Twinkle Toes

My little princess has always wanted to participate in Owen's therapies. She feels left behind when he is brought back into the rooms to "play". I have been trying to figure out what type of activity she might enjoy that could be just hers. So we tried a princess ballerina dance camp this week. It was just a 4 day class and cousin Mykaela and Ginny happened to be signed up.
The concept was great. She was very excited about it. The first day she ran into the room so happy to participate. There was even a little window that she could see me watching her in.

 She did GREAT until about 45 minutes in. And that is when the bottom lip came out. She got sad. She wanted her momma. Day 2 was better she lasted 55 minutes before the sadness started.

No matter how much she pouted and how much she participated. I was still proud of her efforts. It was her very first time with an activity and an hour is pretty long.

She brought home a few dance moves to teach Owen. Great form!

 Day three was a disaster. She had spent most of the day at the zoo with grandma Kathy and Auntie Anna so she didn't get a nap. She was pouty. We got to dance and she would not let go of me. I kept trying different techniques to try to get her to go in. But she refused.
Unfortunately she must have gotten spooked by one of the other girls in the class "Ann" because she kept saying she didn't want to go in because Ann was in class. I asked her teacher and she thought maybe Ann kept poking her with her wand the previous day and Olivia kept saying stop but she wouldn't. So my girl was now afraid. We gave up on day 3.

The final day was their final practice. She was still spooked. Ann was still in class. But she did her best. I promised a treat at the end of dance and she gave it her best attempt. I am glad we tried it.

It has been an interesting week. I had Olivia duty. Dad had Owen duty. It has been a different experience. But still I sat on the other side of the window hoping she would participate and get everything she could out of it.

Duke's POUTINE

What is it? Fresh white cheddar cheese curds and turkey gravy over fresh cut french fries. Delic.

My sister Erin and brother-in-law Matt have taken a risk to venture on there own for a new "fair food". Matt's family does cheese curds at the local events and the corn roast at the state fair. It is in their blood. We are excited for them to now try something a little different. Always a risk but they have made some great decisions and it is starting to pay off.

We wouldn't miss the grand opening last weekend at pan-o-prog in Lakeville. And we just had to have a taste. yum. yum!

You HAVE to try it. And maybe you might see a little specht child behind the counter!

Check them out at the Ramsey County Fair this weekend!

50 iPads/50 States/50 Children with SN

iPads are amazing tools. Even more amazing when you put them in front of a child with special needs. We have seen a huge impact on Owen's participation in his learning when we work with the iPad. As parents we are always looking for ways to help. Now just imagine feeling like you have run out of options and don't have the money to afford some of these tools...There is an amazing site out there that has been a tremendous help to us. To help us find great apps, to help us connect with the developers of the apps, to be able to make a difference. They are trying to make a difference in children's lives. Luckily we already have an iPad for Owen but this is for all of the kids that need them and don't have them. It isn't just for games, and looking things up. These are some children's voice. Please consider donating to help other kids like Owen.

A few special spectators

This past weekend Owen had quite the crowd of supporters in the stands. He is starting to get better at the game. Only 1 minor fit for this game. Probably because I got involved and he just wanted to sit with all his fans. But he was up to bat - what was I to do?

Grandpa and Grandpa made it to the game. I didn't get a picture with Grandma since Olivia stole her away for most of the game.
Owen wanted Grandpa in the game with him. So both Grandpa and buddy Tanner got the task of trying to keep Owen engaged and in one spot during his defensive turn. My hope is that one day Owen will be out there with his buddy, ready for a ball to come his way. Not there yet but baby steps.



We were also lucky enough to have a few of his therapists join us to see him play and cheer him on. Chris (OT is on the left), and Anne (ST on the right), you can probably guess which one is Owen ;).
Anne moved away last October :( but we still keep in touch. So she made the trip for a little visit with Owen. We were so happy and thankful they could join us.

This is our neighbor Joe. He lives across the street and is so great with Owen.

Glad he was able to come watch the kiddos play. Owen was a little surprised to see him here but could tell he was pretty excited once he figured out who it was. JOE'S HERE!!

Now my question is where was everyone two weeks ago when it was raining?

Well Olivia was there :)

Thank you to everyone that has been coming to his games to watch him play. I hope you have enjoyed it. I hope you can see what an amazing opportunity this is for Owen. To see how he plays with others like him. To see him be just like everyone else.

Summer Vacation

It wouldn't be summer without a trip to Izatys.

The last few years we have been lucky enough to have the whole family go up together over the 4th of July. And when I say whole family, I mean it. My mom & PJ, brother Nick and family, sister Lisa & family, my Dad and Stepmom, Sisters Erin & Anna, Brothers Ryan & Matt (he missed this year). One big happy fabulous family. Nothing better. The kids have a blast having everyone together. Some people get to stay the whole time, some come and go but it is quite an experience.
This year was no exception. The weather was beyond fabulous. We spent time alternating between the kiddie pool in the back yard, the big pool at the club house, golf cart rides, boat trips, games, golf, bonfires. good times.

   

    

A few memorable moments from this trip...
- Olivia is now brave enough to jump in the pool and brave enough to swim on her own (with floaties).
- My brother Nick's phone call to EJ's. - A bit of an inside joke here....
- Time spent with family.
- Mallory and Olivia forming such a bond
- Need to teach the kids that if they want to "help drive" the golf cart, they should only be allowed to steer. No using the gas pedal! Narrowly avoided a trip into the lake (Owen), and taking out Mykaela, Lisa & Marshall as they tried to get in the cart as it was taking off (Mallory).
- My brother Ryan sleeping out in the tent only to be woken up by the sprinklers going off at 4:30 am - should have probably put the rain protector on the tent.

Our trips away from home are always a bit of an adventure with Owen.
Out of routine. Away from the safety measures of home. Knowing others around to allow him to do what he wants. All of these things often lead to a bit of stress and a bit of chaos.
The weekend didn't start out well when the first thing he did was run towards the lake without anyone with him. Of course when I yell stop, it makes him run faster. And when I catch him and tell him no, he has a melt down. The first day was one melt down after another, hitting me, spitting at me, yelling at me. I thought I was in for a disaster of a weekend. I took him aside into a bedroom, tried for some quiet time which he fought. It ended up with me restraining him by doing a full bear hug for 15 minutes of him trying to get away and it ended with him crying, me crying, him saying sorry. And then it was over. He was better.
The rest of the weekend he had his moments but nothing like the first day.
I worry so much about him wandering off. It is a constant sense that he is missing when we aren't within our home. I know my family has started to also feel my worry. This year people would notice him outside and make sure I knew. Instead of hearing me constantly say "Where's Owen" they were now telling me before I asked. It was VERY helpful. Although you can feel like you are watching him every second it is almost impossible with that many people around. What makes it even more difficult is we didn't bring our child locks to make sure he wouldn't get out during the night. I have learned my lesson on that and will now be bringing them with. He made his way outside at 6 am one morning. Past Jason who was sleeping in the bed next to him, past me on a couch right by the outside door and into the tent with uncle Ryan outside. Luckily Ryan was outside otherwise who knows where he would have gone!

Now I just need a vacation ;)

Catching up...

I blame the lack of blog posting to my denial of turning 1 more year older. Or I could just say I got a bit busy and by the time I sat down for the night I just couldn't come up with any witty words to express the state of the Specht house. The post may not be witty. But at least you may be caught up on our happenings...

tummy time
I have had a few concerns about Olivia the past few months. I have noticed the way she sits on the floor is always a "W" sit (that is where your feet go behind you with your knees in front of you). I know this is a bad sign because it is something we focused on improving for Owen. It shows a sign of weakness. She is also VERY clumsy and doesn't seem very stable. I was discussing the sitting issue to Rachel (Owen's PT) and she mentioned it may be a problem with her core strength. So that got me thinking about her tummy. When she is laying down and tries to sit up we see a long vertical bulge down her torso. I have mentioned it to your pediatrician before but he thought "it" would go away on it's own. We think that is actually what is now causing the problems. So we are scheduled to get her checked out next month. Hopefully nothing major and something a little extra physical therapy exercises to help. This also explains why she still has the little budha belly as seen below.

harmon killebrew
The miracle league program that Owen is playing in this summer just built a new field in Lakeville that is perfect for kids with like Owen. The field was specially made for this league and named after Harmon Killebrew who had the mission that was to ensure kids with disabilities had a place to play baseball. Owen's team was lucky enough to play in the ceremonial game and he was paired up with the president of the Harmon Killebrew Foundation. How fitting that Owen's jersey number is #3 :) They were a great pair. Owen had a few melt downs but his buddy took it all in stride and tried to keep him engaged.

I had over 100 photos from this event. They saw I had a nice camera so the day before the ceremony they asked me to be the "hired" photographer. It was a little difficult to juggle that, keeping Owen engaged and making sure Olivia was taken care of so I was so thankful my dad, ryan and sister Lisa were in the crowd. Thanks guys, it was so wonderful to have you there supporting Owen. And guess who else was there to support the kiddos???? Too bad I wasn't wearing my #33 jersey. But Owen and Jason both had their #33s on :)

more to come...yes, there is still more.

Who called the cops?

We live a mile from the police station and sometimes the police cars pull into our neighborhood to talk on their phone or check their computers. This morning we noticed one right in front of our house. Owen loves policemen so he stepped out onto the porch and waved to him. The nice guy waved back. I tried to scoot Owen back into the house but then I noticed the policeman pulling into our driveway. I figured he was just going to turn around. Nope he pulled all the way up, got out and came up to Owen and asked if he wanted to see his car. OF COURSE!!!! Owen was thrilled.

Not only did Owen get to sit in the car, he turned the lights on, buckled himself in and "talked" on the walkie-talkie.

What an extra special treat we got today! Such a nice guy to give that to Owen.