Moving Right Along...

Yesterday was a big day for Jane. She bid farewell to her first prosthetic arm and got a shiny new arm. And this one has moving parts.

Jane wears a lightweight harness that connects to a small lever that closes the "hand" (or "terminal device" as the prosthetist calls it). We chose a shape called an adept terminal in order to give her the most functionality. The terminal itself is made by a company in Boulder called TRS. It was designed by an amputee as a better option to the traditional split hook design. Her arm was made by our wonderful prosthetist, Kevin, in Fort Collins.

Every time she puts tension on the cable, either by shrugging her shoulder or by reaching with her prosthesis, the hand closes. This is more intuitive than the traditional devices that open by putting tension on the cable.

So far she is doing pretty well with adjusting to the new arm. It is a bit bulkier than her old arm and it looks more like a medical device, but Ami helped me pick out a super cute fabric to make it look somewhat less industrial (the fabric is laminated over the fiberglass arm).

At this point, she's not to the point where she's picking up objects with her new arm, but she's starting to figure out that it opens and closes when she passes it across her body, so I think she's doing great with it for now. We will continue with her occupational therapy and work towards her being able to use it for everyday tasks.

The Fall, Demon, Ghoul and Harvest Celebration

Emily has been looking forward to today for a long, long time (which in her world is a week). It was the day of her preschool Halloween party (or Fall Celebration as they're now called). Her very first school party. She went to bed last night full of plans about the party preparations and the party itself. She could hardly get to sleep she was so overjoyed at the prospect. She must have finally gone to sleep because all was quiet when we went up to bed.

Then 2 a.m. rolled around. We were awakened by sobbing. After a stumble down the hall, we realized that Emily wasn't feeling great. She said she had a sore throat. A quick temperature check revealed a moderate fever. After a dose of medicine, I held her while the sobbing continued,

"Mom, I'll be better tomorrow!"

"It already is tomorrow"

"But I want to go to my party!"


A sobbing child at 2 a.m. can get you to promise anything just as long as there's a chance you might get to go back to bed. So I bit. I promised Emily that we would have our own party complete with trick or treating and that it would be better than the school's party. I figured she'd be too sick to want to party much anyway.


Morning came, the fever was down and Emily remembered every word of the conversation the previous night. She held me to it.

So we started the day with homemade pancakes, followed by a lengthy makeover in which I did my best to replicate Emily's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience.

Then... trick-or-or treating. This one was a little difficult for me to figure out, but in the end, I went from room to room in the house while the kids knocked on the doors. I handed them a starburst at each room.

Emily approved.

Jane was worn out from trying to get starburst wrappers off with her tiny fingers.

By that time Emily was more than ready for pumpkin and bat shaped grilled cheese (I didn't think to get a picture of this since she has to have all her sandwiches in shapes).


I hope this is the last time Emily has to miss a school party but to tell the truth, I wouldn't mind doing this again... next year, that is.

Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

And I could tell it was going to be a terrible horrible no good very bad day.

I could tell because Jane wouldn't stop throwing fits long enough for her OT to come and when the OT finally showed up late, Jane pooped her pants as if on cue.

I could tell because Emily would rather play than put her shoes on even though we were running late for story time.

I could tell because Jane kept throwing fits all the way to the library.

I could tell because after Jane fussed her way through storytime and the kids were playing, Emily ran off, I lost her and when I finally found her she threw a fit of her own to punish me for her lack of judgement..

It's not even lunchtime.

I think I'll move to Australia.

Nature's Bounty

Never take small children with you to pick out seeds for your vegetable garden. If you do, you are sure to come away with either watermelons or pumpkins - neither of which can grow in our very short summer. This summer, it was pumpkins. I bought the seeds to oblige Emily, brought them home, put them in the ground and didn't expect much.

I was pleasantly surprised when, a few weeks ago, I encountered a green orb among the towering sunflowers (which I planted two years ago and didn't have the heart to pluck up) and beside the crispy brown pea plants. I was even more pleasantly surprised when the frost held off long enough for that orb to (mostly) turn a bright shade of orange.

Two days ago, our first frost of the year prompted me to harvest the great Pivik Family Pumpkin. Care for a peek? I would if I were you.

Isn't she a beauty? Although I don't believe you can actually make a jack-o-lantern out of a pumpkin that is only 6'' high, this fine specimen will make a lovely addition to our front porch decor... that is if Emily doesn't love it to death first. 

(she is also holding our entire zucchini harvest.)

Thanks Emily for keeping the faith.