Ryleigh just finished the summer session of therapeutic horseback riding at Cedar Creek. This was her third time participating in the program. We are so lucky to have access to such a wonderful program. She absolutely loves it.
week one
She rode on Latte most of the time this summer. But she did ride on two other horses this summer too. She rode one session with Tali (he's Latte's son) and one with Nejam. Latte was her horse last summer and she really likes her. She has braids in her mane.
Here are a few photos from her last session this week:
week eight
Ron was a volunteer side walker for the session. It was a hard work, but a lot of fun that he got to be with Ryleigh for most of the sessions.
she looks like such a big girl!
One of the last things they did this week was do a little jump over the rail. Most of the time they do this at a walking pace so the horses mostly just step over it. This time they tried it at a trot. Ryleigh and Latte did a great jump! And I managed to get it on video:
"Oh my goodness. You are wearing me out. Literally."
Actually, 'literally' has become one of her favorite words. We've been told that "I'm too hot, literally." is a common Ryleigh phrase at school. Probably is also a new favorite.
"Dogs don't wear hats, that's silly!"
"Mommy, what's in your pocket?"
"Nothing, Ryleigh."
"Is it a wocket?"
Somebody is a Dr. Suess fan.
When she heard the coffee maker one morning:
"It's making coffee in my ear just a little bit."
Another funny note from school:
As in, "Don't go away, otherwise I will miss you."
Sometimes she gets a little philosophical: "What does the moon eat? Does the moon eat chocolate? Does it eat macaroni?"
Ryleigh: "Where are we going?"
Me: "We're not going anywhere, honey."
Ry: "Why is daddy shaving?"
Hahaha!
"It's Christmas eve on daddy's juice! Look there's a Christmas tree on there."
At our friends' New Years Eve party, they had a baby gate over the stairs to their basement:
"I want to go look down there. There might be a doggie down there." (I wish I could have captured her face when she said this. Haha!)
Me: "No. They don't have a doggie. So, I don't think there's a doggie down there."
Ryleigh: "But there MIGHT be."
Dinner conversation:
"Thank you mommy for my macaroni and for being a person."
"Thank you Ryleigh for being a good person and a great daughter."
"I'm not a person or a daughter either."
"You're not?"
"No. I'm Ryleigh Rowe."
"I hear sirens. With my ears."
"Are you not mad?"
"No, Ryleigh, I'm not mad."
"You're just frustrated?"
Gee, I wonder where she got that one...
"Daddy, thank you for my sandwich. You are a great man." I mean, he does make a pretty mean PB&J, but that's laying it on a little thick, don't you think? Ha ha!
This whole "great person" thing seems to be a common theme with her these days.
Exhibit A: her note from school:
"I'm doing my work on my computer." (Her LeapFrog laptop)
Me: "Oh, you are?"
"Yeah, I'm teaching my class. I'm talking to my students."
Just like daddy. Ha ha!
Me: "Daddy is going to court today, then he's going to Jeff City."
Ry: "Daddy is going to court to watch the basketball game?"
Me: "No, not really. Daddy is going to court to do some work."
Ry: "Daddy is going to court to do teamwork."
When the neighbor's cat started following us into the garage:
October is Spina Bifida awareness month. I've been tossing around different ideas of what I would say about that. Or if I really needed to say anything at all. In fact I've had three or four drafted posts started, but I just didn't know where exactly to go with it. Well, last night I had an encounter that changed my mind and I realized, yes, I should say at least a little something to help increase awareness here in my little spot on the internet.
Last night at horseback riding another parent or family member was sitting nearby when I was getting Ryleigh ready to ride. She started chatting with us, commenting about how cute Ryleigh is. And she asked about her feet, "does she have in-toeing? My son's feet kind of turn in too," she said pointing at a baby in a stroller. "Yeah," I answered, "she has Spina Bifida, she's pretty much paralyzed below her knees." It was a perfectly fine conversation. I really don't mind if people ask questions, and I'm happy to answer. But then she said, "oh, well I didn't know what was wrong with her." My heart sank a little. Wrong.
"Well, there isn't anything wrong with her," I answered. She asked another question or two and commented again how cute Ryleigh is. And that was the end of our conversation. But not the end of me thinking about it.
I know it was just a poor choice of words. And I know it is not the last time that someone will ask me (or Ryleigh) what is 'wrong' with her. In fact, I have had my answer prepared in my head for that exact scenario quite a long time. But it still stings a little. I didn't expect to be asked that at a therapy session where there are kids with all different kinds of challenges. Don't we all have different challenges?
I recently read this wonderful blog post about talking to kids about people with disabilities. I think she has some really great tips. Kids are curious. And most parents don't really know how to react to blunt questions about a kid in a wheelchair. And that's okay, we're all doing the best we can. It's Ron and my job to make sure Ryleigh knows there is nothing 'wrong' with her and to teach her how to answer the questions. But I think we'll all be better off if we can be a little more aware and understanding of each others' differences.
I know I have mentioned before that we have a talker. Big talker. And she is starting to say some really funny stuff. So I thought I would write some of the cute/funny things Ryleigh says. I got the idea from our friend Crystal, who writes a blog with updates on her two littles, Amelie and James. So thanks for the idea, Crystal!
I've been writing down some of my favorite Ryleigh quotes from the last several weeks.
Watching football:
"He knocked that man over. That's not nice."
One morning getting into the car:
She says, "I see the sun." As she points to the rearview mirror.
I said, "the sun is behind you and that's the reflection you see in the mirror."
"That's weird."
Whenever we are talking about something she thinks is exciting - going to her daycare block party for example - she says, "that will be cool." or "that will be awesome."
"Mac and roni and cheese"
We went to a Mizzou volleyball game and she took an interest in the 5-6 year old boy sitting behind us. She was so excited when she said, "I waved to that boy, mommy! I'm having fun!!"
...And she proceeded to "flirt" with him thru the rest of the match. Oh the look on daddy's face. Ha ha!
Driving next to a convertible with the top down:
"That car is broken."
"Mommy, does Elmo have ears?"
Well, shoot, I don't really know how to answer that one...
Two year olds are so much fun. She makes some of the most amazing observations and says some of the funniest things. I love love love my little smarty pants!
Wow, August was a busy month! And I can't believe it's almost halfway through September already.
Here's a little rundown of some recent highlights:
A few weeks ago we got a demo wheelchair to test. Ryleigh is getting big enough to be independent when we're out and about so we were excited to try it out. Aside from independence it is great that she can be up taller to see out the windows, which she loves.
Here she is trying it out for the first time:
This model was a little big and bulky. We've returned it and currently have a lighter, more compact TiLite model that's PURPLE! Unfortunately, it is a little on the small side and we had a couple incidents of tipping over. Luckily, she seems fairly unfazed. Although she does keep reminding us, "Ryleigh fall down in the grass. And Ryleigh cry." We'll work with our mobility specialist Pete, to get the exact specs and have a chair custom built and will fit her better.
We've made several visits to the public library
"Doing work" on the computer
Playing with the library doll/treehouse
Oh yeah, and somebody celebrated her second birthday!!!
We didn't have a party this year. Instead we took the birthday girl out for some fun and ice cream on Sunday and had a birthday cake for the big day on Monday. She also had plenty of presents to open from mommy and daddy and family in Indiana.
Opening legos from Aunt Christy and crew
We decided to brave Chuck E Cheese's for some fun with our little birthday girl.
Playing a game with daddy
Ok, so "fun" may be a stretch. I can't say Ryleigh was all that impressed with all the wonders Chuck E has to offer. This video pretty well sums up her feelings, and really cracks me up. Especially at the end when she says, "get off."
She loves her princess castle from Grandpa Hugh
Cheesy smile from the birthday girl!
She blew out her candles like she's been doing it for years...
A couple weeks before her actual birthday, our wonderfully talented friend Christy took some two-year old photos for us. They turned out great, but for now I'm only going to share a couple...
You may remember Christy took Ryleigh's pics last year too. Looking back, it amazes me how much she has changed in a year.
And just a few more pics of some of our adventures over the past month...
Ry and daddy stopped to check out a fire truck on the way home. She says she wants to be a fireman for Halloween. :-)
We made some salt dough to play with on a day off from school.
We also went out to lunch with some friends that day. Ryleigh pointed up to the wall and said "it's a frog!" It took us adults a few seconds to figure out what she was pointing at. It really does look like a frog! I love that she has such a creative eye to point that out!
"It's a frog!"
"Cheese!" A little mixed message here... MU shirt and UK headband.
We rode the carousel at the mall. But don't let that smile fool you. She wasn't the biggest fan at the time.
and ate ice cream at Andy's...at Ryleigh's request of course.
You may notice a theme in her clothing throughout many of these photos. No, they were not all taken on the same day. She has her favorite "pretty dress" and wore it many, many times during the month of August. She is becoming quite fashion conscious and wants to pick out her own clothes most of the time. Sometimes those choices can be pretty interesting.
I'll just share one last video. Gerti sent this to us earlier this week. I'm certain this is the best walking I have seen her do. So exciting that she just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
We start therapuetic horseback riding tonight. I'm super excited! We've been talking a lot about it. We did the pony ride at the fair and the carousel - both were met with hesitation. I hope she'll be brave and actually enjoy it. Keep your fingers crossed!!
We also had a Labor Day weekend visit from Mimi and Pop. Along with more birthday presents. But all those pictures are on my "real" camera, so that will have to be another post. :-)
A few weeks ago we got this trike. It has both hand and foot pedals. I really thought Ry was a little young to be coordinated enough to get it going. Boy was I wrong!!
The guy in the video is Chris, a PT student who is shadowing Gerti for a couple months. He wasn't really pushing Ryleigh, just helping steer and giving her a little boost over bumps and ramps around the neighborhood.
