Details

Happy Mother’s day to all our moms and mom friends!  I hope you were able to enjoy all that motherhood has to offer.  As for my mother’s day, I spent most of the day practicing  a great rendition of “Oh When the Saints” on the  keyboard with Jack for his recital on Monday.  Sitting with him was an obvious reminder of what it is to be a mom!   For the rest of my life whenever I hear  “Oh When the Saints Come Marching In…” I will forever remember Mother’s Day 2009! 

As for Jack’s recital it was an experience that will not soon be forgotten.  The atmosphere was very relaxed, all families sat on the floor which was great for us!   We sat in the back just in case we needed to entertain anyone out in the hall, if you know what I mean.  We sat with another family that we know well in music, who also happen to have four children.  Between our profoundly speech delayed baby who chose to practice using her voice while in a crowded room of  silent listeners, and the other family’s baby who just learned to make  “tooting” noises with his tongue, and Sophie who kept making her way up to the front only to change her mind five minutes later and make her way to the back again, and the other family’s toddler who insisted on getting anyone’s attention, it made for a  memorable/laughable  night.  Jen, I know you read this,  I think that we will look back on these days and laugh even harder than we did last night! 

Seriously though, Jack  did so well, which if you heard him early Sunday morning you wouldn’t believe me.  Something clicked in his head Sunday afternoon and from that moment he was marching on!  Honestly, it wasn’t that he played the piece so well, it was that he was brimming with confidence and was so proud of himself that made it such an amazing performance!  He also played excerpts from the Harry Potter Theme song that he figured out on his own with a little help from one of his instructors.   He was beaming from ear to ear, that makes a mama and a music teacher so proud!

Last night we had Sophie’s family music night where she was as giddy as we  have seen her in a long while at 6:00pm.  I’ll just tell you, she had an excellent afternoon nap.  She and I spent yesterday running to daddy’s office to deliver his computer that he accidently left at home and then to DuPont to pick up Lucy’s orthotics.  In reality these were not very interesting outings, but we made them exciting.  At Daddy’s office Sophie was able to go to the cafeteria and get a drink of water from a cone shaped cup and then get a snack from the vending machine.  This was a highlight in her day, she has not stopped talking about this.  Then at DuPont we visited the large fish tank in the waiting room where she knew the names of almost all of the fish in the tank, thanks in part to Jack brining home so many library books about fish and aquariums.  After that we ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria, which I guess to a kid is like a dream come true.  When I asked Sophie what she wanted for lunch they had it all ready and waiting.  Sophie said, “Mom, they sure are fast cookers.”

Lucy’s orthotics are the teeniest tiniest most expensive pieces of molded plastic and Velcro I have ever seen.  She is not that fond of wearing them right now, in fact she tried to take them off the entire time she has worn them.   They gave me a schedule of wear so that she can adjust to wearing them.   For now, she will not bear any weight on her feet with them on, but I know that this is just her being stubborn.  I have heard from other moms that they were just as hesitant as I am about whether or not these will actually make a difference, they have all said that they have noticed a difference in their children’s stability since wearing the orthotics.  I’ll keep you posted.

This week I am getting all of  the details of our trip worked out.  I have to say that things for this trip have come together with minimal effort, if only it could be that simple at CHOP.  Scottish Rite Children's hospital called on Monday to set-up her pre-anesthesia appointment and at this time they realized that Lucy needs to be admitted the day before her surgery.  I thought that this might be where things get complicated, but they called me back  Monday evening to let me know that all the details of her admit have been worked out, and that Lucy will be admitted Wednesday afternoon following our appointment with Dr. Schoffner.  We are planning to stay at the Ronald McDonald house near the hospital since we will be in house for most of our time there.  My mom is coming to stay with our other three kiddos which makes this trip even easier on us.  The kids are looking forward  to her coming, in fact I think they want us to leave.  I’m not sure how this makes me feel, but I do know that they will have a great time and will be in good hands.

NOTE:  I can’t seem to find the cable for my camera so I can’t post the pics I wanted to for this post.  I’ll do it as soon as I find my cable, sorry.