Choose me! I’ve got what it takes.”
You’re a woman who doesn’t have time to step back and put things in perspective, so let me do it for you. From where I sit, you’re way ahead of the pack.You’ve developed the strength of the draft horse while holding onto the delicacy of a daffodil.
You have a heart that melts like chocolate in a glove box in July,counter-balanced against the stubbornness of an Ozark mule.
You are the mother, advocate and protector of a child with a disability.You’re a neighbor, a friend, a woman I pass at church and my sister-in-law.
You’re a wonder.
By Lori Borgman
Expectant mothers waiting for a newborn’s arrival say they don’t care what sex the baby is. They just want to have ten fingers and ten toes.
Mothers lie.
Every mother wants so much more.She wants a perfectly healthy baby with a round head, rosebud lips, button nose, beautiful eyes and satin skin. She wants a baby so gorgeous that people will pity the Gerber baby for being flat-out ugly.
She wants a baby that will roll over, sit up and take those first steps right on schedule (according to the baby development chart on page 57, column two).Every mother wants a baby that can see, hear, run, jump and fire neurons by the billions.She wants a kid that can smack the ball out of the park and do toe points that are the envy of the entire ballet class.Call it greed if you want, but a mother wants what a mother wants.
Some mothers get babies with something more.
Maybe you’re one who got a baby with a condition you couldn’t pronounce, a spine that didn’t fuse, a missing chromosome or a palate that didn’t close.The doctor’s words took your breath away.It was just like the time at recess in the fourth grade when you didn’t seethe kick ball coming, and it knocked the wind right out of you.
Some of you left the hospital with a healthy bundle, then, months, even years later, took him in for a routine visit, or scheduled him for a checkup and crashed head first into a brick wall as you bore the brunt of devastating news.It didn’t seem possible.That didn’t run in your family.Could this really be happening in your lifetime?
There’s no such thing as a perfect body.Everybody will bear something at some time or another.Maybe the affliction will be apparent to curious eyes, or maybe it will be unseen, quietly treated with trips to the doctor, therapy or surgery.Mothers of children with disabilities live the limitations with them.
Frankly, I don’t know how you do it.Sometimes you mothers scare me.How you lift that kid in and out of the wheelchair twenty times a day.How you monitor tests, track medications, and serve as the gatekeeper to a hundred specialists yammering in your ear.
I wonder how you endure the clichés and the platitudes, the well-intentioned souls explaining how God is at work when you’ve occasionally questioned if God is on strike.I even wonder how you endure schmaltzy columns like this one-saluting you,painting you as hero and saint, when you know you’re ordinary.You snap, you bark, you bite.
You didn’t volunteer for this, you didn’t jump up and down in the motherhood line yelling, “Choose me, God. Choose me! I’ve got what it takes.”
You’re a woman who doesn’t have time to step back and put things in perspective, so let me do it for you. From where I sit, you’re way ahead of the pack.You’ve developed the strength of the draft horse while holding onto the delicacy of a daffodil.
You have a heart that melts like chocolate in a glove box in July,counter-balanced against the stubbornness of an Ozark mule.
You are the mother, advocate and protector of a child with a disability.You’re a neighbor, a friend, a woman I pass at church and my sister-in-law.
You’re a wonder.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mama's Day
Hope all those mamas out there are having a lovely day. Make sure you give your little (or big) ones a big hug. Be thankful for their health. I am so thankful that Emma is such a happy (and sometimes whiny) girl. I am so thankful that Nora can walk, smile, laugh, and play with her Boobah. Even if she can never say I love you to me, I know she does.
Happy Mother's Day Mom!
Thanks for checking in
Lori
Happy Mother's Day Mom!
Thanks for checking in
Lori
Monday, May 5, 2008
Nothing new
Nothing new to post. Nora has been loving going outside now that the weather is warmer. She likes to go in her car and to go for walks around the block. She is pretty good at going up and down the deck stairs (only 3) and will try to escape anytime she sees the door open. She's doing fine in school. She'll keep going throughout the summer. Emma will be in some daycamps and swim lessons.
Emma is starting to be such a great reader. I read with her class every Monday and she is really improving. We have the BOB books and she is able to sound out most of the words and gets so excited about reading. I am still nervous about kindergarten, she will be THE youngest one in her class most likely and the smallest. She is a peanut. But academically, I am sure she'll be fine. She just won't be able to drive until she is in college.... well she'll be a late bloomer for sure. That is a good thing.
Happy spring
Lori
Emma is starting to be such a great reader. I read with her class every Monday and she is really improving. We have the BOB books and she is able to sound out most of the words and gets so excited about reading. I am still nervous about kindergarten, she will be THE youngest one in her class most likely and the smallest. She is a peanut. But academically, I am sure she'll be fine. She just won't be able to drive until she is in college.... well she'll be a late bloomer for sure. That is a good thing.
Happy spring
Lori
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