Day 1285. Emmy was up first and put the headset on that tells him stories. Before long all of them were awake, and Randy ended up getting up earlier than necessary, around 8:45 am. Sammy had already joined me in bed and was having fun with me. Randy then gave them all a new diaper, made his oatmeal and sat down with them for breakfast. I then cleaned them up and dressed them, and Tammy and Emmy went downstairs. Sammy stayed upstairs, as he and I were leaving at 10 am, but we still had some time, and so he was playing, while I was getting ready.
At 10 am we were walking out the door together. He was excited to get alone-time with Mommy. And I was excited that this was gonna be our last trip using the stroller that has gotten too small for our 3.5 year-old son. We took the subway for two stops and then had quite a long walk to the center where he now goes twice a week. Sammy was very active and talking to me the whole time - I wished he'd talk like this during the speech therapy session. Instead, he barely opened his mouth to talk.
We got to the center early, checked in, and waited for the speech therapist who soon arrived to take us to her room. We both took our shoes off and sat down on the mat/ground. The physiotherapist had told her how to best put Sammy into a comfortable position where he could use his hands, and so he was sitting on his heels, with a big pillow in front of him that he could lean on. She had a pot and a toy mixer with play food sitting there, and then Sammy started playing with it and interacting with her. After they had done that for a while, she got a big drum out, and Sammy loves drumming and was having a great time. Then she showed him these metal tubes she had hanging on the wall that sounded really beautiful and carried him over there to play them, which he enjoyed.
Even though the hour wasn't up yet, she ended the session, as Sammy was getting his wheelchair today at 11:30 am, and last time they'd been early. We went back into the waiting room, but it was 10 minutes early and so even Randy and the other kids weren't there yet, but they soon walked through the door. We waited some more together, then the guy from the company that had made the wheelchair arrived with Sammy's chair and a special bike for him to try. Emmy was the first one at the chair to look at it.
We then all went into the physiotherapist's room, where she was waiting for us together with a trainee. We told Sammy that this was his wheelchair, and he seemed pretty excited. We put him into the chair and let the guy explain us all the details. Then Sammy immediately started moving around the room. As he can use his left hand better, he only used that hand to move the wheel, which meant he was going in circles instead of going straight ahead. But I have no doubt he'll soon learn how to use it.
While he was trying out the chair, Tammy and Emmy were rather wildly playing together. Then they showed Sammy the bike and asked him whether he would like to try it out, and he said yes. So we put him on the bike. Immediately first Emmy and then Tammy sat in Sammy's wheelchair, moving it around all over the place. As for Sammy, he was having a hard time pedaling, so they pushed him a little bit to see how it was doing, and they could see what was not the way it should be. They said he could try another model with a different seat that might be more suitable at another time. We then got him out of the bike, put his coat on and put him back into his new wheelchair to go home in it for the very first time. He was pretty excited. Immediately Tammy wanted to go into the vacant stroller, and Emmy on the board. And off we went to go home. It was 12:15.
We had that long walk to the subway first. The handles on the wheelchair were close to each other and too low, and the little wheels on the bottom keeping the wheelchair from falling over were in my way while pushing the chair. I ended up pushing it with one hand and walking next to it. What was most exciting was to watch Sammy who kept pointing at things he was seeing, as he could finally see the world around him. In the stroller he was closer to lying and could only see me and the sky. Now he was taking in his surrounding with much interest.
We got to the subway and took the elevator up. The pictures show you the fun Tammy and Emmy were having with each other. Then we waited for our subway to arrive, and I finally got a good shot of Sammy in his new chair. We rode the two stops home and walked the rest of the way to our apartment. Sammy always rings our doorbell, when we get home, as he loves pushing buttons.
It was 12:45 and high time for lunch. I made the quickest meal I can make and so we sat down to eat before it was 1 pm. Everyone ate, then had dessert. They were disappointed that there was no time to watch anything, as it was already nap time. I cleaned them up and dressed them and put them to bed. I sat down by them and left before Tammy was asleep.
I was very tired myself. I spent some time getting everything ready for my 3:30 pm class, and was glad, when I could finally close my eyes, setting my timer for just under an hour. Before I was even asleep I could hear Emmy already. Eventually Randy went downstairs with them, and I could fall asleep. At 3:20 my phone woke me up. I got up to get ready for my student andw as surprised that Tammy was also already up and downstairs.
While I was teaching, Randy and the kids came upstairs to get ready to leave the house, so we could leave right away after I finished teaching at 4:20 pm, and we did. It was our first trip with Sammy in the wheelchair. Unfortunately it has nowhere to put anything like the stroller did, so that will take some time to get used to. Randy had to put the diaper bag on his back, and we put the snacks into it. The kids always want to wear their backpacks, but Randy doesn't want them to, as they often have too much in them. And so they did not have them with them today.
We walked to the subway, with Emmy wanting to push the wheelchair. I had flipped up the little wheels keeping Sammy from tipping over, which allowed me to not bump them while pushing the chair. However, it wasn't until much later that Randy raised up the handles, only after my back was hurting really bad. I think now it's gonna be okay.
People now look at Sammy differently, as he sticks out in the wheelchair, while he blended in in the stroller. I could already see the difference today, and it's gonna be interesting to watch people in the days to come. After we got off the subway, we walked a little to get to the tram stop, and I was glad that a new tram without steps was the next one to arrive. We got on and rode it for one stop, then got off and walked the rest of the way to the school. For once we got there a few minutes before the class started, as we had walked there the last two times. Sammy showed off his chair to the teacher, then we got him out and took all their coats and shoes off. We waited but no other children arrived today. A few minutes after 5 pm the teacher started the class.
We started the same way as always. The teacher played a song, and the kids were supposed to dance to it. Then she paused it from time to time, and whenever the music stopped, they were supposed to freeze in place. After this initial song she had us sit in a circle on the floor and spreading our legs out. She then had us reach the ceiling and lean forward to touch our toes. All the while she was having a fun conversation with Tammy and Emmy. Sammy can't do much of those movements, but I did with him what he could. He is actually enrolled in this dance class, while he is not in the exercise class, but he participates in both.
Next she got a "parachute" out which they already know from other classes they have taken. We were surrounding it and made waves with it, small and big ones, and all the kids were enjoying it. Then she had them sit in the middle, one after another, including Daddy, while the others made the waves. Then the kids said they wanted her to sit in the middle, and she did. In the end she had them go under the parachute, while we moved it up and down above them, and they were loving it.
Then she got a ball out, but one was not enough and so we soon had two small and three big ones. Everyone was playing hard with them and having fun. And then it was already time for the final song, the alarm clock song that is so much fun and where we walk in a circle. Then the class was over. They'd all had fun, even though we had not done much dancing. While they do less dancing than at the dance school, they are definitely having more fun in this class.
We put their shoes and coats back on, and I put Sammy into his wheelchair, then we left to walk back to the subway. It was quite a long walk, but we got there eventually. The kids were then watching Bambi on the subway while riding home. We got home at 6:30 pm, and they continued watching, while I started making their dinner. I then had them sit down at the table and gave them their plates with some food on it, and whenever I had another fruit cut up, I added it to their plates. They were still watching videos, which we only allow in a situation like this. Then they went into the bathtub, where they continued eating, and all three finished all their food. We then got them ready for bed, and I read some Bible stories to them before praying for them and flying them into bed. It was 8:15 pm by the time I was done and sat down by them. I stayed there for a while, then Randy took my place, so that I could go to the kitchen and get myself something to eat. As I hadn't eaten my salad in a long time I started making it, and it took until 9:15 pm before I was done and could sit down to eat it. By then the kids were asleep.
It took me a while to eat, then I started working on today's pictures. Now it's nearly 2 am, and I still have to clean up the kitchen before going to bed.
