I'm 2!!!!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Taylor is 2!
We've had a wonderful few weeks - we had a great 10 day trip to Missouri and now we've finally settled back home. Our big news, of course, is that Taylor turned 2!!! She is a huge 2 year-old now. We can't even believe it. She had a great birthday. We celebrated her second birthday on August 22 in West Plains with my family. She was a bit tired - she struggled for several days with teething - but she had a great time getting lots of cuddles, jumping in a cool jumping toy, joining the kids for swimming, and seeing everyone. For her birthday, I made my first egg-free cake (which tasted awful) and put yogurt on top for icing. Taylor can't eat it yet, but we wanted her to have the opportunity to have her own cake. She opened a few presents and played with balloons. Friday night, we had another party in Seattle with David's family. We gave her our presents too and we had a few home-runs - she LOVES Tickle-me Elmo - a stuffed Elmo that laughs and shakes. She smiles so big and cracks up. She also likes this cool new riding toy we got her - it's hard to describe so I will post pictures. She can rock in it or ride like a car. All in all, she had a great birthday and we can't believe she is 2.
David went to the ACC conference while en route to Missouri - I'll let him post a report soon - he thought it was very worthwhile and I can't wait to go with him next year. It was interesting, informative, hard and inspiring all at the same time. I'll let him post a recap.
Missouri, meanwhile, was a blast! We had a great time playing with Nana and Poppy, my sisters and their husbands, and my nephews. We did a ton of swimming, playing, silly stringing, water squirter fighting, canoeing, fishing, and just having a great time. The kids loved it and it is so fun to see them having such a great time. I was able to go to two of Shawna's baby showers and it was really special to see my baby sister pregnant. One of my most special moment's was a visit to the graveyard where my grandparent's are buried and the small family church next to it. I took a moment inside the church to pray deeply for Taylor and our family. I've been wanting to do this for months and I felt this enormous wave of peace. I feel so much better and it was a huge gift to have those moments.
We had some hilarious moments too. One of my favorites involves Jacob. He is super starved lately - eating all the time. Alison jokes that he has a hollow leg. We spent the night in St. Louis before we left and the hotel conveniently had a fire drill. We were on the 7th floor and had just dropped our bags before going to meet our dear friends for dinner. All of a sudden, the alarms go off and a speaker says we must exit. The kids were nervous, but we quickly gathered a few things and went down the stairs with the other guests - very slowly. Thankfully it wasn't a real emergency. We get outside and we had just grabbed Taylor's bag and medicine, purse, wallet and David's computer bag, and Jacob says "don't worry, Mom, I got the Cheetos" - This is hilarious because of all of his prized possessions, he grabbed the small bag of cheetos I had just bought him for a snack. He never gets snacks like that so he cherished it so much that he grabbed it on the way out.
The kids traveled like champs - even with a 5 hour delay out of Seattle and getting to West Plains at 3:30am. We had a wonderful trip and now we're just soaking up the last weeks of summer. They start school right after Labor Day and I can't believe the summer is wrapping up already.
David went to the ACC conference while en route to Missouri - I'll let him post a report soon - he thought it was very worthwhile and I can't wait to go with him next year. It was interesting, informative, hard and inspiring all at the same time. I'll let him post a recap.
Missouri, meanwhile, was a blast! We had a great time playing with Nana and Poppy, my sisters and their husbands, and my nephews. We did a ton of swimming, playing, silly stringing, water squirter fighting, canoeing, fishing, and just having a great time. The kids loved it and it is so fun to see them having such a great time. I was able to go to two of Shawna's baby showers and it was really special to see my baby sister pregnant. One of my most special moment's was a visit to the graveyard where my grandparent's are buried and the small family church next to it. I took a moment inside the church to pray deeply for Taylor and our family. I've been wanting to do this for months and I felt this enormous wave of peace. I feel so much better and it was a huge gift to have those moments.
We had some hilarious moments too. One of my favorites involves Jacob. He is super starved lately - eating all the time. Alison jokes that he has a hollow leg. We spent the night in St. Louis before we left and the hotel conveniently had a fire drill. We were on the 7th floor and had just dropped our bags before going to meet our dear friends for dinner. All of a sudden, the alarms go off and a speaker says we must exit. The kids were nervous, but we quickly gathered a few things and went down the stairs with the other guests - very slowly. Thankfully it wasn't a real emergency. We get outside and we had just grabbed Taylor's bag and medicine, purse, wallet and David's computer bag, and Jacob says "don't worry, Mom, I got the Cheetos" - This is hilarious because of all of his prized possessions, he grabbed the small bag of cheetos I had just bought him for a snack. He never gets snacks like that so he cherished it so much that he grabbed it on the way out.
The kids traveled like champs - even with a 5 hour delay out of Seattle and getting to West Plains at 3:30am. We had a wonderful trip and now we're just soaking up the last weeks of summer. They start school right after Labor Day and I can't believe the summer is wrapping up already.
Monday, August 10, 2009
What a year....Taylor's favorites
This week is so exciting because we're going to see my family in Missouri on Thursday! We are all so excited. I love, love, love going home and the kids have a great time. They packed their bags on Saturday and have had to unpack a few items, but it's a sign of how excited they are.
The other thing we're excited about is an upcoming vacation for our family from Taylor's therapy. Taylor so deserves a break, and while we will work with her on various exercises, the daily routine will get much easier. Susan is going to London until Sept. 5 so we'll get a nice long break - we're so looking forward to Taylor getting to be a normal kid, our big kids to not have the distraction for the last several weeks of summer, and a chance for all of us to take a deep breath. The morning schedule has gotten old the last several weeks - having anyone show up at your house at 7am four days a week for 2 hours of therapy is a hard way for everyone to start the day. Thankfully, Taylor doesn't mind most of it anymore, but it's still a juggle with two other kids and two parents that need to get to work. One of us, or Alison, is always with Taylor, so we're so grateful that Lauren and Jacob have been such good sports this summer.
We started with Susan last August and it has been an incredibly long year of therapy - mainly for Taylor, but also for our family. From my rough math, that is about 330 hours of therapy. The dedication Taylor has shown is truly amazing and inspiring. I'm proud to say that we have come a long way - we always have to be thankful for the increments, because the steps are still small, but we're so hopeful for her future. Like everything, I still do well taking things one day at a time - let's focus on motor skills for now, then we'll add on other skills (cognitive, speech, etc). To see Taylor practice standing and sitting, and exploring more with her hands and feet, is a huge gift.
I've gotten distracted - I'm sitting in our TV room - staring at Taylor's therapy roll, little toilet plungers and sitting stool, new orthotics, special bike and stuff - surrounding me. Typically our house is much neater, but the morning therapy session's aftermath is still here. It will be nice when we wrap up therapy in a few days and we can put everything out-of-sight for awhile.
What I wanted to share tonight is something that I am so thankful for - that Taylor has emotion and feelings and has an emerging personality. She smiles and laughs and gets sad and frustrated - feelings are what make Taylor unique and we are so thankful everyday for seeing more and more of Taylor. Here is what we know so far:
- she loves Jacob and Lauren and us - she saves her biggest smiles, deepest laughs and cuddles for us
- she has other favorites - like Alison and Julie and her grandparents
- nothing makes her laugh harder than when Jacob makes a silly noise - shrieking noises are her favorite; although a hysterical cry will also crack her up
- she loves music - Itsy Bitsy Spider (with hand movements) is her favorite song
- she loves to watch Barney and Baby Animals, or any show that has tons of music - she gets annoyed when the show stops
- she loves to play her toy pianos, shake musical instruments, and beat on drums; we really think she might be a rock star
- her favorite stuffed animal is a singing Winnie the Pooh bear
- her favorite food is any sweet fruit, like bananas or apples (baby food still)
- she loves it when you congratulate her - she beams if you say "Taylor, great job!" "Taylor is so big!"
- she loves movement - she loves to swing, ride in her riding car and anytime she is on the move - my favorite game to play with her is to essentially twirl around and watch her laugh
- she is the most happy when you peek into her crib in the morning - she is well rested and she kicks her feet and grins so big - she is so ready for the day
This gives you some insight into our sweet Taylor - we love her so much.
The other thing we're excited about is an upcoming vacation for our family from Taylor's therapy. Taylor so deserves a break, and while we will work with her on various exercises, the daily routine will get much easier. Susan is going to London until Sept. 5 so we'll get a nice long break - we're so looking forward to Taylor getting to be a normal kid, our big kids to not have the distraction for the last several weeks of summer, and a chance for all of us to take a deep breath. The morning schedule has gotten old the last several weeks - having anyone show up at your house at 7am four days a week for 2 hours of therapy is a hard way for everyone to start the day. Thankfully, Taylor doesn't mind most of it anymore, but it's still a juggle with two other kids and two parents that need to get to work. One of us, or Alison, is always with Taylor, so we're so grateful that Lauren and Jacob have been such good sports this summer.
We started with Susan last August and it has been an incredibly long year of therapy - mainly for Taylor, but also for our family. From my rough math, that is about 330 hours of therapy. The dedication Taylor has shown is truly amazing and inspiring. I'm proud to say that we have come a long way - we always have to be thankful for the increments, because the steps are still small, but we're so hopeful for her future. Like everything, I still do well taking things one day at a time - let's focus on motor skills for now, then we'll add on other skills (cognitive, speech, etc). To see Taylor practice standing and sitting, and exploring more with her hands and feet, is a huge gift.
I've gotten distracted - I'm sitting in our TV room - staring at Taylor's therapy roll, little toilet plungers and sitting stool, new orthotics, special bike and stuff - surrounding me. Typically our house is much neater, but the morning therapy session's aftermath is still here. It will be nice when we wrap up therapy in a few days and we can put everything out-of-sight for awhile.
What I wanted to share tonight is something that I am so thankful for - that Taylor has emotion and feelings and has an emerging personality. She smiles and laughs and gets sad and frustrated - feelings are what make Taylor unique and we are so thankful everyday for seeing more and more of Taylor. Here is what we know so far:
- she loves Jacob and Lauren and us - she saves her biggest smiles, deepest laughs and cuddles for us
- she has other favorites - like Alison and Julie and her grandparents
- nothing makes her laugh harder than when Jacob makes a silly noise - shrieking noises are her favorite; although a hysterical cry will also crack her up
- she loves music - Itsy Bitsy Spider (with hand movements) is her favorite song
- she loves to watch Barney and Baby Animals, or any show that has tons of music - she gets annoyed when the show stops
- she loves to play her toy pianos, shake musical instruments, and beat on drums; we really think she might be a rock star
- her favorite stuffed animal is a singing Winnie the Pooh bear
- her favorite food is any sweet fruit, like bananas or apples (baby food still)
- she loves it when you congratulate her - she beams if you say "Taylor, great job!" "Taylor is so big!"
- she loves movement - she loves to swing, ride in her riding car and anytime she is on the move - my favorite game to play with her is to essentially twirl around and watch her laugh
- she is the most happy when you peek into her crib in the morning - she is well rested and she kicks her feet and grins so big - she is so ready for the day
This gives you some insight into our sweet Taylor - we love her so much.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Dress up time
And, because I'm behind on pictures....had to post a few of our fun times tonight. As you can see, Taylor is Liza Minnelli in the making. Lauren was our stylist.
Pics from Suncadia vacation
These are pics of our trip to Suncadia, in eastern Washington. We had a great time. And, of course, I had to post a pic on Taylor standing!
Standing!
I hope you enjoyed David's post last night. He was beaming over Taylor's big move so I told him he should document his excitement! As we both know so well, we have to celebrate the wins - we are so thrilled for Taylor and they help sustain us all during the slow times.
We are working on so much with her right now. She is so ready to move and is making great progress. She is working on standing up! And she is getting quite good. She can stand - really unassisted - for about 10 seconds now. Of course, Susan has a technique for everything. She is practicing standing in a few different ways - she always has a little stool behind her and when her legs get tired, she has to sit on the stool. The goal is for her to practice sitting when she is tired, rather than falling. In probably the most unique use of props yet, she has these little - real - toilet plungers that she holds in both hands and uses essentially as walking sticks, while standing. I'll post a picture soon - you'll have to see it to believe it. The goal is for her to use the sticks to help her balance, yet they aren't very sturdy so she has to balance check herself frequently. She has to hold the sticks slightly in front of her to encourage her to keep her arms out - again, to train her arms to catch herself if she falls. It's starting to connect for her and she really enjoys standing. She gets frustrated sometimes when she wants to sit and can't quite figure out how to make her legs bend - you can see her face get frustrated and she'll cry out, and then sit. Her dedication is truly amazing.
We also are working on some small things, that will hopefully pay big dividends. One of the things that is great about Susan is her attention to detail. She wants Taylor to be as "normal" as possible. So, one of the things we're working on is her mouth. Yes, her mouth. Basically, her mouth needs help to develop tone, or the ability to use her jaw/mouth muscles. Again, you never think about how hard it is for your mouth to work - you need to control your muscles in your mouth to hold you mouth normally (without gaping open), to control drooling, to eat and to speak. So, Susan has encouraged us to work with Taylor on strengthening her mouth muscles. Basically, anytime her mouth is open (gaping open) we are supposed to push down on her tongue, which encourages her to close her mouth. We also can tap firmly underneath her chin -this encourages her to close her mouth and swallow. It seems a little strange, but it is important for Taylor to look "normal" and to help her with eating and speaking. Had to share this detail because it is a great example of how so many little things add up.
We're working on lots more, but that's enough for tonight. We are so happy today - mostly because of Taylor's advancements and also because we got a great night of sleep last night. Still adjusting to her medicine, Taylor has been on a stretch where she is getting up at 4:30-5am. Then she will take a morning and afternoon nap. If she will just sleep in to a normal time, she won't need the morning nap again. This morning, she actually slept until 6:40am -the whole house did! This is so rare for us and so needed. It was a push to get Taylor fed before Susan showed up at 7am -I've given up and don't even bother getting out of my pj's for Susan anymore. Thankfully she doesn't seem to mind. Here's to more nights of great sleep!
We are working on so much with her right now. She is so ready to move and is making great progress. She is working on standing up! And she is getting quite good. She can stand - really unassisted - for about 10 seconds now. Of course, Susan has a technique for everything. She is practicing standing in a few different ways - she always has a little stool behind her and when her legs get tired, she has to sit on the stool. The goal is for her to practice sitting when she is tired, rather than falling. In probably the most unique use of props yet, she has these little - real - toilet plungers that she holds in both hands and uses essentially as walking sticks, while standing. I'll post a picture soon - you'll have to see it to believe it. The goal is for her to use the sticks to help her balance, yet they aren't very sturdy so she has to balance check herself frequently. She has to hold the sticks slightly in front of her to encourage her to keep her arms out - again, to train her arms to catch herself if she falls. It's starting to connect for her and she really enjoys standing. She gets frustrated sometimes when she wants to sit and can't quite figure out how to make her legs bend - you can see her face get frustrated and she'll cry out, and then sit. Her dedication is truly amazing.
We also are working on some small things, that will hopefully pay big dividends. One of the things that is great about Susan is her attention to detail. She wants Taylor to be as "normal" as possible. So, one of the things we're working on is her mouth. Yes, her mouth. Basically, her mouth needs help to develop tone, or the ability to use her jaw/mouth muscles. Again, you never think about how hard it is for your mouth to work - you need to control your muscles in your mouth to hold you mouth normally (without gaping open), to control drooling, to eat and to speak. So, Susan has encouraged us to work with Taylor on strengthening her mouth muscles. Basically, anytime her mouth is open (gaping open) we are supposed to push down on her tongue, which encourages her to close her mouth. We also can tap firmly underneath her chin -this encourages her to close her mouth and swallow. It seems a little strange, but it is important for Taylor to look "normal" and to help her with eating and speaking. Had to share this detail because it is a great example of how so many little things add up.
We're working on lots more, but that's enough for tonight. We are so happy today - mostly because of Taylor's advancements and also because we got a great night of sleep last night. Still adjusting to her medicine, Taylor has been on a stretch where she is getting up at 4:30-5am. Then she will take a morning and afternoon nap. If she will just sleep in to a normal time, she won't need the morning nap again. This morning, she actually slept until 6:40am -the whole house did! This is so rare for us and so needed. It was a push to get Taylor fed before Susan showed up at 7am -I've given up and don't even bother getting out of my pj's for Susan anymore. Thankfully she doesn't seem to mind. Here's to more nights of great sleep!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The "Tater Tot" Rocks!
What a Weekend! The fam headed east of the Mountains to a great resort called Sundcadia. We checked into a "kid friendly" house and started causing trouble. Each day was filled with bike riding...lots of bike riding...swimming, finding frogs, freaking out over bees, exploring, board games, Go Fish, boat rides, etc. I even taught Jake how to play cards....he beat me and I promised a trip to Vegas when heturns 21. It was a hot weekend and we had a great "Gurry Adventure". The kids started calling Taylor "Tater Tot"...apparently a great nick name from Alison. She is now my "Tater Tot"...the nickname I have been searching for.
I nearly lost it a few times this weeked with Taylor's great accomplishments. Raising a child with special needs forces you to look for the "itty bitty" developments that one may not normally notice. It is amazing how complicated a task such as crawling can be when learning from scratch. Think about it......get up on all fours....one hand forward..the opposite knee forward...the opposite hand forward...the opposite knee forward. All while protecting yourself from falling and ignoring the other things happening around you. Our therapist has commented serveral times that walking is actually an easier task than crawling. Not sure I am there yet but I will go with it.
Once again we are focused on the "itty bitty" and savoring every moment. We caught Taylor a few times trying to get up on her knees while laying on her stomach.... WOW! WOW!WOW! We then caught her in her crib up on her knees and up on her elbows....WOW! WOW! WOW! We then watched her up on her knees and elbows rocking back and forth...UNREAL! We then layed her down again and she cannot get enough of it! I cried.
It is truly unreal. We have been waiting for our little "Tater Tot" to initiate movement on her own. She is strong enough to move but she needs for the pathways in the brain to connect so that she can realize that she can do this on her own. Up until now we have helped her initiate movemevent every step of the way. This is huge for the Gurry's. Taylor will be 2 in a few weeks.....We can lay her on the floor and she can roll from side to side, she can sit on her own, she can reach out to grab a toy, she can get up on her knees and elbows (sort of a crawling position), and the best part is that she is pissed that she cannot move beyond that. She really wants to go and she is one tough cookie!
I love this little Girl.
David Gurry
I nearly lost it a few times this weeked with Taylor's great accomplishments. Raising a child with special needs forces you to look for the "itty bitty" developments that one may not normally notice. It is amazing how complicated a task such as crawling can be when learning from scratch. Think about it......get up on all fours....one hand forward..the opposite knee forward...the opposite hand forward...the opposite knee forward. All while protecting yourself from falling and ignoring the other things happening around you. Our therapist has commented serveral times that walking is actually an easier task than crawling. Not sure I am there yet but I will go with it.
Once again we are focused on the "itty bitty" and savoring every moment. We caught Taylor a few times trying to get up on her knees while laying on her stomach.... WOW! WOW!WOW! We then caught her in her crib up on her knees and up on her elbows....WOW! WOW! WOW! We then watched her up on her knees and elbows rocking back and forth...UNREAL! We then layed her down again and she cannot get enough of it! I cried.
It is truly unreal. We have been waiting for our little "Tater Tot" to initiate movement on her own. She is strong enough to move but she needs for the pathways in the brain to connect so that she can realize that she can do this on her own. Up until now we have helped her initiate movemevent every step of the way. This is huge for the Gurry's. Taylor will be 2 in a few weeks.....We can lay her on the floor and she can roll from side to side, she can sit on her own, she can reach out to grab a toy, she can get up on her knees and elbows (sort of a crawling position), and the best part is that she is pissed that she cannot move beyond that. She really wants to go and she is one tough cookie!
I love this little Girl.
David Gurry
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