Jacie has been home for 2 1/2 years. She was adopted from the Special Needs Chinese Adoption Program at the age of 8 years old. She is learning and growing in her forever family~



Friday, May 4, 2012

"I No Use Air Conditioning"

Imagine this- you are driving down the road with your windows open on a beautiful spring day and walking down the sidewalk toward you is a woman pushing a wheelchair that contains a loudly singing child. This child is not only singing on the top of her lungs but is swinging her arms wildly in rhythm with her vocals. You saw us...? You must be in Grand Rapids tonight for Cinco De Mayo.

I hate to think what the people driving by us thought as my daughter serenaded the whole town. I have often wondered how many people she meets in public think that she is special ed. So often she is talking to herself about taking over the world, using her hands to motion doors open and then claiming that she used the 'force' to do it and singing to herself. If I didn't know better- I would be in the same boat as I suspect many of them are.

Obviously, Jacie and I left the hospital tonight and set about on foot to discover the town. It is quite a beautiful downtown area with a lot of options. She took her camera and worked on her 4-H photography project by taking pictures of the old buildings. I have not checked out her work yet. She and I walked over to get some ice cream as well in a very hole in the wall HOT shop. I loved it. The man behind the counter kept saying, "I so sorry it hot. I no use air conditioning."

No kidding... I love to experience things like that. We then went over to Aveda school to see how much pedicures were. $37.!!! So we left there very quickly. WOW! I thought that it would be cheaper since it was a school. Nope. We will have to go out tomorrow in search of a little pedicure shop. I will not pay $37. to get my toes done and another $37. for her.

The great thing was that it was all uphill to get back to the hospital. It was also right through the poorest part of GR. I felt safe the whole time but wouldn't go there at night. I ran that way this afternoon and scoped out a good route for us to go- so I knew that I would come back through the harder part of town.

Therapy is going well. They have a very neat piece of equipment that I think will be Jacie's saving grace. It is a strap on shoe cover that beeps when Jacie puts a certain amount of weight on her left foot. She had no idea until this thing was used that she was putting NO weight on her left side and only walking off her right. If she bears 11 pounds of weight on it, it beeps. Then if she transfers that weight off, it shuts off. That way the PT knows. Jacie knows. I know. The nurses at the station know. You get the idea. It was funny that the nurse finally came down to the therapy room and wanted to know if Jacie was alright because they kept hearing the beep but couldn't track it to any of their patients. It sounds just like the beep that calls the nurse to a room. I told Jacie she should work hard to make it beep in order to get the nurses all in a flurry.

She is bored with occupational therapy. I knew that she would be. She does need to work her pincher grip though and will continue with much of that therapy when she gets home because I didn't even know that there was a problem in that area.

With all that she has been through- I am grateful that she has such a great disposition. She is my heart.

~Camo Pants
Jacie pouting through therapy

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