Bearshouse
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2009
- Messages
- 270
Our PTR:
Cast includes: Me, DH, DS(10) Alexander (wish child), and DD(6) Veronica.
Synopsis: A trip nearly 11 years in the making. See how the adventure starts and the plans to get us to Disney World.
The beginning:
It was a cold and blustery December morning 1999. No where near time for this baby to be born. However he had other ideas. At just 26 weeks and weighing a whopping 2lbs, Alexander entered the world. He would find that the NICU would be his home for more then 2 months. There his parents would learn words like inter-ventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed), cerebral palsy, and developmental delays. They would spend both Christmas and the new millennium by his side praying for the best and preparing for the worst. Not being able to hold or even touch him because of over stimulation.
Over the next 4 years specialists, therapists, doctors and others would tell his parents not to expect much of anything. Even though these parents did everything they could, they saw milestone after milestone pass them by. Until one day when Alexander and his mom were shopping. It was one of his favorite activities. He loved to people watch. But this trip would prove to be different. It started the same as any other trip. Until they went to look for clothes for him. He would be starting a special preschool in 2 weeks. After only a few minutes of looking started to cry and scream. He had always laughed when picking out clothes so this was unusual. After nearly 10 minutes and all the repositioning hadn't helped. Mom was at her wits end.
Could it be he wanted something in particular? No, it couldn't be that, could it? So him mom sat down on the floor next to his wheel chair and began looking in the direction he was. There in the far upper corner of the store was a yellow and blue striped shirt. Could Alexander be staring at that? Could he be trying to "say" what he wanted? It took time to find a pole to get the shirt down. Once his size was found and in his lap he settled. He then used even muscle to unclench his hand and grab the shirt.
It would prove to be the beginning of his long awaited communicating. Over the next 2 years while his health remained unstable he would learn to use "uh" for yes and "huh uh" for no.
When Alexander was almost 6 he became a big brother. Veronica became perfectly precocious, although she is precious too. They would learn to communicate in unconventional ways and be the best of friends. They allowed their mom to say things like "stop pulling your sisters hair" and "if you got off of his lap he wouldn't pull your hair".
The middle:
As you can see the road has been an adventure from the beginning. We have attempted to take a family vacation for nearly 5 years. Each time something has unexpectedly happened. This last time our wonderful pediatrician sent in Alexander's information to MAW and we got a call that Alexander qualified. And so another adventure begins. He chose to go to Disney World. He wants to see Phineas and Ferb. He laughs hysterically every time the show is on. Plus he knows that the princesses live there and he wanted to do something his sister would enjoy too.
Now it is less then 3 months til we leave, I am bursting at the seams. You see we can't actually tell the kids when we are going. They would stay awake until we actually left. Alexander stayed awake nearly 72 hours waiting for Christmas one year. So I am
all on the inside.
I need your help to help me be the keeper of the secret!!!! Shhh...... don't tell!
Stay tuned for plans and updates.
Bearshouse
Cast includes: Me, DH, DS(10) Alexander (wish child), and DD(6) Veronica.
Synopsis: A trip nearly 11 years in the making. See how the adventure starts and the plans to get us to Disney World.
The beginning:
It was a cold and blustery December morning 1999. No where near time for this baby to be born. However he had other ideas. At just 26 weeks and weighing a whopping 2lbs, Alexander entered the world. He would find that the NICU would be his home for more then 2 months. There his parents would learn words like inter-ventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed), cerebral palsy, and developmental delays. They would spend both Christmas and the new millennium by his side praying for the best and preparing for the worst. Not being able to hold or even touch him because of over stimulation.
Over the next 4 years specialists, therapists, doctors and others would tell his parents not to expect much of anything. Even though these parents did everything they could, they saw milestone after milestone pass them by. Until one day when Alexander and his mom were shopping. It was one of his favorite activities. He loved to people watch. But this trip would prove to be different. It started the same as any other trip. Until they went to look for clothes for him. He would be starting a special preschool in 2 weeks. After only a few minutes of looking started to cry and scream. He had always laughed when picking out clothes so this was unusual. After nearly 10 minutes and all the repositioning hadn't helped. Mom was at her wits end.
Could it be he wanted something in particular? No, it couldn't be that, could it? So him mom sat down on the floor next to his wheel chair and began looking in the direction he was. There in the far upper corner of the store was a yellow and blue striped shirt. Could Alexander be staring at that? Could he be trying to "say" what he wanted? It took time to find a pole to get the shirt down. Once his size was found and in his lap he settled. He then used even muscle to unclench his hand and grab the shirt.
It would prove to be the beginning of his long awaited communicating. Over the next 2 years while his health remained unstable he would learn to use "uh" for yes and "huh uh" for no.
When Alexander was almost 6 he became a big brother. Veronica became perfectly precocious, although she is precious too. They would learn to communicate in unconventional ways and be the best of friends. They allowed their mom to say things like "stop pulling your sisters hair" and "if you got off of his lap he wouldn't pull your hair".
The middle:
As you can see the road has been an adventure from the beginning. We have attempted to take a family vacation for nearly 5 years. Each time something has unexpectedly happened. This last time our wonderful pediatrician sent in Alexander's information to MAW and we got a call that Alexander qualified. And so another adventure begins. He chose to go to Disney World. He wants to see Phineas and Ferb. He laughs hysterically every time the show is on. Plus he knows that the princesses live there and he wanted to do something his sister would enjoy too.
Now it is less then 3 months til we leave, I am bursting at the seams. You see we can't actually tell the kids when we are going. They would stay awake until we actually left. Alexander stayed awake nearly 72 hours waiting for Christmas one year. So I am
all on the inside. I need your help to help me be the keeper of the secret!!!! Shhh...... don't tell!
Stay tuned for plans and updates.
Bearshouse
