Do you know what I’m not such a big fan of? Throwing up. I mean, technically I do it all of the time, I’m kind of awesome at it, but when I’m not expecting it and it happens all night when I’m supposed to be sleeping I really really hate it. The mom’s called it a “bug”, which is a really horrible name. I’ve seen bugs and if that’s what I had then I want to take that up with someone! The mom’s tried to explain that it wasn’t really an actual bug but a horrible stomach thing that knocked each of us (plus a few other casualties – sorry Randall’s!) on our butts. First Mama C had it, and we thought she was just faking it to enjoy staying in bed for one whole day, but then Mommy got it a few days later and she passed it along to me! It was seriously bad people…seriously. Our bodies shouldn’t do things like that, it’s just not right.
We were a bit worried that this bug would interfere with the big adventure we had planned for the weekend. You may not know this, but my Pa is a very cool guy. When he was younger he was in the army and got to go to places called “Korea” and “Japan”, and he hung out with a whole bunch of army people called the third battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment. Well last weekend, this other cool guy, Prince Phillip (who is actually married to the Queen!), came to Toronto to give these guys a new flag (it was called presenting them with their new colours, but I guess they’re not as smart as I am because it was clearly a flag). What made it especially cool was that Pa got to be there and got to sit up close and watch it all happen. So, the mom’s and I met up with Auntie CC, Uncle Rico, Thor, Ollie & Gramma, and we went to watch the Prince and Pa hang out with the army. It was so so busy and I was still a bit cranky because of the “bug”, so I didn’t get to see a whole lot of the ceremony, but afterwards we got to watch a military parade and we got to see so many army guys! There was lots of bagpipes (Pa really liked those), and drums (Pa liked those too, he used to play a big bass one), horses and swords and even a canon! I really liked that part – there were so many colours and music.
I took it nice and easy this week, to make sure that I was feeling all better, but then today the mom’s surprised me with a trip down to Sick Kids. Luckily I wasn’t there for a bad reason! The mom’s had been asked if I could be a volunteer for a course for a group of physiotherapists. They were learning something called NDT (neurodevelopmental treatment). This kind of treatment helps kids specifically like me – with both some physical and neurological challenges. I got to work with the instructor, an amazing woman named Jane Styler-Acevedo from Acadia University, who was super patient and kind and knew instinctively that I needed some extra time to figure things out. We worked on trying to get me moving from sitting and standing, because I’m finding it very hard to figure out how to do that, especially because I don’t like using my hands. By the end of the session, the mom’s had some good ideas of how to keep working with me, plus everyone in the class clapped for me and spent a long time telling the mom’s how cute and adorable I am. It’s hard work trying to make my body do the things I want it to so that I can be independent but I’m getting very frustrated at not being able to do it. I keep reaching for things and get very annoyed when I can’t get to them and I hate being strapped into my high chair to eat now because all I want is to be down on the floor playing! Hopefully the things we learned today will help. Keep your fingers crossed for me okay?
Other than all of those things, I’ve just been very very happy these days. I’m chatting up a storm and trying to figure out different sounds. I figured out how to knock on doors and now I like to think that everything is a door and I want to knock on everything. I’ve been loving the spring sunshine and especially that we’ve been going on lots of walks with the mom’s and Gus. I love spending time outside and trying to grab the bushes and leaves – they feel so funny in my fingers, but mostly I love to grab Gus. He’s so nice and just lets me keep grabbing his fur and his mouth and his ears and sometimes even his teeth. The mom’s say I’m lucky he’s so patient with me, but I think it’s just a bribe – if he lets me pull on him, he knows that I’ll keep throwing food on the floor for him to eat – we have a good thing going.
