Ryan's BIG boy bed :)

Yesterday Cary and I purchased a used toddler bed for Ryan. It's a little tikes race car bed the one that fits the crib mattress. I figure it's low enough that if he were to topple out he wouldn't harm himself. He has been improving so much that I thought well lets try.....if you don't teach them they won't learn right! So we picked it up cleaned it all up and set it up in Ryan's room. We put a bed rail on it so that he wouldn't fall out while sleeping but I still feared he'd start to play around and fall out over the rail. Also we put down foam squares with a big comforter for extra padding. Last night he went to bed no problem with his woody doll....I tucked him in and closed the door. We have a video monitor that we turned on so that we could keep an eye on him to make sure that he was up trying to get out and what not. I went in 10 mins later and he was sleeping and slept the whole night in it. Way to go Ryan!

Ryan drinks from a sippy cup!

Last week Ryan's Speach and Occupational Therapist came to our house to have an in home session. We discussed our goals for Ryan and what we should start to work on next. Since Ryan has been very successful with self feeding we figure communication and having him learn to drink from a straw giving him more independance would be the next steps. Today while I was out I came across a sippy cup with a pliable straw.....so I thought I'd give it a try. Ryan gave me a hard time since he's not a big fan of change but eventually he gave in since I'm more determined than he is :) Today has been great he has drank from it three times today therefore I think he'll be adjusted to it completely in the next couple of days. Yay Ryan!! Since Ryan was unable to lift a bottle with both hands it made self drinking impossible now he'll be able to hold the handles and sip from the straw!

Ryan drinking from his new sippy cup that has a straw :)

Ryan enjoying being able to drink by himself now!!

This is the sippy cup that Ryan is now using it has a pliable straw which is a great transition from a bottle or sport sipper with a nipple that sort of resembles a straw. He has leart to drink from this within days. I recommend it to parents that can't get their children off a bottle or have sucking difficulties. It's a Nuby product sold almost anywhere.

Lions Club Breakfast Fundraiser

Today the Lions Club put on a breakfast/bake sale fundraiser for Ryan. It was a huge success it was so amazing the amount of people that came out to support Ryan. Thank you to everyone that attended or sent donations as well as a big thank you to the Lions Club they did a phenomenal job today. The funds raised today will be put towards sending Ryan back to camp for a second session which I can garuntee will show great improvements once again. It's such an emotional experience having so many people want to help Ryan I just can't even put it into words how much this means to us and for Ryan. You are giving Ryan a chance of a life time to better his quality of life through these many generous donations. Ryan has so much determination I believe he'll surprise all of us in th end.I will keep posting here and there with his improvements and as well as when we expect to attend the second session at camp. We hope to set up a foundation so that we can raise funds to help other children with Cerebral Palsy since every child deserves a chance to be the best they can be.

Poster I made for the breakfast fundraiser

Back at home

We have been back at home now for four weeks. The last few days at camp were really hard, knowing that it would be time to say goodbye. The second last night as we packed up the truck and prepared for our journey home the following day I began to recap all the memories from the past 5 weeks. The first day we showed up for this camp with Ryan I couldn't wait for the days to go by so we could go home, now I wish I wouldn't of let it go by so fast. It was an adjustment when we returned home, Ryan seemed to be a little more quiet than usual and I believe he also knew and felt sad that we wouldn't be seeing everyone for a very long time.
It was amazing to see Cameron after 5 weeks. He had grown so much and sprouted hair as well. Since Ryan had me all to himself for 5 weeks he really wasn't in the mood to start sharing me therefore it took him a few days to get use to having me share my time with Cameron and eventually things settled down and returned back to normal.

 Still as I drove around the streets in Lindsay without Ryan in the truck I felt off like I was missing something and told Cary as I returned home that it felt weird being home after spending such a large amount of time in the little building with three other families.
Ryan has accomplished many things since attending the camp and since we've been home. Ryan has learnt to feed himself using a spoon and bowl now sitting at his very own table. A special thanks to John for giving Ryan an amazing table. He now loves to sit kneeling to play freeing both hands. Also he is able to get into a lot more :) Before we left Ryan could army crawl but he didn't get up onto all fours now he'll army crawl to his destination, push up onto all four than push back so he is on his knees. After doing this he's able to grab onto a table or couch and pull himself into tall kneeing (bum off heels therefore able to reach many things. We have started to toddler proof our house finally......and the funny thing is we are so grateful. It's been two years and Ryan is finally able to do things that 8months old two and we are so proud of him. He's just remarkable to watch last night he was rolling around getting up and down up and down and just laughing such a hearty laugh that it just made me feel so much joy that Ryan can enjoy life that much more with the things he has accomplished in the past eight weeks.