Hula Hawaii

A vacation? Um no.

I so WISH!

Ty is obsessed with the Beach ( he says BEEshhh) and the Ocean ( oshen), water and swimming but most importantly HULA DANCING!

I am not sure the first time he learned to Hula but he stands up and hula dances for a couple of movies. He has a Barney Beach that he LOVES and has watched a TON since being sick this last week. He usually uses his blanket for his skirt.

We were SUPER tired of being in the house. Like 4 walls were VERY closing in around us. So just before noon we took off and went to see Dallas at work. He was just leaving for lunch with the guys from the office so we took off and went to Burger king.

I let him play.. for a LONG time. I was totally grossed out too! Knowing how many germs there were and that he is all over and licks walls and touches the floor and is eating his burger on ...GROSS! But I let him play. I looked up and he as CLIMBING UP THE SLIDE ( he was the only kid there) because he couldn't get up the other way. He was so funny!

We left there to run errands. First stop was the dollar store. As soon as we walked in he saw the Luau stuff. He pointed to the grass skirts and started to Hulu. Since it was the dollar store I thought HECK why not!

We went to 3 other stores and he carried the skirt around to all 3. I asked if he would leave it in the car and he said no. So he took it.

When we got home.... OH how freaking funny and cute.... He asked to put it on and he was so happy that he had a grass skirt.

He asked for Barney Beach and when BJ would put his on, so did Tyler. He would dance and dance and dance. I would LAUGH and Laugh and then try not to pee my pants. ( Just kidding! I think ) Ty also got a beach ball so we would count and he would say wreee( three) and HIT! ( kick or catch!)

He seems to really be catching on to all of the fun stuff. But really I think he just wants to go on a vacation and see the BEACH and the HULA girls.

Music

" Music gives a Soul to the Universe, Wings to the wind, Flight to the imagination and life to Everything!" Plato

This was the quote on the wall where Tyler received Music therapy while we lived in Arizona. Only recently have I Really thought about what music does for him.

When songs are played Tyler comes alive. He can't help but do actions or smile or stop in his tracks in order to participate.

If we get ready a little too early in the morning he gets super anxious waiting for the bus. You can often find us sitting outside on the bottom step singing songs. When we start songs he sometimes gets mad but I find he cant' help but start to dance or rock back and forth and then the smile escapes his mouth.

When we sit in church the second the organ starts to play he sits up a little straighter and he "sings" along. After everyone is done he quietly claps and says " a job" ( good job)

In Primary he sits on the edge of his seat and "sings" and everyone loves watching him.

It is like he really does have wings when a song is there. While he tries to express himself, he can at least enjoy the music.

Who knows. Maybe Music is the Key to unlock something that will give him a voice!

Countdown to Vacation

Sometimes I wonder if visiting in laws. outlaws and parents, or whatever you want to call them, is really considered a vacation. In order to go I feel like I have to overload our schedules to make sure that everything got done before we go. And sometimes things just happen to land on the week we are leaving, making it a busy busy week.

To add insult to injury I just spent 4.5 hours reading a online driving course that had many typos and tried to insert humor. It even spent the amount of time you spent on a page. So if you were a fast reader you had to entertain yourself for 1-3 minutes while the timer counted down.

Today was the first day to start off our week. Dallas has had insomnia for about 2 weeks now. His meds for his insomnia are apparently NOT working. I, being the very supportive wife I am, have taken full advantage of his early morning rising to sleep in. Why not ? He is only getting about 2 hours of sleep and is up around 4 am. Just in time for Tyler to wake up. You read right 4 am. SOMETHING has to be in the water in this house.

We got the jeep back for about 3 days last week and had to take it back. A few things weren't working right so we had to take it back. Normally that isn't such a huge deal but this week it is a huge huge deal.

Because Dallas and I are going to be going to different places for vacation ( yes you read that right as well) we have a lot to do to get each other ready to head off to two different places. And because of the above mentioned insomnia today was a good indicator of how busy the week will be.

Dallas started the day with Ty around 4 am. Dallas sent Ty back to bed and he woke for good around 6. Dallas was nice enough to stay up and feed, change and play with Ty. At around 8 Dallas came in and Ty and I leave for the morning. We checked my mail and played and read books. Woke up D to head to his docs appointment for new meds and we got ready for our busy afternoon.

I feed Tyler at noon and hope he eats fast enough for us to get out of the house one. We have to be out on time because this appointment is a beast to be late for. We leave at exactly 12:58. We have to travel to St. Joe's in downtown Phoenix. I am getting super good at finding my way to 7th street ( or is it ave) and we make it before 2.. barely. Only we find that our appointment isn't till 2:30. Given the drama we had last appointment I was fine with being early.

*side note* While waiting in the waiting room you run into a million people. Because of the type of doc it is the disabilities of the people are usually very apparent. Today a really cute mom who's daughter had severe CP went from patient to patient introducing herself and her daughter and touching ( which I cringe thanks to the NICU mom in me) and being so nice. She sat next to Ty and asked what his diagnosis is. I told her and she was so sweet. She said she would have had no idea. That it was obvious to her that we work hard with him. Ty looked up at her and smiled and then waved at the little girl and the mom tried to get this little girls hand opened and Ty reached up and took her hand and danced with her. It was super cute..What amazing spirits they all have. *

The appointment got us in around 2:40 and only lasted about 20 minutes and we were out the door, with new appointments for botox in the works. We head out to the parking lot and head home. We stop at the grocery store for dinner and head home.

Leaving at one, getting home at 5. Day one

Tomorrow we have Physical therapy, occupational therapy and music therapy. I have to take the rest of my driving test. And some time find a way to get BACK into the dentist. The root canal apparently doesn't work because my tooth is killing me.

Wednesday we are having to head back into the city with a prescription for titanium braces and smo's. And to make it to our new speech time. Dallas also goes into Scottsdale but we only have one car. And I need to make it into the chiropractor.

Thursday is kinda a lazier day. But is our anniversary. So with all our week busy busy we are hoping to get out and have a dinner or something before we embark on our vacations. Did I mention I have to pack for 2 and make sure #3 is all set to go before Ty and I leave the valley of the sun......

Oh it makes me tired.

But 3.5 days to go. Weather better stay lower than 100......

UTAH (and San Fran for D) here we come...

What we do in Therapy

I realized that a lot of people out there have no idea what we do for therapy. I have never really posted photos of his newest therapies and what we do there.

We get PT ( physical therapy), OT ( occupational), and music therapy. We are currently on a waiting list for Speech. The speech person is going on maternity leave in a few weeks so they are not taking any more kids. These therapies are in addition to the time he gets with therapy at school. He gets all of the above with school ( minus the one on one music) He gets circle time/singing with the preschool.

We have PT and OT on the same day. We are going to try and combine some of our efforts because he is not having it the last our of therapy. We just started with this OT so we are trying hard to get use to all the changes.

OT we are working on him using his arms equally. He has a tendency to use his right over his left. He also can't fully straighten his arms above his head. He can't touch his hands to his shoulders. He knows what each part of his body is but he has too tight of muscles to do it.

He also is working on shapes, colors and manipulating objects ( like puzzles, or shape sorters or stacking.)

He LOVES LOVES the swing at the OT and it chills him RIGHT OUT! We are working on me slowly letting him go to the therapy alone. Right now I sit in the corner and read a book.

( The pictures are not GREAT but it just gives everyone and idea what we do there)

PT is with Rachel. Miss Rachel has been our therapist for awhile. She is working on his Gross motor skills. Skills like walking and stretching. She introduced him to the ball pit, but he was having nothing to do with it. It took several months ( OK like six) for him to decide that it is OK.

(What great form huh!)

This last photo he is on a balance beam. We are trying to get him to put his feet correctly and it teaches him to bend his legs correctly.

Rachel is working with Ty to stretch his hamstrings and help his ankles and feet have better support. We stretch A LOT!

We have music therapy. We have only been once because of scheduling conflicts and stuff. What the music therapy does is it gives him one on one time with songs and instruments to increase his ability to speak and communicate. He LOVES the songs so this was a great choice. We think this will help him a lot and can't wait to keep going.




Some of the other things that music therapy will do is also help him with his hands, help him stretch and combine any other goals we have.

All these activities take a lot of effort for Tyler. He does so well and is so good about going. We love our therapists and all the time they put in. It is something we know he needs.

As a plus Tyler is doing very, very good right now. He didn't go on the bus this morning because it never came. Well, it came late and we had already left to take him to school. He did not cry any tears today as he went to class. He also has a little girlfriend. She saves him a seat everyday ( she is 4) and she tries to kiss him. Miss A reported Tyler jabbering to her several times and she also reported that his girlfriend really takes care of him. Miss A also said that Tyler is finally starting to show his true colors and spent the recess time Laughing. Sounds just like Tyler.

Tyler... the womanizer already. Yikes!

NO NO!!!

I have the most cutest thing living in my house! His name is Tyler. He is amazing and so smart!

Because of his love for his music he has started doing amazing funny and absolutely CUTE things. A little bubba story for all you FANS out there.

On one of the Barney's he tells the story of the 3 little pigs. It isn't exactly like the one we are use to. But the gist is the same. Anyway, when the wolf goes and tells the little pigs he will blow their house down, the pigs say NO NO! Well, after watching it with him the other day he was sitting with his dad today and when the wolf said his BIG line guess what Bubba said...... That's right NO NO!

He has not been wanting to say dad lately either.. instead he says no no mom! Laughs and goes on his merry way. Poor D but cute as heck.

Singing happy and you know it when they say your face with surely show it he touches his face and smiles. Not to mention doing ALL of the clapping, stomping and hoorays that are there.

And the best news of all!!!! I have been approved for Vacation on June 1-7. Stay tuned for updates on our trip. Yes, I know it isn't what every one had planned but it is something we need... badly!! So get your girls night out planned.