Friday, April 15, 2011

Quick Pneumonia update and a reminder that it is all about recognizing the tiny victories ...

So, Zoey is weathering this bout of pneumonia like a rockstar. She has coughed more today then she has in the days previous but I am sure that is because all that gunk is being loosened up, thanks to the antibiotic. No more fevers and for that I am thankful. Her little disposition is much better and she has been more active and engaging than we have seen her in a few days. Still a bit pale and she is certainly not her spunky, attitude filled self but I see glimpses of that resurfacing and for that I am grateful as well. Speaking of grateful. I look back at her early days. Being born straight into congestive heart failure and the months and months of medication to balance her heart and lung function and seriously, that her lungs are as strong and resilient as they are, is pretty amazing. So many of our little DS buddies who had heart issues, need oxygen support,especially when they have something respiratory going on. Zoey, kissed her oxygen cannula goodbye a week after heart surgery and never looked back. Pretty incredible.

Quickly changing topics,cuz Lord knows I am so over the sickness stuff.

I have often mentioned that Zoey is so not a toy kid. I actually never buy them. Occasionally a musical instrument thingy but usually, I just pass by those toy aisles all together. Why bother. Even the infant ones, she just can't do and quite frankly  could care less about. Her fine motor skills are so behind and because of her vision loss, her hand eye coordination is not super either. Throw in not being able to purposely use her left hand/arm and yep,toys are useless and a waste of money.Hanging around the house though, is this pig:

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Every once in awhile I will pull it out,  put it in the middle of the floor and see what she does with it.Usually, she chucks the coins all over the house. Well,to my great surprise, the other day, Miss Zoey decided to roll her little self over to that sucker and proceed to place some coins into the top. You should have seen how proud she was of herself. Actually,see for yourself now. So darling this child of mine and I know, to some, a four year old putting a few coins into a slot, is no big deal, but in this house, big stuff I tell you and reason for celebration. Not exactly a life skill, as defined on those ridiculous,oh did I just say ridiculous, IEP goals, but hey, it's something,isn't it?






   
 

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Zoey seems to have a good understanding of toys (e.g. I saw her in the videos with the baby doll and the toy kitchen) so I wonder if she often avoids them because her motor skills make playing with them more of a chore. Also, because her physical abilities are way behind her cognitive abilities, it may be hard for her to find a toy that she can physically play with that intellectually stimulates her (it may be boring for her to play with a toy designed for infants even if it is easy to use). I think it is especially hard to find appropriate toys for children whose physical abilities do not match their cognitive abilities. For instance (as I saw from the doll video), Zoe may want to play a game of house, but her hands would not cooperate for getting the bottle in her doll's mouth or even turning the doll over to line up with the bottle. I wonder if playing pretend games with her where you help act as her hands for the toys and create a narrative (e.g. play as 'grandma' visiting 'Zoey's babies' and feed her dolls while getting her to answer questions in sign), may make games more stimulating for her.

Peter Olson said...

That was very cool. Good Job Zoey!

One of these days I'll have to show you how to edit out the background noise in the video sound track or you could just try some peanut butter on a dog biscuit. The dog will spend at least three minutes happily licking the roof of its mouth. :-)

Have a great weekend!

Lori said...

Miss Zoey - that is AWESOME!!! Now you need to have your mom put batteries in the pig so you can hear the annoying, I mean fun, songs that it plays =)
Hope you start feeling better soon, sweet girl!

Rochelle said...

That is HUGE stuff! Way to go Zoey! You rock sister!

Stephanie said...

AWESOME Miss. Z!! beautiful job!!
Hope you feel ALL better very soon!

Emmie has that piggie too. he's gone flying across the room quite a few times.

Cammie Heflin said...

Way to go Zoey girl! Glad to hear you are feeling a little better! Now we just have to wait on Addy to improve :) Miss you bunches!

SECRET PEPPER PERSON: said...

OMG IT"S PIGGY! You know I work as an early interventionist. The model says we show up bringing nothing but I have families who have no toys whatsoever so I usually have a bag with me and Mr. Piggy is in it. I have a boy who so loves Piggy. One day I forgot him and the boy SOBBED for 30 minutes, "PIGGGY! PIGGGGGGGY!". His mom and I were heartbroken! He will age out of my program next week when he turns 3 and for his birthday I am buying him...you guessed it...Piggy. Piggy was also part of the test for The Baby's IEP evaluation...yes Piggy!. Try turning Piggy vertical from you....it's amazing how 90% of the kids can't put in the coins that way.

The VW's said...

Glad to hear Zoey is hanging in there and starting to feel a little more like herself! Great job playing with your toy Zoey! Gavin and I are so proud of you too! Love you sweet girl! Hugs!

SECRET PEPPER PERSON: said...

So glad Zoey is better!

Lacey said...

Look at my rockstar go!! Love it! I was always amazed at how well Zoey weathered respiratory illnesses, especially after her rough start!

The Annessa Family said...

I was in tears! How awesome is she?!?!?! You go girl! And I LOVED the end where she knew darn well she could watch herself and see how awesome she was!!! What a cutie!


Brooke Annessa
www.theannessafamily.blogspot.com

Elizabeth said...

It's totally something, lending renewed meaning to what the term "developmental delay" originally meant. Zoey is developing, and I imagine one day she'll be taking money out of an ATM!

So glad to hear that she's feeling better!

Anonymous said...

I wanted to pick up the phone, call and say awesome, awesome Zoey Grace!! But.... as it is 3 hours earlier at your house I will just say it here. (for now)

And so glad she is feeling better. I tell you this little one is a true miracle.... kicked that pneumonia right outa here!

Love

Aunt Bluebelle

Kristin said...

Oh little princess - that brought tears to my eyes!

Becca said...

Oh my gosh, she is just SO freaking beautiful!!!! Love that angelic look, so pleased with herself, that she turns to give the camera. :-) Fantastic job!! She makes it look so effortless, like she's been doing it forever. Recycling toys is such a great idea. I've been surprised a few times by things we didn't think Samantha could do. Hope this bout of sickness passes soon!!!

Anne and Whitney: Up, Down and All Around said...

great job zoey with putting the coins into the piggy!!! i did see a hint of the attitude a couple of times - love it :)

heidi marie said...

so wonderful zoey! the pig is one of henry's favorite toys.

and get well fast sweet girl! don't you know it's spring and you aren't supposed to be sick. ;)

Bethany said...

Way to go Princess Zoey! Manipulating objects, opening containers, and putting objects in a container are all functional skills for a preschool child IEP be darned. As a preschool SPED teacher I had Piggy and he was a favorite toy. He came on many a home visit because of all the skills he can teach. Have you considered adaptive toys that take away some of the motor issues for Zoey?

Junior said...

woohoo, way to go Zoey, such a smart girl.

Googsmom said...

That is so a life skill!! Whoever told you it wasn't is.... not right!

colleen said...

What a great video!!! and such a resilient child - looks like you will be heading out to shop for stimulating developmental toys sooner as opposed to later! happy, healthy shopping!
have a great weekend!

Brandi D. said...

Great job Zoey!! I think she is so darn precious!

Take care,
Brandi

Merideth said...

Oh my gosh, that is the BEST video EVER!!!!!! I love watching how proud she is! First that small smile for you when she opened the side of the pig, and then watching her clap and smile for herself when she put one in. And what a smart little stinker to open the side of the pig to take out the green one instead of picking up the other green one on the ground! I was laughing and cheering right along with her! She is so beautiful, I love that long long red hair! And hopefully she shakes this pneumonia quickly because poor little Zoey! HUGS to y'all!! ♥

Merideth

Bea Braun said...

I SO love watching your videos! Wow is she communicating a ton. She really is just blossoming. Keep your eye on the warmer months when everybody is healthy and you can go back to your weekly beach trips! It's just around the corner.

Jeana said...

Hope she continues to get better and can have a long break from all this sickness. Love the small victories..even though they are really HUGE to us. We are celebrating the same types of things in our house!

Scrappy quilter said...

What a wonderful achievement Zoey...you go girl. Glad Zoey is feeling better too. Can't wait to see what else she is going to accomplish. Hugs

Cheri said...

LOVED, LOVED the little video! Yay Zoey, I love victories!! So glad she is feeling better!

Sweet Pea's Mommy said...

I'm way behind in blogland, but I'm so glad I didn't miss this one! That was great!!! Way to go Zoey!!!!

Melissa said...

I just love watching Zoey in action. She is such a smart girl!