A bunch of little stuff

Highlights from the past few days:

-Miracles do happen . . . Maya's splints are finally here!  They're SureStep splints, and she seems to like them----after I put her socks on today she actually picked one up and tried to put it on her foot :)  Instead of the girly patterns, we went for barns and farm animals, because this girl loves her farm animals.  She took her "Little People" cow with her to bed tonight. 

-Speaking of farms, we took my mom to visit Maya's favorite farm/grocery store, Stew Leonard's.  I can't remember whether I've talked about Stew Leonard's here, but Maya loves it.  She made her first trip there when she was just 2 weeks old, since it was terribly hot and we were stir crazy in the apartment.  They have a little animal farm in the back, complete with Maya's fave, cows:

 (that's yogurt on her mouth)                                           Mom!  This cow is lickin' my sticker!

-We spent some time in NJ with my folks and my sister's family, and I showed off my hula-hooping prowess. 

(the look on Dave's face here is priceless)

-We went to a big dog/cat show, that we thought would make Maya laugh until she threw up again, but she really liked the T-shirts with the doggie pictures better than the dogs.  (So of course, we bought the stupid t-shirt.  I'm hoping I can make it into a pillow.)

-But I think Maya's favorite part of the weekend may have been just hanging out with her Dad at the playground:

Oh, and we had a big meeting-of-the-therapists, and our first ever playdate, and a bunch of other stuff I'm probably forgetting.  It's been a fun few days :)

Oh brother

Try real hard to remember back to 8th grade.   At my (tiny) elementary/middle school, I graduated 8th grade in a class of 17 (I can still name every one of them---and a bunch are Facebook friends, who might even be reading this---so shoutout to my class of '93 8th grade grads!).  We were the top dogs, and felt like the coolest kids around.  Maybe you were the *best* something in 8th grade---the best singer in your class, the fastest runner, the funniest.

And then you went to high school.

And suddenyl you're a very little fish in a very big pond.

That was therapy dog class tonight.  Sigh.

If you've hung out with Parker, you know that he's a great dog.  We've worked really hard with him, and he does so many amazing things:

-He will lay down and stay at the playground, as little kids run past within an inch of his nose.
-He will whimper and look at me with big eyes---but not move or snap or growl or scratch---when Maya grabs a handful of fur.
-He will gallop floppily to Maya and eagerly lick her face when I say "Parker!  Where's Maya?!?"
-He puts himself to bed
-He will wait forever if I put food in front of him and say "Leave it"
-etc

But---he wants, more than life itself, to play with other dogs.  Just desperately wants to frolick with them in puppy madness.  At 7 months, he was the youngest pup there by far---and his puppy "Dogs! Dogs! Hey, you dogs!  I need to play with you I'm right here will someone look at me I can't stand it I'm all alone!"ness it the biggest challenge we're going to face.

He did great with the one-on-one stuff---the trainer and her volunteer could pull on his paws, stick fingers in his mouth, etc etc---no problem.  He took treats gently.  He sat and stayed.  But he whimpered, wiggled, and tried to play with the other dogs as they walked by----so embarassing!

I thought we were at the top of our game. 

Sigh.

We have a lot lot lot lot of work to do.  We might not pass this round of classes, I fear.  He might just need to be older to gain more of the self control.  

I need to look at it like a challenge, dust myself off, and tackle it tomorrow.  But puppy training is really hard work with a toddler in tow.  Throw in a toddler who needs constant physical support, and how can I manage it?  How can I do our homework --- "find strangers and get them to approach your dog to pet him while you kneel next to him"----while holding a wiggling Maya, or having her sit in the stroller (yelling) to watch?

I thought we were a lot further along this training road than we actually are.  And it's both daunting and annoying.  Argh.

Another day, another bucket of hair

Parker and I are now on a schedule where I attempt to remove hair from some part of his body about every 3rd day.  Sometimes I'm really ambitious (like yesterday) and we have a morning session and an afternoon session.  Other days, not so much. 

I'm of the mind that if you're willing to put in the effort to research and try something new, and you're not afraid of some failure, you can pretty much learn to do anything (I put that in bold because it's a pretty important life philosophy).  And having Parker around gives me daily opportunities to challenge this theory.  Most things are going well, but the dog grooming is kicking. my. ass.  Initially I thought "$80?!?  Every 6 weeks?!?!  Oh hellllllll no.  I can do this."  Now . . . $80 for a dog haircut seems kind of like a bargain.

Today I buzzed his body shorter (poor guy still gets so hot when we're out walking!) and did 1 foot halfway.  So 1/8 of his feet is done.  Not including toenails. 

Here he poses with the bucket of hair I removed today:

In other hair news, mine is still falling out.  A lot.  The bald patches are widening, despite the shots, extra vitmains, and medicated shampoo that makes my scalp all tingly.  When I shake my head it smells like a medicine cabinet.  BUT----as more hair falls out, new little hairs are growing in!  Check out the comparison pictures:

Before (5.15):                                                                   After (6.3):  (See the fuzz???)

Closer up . . . see, there's little fuzzy hair there.  Something's happening!

Before:                                                                             After:

I felt a little crazy taking the pictures at first, but now I'm glad to have them for comparison purposes :) 

Thanks for the supportive notes that some folks sent after my last post :) I'm feeling better, due in no small part to:

-Dave coming home and helping me to cheer up

-The purchase of a SlapChop knock-off (seriously, there's a knock off version of the SlapChop) which may or may not help with tabouli making, but will certainly provide entertainment either way. (I'll provide a product review after I try it :) )

-Videos!

1.  Parker frolics (he hops like a bunny when he runs), which cracks Maya up. Here you can't see her amusement, but you can see her MacGyver-like shoe/sock removal and applause for Parker's efforts:



2. An older video, which shows Maya's reaction when she is reminded that she has a dog (0:13) , and sees him (0:33---what a screen shot!) after a nap.





PS: Did you notice the beautiful frames hanging in the hallway at 0:22 (and again around 0:30)?  We bought them ages ago, and I ambitiously decided to hang them up before they had the opportunity to get broken.  Unfortunately, we still haven't gotten around to ordering pictures to fill them, so those black and white photos are all the ones that came with the frames.  Sometimes Dave likes to show them to Maya and say "And there's Aunt Betty, helping cousin Sally tie her shoe . . ."

PPS: Huge shout-out to Dave for letting me upload this---he had just gotten home from a long day and was kind of shaggy and unkempt, but is man enough to not care if the world sees him at less-than-his-best :)

PPPS: If you're trying to decipher her shirt, it says "I'll walk when I'm good and ready"

Can't think straight and a camera cap

I would love to have the energy to do a full post right now, but I feel like a new mom (people with 2 kids might disagree, but I swear that getting a puppy is like adding a toddler to the family).  Last night Maya was babbling at 3 (why? I have no idea) which woke up Parker.  Then he had to pee (luckily we have pads out on the terrace, so I could just bring him down the hallway).  Then he thought it was playtime and was bummed to go back into the crate, so he was whimpery.  And Maya kept making noise on and off.  And I am so. tired.

But I know you people only care about pictures anyway, so here:

An aerial view of the living room dog run:

Sometimes Maya is on the outside, trying to chew her way in:

But if I leave the gate open, she quickly wants to be inside, opening & closing the gate.  Open. Close.  Open.  Close.

Well, this is just ridiculous:

This was so funny.  Maya found the lens cap for the camera on the table as she was cruising along.  As with anything she finds, she picked it up and threw it on the floor.  Parker needed to investigate, and decided the quickest path to the cap was through Maya's legs.  Of course, she squealed and giggled :)

How cute is that?

Day 1

Last night was tiring, but easy.  We picked him up and had a good car ride home, and he slept through the night like a champ. 

This morning we realized that bringing a puppy home is exactly like having a second child.  I was glad that Maya slept in so that we could start the day by spending some quality time with Parker (ignore our sleep deprived appearances). 

(We're sitting in Parker's fenced off "safe" area in the living room.  We moved a couch and table into the "guest room" (or garage, as I like to call it) and cleared out a big section for him.)

When Maya woke up, we were psyched to bring in Parker.  She is delighted when she sees him, but seems to quickly forget he exists.  She obviously cares, though, because it took about 5 minutes for her to learn his name.  Now if you say "Maya, where's Parker?"  she looks at him with a big smile :)

Come back here, Parker!

Oh, doggie, you make me giggle :)

Someday we'll be best friends.  For now, we will sit at a distance.

We went to the park in the morning, just the 4 of us, and hung out as a bigger, better, more improved family :)

Parker's spent his life (until last night) in the comfort of a lovely home and big enclosed backyard, frolicking with his brothers and mom.  So, this morning when he encountered sidewalks, streets, traffic, bikes, strollers, dogs walking, etc he was a bit terrified.  But he's an amazingly quick learn, and by tonight he happily trotted along next to me while I pushed Maya in the stroller (yep, I took them both out all by myself!).  We took lots of breaks to practice sitting and Maya gave him little treats for being such a good dog.  Here are 2 pics from earlier in the day while he was on the leash (FYI, Dave was correcting him, we don't usually keep the leash so tight).

Despite some anxiety breakdowns (on my part, but that's a post for some other time when I have more energy) it's been a good day, and he's a really sweet dog :) 

Meet Parker!

This was the only picture we managed to get tonight, after hours in the car and a melting down Maya.  Parker (so named because Maya is developing pa-pa-pa, which is one of the easiest sounds to make, and because I like dogs with people names, and also his breeder's last name starte with Pa, so that was nice) is a 13 week old standard poodle.  He's adorable, right?  Maya's kind of in the dark, although she was delighted to see a dog walking behind us in the hallway when we got home.  More pictures and video are sure to come tomorrow :)

The puppy plan

I've spent the past 3-4 weeks immersed in dog madness.   The idea of a service dog (too long of a wait) morphed into the idea of a service dog drop-out (wrong breeds, too long of a wait), which morphed into the idea of adopting an older dog which morphed into the idea of getting a puppy.   I've done an enormous amount of research and paperwork (with a stack of books and a million bookmarked websites to prove it), and we've settled on a plan.  Well, probably . . . you know, nothing is set in stone until it happens, but here's the idea.

We're going to get a Standard Poodle puppy.  We have on in mind, he is 13 weeks old, is at a breeder in CT and we are going to see him (and possibly bring him home) on Friday night.  (!!!!!)

I realize this might seem rather sudden, and you might have some questions.  Sometimes people blurt out questions without thinking, so allow me to address your question, while providing you with some helpful rephrasings:

1. A puppy!?  Are you freaking crazy?!  What I think you might mean is "Wow, puppies are a lot of work.  Why did you choose a puppy over an older dog?"
 
Puppies are a lot of work.  I'm fully aware, and in getting a puppy I'm basically saying that I hate having free time and I would like to spend every moment of the next 4 (10?) months either working with Maya, working with the puppy, or banging my head against a wall.  That being said, a puppy and a toddler are a good (supervised) combination.  The puppy learns that it ranks below the child quickly, and they grow and bond together.  With Maya's clumsiness, I think I would always worry that even the best behaved adult dog might snap if she fell unpredictably towards the dog.  I also like the moldability of a puppy, the fact that (even though it's more work) we can control his socialization, etc.


2.  Oh . . . you're going to get a puppy from a breeder (sigh).  What I think you might mean is "I know that you really care about animals, and the shelters are so full.  Why did you choose to call breeders?"

If our situation were different I would be at a shelter.  But we've got high hopes for this dog.  We need him to be a purebred hypoallergenic dog.  We hope to avoid major health issues or hip problems as the dog ages, and breeders choose their pairings carefully to avoid these potential problems.  Good breeders breed for temperaments, and can evaluate the personalities of their puppies young . . . we need a calm, slightly submissive puppy who is smart and ready to learn.  Good breeders guarantee their pups.  Good breeders take the time to socialize the puppies with other people and animals, stimulating them mentally and physically, laying a foundation for housebreaking, crate training, and leash training.

3. A poodle?!?!  What I think you might mean is "A poodle?!?"

I know, they seem (at first glance) to be kind of froofy fancy-pants dogs.  Truth is, the breed is a perfect fit.  Big enough that Maya can lean on it.  Active enough to enjoy the walks we like to go on, but calm enough indoors to be happy in an apartment.  Smart, smart, smart (the 2nd smartest dog breed), incrediably trainable.  Hypoallergenic.  Good with kids.  They are often used as service/therapy dogs.

I think that sums it up :)  I would post his picture, but I don't want to jinx anything.  Tomorrow Maya has the allergist, and thenI finish cleaning the apartment and finsihing as many projects as possible.  Tomorrow night we do a big prep trip at Petco.  Friday we have therapy as usual, and then we head to CT as soon as Dave gets home.

Packet is finished!

We have recommendation letters from her physical therapist, special instructor, and pediatrician.  I have mini-summaries of a bunch of articles from several different journals, highlighting the benefits of dogs working with special needs children.  A wrote up a mini-biography about Maya, and printed a list of therapeutic goals that dogs can help with.

Do you have a special needs child who would benefit from a dog?  Do you need to petition someone for permission?  Need help drafting reference letters?  Are you just someone we know who is nosy and wants to see our packet?  ;)

Email me and I'll be happy to send stuff along:  uncommonfeedback@gmail.com

The past two weeks have been really draining. We've been busy at home, Maya's been really cranky (teething? terrible twos arrive early?), I've been doing more remote work for KIPP, I have a million (ok, 4 or 5) doctor appointments that I need to schedule for Maya, and some friends/family have been having emotionally turbulent times, which tugs at me subconsciously. We also have a few larger projects looming, each requiring a lot of work. So, without further ado, here's one:

We've been working on kind of a big secret project over here, but I've been hesitant to blog about it because I wasn't sure where it was going to lead (although some family folks and one or two message boards have listened to me thinking through various parts of the process). But now I feel like we're up to our elbows in it, so it's time to put it out there.

We're trying to get Maya a dog.

(not this one)

A DOGGIE! Can you imagine her unbridled enthusiasm? (If you're having trouble visualizing, just click on the "dogs" tag to your right---->


The idea started because Maya's feeding/speech therapist has her dog (a very small, calm toy poodle/poodle mix) at her sessions. And when Maya gets cranky during therapy, I can point out the dog and she'll smile and sit up and refocus (ish). So Dave & I joked that we should get Maya a threapy dog. And then we thought about it more and more, and it seemed less like a joke and more like a potentially amazing idea.

Long story short---we applied to service dog organizations, and although we qualify, the wait is very long. Since the dog could actually help Maya to progress with her therapies we really don't want to wait a year (or longer) to get one. Our building is not typically dog friendly, but we are asking the board to waive the regulation for us, since the dog is recommended by her therapists and doctor . . . the board meeting is on Monday night and I've been busy amassing recommendation letters and working on a packet to give them. So, ideally, we could have "permission" to get a dog as early as Monday night. Then we would begin researching breeds, possibly trainers, etc. Very exciting :)

After I finish the package for the board I'll copy and paste some stuff up here so that you all can see the sort of stuff that we're hoping the dog will help with.

Oh, and that pregnant rat had 11 babies this morning.

Foot in mouth

So my rhyming-titled post was all like, Maya had a little bug, but she's over it, went to the zoo, diaper explosion, ha ha, whatever. Then we all got sick. Really sick. We spent Friday laying in bed (all three of us, in a row) with a little alarm set to wake up every 15 mins and give Maya littles syringe-fuls of Pedialyte. Then we moved to the living room and layed on the floor:

(that black strip down the right side are my pants)

The next day we went to the park, where Maya met a dog named Polly who magically cured all of her leftover yucky feelings:




And then I bounced her around to shake out any last viruses:



We got better in time for Easter, but still have occasional stomach issues. I'm not feeling up to doing an Easter post tonight, but the pictures are uploaded, so it will be soon! Also, Maya got some big girl sneakers today, so look out for a picture of those soon, too.




(Are you on the edge of your seat yet?)




(I thought so.)

Two days in pictures, with no transitions between stories, and the worst and longest title ever

So, folks asked about the flier that I mentioned hanging around the neighborhood. I'd love to share it because I got so many responses! The title was "Young neighborhood mom seeks companionship" and no sooner did I hang it up than the emails started pouring in.

:)

Ok, for real, here it is (at Starbucks):

("Attention Parents of Kids with special needs" is the title)

Speaking of Starbucks, you may have noticed that you can see a giant Starbucks cup in almost all of my stroller pictures. That's a reusable iced coffee cup, and we make the coffee at home. I'm not buying coffee (and disposing of plastic cups) everyday. Here's Maya, and my cup, at the dog run:

Playing with the new camera has taught me about angles. Here she looks like she's at a park in the middle of a big city:

While here she could be swinging in a much smaller town

But really, there's just one big skinny building, and the shots were a few seconds apart.

Around 7:25 every night, we say "Maya, do you want to watch "Baby Signing Time?" And she does this:

Everyday I wear 3 rings. Last night I made pizza, and before I started kneading the dough I threw the rings in an empty baby food container. This morning when I went to put them on, I found a fourth. One of these things is not like the other . . . (Dave made it pre-work)

Maya tried to feed it a veggie stick.

We're working on veggie sticks in feeding therapy. She wants to do it all by herself (which has varying degrees of success).

While I made her breakfast, she went to work unfolding the laundry:

And she subtly tells me to put the camera away.

(An aside: A few posts back, I mentioned my "throw yourself into the universe" theory (henceforth TYITU), but I haven't had time to extrapolate at all. Way back when I wrote about the not knowing, a few interesting things happened. 1. I was forwarded an article from the Wall Street Journal about a family dealing with a lack of diagnosis for their son, and it brought to light how many people in the country struggle in that limbo situation. 2. In line with TYITU, I emailed the author of the article 3. She responded and pointed me towards an actual organization solely for families of kids who don't have diagnoses (SWAN . . . "syndromes without a name"). That's what the "swan" tag on some of my posts stands for.)

New camera

And I experimented with it on a bike ride around the neighborhood . . .

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

You lookin' at me?

Mommy, INAPPROPRIATE time for a picture!

And then we walked over to our fave, the dog run:

Doggies far away . . .

Closer . . .

Closest!!!

Get back here, doggy!

Oh, you doggies are too much!