The other day Rachel was in her stander and watching 'Super Reader' on PBS the character on the TV was asking the kids to say 'D' and Rachel kept saying it over again. It's the one letter she can verbally say really well, she'll say "Da da" on purpose all the time. But this time she shortened it to just the letter D.
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Rachel had a great first day of school. I was waiting to update until I had time to upload the pictures but as life is a little crazy at home (we're finishing the basement) I figured I better just post something and can add pictures and extra details later.
Rachel loved school, she was so excited and talking that Wendy had to take off her speaking valve so that the teacher could finish speaking. They had circle time where the kids could ask questions about Rachel and I had already let her teacher know what I usually tell kids and that she's free to answer anything they ask. They helped her to participate in gym class as much as they could and during song time Rachel was very loud again.
I'll hopefully get a chance to get more details from Wendy soon. [ 5 comments ] ( 54 views ) | permalink | related link
Today we went to Rachel's open house and met her kindergarten teacher. Rachel will be with her usual class two shortened days per week and one day of regular kindergarten for one shortened day per week. She'll have therapy one day per week so Monday-Thursday she'll be a very busy girl. Rachel was very twitchy when we got there and Wendy and her speech therapist are starting to think that she gets twitchy when she's excited about something. She only does it for games that she likes or if we go someplace fun.
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Lots of activity on Wednesday. Rachel had therapy and the rep from Dynavox (speech generating devices) was there to try out different switches and buttons. We actually needed Rachel to do poorly in order to prove that she needs a device that uses the new eye gaze technology. Dynavox is releasing their own eye gaze system that is the same as the myTobii in September and Rachel will be on the waiting list for a rental right away! Dynavox is a company that has been around for much longer and we have a much better chance of the device being covered. Plus they'll have a lot more software that's already designed for kids so I'm very excited about that. The images that we use on her communication boards (pictures velcroed to plexiglass) are taken from the Dynavox system so they'll be images she's already familiar with.
Rachel also had her Baclofen pump refilled today and Kaleigh was facinated and quite the little helper.
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Rachel's still have a great but very routine summer. We visited the neurologist and he upped a couple of her meds. She seems to be doing great and liking the extra attention from having PCA's in the afternoon now. At first I think she found it kind of frustrating but now she's used to it and getting a lot of her activities in.
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We spent most of the weekend at a friends house. Rachel had a great time with all of the kids and taking a couple of walks outside. I feel bad when she gets bit by mosquitos but it's nice to see her have a little bit of a tan this year!
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For some reason everyone is really sleepy at our house today. Rachel took a four hour nap!! Kaleigh took a longer nap than usual but Rachel very rarely naps at all. Sorry, not much is really going on. Rachel was sleepy at therapy and didn't participate as much as usual.
My parents were watching the kids last weekend and Rachel got to ride the teeter-totter and the swing at the park. She seemed to really like it!
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Wendy is feeling better and Rachel never got sick. Thank you so much for your prayers!
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Kaleigh finally got rid of the fever but now Wendy had to go home today with a 103 degree fever. (Rachel's full time PCA) She's pregnant so the only thing she can take is Tylenol but she's allergic to that. Please keep her in your prayers over the next couple of days.
Rachel's still ok so far, thanks for your prayers, they're very appreciated.
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Kaleigh has had a 101 degree temp for two days. Thankfully she's happy, not cranky but she does an odd 'startle' reflex when she gets too warm and will lose her balance. Even pre-accident Rachel had fever seizures so we're concerned that Kaleigh might start doing that too if she gets too warm. It's difficult to keep Rachel's temp down so please pray that Kaleigh will be feeling better soon and that Rachel could avoid it altogether.
Thanks!
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Rachel had a great weekend we spent a lot of time outside and the circus was in town! On Saturday we went to the show and Rachel watched the performers closely and smiled almost the entire time.
Then on Sunday Rachel got to ride the elephant!
She also enjoyed the July 3rd parade but managed to sleep through a marching band!
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I think for the first time in three years, pretty sure anyway, we are fully staffed with 4 PCAs and 3 LPNs. To consider us fully staffed I usually figure we need about 3 of each for availablility but this is great!
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We're very busy now that summer is here but Rachel doesn't have school and has only been back to therapy once since her break ended at the beginning of June. We've hired 2 new PCA's and are looking for a part time LPN so that's been keeping everyone busy as well. Rachel's always interested in new people. She'll sometimes pretend to sleep but peeeek over at them.
She's actually starting to look a little pudgy so I'm going to talk to her nutritionist about lowering her feedings a little bit.
Luke was helping her sit on the edge of the couch with her feet on the floor. Her tone is better so that although she can't balance she was able to hold herself up straight for a while and she looked so big!
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(Rachel's still excited it's her birthday.) She paid very close attention to her presents from Shelby this morning and later this afternoon we're having more friends over. She's going to be all partyied out pretty soon!
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Thank you to everyone who was able to attend Rachel's party! Rachel was excited the entire weekend for her birthday. That morning she woke up at 4am! She was smiling and chatting all Saturday and very smiley today. Her actual birthday is on the 10th so she's not quite five yet!
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