Meant to post right after Maeghan went to the doctor but have not had the time or inclination to do so. In a few moments, that will change. Wait for it. Ok, now I am ready.
And just as I start writing this I am annoyed at what the blog is doing. Once again, it is not typing like I am used to and I will have to remember to do things that it normally would do for me. But, I am sure you will never notice it, so lets continue.
Maeghan went to the doctor last week. She was going to get fitted for a wheel chair. Not that she really needs one, but they want to get the process started before she starts school. Which is in a little less than three months. It seems it could take up to six months to get the wheelchair approved for her. Of course, we could pay for it ourselves but as they cost around $4000 for the one she wants, I am thinking I will wait for the government to pay for it.
She had a choice of two different models. One of which is the old style. It is like all the other wheelchairs you would imagine except it is smaller. Not very pretty and not very practical for a child going to school. The other is a more modern racing model. I say racing but it is not actually for racing. It just looks like it is. It is very light weight and Maeghan can handle it all by herself. The wheels are angled in and the seat is specially designed to fit Maeghan. The brakes are easy for her to reach and are easy to put on.
The deal with the good one is that it costs about three times as much as the other one. It is specially measured and fitted for her and has a single handle in the back that is fitted to Juanita and I for the correct height. But, since it costs so much, they will have to have some justification for spending the money on the more expensive model. We had to basically tell them that Maeghan can only walk of be active for about 15 minutes at a time. That is sort of true but if she is having fun, she can go for as long as she wants. It is only when we are walking or just doing normal things that she says she is tired and wants to be carried or ride in the pram or something. She also has the feet problems, she sort of walks on her feet kind of rolled over. They had a specialist look at them during this visit and he said it was not that bad, but the other doctors have said and continue to say it is not normal and will need support. That was one of the reasons for the braces but since she has worn them in over a year, they have decided she may not need them anymore, or not until she puts on a little more weight.
Speaking of her weight, she is back under 12 kilos. For a brief time last year or about six months ago, she actually got over that weight. But, since she has been going to school and is more active, she has gone back under the 12 kilos. The doctors said she has gotten a little taller but has not put on any weight. They told us last time that she has had her growth spurt for her age group and will probably not grow very much until she gets to ten or eleven years old. Which means she will be very small going to school.
As you know, we have been concerned about that for some time. We do not know how the other kids will react nor how she will handle it. Several doctors or teachers have said they do not think it will be a problem. She seems to be very independent and tells the other kids when she does or does not like something they are doing, so maybe she will be ok. We will just have to wait and see.
Everyone still notices how small and cute she is. I don't remember if I told this or not, but she went to what is called a teddy bear picnic a few weeks ago. It was at the school and was supposed to introduce the new kids for next year to the school and the teachers. They basically played games and drew pictures. She had some trouble with some of the games and things they were doing but there were lots of teachers to help her. I don't know if that will be the case when she actually starts school, but they all seem to try to make it easier for her. One thing that is going to give her problems is the tables and chairs. They have smaller tables and chairs for the little kids, but they are still not small enough for her. I think we are supposed to supply a little stool or something for her to stand on and sit on so she can reach the top of the tables. She already has the stool but I don't know about something to sit on.
Anyway, at the picnic, they had lunch for the kids. They had sausages on the BBQ and they all lined up to get theirs. I went over with Maeghan to make sure they could see her and not overlook her standing there to get her lunch. It turned out that it was not a problem as several of the older girls, older in that they are probably in the fifth grade or so, had heard about Maeghan and I overheard several them asking 'Where is Maeghan, I want to see Maeghan'. When she was pointed out to them they did the usually thing of saying how cute she was and they all wanted to help her. If that is how it is going to be, then I am sure she will be well taken care of while she is in school.
Maeghan is all excited to be going. She only has a couple of weeks left before she is finished with pre-school. They have been teaching all the kids how to act during school and doing a lot of the same things they will encounter when they start. Maeghan also goes to Ready, Set, Go, which is another program to get kids ready for school. They have had orientation the last three weeks, but I think that is more for the parents than for the kids. But she is ready to go. She cannot read yet and some kids her age can already do that, but most cannot. She can recognize her numbers and once she knows what she is supposed to do, she can play the games they are playing. She is doing really well, I think.
I suppose I should talk about all the other kids and the other things that are going on. William, while still being a real terror, he is starting to learn that when he gets yelled at, he should probably stop what he is doing. Now, or the last few days, the good times are outweighing the bad times with him. He can still throw a real fit when he does not get what he wants and can be lots of trouble when we take him anywhere, but I think, in a very small degree, he is getting better.
Of course, replacing all those tantrums is him being really, really cute and since he is talking a little better, he is saying some of the funny things kids say when they are that small and just learning to talk. If you can keep him entertained, then he is a real delight to have around. We still cannot have a coffee without letting him run amok all around the place, but we have found a little place inside Starbucks where he can stay and not bother too many people. If Starbucks was just not so expensive for a cup of coffee, we might go there more often. Plus, they do not have loyalty cards where you get a free coffee or free treat after so many purchases, so we do not go there very often. We might have to start though.
It is Williams birthday on Sunday. Apparently, I am cooking for a whole bunch of people I did not know were coming over until the last minute, or until the last week. I think there are 15 people coming over, mostly adults, so I have to get my BBQ cleaned and restocked so I can cook for them. I am going to make sausages, BBQ pork and maybe some dirty rice. A few of the other people will be bringing salad, so I don't think I have to make anything in that area. I also have to make the cake and I am going to try a new recipe that I am planning for Natalie and Adam's wedding.
Yes, apparently I am cooking for that occasion also. I did not know it included making the wedding cake, so we will see how this practice goes and decide if I can actually make a wedding cake. I am not a baker, so it will be a first for me.
But, back to Williams birthday, he will be two on Sunday. He loves cars and trucks, so we have gotten some of those for him. I can't remember what else we have gotten, but with all these people coming over, I am sure he will have lots of presents.
Juanita's birthday is the following weekend. I am not planning the elaborate party she had last year. Not that I planned that one either, but this year, I think it will be just me and the kids. Maybe Natalie and Adam, but I want to see if they will take the kids for a while so we can go to a decent dinner somewhere. it will be our last chance to be alone before the family gets here so I am thinking we need to do something special.
The family starts arriving the next week, for Natalie and Adam's wedding. Lots of people, lots of them staying with us and some of them have no plans for leaving. They will leave eventually, but they do not have any set date at this point. I know air fares do not go back down after the Christmas over-charging, until February, so I expect them to be here until then. Not that it is a problem but it gets pretty crowded at times and there are not a lot of places to hide when things get testy. It doesn't happen very often, but you can only expect things like that to happen sometimes.
I don't know how I am going to feed all these people and transporting them around is not going to be easy. Two cars wherever we go, so we sill not be going on many long trips while they are here.
We are expecting Angela and are not sure how that is going to work itself out since this will be the first time she has seen her kids or we have seen her in about seven or eight months. I expect the worst from this encounter but am hoping it does not get too bad.
Juanita goes into the hospital on Dec. 11. She is expected to be there for several days. I have this strange feeling that this will be the time that Angela makes her bid to recover the children, while Juanita is not here to argue with her. I am hoping the rest of the family that will be here will help me out as I will be spending a lot of time in the hospital with Juanita and cannot be home to protect the kids from their mother. We are also expecting the father, but I do not see him as a problem as he says he is for the current arrangement. He might be saying one thing to us and another to Angela, but I still do not see him as a potential problem.
Enough of the family disputes. We have not had another baseball game as it has rained every time we have had one scheduled. We have been having practice and most of the kids turn up for that. I don't seem to be able to hold their interest for the entire time but they all want to be doing something and since only a few can actually be batting or catching or doing anything at a time, they tend to get bored and find their own games to play.
Maeghan has not gotten to the point where she can catch the ball yet but Jarvis and Anna have gotten better. That is, when Jarvis is actually paying attention to what is going on. He rarely seems to follow what we are doing and even when it is his turn, he ignores everything you tell him to do and does it all wrong. He did have to pay the price at one point when he was playing the infield and was not paying attention, as usual. Someone hit the ball at him and it hit him in the leg. I don't think it actually hurt him but he cried until someone paid attention to him and then he was ok after that.
I do have a couple of trouble makers on the team as they are better than the other kids and tend to run around doing everything at once while the others are trying to learn. I don't know if it made a difference to one of them but most of the kids think he is the best one on the team, I am not so sure as I think one of the girls might be as good as he is and one of the other boys is definitely better but not as popular. I gave the player of the week trophy to another kid after our first game and I think he might have expected to receive it himself. Maybe it means he will actually try harder but all it seems to have meant was that he runs around a lot and doesn't really pay attention unless he is the center of attention.
We are supposed to play again in the morning, our second game, and at the moment it does not appear to be any problems with rain. Lets hope we get to play.
I have to go fix dinner now. Maeghan wants spaghetti, but none of the other kids do, so I am not sure what I will be cooking. I'll report after the game or after Williams birthday on how things went.
Until next time,
Talk to you later
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