Still playing catch-up, so here are some snippets from May. Ollie went to the dentist for the first time this May. There wasn't much good news from the visit, but Dr. Joe was very nice, even making special accommodations to see us off-hours. Ollie produced the expected wailing, gagging and retching, but miraculously he didn't actually vomit on the guy! Pretty much the only fun part of that visit was seeing this cute calf. Dr. Joe grew up on a dairy farm, and raises orphaned calves as a hobby. We got to meet this little girl, who was only weeks old.
It may seem silly, but one of the best things to happen this May was getting this new Childrite seat for Ollie. I was at my wits end and finally found this chair on-line, and bought it on a whim. It has been wonderful. No, it doesn't hold Oliver in the best position for his spine, hips or neck, and he pushes back in it with his feet, but he loves it, and so do I. We use it every day. I don't need to worry about straps and adjustments, I can just plop him in. Here he is in his new "Pumpkin Chair" as we call it, enjoying a book with his grandmother.May is birthday season in my family, with Shannon, Shami, Jamie, Sean and me all having birthdays. This year we added one more when Jeanine and Sean had their second child, a little boy named Finnegan, on May 5th, sharing a birthday with Shami. Sigh. I don't much care for my birthdays anymore, but at least I get to make a wish… if only one day something would come of them.
Shami's birthday cake, and Ollie meeting Finnegan for the first time.
Lots of other things kept us busy in May, including doctors visits, more meetings with the school district, and sessions with Ollie's OT and PT looking at and trying out old dusty equipment that he might use in school next year. But we also had some fun, including visits from friends, a pleasant walk in the Cornell Gardens, a morning at the Farmer's Market, and a stop at this old train downtown, owned by a local bank. I think Ollie rather enjoyed seeing a train up close, and stepping up onto it with his dad.
I also took Ollie to the local science museum for the first time. It is an amazing place, and I looked around and absorbed all the incredible things there were for able-bodied children to do. I watched the enthusiastic kids running around, and eyed the parents busy attending to their kids and socializing with one another. I listened to all the chatter and excitement. Ollie and I would have had fun there, if our lives were different. But there were few options for Oliver to enjoy. Even most of the table-top activities were set-up in a way that wasn't wheelchair (or stroller) accessible. We did find this "Invisible Orchestra" where a camera would catch Ollie's movement and play music when he moved his arms or legs across a virtual keyboard. I took him out of his stroller, and laid him right on the mat, and let him wiggle around. I think it was fun for him to get that musical feedback from his movements.