Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Tae Kwon Do, Reading, and Mia's New Arm


Mia has been taking Tae Kwon Do since the beginning of January.  She was so excited to be able to put on a uniform and do this.  A couple of weeks ago Mia tested for her modified yellow belt.  The reason it was modified was because she still needs a lot of help with her form and one steps.  She did receive an award... The Indomitable Spirit Award.  Definitely well earned!
 
 
Mia has been making tons of progress with her learning.  She has learned her alphabet and can write her letters.  Some of the letters she still has trouble saying (for instance the letter "X" is hard for her to say and it comes out "S") but she knows them all.  
 
She has also started reading!!!  The top four books are books she brings home from her ESL (English as a second language) class at school.  She probably has a dozen or more of these books since almost every time she has her ESL class (three times a week) she brings another one home.  We read them together every day.  These are the four that she can read all by herself.  The bottom three are Bob books.  I had two different people recommend these and so we thought we would give them a try.  She can read these three all by herself.  She has a fantastic memory and loves school and that helps a lot!    
 
 
 
Last Thursday, Mia, myself and Ashlyn made the three and a half hour trip back to Shriners in Lexington.  We left early in the morning (around 5:30) but hit traffic, several accidents (the roads were icy in some areas), and Mia also got car sick several times.  Note for next time....bring a change of clothes. 
 
I emptied our food bag out as quickly as I could while I was driving.   She threw up in it and promptly set it on the floor and then continued to throw up all over herself, her jacket and Ashlyn's jacket which Ashlyn had given her.  Meanwhile, I am driving through busy traffic with no way of stopping.  Fortunately, Ashlyn was able to locate my emergency stash of paper towels in the storage area of the car and sort of help her clean up. 
 
With all that said we arrived at 9:30 (30 minutes late).  I ended up dropping the girls off at the door while I parked since Mia was now down to a tank top and that was it!  Ashlyn still had her clothes but was also jacketless.  I washed Mia's dress in the bathroom and then used her dress as a wash cloth to wipe off her pants.  Fun times!!  A wonderful person at Shriners ended up giving Mia two brand new t-shirts and a Sponge Bob sweatshirt.  When I asked her how much I owed her for everything she said, "nothing."  I have I mentioned before that Shriner's is awesome. 
 
Mia has gone back and forth about wanting an arm.  Initially, she was very clear that she only wanted one arm and did not want this helper arm.  I questioned myself so many times as to the right thing to do.  In the end I decided we should at least give it a try even if she isn't on board. 
 
I had not talked to Mia very much about the new arm.  I casually mentioned that we were going back to see Mr. Chris again soon and she would get her Hello Kitty arm.  Mia seemed indifferent.  I did not push it or make a big deal about it.  Then, the night before we left I matter of factly told her what we would be doing the next day (I definitely did not play it up or make a big deal about it).  She responded with a very excited, "Yeah!"  I was very surprised to say the least.
 
During the long morning car ride, she mentioned several times that she could not wait any longer... she was excited for a her new arm.  Unfortunately, that all changed as soon as Mr. Chris put it on.  It felt very tight and heavy and she was almost in tears.  She wanted it off!  But instead of taking it off she had to go spend some time with the Occupational Therapist for a little bit of training.  She was cooperative (barely) but definitely unhappy.
 
Fortunately, the training did not last long and then she was able to play in the big playroom.  She wanted her arm off and I tried to brush her off and say later.  As soon as she started playing she totally got distracted and did much better.  She had a lot of fun playing with another kid (a boy probably about Ryan's age).  They were playing with the cars that run on tracks and you use a remote to operate them.  She loved it and the boy made it so fun.  She forgot all about the discomfort of wearing her new arm.  
 
After that we decided to go to the cafeteria for lunch.  Mia again wanted her arm off but when I said, "later" she did not push it.  At the cafeteria we piled up two trays of chicken and hotdogs, pudding desserts, chips and drinks.  When it was time to pay I pulled out my debit card.  The cashier said, we only take cash.  Oops, I didn't bring any cash.  She said, "No problem.  Enjoy your lunch."  Again, have I mentioned how wonderful Shriner's is?
 
After lunch it was time to head home.  I was planning on taking her arm off but as we were leaving she said, "I want to show Daddy my Hello Kitty arm" and I realized she was planning on keeping it on.  In fact, she did not want to put the sweatshirt on because she didn't want to cover it up.  She was proud of it!  She ended up keeping it on for seven hours.
 
The next day she was happy to put her arm back on and wear it to school.  She was excited to show her teacher.  But as soon as it was on she started complaining and wanted to take it off.  One of the ideas I got from a friend was to reward her with glow-in-the-dark stars for each day she wears her arm (at least for the first few weeks).  This has been the perfect incentive (plus it was only $4 for a bag of 50 stars!).  Her arm was heavy and tight and does take some getting use to.  I don't think I would have gotten her to wear it those first few days without this reward.  Each day I mentioned putting it on and she did not want to.  I told her that was fine.  She can do what she wants but if she wants a star she needs to wear it.  And that was all I needed to say.  Now, I didn't expect her to wear it all day but at least for a few hours.  
 
So far, her arm has helped her ride her scooter.... yeah!!!  We haven't tried a bike yet but a new bike might be coming in the near future.  We currently don't have a bike at home with training wheels.  Although today she said she wants Ashlyn's bike.  Ashlyn quickly agreed and said Mia could have it and she would just get a new bike (apparently Ashlyn has outgrown the princess theme which is her current bike).  Ryan was listening in and offered to give Ashlyn his bike and he would suffer with a new one.  What sharing and thoughtful children I have:)   She has also learned to bat using her new arm...she was super excited about this!  She loves to play baseball!  She also uses her arm to help me cook in the kitchen.  The picture below shows her helping me make cookies.  And I was thrilled that I didn't have to hold the bowl for her.   Tonight we went roller skating with our church.  At one point Adam took her right hand and I took her Hello Kitty hand and the three of us skated together.  That was so cool!    
 
And the best part is, today she told me her arm doesn't hurt anymore.  Awesome!  I don't think it really hurt before but was uncomfortable and hurt is the closest word she knows to tell me that.  And the second best part is that she can now take her arm off and put it on herself.  Yeah!!!  And she seems happy to do so.  So, how much will she end up using this new arm.  I guess only time will tell.