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It seems it's my turn to be sick. Hannah and Gabriel seem fine. Janette feels a little wuzzy. And I'm swimming in blankets on the couch. I sneezed through Friday (at a new job I started on Wednesday - how's that for timing!) and shivered through Saturday. Hoping tomorrow's better 'cause I've got work to do....
-- Dad
Sure Hannah's birthday was on the 12th and we are having the party with friends from school and the neighborhood tomorrow. Logistically, it was the only way I could swing it. I hope she enjoys it. We hired her music teacher to come and play guitar live while she sings.
I bought some cardboard guitars for the kids to decorate and dance with. It will be instead of a goodie bag. My goal with these things these days is to give the kids something to play with that they can recycle when then done with it.
So in honor of the party I wanted to post a collage showing Hannah over the past 5 years.
It amazes me how far we have come.
--Mom
It is a cool toy. Unfortunately, I don't think they marketed well. It has this big screen in the middle and huge cartridges for licensed characters. When I first saw it I thought it was just a player that rolled preprinted scrolls back and forth along to music. I was wrong. The screen in the middle is a touch screen and it responses to whatever in the picture you are pointing at.
Hannah loves this toy. She will lay prone to it and sign for it to sing then hit at the screen. She will stay focused on it for hours. If she finds a cartridge she hits at it to do the same thing.
So the reason we need a new one is. Hannah's sign for singing is unconventional, she beats at her mouth. This causes the saliva to flow. So after about a year of use it has a short and will stay on one note in annoying siren type sound.
One of the problems I had with this toy's marketing is it was only available at Toys R Us. That is a pretty far drive for us. They are usually not as available to the toy buying market as say a Target is. The other on problem was the original display didn't show the touch screen application so I believe many people wrote it off like I did originally.
So, Toys R Us was out and it looked like it was being discontinued. “Sigh!” So I called Zadie, Hannah's Grandfather and presented him with the mission. Because I had heard that another store in the state might have a few left. Zadie ended up finding a couple on line. They are really cool they have Laurie Berkner Cartridge in them. I'm hoping that Fisher Price is just making way for this version in the stores.
--Mom
P.S. Hannah's speech specialist thinks I should do a review of toys on how well they work for Hannah. Would any of you find this useful?
"Look!" Gabriel shouted, pointing at the t.v.. "Facebook!"
Some news story had referenced Facebook, thrown the logo on the screen, and Gabriel had instantly recognized it. Yes, Gabriel often wanders into the office and sees Mom or Dad on Facebook (and LinkedIn for Dad). Kind of not a surprise that he recognized that particular logo.
Yes, we've been inundated with 25 Random Things and 25 Top Albums, people contacting us from high school (many of whom we were happy to reconnect with), and the like. It's been a fun way to spend the sleepier hours when a full blog seems too daunting, but a quick one sentence status update works just fine.
So, should readers of our blog be bitten by similar social networking bug, feel free to pop us an email via the blog at rbach@kintropy.com, and we'll be happy to Friend you out in the social networking world. We'll continue to blog, of course, but for a quick keep-in-touch, you'll also see us on Facebook from time to time.
-- Dad
Out is the magic word. One learns not to utter it until plans, supplies, and shoes are in place. Otherwise, Hannah's limited patience is sorely tested.
Even on a relaxed daughter-dad Sunday, this rule still applies. This morning, Hannah and I both took it slowly. We enjoyed some music together, I phoned my brother, and I prepared Hannah's travel bag: diapers, clothes, g-tube/food supplies, and her DVD player.
Typically, we end up at the mall. Hannah enjoys the architecture, particularly the high ceilings and skylights. She likes the rush of people walking around, and she sometimes greets several with a passing, "Hi." Generally, I can come up with reasons to shop (not too hard). Plus, this time of year, rain is the rule, and indoors with Hannah are much less wet.
Still, we're trying to be frugal much like everyone else, and today I wondered at the repetition. It must get boring for her, just going to the mall, and how would I know? How would Hannah communicate that to me beyond a general tantrum?
After we got in the car, I changed plans. Not the mall today. Today we were headed for our local Panera.
We arrived a few minutes later. As I popped Hannah out of the car and into her wheelchair, I watched her stare at me, waiting.
"We're doing something different today," I said. I grabbed her DVD bag. "We're going to have an early soup lunch together."
We rolled inside. Hannah was surprisingly patient while I ordered. She looked around the countertop at the baked breads and pastries. While I ordered us up some french onion soup and a coffee (that would be for me and me alone), she craned her neck to see the people lining up behind us.
"Extra spoons, please," I asked the gentleman ringing us up. He walked back to the kitchen to pass along the request as we found our seats.
We had a nice window seat looking out over a drizzle coated patio and the main street. We were experiencing what we in the Pacific Northwest call a "sunbreak," so Hannah and I could look out at a nice patch of light blue sky.
I broke out the DVD player: the necessary equipment when we sit down to eat. I queued up a music DVD (stuff I taped off Noggin a year or two back), and I picked up our soup. Together, Hannah and I enjoyed the view, the music (quietly), and our french onion soup. I raised the spoon to her mouth for the first few tastes. She quickly grabbed the spoon from me and popped it back into her mouth.
And there we sat, enjoying our soup, our sunbreak, our music, and a late, lazy Sunday morning together somewhere other than the mall.
-- Dad
Just a bit of proof that Hannah heartily enjoyed her cupcake at her 5th birthday celebration last week. The official party is still a week off (one can't rush these things), but she definitely knows how to jump in and enjoy herself.
She and Gabriel are asleep at the moment. Hannah managed a marathon day (3am - 9pm) without a nap - no idea how she made that work. Of course, now she's really tired. We'll see if that translates into a restful or restless night.
-- Dad
Hannah turned five years' old today. I think her favorite part was that everywhere she turned, someone was singing "Happy Birthday" to her. She basked in the attention, of course, and clapped for more.
Pictures to come, I'm sure. For a very special gift, I was able to find a used, but well cared for, Fisher Price Babbling Bee (her fourth!). After some use and abuse, the Bees lose their voice & stop singing & then stop talking. It's a sad, sad day when that happens (though Hannah is quite willing to see beyond this "disability" and chew on the Bees anyway). But now we have a talking & singing Bee again. She giggled, batted it again to get it singing, and giggled again - the cutest thing.
Take care, all.
-- Dad
When we went to Kidfest last weekend, Hannah and I sat down to listen to some of the live music on the Disney radio stage.
We got a treat of hearing the boy brother band called the Boyle Brothers. They were highly polished and hit every note. Their harmonies were always right on. Even though the crowd was small and sedate, they were energetic and gave their all with genuine smiles on their faces. It seemed they were happy to perform.
Hannah ate it up she even had me take her out of her chair to dance. Afterwards, I took her to their booth and bought their CD and got Hannah an autographed photo.
Hannah is still enjoying them on her MP3 player.
--Mom
Just a follow-on from Janette's entry.
The principal explained that Gabriel had, along with five other boys, gotten a referral from the bus driver. "These always come in a set," he said ruefully.
As we connected the dots, we learned that Gabriel had been teased on the bus. He stood up, crying, to collect his things which had been scattered about. Of course, he should have been seated for safety reasons, but kind of got caught in the Shotgun of Discipline, I think.
Our standing rule is a principal's office visit is an automatic grounding, and we followed through, explaining the safety concern (a bit half-heartedly on my part). Gabriel has made the Walk of Shame three times this year. Of those three, I only agree with one (hijinks in the bathroom, standing on sinks on a dare). The other two seemed like minor infractions & explainable things, but we did our best to be consistent in working with the school to address the underlying idea (e.g. don't disrupt class, be safe on the bus).
But don't worry. Mr. G is not scarred by this experience.
"Dad, know what? My friend T. has two referrals. I have three. If he gets one more, he'll have the same as me!"
"Gabriel, this isn't a contest!"
"I know. Just saying...."
Anyone betting on a fourth trip to the principal's office?
Of course, Hannah will have some shoes to fill, but she strikes me as more the rebellious type. I imagine she'll have no problems matching Gabriel visit-for-visit when the time comes :-).
-- Dad
A few weeks ago Robert and I sat in the entry-way to Gabriel's school. We were waiting to be escorted back to the resource room to check out things for Hannah next year.
Robert smiled and looked at me. "Gabriel's not in the principle office while we are here. That is good."
I laughed and said "Yeah." I shuffled my feet then looked up to see a gentleman approaching.
"Are you Mr and Mrs Bach?"
"Yes." Robert and I said in unison.
"Hi, I'm the temporary principal today. I just had Gabriel in the office."
We had spoken to soon.
--Mom
Hannah tried to nap this evening. She began in the family room around 5pm, but tossed, turned, and cried her way to her own bedroom. Usually, her bedroom soothes her: music, DVDs, bed, comfort.
Tonight, she was far from comforted, though. The intermittent sobbing brought Janette in and out of the office where she and I were tapping away at our PCs. Finally, she woke Hannah, and the sobbing stopped, but Hannah still seemed out of sorts.
I walked in to Hannah's room. She was lying on her side, just listening to the tv. I wiped her runny nose (hmmm, problem identified - getting sick), picked her up, sat her on my knee in the office, and got the Magic PC to sing Beatles songs to her while I sang along.
"Hannah, more la-las?" I asked.
"Good!" she confirmed.
We sang a few songs (she particularly liked Elanor Rigby - I'm convinced one day, she'll be all gothed out as a teenager), each ended with a request for more la-las. Finally, Janette traded back with me, and we both prepared for our nighttime rituals: Janette with Hannah's bedtime; me, with Gabriel's.
***
I've been long absent on blogging, but here are a few grainy phone photos from our recent Saturday out at a Kids Expo downtown and a dinner picnic in Hannah's room to bring you back up to speed. On Saturday, both kids were feeling well, though you can see the blur of Hannah found the big, yellow, square Wow Wow Wubsy a bit overstimulating!
-- Dad
