Evie the Extraordinary and Her Mommy: The Journey As We Go

 It's been 5 days since Evie's day surgery at Boston Children's, and I am writing about our experiences in case it helps someone else.  The surgery:  Baby teeth extractions and 3rd strabismus (eye turn) surgery.  Evie's teeth were coming in all crooked and she literally had 3 rows of front teeth in some places.  With strabismus surgery, it was always possible that Evie would need a touch up.   So here we were, getting ready for her to go in as a 10 year old for surgery, when her last one was 5 years ago.   Things I was worried about: preparing Evie for the procedure, recovery from anesthesia, and nausea Preparation Social Story: I took the social stories on the Boston Children's Hospital page  and found the day surgery story. I then converted it to an editable Word document so that I could customize it for Evie. I waited until 3 days before the surgery to introduce the story so she could have enough time to process it, but not too much time to be ...

Hi Evie fans!  Our first post-pandemic trip was to the  Storyland amusement park in Glen, New Hampshire !  Evie did well with the 2.5 hour drive--there was a lot of sing-shouting to Laurie Berkner songs on the way there.   About halfway to New Hampshire, I had the sickening feeling of realizing that I had forgotten all of Evie's carefully calculated and labeled blended food. :(   Mom of the year right here!  Thankfully, she isn't on formula anymore, and there was a super Walmart in North Conway, so we made a stop to buy a hand blender and some prepared foods for me to blend!  We stayed the night in Comfort Inn at North Conway . It was packed full of families, and had a mini-golf adventure right next to the hotel.  As soon as we settled in, I painstakingly microwaved a turkey dinner in the kitchenette, threw in some heavy cream, spinach, and cranberry sauce, and blended it all in a plastic Rubbermaid bowl.  Thankfully, Evie agreed to eat thi...

It's funny how Evie turning 5 just crept up on me, without too much fanfare.  Turning 3 was a big deal because she graduated from Early Intervention support, and turning 4 was heralded with a big birthday party.  This year, I wanted to give Evie a good mix of fun and celebration, but with consideration for her fear of large groups.  We ended up picking one of Evie's favorite indoor playgrounds and inviting close "framily."  It was overall a huge hit, except for when we all attempted to sing Jingle Bells instead of Happy Birthday (she hates happy birthday), and she freaked out.  Turns out she just doesn't want attention all on her.  Mama gets it now, Evie. This past year was full of firsts: 1.  Walking independently (goodbye, walker!) 2.  Putting solid foods in her mouth without gagging or crying 3. Licking an ice cream cone voluntarily and repeatedly 4. Saying more words verbally 5. Graduating to bigger ankle braces 6. Playing dress up ...

When we first decided to go to Disney, I started researching how it is having a feeding tube at Disney, and how kids with sensory issues can still enjoy the "most magical place on earth." I found information here and there on various forums, by googling "which resort has freezers," and "ice packs at Disney," and "sensory issues at Disney."   I wanted to share what I learned in hopes that our experiences can help someone else. The technical 411 for fellow tubie parents: Evie is 4 years old, has a g-tube, but eats 3 meals a day of blended foods by mouth. She gets supplemental Real Food Blends 3 times a day. We are at about 30% wean.  We had gone to 50% wean, but she lost too much weight. The technical 411 for fellow sensory parents: Evie is terrified in a closed room environment with a lot of people.  She hates it when people speak on a microphone, and has almost physical pain when people start clapping and cheering.   However, she does fine ...

Hi everyone!  We just got back from my first trip to Disney World!  My mommy didn't know if I'd like it because I get scared of large crowds and noises.  She wrote me a social story about our trip before we went.  I asked her to read that book at least twice a day to me.  Then we got on an airplane (I love airplanes) and went to Florida!   Mommy was busy going to work for 2 days. I got to swim at my Yin-Yin and Ya-Ya's timeshare resort and I loved it.  Mommy was really happy about having something called Sonny's BBQ for dinner.  For dinner, there was no high chair in our hotel room, so Mommy pulled out a portable kids' desk for me and I ate dinner off of that. We changed hotels to be closer to Disney World, so we could take a bus to see Cinderella.  I love singing Wheels on the Bus when we're on the bus!  Our resort was called Port Orleans Riverside.  Mommy picked it because it was a Moderate level resort w...

Throwing a Penguin-themed birthday party for 15 kids in your home is no joke. First you have to decide if you're insane enough to do this.  Then you have to think about whether your sensory-sensitive kid (sight, sound) can handle having so many people in their house. For this rookie mom, I at first didn't make the connection that 15 kids meant that parents and sometimes siblings might show up.  Once I got a grasp of the idea, I still thought it was doable if we had a good structure to prevent chaos.  And before you ask if Evie likes penguins, the answer is: yes, she does, but it's definitely penguin-themed because I like penguins and she lets me get away with it! I asked Evie's favorite local musician if he would be willing to do a music class for 30 minutes.  I was ecstatic when he said yes.  If he could keep the kids busy for 30 minutes, that left 60 minutes to entertain them. 10:00 am Kids arrive and play in playroom in controlled chaos (controlled = p...

If you don't know what a "threenager" is, the term refers to a 3 year old who already shows signs of being a teenager.   "Evie, you just took Mommy's seat.  Can Mommy sit down and get out of the airplane aisle?"  [Evie grunts and shakes head no.] As Evie gets older, we run into new challenges that stretch us in our ability to find creative ways to help Evie adjust to new experiences.  The latest new experience was a 6 hour plane trip from Boston to California and back, with the fun stuff in between. Here are some new insights we learned about traveling with a non-verbal, g-tube feeding, non-walking 3 year old who is curious, feisty, affectionate like a clingy koala bear, and only bribable by iPad time and hugs. 1.  Food transportation.  Evie eats blended food orally, so each week I prepare a variety of frozen foods, blend them up, and freeze them in cubes.  Transporting these for a 6 hour plane ride and then 4 hours in the car (darn LA traffic!!...