Christmas shopping

Every time we come around to this time of year, I'm filled with a little heartache. Christmas shopping for a child with developmental and physical disabilities is very challenging in a "normal" store. I have shopped for Hollis in the infant toy section for eight years. I have seen the same toys, over and over, changing little from year to year, and wondering if there's anything new I can find that she might enjoy. She has a very limited amount of things she likes, so we continue to repeat the mantra of gift choices - books, magazines, musical toys. We've tried adaptive toys as well, but surprisingly, they are very much like the infant toys available anyway.

Christmas itself has to be pretty low key too. We have put up a tree about 3 times since she was born because she has pulled them down onto herself or broken ornaments by chucking them. She gets overwhelmed when there's a lot of new "stuff" around, hates wrapping paper, and doesn't want to sit and go through the whole presents hoopla anyway. So, we typically spread things out over the course of a few days: give a gift here and there, to gradually introduce her to the new things. We have learned from various meltdowns that this is what works best for her, and everyone is a lot happier at the end of it all.

Squishing Grandparents is fun!

Whether it's squishing Gram with her body weight, or squeezing Dziadzi's nose until it bruises, Hollis thinks grandparent abuse is fun!

Christmas songs

For the traditionalists...Andy Williams, "It's the most wonderful time of the year".



For the non-traditionalists...Bob Rivers, "I am Santa Claus".

I can reach ANYTHING

Mohawks in the mist

There's something so irrestible about making a mohawk in the tub, isn't there? Her hair is coming in really well now, and we'll probably be getting a new haircut to make her little pixie-fauxhawk again. We went to Revere Beach yesterday and walked around in the mist: there was a cold front coming through, so the water was very choppy and whacking the sea wall as we drove down through Lynn. Doesn't matter what the weather is: we're beach people and we'll go anytime!

Halloween

For the first time, Hollis actually enjoyed Halloween. She was interested in going around the neighborhood (3 houses) and being able to pick out a treat and put it in a bag. And, of course, the whole walking outside at night is pretty cool. These pictures are from her school party and one of their class therapy dog Isaac, who clearly is up for anything.

Good day for a hike

We all went for a little hike at the Ispwich River Audubon reservation today. Hollis managed to get about a 1/4 mile in before she tired out, so we took it slow on the way back up the hill. In the end, it involved a bit of carrying her, no easy feat at 70 pounds!