Back to School & Keeping Busy

We noticed that Ainsley's pain from the hip surgery started to get much better at the end of the second week post surgery and by Monday she was ready to return to school.

We had a few details to work out. We had to switch buses because she needs a wheelchair lift. The bus unfortunately drove right past our house but luckily we caught up before they drove off. The alarm system malfunctioned which scared the bajeezus out of her as she was lifted into the bus which she didn't like in the first place. There was no space for the nurse to sit near Ainsley on the bus so our nurse sat on the floor. Depending on a tiny plastic tube to breathe means that you have to have someone with you at all times for safety. The nurse is with her to make sure the trach doesn't get pulled out and to suction her if the tube fills with secretions, making it difficult for her to breathe. Sitting two seats back doesn't work, nor does sitting on the floor. That's a liability for everyone. I think I got it worked out. Coordinating her return to school with the transportation department, her teacher, therapists and nurses took a lot of effort. I'm really glad that we're done. 

It helps her mood a lot (and therefore mine) to have her back at school. It really helps break up the day.  She gets back around noon. That leaves a little time to play before lunch and nap. Then after nap Evie and Adrian get home and we start homework and then dinner and a bit more play before bedtime. She's not sleeping all that comfortably which means Steve and I aren't sleeping well yet so it really helps when she's not bored during the days.

We did have some time to pull out one of the sticker activity books I'd bought for her recovery period. I don't know why we haven't done these sooner. It's great on many levels. She doesn't really like stickers because they are...well, sticky. So it's good to overcome her adversion to sticky things. She can work on pointing, making choices, learning the names of things on stickers and page, and it takes a fair amount of dexterity to apply the sticker to the page. She needs practice. And it's a good one-on-one activity.

This book was a doll house. We worked on the bathroom page.

She had a lot of fun. This is why I'm in love with this child. Her smile is pure radiance.

I'm not 100% sure she totally gets the idea. Or maybe she's being silly. Who knows. She's come a long way from the girl who didn't even like a sticker on her shirt.

           

Somehow this week I was able to squeeze in a little scrapbooking project for a friend whose child won a gold medal for the 50 meter breaststroke at the Special Olympics last weekend. I printed the page as a 8x10 so they could frame it.  I did this free of charge because I like Asher (his last name has been blurred for privacy) and am proud of his accomplishment. Having a soft spot in my heart for special needs kids. I think it turned out quite nice. I may have discovered a new niche. Hop on over to my business blog See Susan Scrap if you are interested in knowing more about my new scrapbooking endeavor. Tomorrow I'm attending a Crop 'Til You Drop event at my upline, Eileen's scrap studio. Hopefully I'll finally have some uninterrupted time to make some progress on our Disneyland Trip album. I hope everyone has a good weekend!