Day 6: A Week in the Life of Blake
Day 6 of "A Week In the Life Of Blake" Saturdays are the best kind of days. They are also chocolate chip pumpkin pancake days! (GFCF of course, and Blake has her own chocolate chips that are diet approved) Both of our girls can put away some pancakes. We started pancake morning tradition when we were first married and we've never stopped! We wake up talking about them and getting the girls excited about them... and they fuss and fuss until they are ready. They linger in the kitchen as chef Daddy makes them.
He cannot make them fast enough. If you haven't noticed, Blake has a need to move constantly-- it's part of her sensory needs, that craving for proprioceptive/vestibular input. Our brains integrate information from proprioception (input through muscles and joints) and the vestibular system (movement/balance in inner ear) to understand where are bodies are in space. B's systems are not integrated like ours so she constantly seeks that input (movement) to know where she is. Think about how frustrating that is for her--not always knowing where her body is relative to space. Because she seeks that input, she's in constant motion at all times. Also, walking on her toes gives her more proprioceptive input, so that is her preferred style of step. She has killer calf muscles! All that to say, we give her opportunity to move around as much as we can. Saturday mornings, Ben and I sit with our pancakes and let Blake run around and come up to us when she wants a bite. Andi has followed suit .
Pancakes, cartoons, Daddy at home and freedom to move...it's a little bit of heaven on earth for B.We love being active, but it can be a challenge to find things we can all do together as a family. We take a lot of strolls/runs, and Ben recently bought a bike trailer for the girls. They just opened a new greenway near our house, so we went for a family ride this afternoon. Both girls seemed to really like it.
Afterward, we came back, and did a little bike therapy with B. We have to Velcro her feet and hands to the bike. She use to resist this more, but now she complies. I think she likes the "independence" and the praise we give her as she rides. I love seeing her on that thing! She does not have the power or coordination to pedal herself, but she does try and we help her out by pushing. Having her body move in this way, is great "brain food". We learn through movement, so even though she is not doing it on her own, her brain is being fed as if she were. It's a very cool concept--I can't totally explain it, but that is the gist. Andi took over pushing her today. It was the cutest thing! Video to follow, of course!
Tonight, Ben went to pick up some dinner from Zoes, while I put Andi down. Blake and I painted our toenails purple while we waited on dinner ...who says Rett Awareness can't be stylish! Keeping her feet still enough to paint was a small miracle... I'm learning patience in so many ways!!After our spa treatment, it was dinner and bedtime. We must rest, for tomorrow we worship!
Day 6 of "A Week In The Life Of Blake" (contd) I've said it before, but I'll say it again...God knew B needed a sister. Andi already helps take care of Blake. She loves helping and she always does it with a smile and such determination. Guess she has learned some things from big sis! Watch the video here. Side note: this bike was donated to us through Music City Trykes, the Nashville chapter of AMBUCS. If you know a kid with special needs, have them check out AMBUCS in their area, it's a very cool program!
