Sunday, December 30, 2018

Trust Me, We're Not All That Special

Our family gets judged. At times, it's by others in public who give me the side eye as I fireman carry Teddy away from where he wants to be or have him flop down on the ground refusing to move. Other times, though, it's by friends or family who seem to think we're super parents when, in reality, we're not.

We're just like other parents. We are excited for our children's accomplishments, whether that's AJ learning multiplication in first grade or Teddy mastering the art of stacking canned goods. (Stacking has been a really hard skill for him.) We love to hear our children laugh and giggle and take joy in their joy, whether that's AJ's hysterical laughter during Home Alone movies or Teddy's excitement to have vacuum cleaners. We get frustrated when they don't listen, like my voice somehow being in an octave that AJ magically cannot hear or Teddy completing disregarding our requests at least 75 percent of the time.

When people say how remarkable we are as parents, I appreciate the kind words but know the reality is that we get frustrated more often than we should. There are moments where my patience is completely exhausted by Teddy's determination to do exactly what he shouldn't ... lots of them, honestly. But then there are the mornings where I go into his room, roll around with him and snuggle him with kisses and laughter.

I appreciate the thought, although I don't think it's true.
Basically, we're human, which means we're nowhere near perfect. But all those prayers from our family and friends go a long way in giving us the grace to keep trying and extend my patience.

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Merry Christmas ... A Few Days Late and Vacuums Later

A belated Merry Christmas from our family! We spent the past week with good neighbors and family and are enjoying a quiet night before celebrating Christmas and birthdays with the other side of the family.

Highlights of our celebrations included a last-minute Christmas gathering with our neighbors from our cul de sac. Everyone happened to be available Friday night, so we had our 6 families gather at our house for an evening of margaritas, food galore, laughter and fun. We created a saran wrap ball for the kids, which was followed by a plethora of presents from neighbors. I was amazed that the boys received gifts from three different neighbors. One neighbor gave all 6 kids lights for the wheels of their bikes, which was pretty cool. Teddy kept taking one neighbor down to the basement to ride the exercise bike with him, and she was a great sport about it. It's really fun and relatively easy with Teddy to have our neighbors to our house, so there's already talk of a Father Time gathering for January or some other contrived excuse to gather and drink margaritas.

Saturday my family began arriving, which made the boys quite happy, particularly when their aunt and uncle showed up Sunday with the two fun-loving dogs. Teddy adores Zed and Rook, perhaps a bit too much since he lets Rook lick his face non-stop. (She's a puppy who's still working on boundaries ... lots of similarities to Teddy). He loves to chase them, wrestle with them and play with their toys.

Complete disregard for personal space & perfect for each other.
It's nice when there's a house full of people because there's more eyes to keep on Teddy and more people to play with AJ when he needs a break from Teddy. We added two more dogs and three more people Christmas Day with my uncle, his girlfriend and my grandpa. My grandpa usually winters in Texas, but he's been stuck here in Wisconsin much longer than he'd like while waiting for heart surgery. (Apparently that happens when you're 96.) That meant I got to spend Christmas with him for the first time since I was in elementary school, and my boys got to spend Christmas with him for the first time ever. That was the absolute best present I could have gotten this year, and I soaked up every moment.

96 years old wearing my super stylish Goodrs.
The boys got a plethora of cool presents. As soon as Teddy realized the presents under the tree were fair game, he was under the tree unwrapping as he laid there, regardless of whose gifts were in his hands. He was less interested in his pile of presents and preferred to go around the room opening whatever gift caught his interest, so he helped just about everyone. Among his gifts were two vacuums. One is a real one my aunt snagged at Goodwill, and the other is a toy Dyson from his running buddy. His face lit up when he realized he was getting vacuums for Christmas.

A boy and his beloved vacuum.
It's always a bit stressful to have extra people and dogs who don't always get along perfectly, but it's absolutely worth it for the memories we create. From card games to saran wrap balls to incredible Christmas light displays to a Christmas day run, walk and bike ride event, we made many memories ... and learned a few things to make next year's saran wrap balls even more fun.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

The Sweetest Brother

We've often said that AJ is a better person because he has Teddy as his brother. He's growing up with not only his brother's disability but also the circles of friends we've made with a wide range of disabilities. He floored me the first time he asked if I thought another child had special needs because of his stimming because I didn't even know he knew the phrase. It's been interesting, and heartwarming, to see how he processes Teddy's differences.

Last week, he nearly made me cry right before we walked into a store. AJ asked whether he and Teddy would live together when they were grown up. I said that typically brothers don't still live together when they're adults, just like his dad and uncles all live in different houses. His response was that he wanted to live with Teddy because he is his brother and he loves him and would miss him and he has special needs. Then, ever pragmatic, he said he would need breaks though. I asked how he'd get those breaks if Teddy lived with him. He said he would have a job outside the house and go shopping. (Can you tell how we as parents get breaks from Teddy?)

The reality is that if he chooses to live with Teddy in the future, I want that to be completely a freely made choice not an obligation. I want AJ to be able to live his own life and not be burdened with the responsibility of being his brother's caregiver. Trust me, that's something that I struggled with a lot when Teddy was first diagnoses. I even told Dave that the best-case scenario with Teddy's grim prognosis (a life expectancy of 3 years in the initial research paper we were given) was that AJ would have to take care of Dave, me and Teddy as an adult.

Then last night AJ shared his Christmas list to Santa. I think he had about 20 things on there, including typical things any 7-year-old boy might want:

  • LEGOs
  • Magic set
  • Juggling kit (beginner)
  • Tablet
  • Phone
  • $100 bill
Then there were things that aren't quite so typical:
  • Play dough (for Teddy)
  • Teddy to say his 1st word
A portion of AJ's Christmas wish list.

Dave was too busy chuckling about the $100 bill that he didn't hear the wish for Teddy to say his first word until I had AJ read it again. Talk about melting my heart. As parents, we're not the only ones who would love for Teddy to talk. AJ told me a few weeks ago that he wished Teddy could talk because he has lots of questions for Teddy. One of his questions is whether Teddy likes having AJ as his brother. I told him that I could answer that without a doubt that Teddy adores AJ as his big brother.

I'm sure there will be times, especially when AJ hits his teenage years, that AJ will drive me absolutely nuts. But, for now, he's the most incredibly sweet boy I could imagine. 

Sunday, December 16, 2018

MyTEAM Triumph Holiday Gathering

During summer Teddy and I spend most Monday nights running with myTEAM Triumph. We've been regulars the past 2 years at the training runs, so we've gotten to know many of the other regular captains, their families, angels and volunteers. The only problem is that we don't run through the winter months, which means we hardly see our MTT friends. 

It's taken a while to realize this, but Dave and I discovered at Halloween how easy it is to invite people over to our house during the winter months. Teddy has our entire house, which is Teddy proof, to play without any fear of him taking off (which happens often when we're outside) or breaking things (which happens at other peoples' houses) or getting into a lot of things he shouldn't (which happens pretty much every where). Our house is relatively easy to supervise Teddy whereas just about everywhere else requires constant 1:1 with a whole lot of redirection and physical wrangling.

So, we invited all the Fox Valley MTT group to our house for a holiday gathering. Despite the short notice, we had a total of 4 Captains and their families and 3 of the crew join us. We spent a couple hours snacking, talking, enjoying each others' company, sharing all our cool toys, snoozing in our comfy circle chair and playing cards. It was an absolutely perfect afternoon.

MTT friends who become like family.
AJ was the best host, getting drinks for people, handing out candy canes and sharing all the cookies and treats. We ended up with quite the spread of snacks, thanks to everyone's generosity. Dave set up the tripod to capture the entire group picture. We got to spend a couple hours with people who we see often but don't always get to have the in-depth conversations with since I'm usually chasing after Teddy unless he's strapped into the race chair. 

The host with the most.
One of the best parts of MTT is how accepting and understanding everyone is. Things that set us apart in the community, like taste testing every non-food item, are perfectly acceptable among this group. Toys that might be considered not age appropriate are really quite fun for a wide range of people, and that's perfectly OK. Teddy can invade people's personal space with no issues ... aside from us keeping the baby from being squished by a loving Teddy. (Even Teddy's gentle version is a bit rough for newborns.) Everyone keeps an eye out for each other's needs and steps in to help where needed, whether a helping hand, a supervisory eye or simply not being convinced to undo the child safety locks. (Nice try, Teddy.) 

Teddy loves babies almost as much as Ann. 
Simply put, acceptance is such a wonderful thing. Not being so terribly different is nice sometimes. In fact, I think 3 of the 4 Captains all have had mattresses lying directly on the floor in their bedrooms because it worked for them, Teddy included. Another Captain had his bedroom closet doors removed, which is exactly what we've done in Teddy's room because it's apparently quite fun to kick the doors when you don't want to sleep. 

We had a house full of people all day, with play dates for each boy this morning and this gathering this afternoon. House full and hearts fuller. 

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Music, Cookies and the Slightly Creepy Big Guy

Last weekend we went to a Christmas music program sponsored by Easter Seals. I happened to see a flyer for it shared on Facebook and thought both kids would really enjoy the music program, which was led by a music therapist. Music therapy is about the only therapy we haven't done with Teddy, largely because I never came across a program.

Teddy loved the music and all the people. AJ loved dancing and singing and playing instruments. I loved that since it was geared for special needs that I didn't need to apologize for or even explain Teddy. Teddy moved around the room, sitting in every open seat for a few minutes and sometimes other people's laps. He didn't know any of them, but he's a very social little boy who doesn't have any respect for personal space. In other settings, that usually requires at least a quick apology, redirection of Teddy or explanation to his newly chosen friend. This was somewhere he could just be himself without the need for that.

Santa Teddy was pretty excited to be there.
By far the music and the people were Teddy's favorite parts of the event. AJ liked decorating the cookies and doing a craft as well. Then we went to see the big guy.

Now Teddy historically is a bit freaked out by costumed characters. He's becoming much more intrigued by them, but it's the only time he respects personal space. His bubble goes from non-existent to at least 3 feet, preferably more.

Note the skepticism on Teddy's face. 
This particular Santa lilur Teddy in with his bells, and Teddy got close enough for me to sneak a picture. Then when Santa helped Teddy into his lap, Teddy climbed down and ran away. So AJ stayed chatting shyly with Santa until Teddy and I returned from a safe distance. We even managed a few photos of the four of us with me serving as the safety barrier between Santa and Teddy.

All we're missing is Dave, unless he's really Santa?
It was a phenomenal event just because it was so welcoming for everyone with excellent volunteers. I'll definitely be looking to see if we can attend again next year.

Monday, December 10, 2018

Cookie Decorating ... Err ... Sensory Activity

This past Friday I headed to Teddy's school. After meeting with his physical therapist (finally for the first time since school started), I headed to his classroom to help with a sensory activity. That's what I called it when I offered to come help his classmates decorate sugar cookies because the school district is rather particular about any sort of homemade treats for children. But how can I help it if the kiddos eat their perfectly edible sensory activity?


He doesn't need to look at what he's doing ... ever.
Anyways, Teddy and two of his classmates enjoyed decorating their cookies. His classmates put on multiple rounds of frosting because it kept falling off their cookies ... right into their mouths. Teddy actually had no interest in eating his cookie because he was having too much fun decorating and showing off. A few other classmates watched from a distance and came to enjoy the finished products. 
I made the sprinkles easy to shake onto cookies.

It was a simple activity, lasting no more than 20 minutes, but it was well worth the time and effort to put things together. It was nice to see Teddy in his classroom setting, and he was certainly excited to see me come into his classroom. 

He was very excited to see me and the cookies, too.

Perhaps we need to do another sensory activity around Valentine's Day?

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Holiday Fair

Teddy's school does something called a Holiday Fair, which is quite the event with raffle prizes, Santa, cookies and games. But the highlight, which the $3 admission includes, is that each child gets to shop through donated gifts to pick out presents for whomever they'd like. The best part, in my mind, was that kids got to do this on their own because there were volunteer "elves" there to help with the shopping, according to the information about the event.

I thought this sounded like a perfect opportunity for Teddy to participate in something at his school, like the other kids, and thought we'd perhaps see some of his kindergarten friends there. I wasn't quite expecting the massive amount of people, but I had at least anticipated that I should take Teddy's Kimba Kruze to make it easier to navigate. I figured if I was going to hand him off to a strange elf that I should at least somewhat immobilize him to facilitate the experience actually being productive rather than destructive. I mean, really, it's just not fair to hand a stranger Teddy and say, "He's non-verbal. Can you please help him pick out something for his 7-year-old brother, mom and dad. Good luck, too, because he'll want to get into everything."

We waited patiently in line, seeing one of Teddy's therapists from last year, who he unsuccessfully tried to convince to release him from his chair. We didn't see any of Teddy's kindergarten friends as far as I could tell, which I'd only know if someone would have greeted Teddy.

Soon enough, it was Teddy's turn to go into the room to pick out his gifts. As I was about to explain to the volunteer what assistance Teddy would need, she simply said, "OK, you can go in that room."

A bit surprised and disappointed, I pushed Teddy into the room. When I saw only a single very hands-off "elf" to help a half dozen kids with their shopping, I understood why I didn't even have the opportunity to explain what Teddy needed.

Sure, I could have taken the time to ask, explain and make the request. But that's hard to do when you already know it's extra work for your child to participate. If someone makes it easy, then you don't feel bad about the inconvenience of the extra work. But when you have to stop the process and go out of your way to request it, sometimes it just doesn't feel worth the effort.

So, I helped Teddy pick out two gifts for AJ. I figured with all Teddy does, intentionally and unintentionally, to annoy AJ that he probably deserves all three gifts that Teddy could have picked. Then I picked a gift for Dave from Teddy because I didn't see much point in me picking out a gift for myself.

It's one of those cases of expectations not meeting reality, where I ended up with tears in my eyes. I had hoped it would be a great way for me to feel like Teddy really belongs at his school, and I just didn't. But the reality is that Teddy enjoyed himself, got two cookies out of the deal and AJ will be thrilled to have a couple gifts from Teddy. So while I didn't love the experience, I think it was indeed worth it because Teddy enjoyed himself. That's what matters most.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

It's More Than an Accordion

First, did anyone else grow up with an accordion in their house? No? Just me (and my brother I suppose). My grandparents enjoyed polka music, so at some point a junior accordion made its way to our house, which I was supposed to learn how to play because I was the musically talented one. (Not quite, but my parents were still proud of me.) I also received a toy accordion that fits into your hands to play as a gift, which was rediscovered by AJ during one of our recent visits to the family farm.

AJ loved the accordion and monopolized the use of the accordion that visit, but Teddy got his turn when we were there for Thanksgiving. He thought it was the coolest thing that he could make music with it and did quite well, as you can see in this video.


What floors me, though, isn't Ted's ability to play the accordion. It's the fact that he gets into a standing position while holding the accordion with both hands, which means he didn't use anything other than his core and other muscles to stabilize himself as he stood from the floor. I watched the video several times just amazed at how easy he made it look, when in reality that's as challenging as most people doing backflips. Heck, Sunday night I couldn't even do that! (Granted I had run 13.1 miles that day, but still ...)

Those little things catch you and show you the tremendous progress that Teddy has made. With his sheer determination and effort, I have no doubt he'll continue to amaze us (and drive us crazy at the same time.)

And, yes, I already bought him a toy accordion like the one in the video for Christmas. His grandparents are giving it to him because that feels better than us giving him such an obnoxious toy.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

To Mom ...

Sheesh, it's been a busy month. It seems like November is a whirlwind every year. We go from Halloween to deer hunting to Thanksgiving to Christmas everywhere. I've been busy with other projects around the house, prepping for the holidays, which is why I've been absent nearly two weeks on this blog despite my efforts to post at least once a week.

The other week, though, I shared this picture on my Facebook page:


Someone posted it in our CDG Facebook group, and I asked permission to share it because it resonates completely with me. The only thing is that I don't think of Teddy as a superhero ... he's just Teddy. He's damn persistent and resilient, both of which are excellent qualities when everything in life is harder for you and takes you much more effort than most people. (His teacher might disagree when the focus of his persistence is the ladder that was brought into his classroom yesterday ... Dave and I both started laughing as soon as she said "ladder" because we could guess Teddy's reaction.)

This captures life, though. Immense pride and incredible sorrow. Tremendous gratitude for blessings and chills that run through my body when I think of last December's seizures. Wishes for normalcy and acceptance of what is reality ... although that one is always still the hardest for me.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Diagnosis Day

It's been three years since everything and nothing changed during a 3-hour generic appointment.

Receiving an incredibly rare diagnosis was a complete shock. Honestly, getting a diagnosis in and of itself was a surprise. We had spent two years wondering, worrying and getting normal test results for a child who was obviously not normal. The odds of getting a diagnosis with this test were 25 present, and this was our last option for answers.

Yes, that's right. If this test was negative, our next step was to wait another 2 years or so for more genetic discoveries. Then they'd re-run the same incredibly expensive and time consuming (think 3 months) test hoping it would then trigger an answer.

Even though it wasn't the answer we were expecting, I remain grateful we got answers. It's allowed us to find out tribe, participate in research and move forward with the continual process of acceptance. It's a lifelong journey, but I'll take that over the alternative considering how blessed medical research was and still is regarding CDG-PIGN.

Monday, November 12, 2018

Best Brother

We've often said that AJ is already a better person than we will ever be, simply because he's growing up with a brother with a significant genetic disorder. Teddy's CDG affects every aspect of life for our family, adjusting our version of normal.

AJ has spent 5 years of his life with a brother who has never spoken a word to him. Yet he's learned to understand Teddy's wants and needs, even telling us at a young age that Teddy wanted a drink because he saw Teddy staring at his own cup as he drank. He may not understand everything Teddy tries to communicate, but he's a pretty capable translator.

Not only that, but he interacts with Teddy just like anyone would with their little brother. He talks to him, plays with him and headbutts him more than I'd like to admit. He treats Teddy like a normal human being who needs a bit of extra assistance with things. It's been fantastic to see the times he interacts with others who may have a disability in the same way because it's simply how life is ... for AJ at least.

If you need proof that AJ is an amazing brother, then check out the thank you he wrote Teddy at school last month. I'll translate below in case you're not skilled in the art of reading first grade writing ... of a future engineer.

This is tucked away in Teddy's memory box.
Dear Teddy,

Thank you for being the best brother I've had. You will allwas (always) be my favorit (favorite) brothr (brother) I allwasa (always) had.

Sincerely,
AJ, yoru (your) best brothr (brother)

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Happy Halloween!

All right. I know Halloween was yesterday, but we were too busy having fun for me to share last night. I know a number of children with CDG-PIGN are enthralled with Halloween, some to the point of asking about Halloween for months on end, and I believe Teddy is going to follow in their footsteps. There's something magical and inclusive about this holiday that is perfect for my little social butterfly.

Teddy absolutely loves people. If you smile at him, he believes you are his friend. He will even take strangers by the hand if they smile at him and interact with him. He's extremely curious as well and wants to check out our neighbors' houses and particularly garages when given the opportunity. 

So eager to keep up with the kids!
So a holiday where you get to meet a whole bunch of people and go right up to their houses is ideal for Teddy. We met up with one of AJ's friends in her neighborhood and started trick-or-treating with her neighborhood friends. We stayed with them for quite a while, although we kept dropping further and further behind because AJ couldn't run in his costume, and Teddy's run is a fast walk. That bummed AJ out, but Teddy had the time of his life.

When Teddy saw the front door where he was supposed to go, he made a beeline without any regard for ditches or driveways. He took the shortest path, fell quite a few times and picked himself right up to keep trucking up the house. Then he was more interested in trying to see if he could go inside the house than taking any candy. I carried his bag for him, and he managed to put a few pieces into his own bag, which is a great use of his fine motor and motor planning skills. There were a few open garages that required a bit of steering to keep Teddy from exploring, but he had such smiles and amazement on his face that he was able to go visit all these people. 

So cute and so easy to redirect to the next house!

Costumed characters can be a bit dicey for Teddy, but he was remarkably fine with everyone at Halloween. There were a few costumes that seemed to intrigue him, and none scared him. I think the fact that he had such freedom to go visit people wiped out any concerns about costumes.

I loved seeing his independence that he would walk, or run, toward houses with the other children. I imagine future costumes and years where he perhaps uses his talker to say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you." Wouldn't that be amazing?

As for this year, it was perfect. We had amazing weather, the nicest I can remember in years. We spent nearly 1.5 hours trick or treating, with Teddy doing an incredible amount of walking with some breaks in his chair. Then we came home to have our neighbors over for margaritas and cookies, which seems to be the start of a new tradition. It gave the kids an hour to wind down after trick or treating and us adults the chance to socialize ... all in our house where Teddy has relatively free reign.

And what was Teddy for Halloween? If you couldn't tell from the pictures, he was a bull in a china shop. At some point, I am confident Teddy will exercise some strong opinions about Halloween costumes, but for now, he could care less. So I will continue to have my fun creating costumes that are made to suit Teddy's personality. 

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

An Exciting Invitation

Two weeks ago, Teddy brought home an envelope from his kindergarten class. It was an invitation for a birthday party. Let me make sure you understand: it was his first invitation to a friend's birthday. And it was a friend from his kindergarten class, not his class with other children with significant special needs. 

Teddy's first birthday party invitation to a friend's party.
I know AJ brought home several all-class or all-boy party invites, along with a few special friend party invitations, through the past two years. It's fairly common at this age to have entire classes invited to parties, although that sounds like a nightmare to me. Who wants that much crap from 20 kids who have no idea what your child likes? 

But this is notable for a few reasons. First, it means that Teddy is actually included in the kindergarten classroom enough that he was included, assuming the entire class was invited. Second, it means he was included, regardless of his differences because I cannot imagine that his classmates don't share about the boy who doesn't speak. 

Unfortunately, we were up north, so we couldn't attend. I say we because I would have had to supervise and support Teddy if he attended, which would have been interesting to say the least. But we had planned family photos up north, so that's where went with happy hearts that Teddy was included.

Let's be real: I would have been doing that move with Teddy at the party.
We managed a fairly normal family photo.

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Teddy's First Field Trip (A Post About Inclusion)

Yesterday was a momentous day, Teddy's first field trip. I know many eagerly accompany their children as was evidenced by the fact that each chaperone had a whopping two children to supervise on this particular field trip. For us, though, chaperoning wasn't optional. It was a requirement for Teddy to participate because he is not assigned a 1:1 aide at school, so no one could accompany him on this field trip because it would have left his classroom understaffed.

You see, this wasn't a field trip for Teddy's special education classroom. This was a kindergarten field trip, and Teddy's kindergarten teacher said they'd love for Teddy to be able to join them. The only caveats were that we'd need to chaperone and that the bus had already been ordered and didn't have a 5-point restraint, which is what Teddy has in his plan to avoid him driving the bus.

As much as I wished Teddy had a 1:1 aide, I had no problem attending as his chaperone. My logic is that his team does so much to ensure he's included in the kindergarten classroom as much as possible that we, as his parents, can do our part to help with that as well.

And the 5-point restraint was not necessary because Teddy was so darn excited to finally get to ride the real, big school bus that he sat as well as any other kindergarten student for the entire 1.5 hours of the drive. He was literally jumping up and down with excitement before we got on the bus. Honestly, he'd have been happy if his field trip consisted simply of riding the bus.

Sheer joy for a simple bus ride.
But when we got the the Little Farmer, which is essentially an apple orchard, he was more than happy to leave the bus to explore. As he was walking with his class, I let go of his hand because he was following the group pretty well. One of his classmates gasped and said, "Look! Teddy's walking all by himself!" I laughed and said that Teddy is perfectly capable of walking by himself, but that sometimes he tries to go places he doesn't belong.

Throughout the day, children called out, "Hi Teddy!" with an occasional one saying, "I'm going to play with Teddy" for the few seconds that are a typical child's attention span on a brand-new playground. Teddy's favorite parts of the really fun playground were the real-size wooden tractor that he loved to "drive" and the race track with all sorts of pedal-powered carts. He even caught a ride behind two different children in the two-person car with me pushing the car.

There were the usual challenges that occur, such as throwing himself to the ground when he didn't get what he wanted or collapsing into a pile of dead weight. I made the right call in bringing the backpack carrier to contain and redirect him during the tour and when we needed to transition from the playground to the lunch area.

Still, from Teddy's perspective, it was an incredible day. He got to spend a day outside, one of his favorite places to be, with his kindergarten class, which is also one of his favorite places to be. He went for a wagon ride behind a tractor, which is one of his favorite things. He picked an apple and the scavenged another from the ground because why not? He ate his entire apple, core and all, and then eyed up my apple core before I put it in the core bag. He sat on a pumpkin in the patch to pick it out and then carried it by himself part of the way back to the wagon.

Teddy spent 20 minutes of the bus ride home hugging his pumpkin with a giant, joyful grin on his face. He was so proud of his pumpkin.

Teddy with his beloved pumpkin.
And what did it take for Teddy to have this incredible experience? A teacher who extended the invitation and set the expectations for me. She had the same experience for Teddy as the other students, including a Bingo card if he wanted for the bus ride and a name tag, even though she wasn't sure if he'd wear it. (He didn't care much about the Bingo card but wore his name tag remarkable well.) It took her willingness to include him, even though it was one extra child and a little more coordination. And what was the result?

  • A little boy who had the best first field trip ever, full of so many of his favorite things.
  • A classroom full of children who were excited to have their friend Teddy join them on the field trip who saw that Teddy can do many of the same things they can, in his own way.
  • A teacher who was rewarded for her efforts with giant smiles from a pumpkin-hugging boy.
  • A mom whose heart was so full of joy and gratitude.

Monday, October 22, 2018

Detroit Free Press Marathon Weekend: We Run 4

I know I've talked about I Run 4 on this blog when the boys first got matched more than two years ago, but perhaps this post will capture how much this organization means to our family, specifically the two ladies who are matched with our boys. Teddy was matched a month after his diagnosis, which was a pretty difficult period of time for us as we came to terms with the information the doctors shared. His buddy Heather was a bright spot, with each post making us smile and every care package serving as a ray of sunshine. AJ was matched with Bridget a few months later after two unsuccessful matches that were just God's way of connecting us to Bridget. She's been an incredible buddy to AJ, supporting his interests, encouraging him to work hard and keep trying and filling his bedroom (in the best possible way) with swag from the dozens of races she does.

The runners representing for each of our buddies: AJ, Luke and Teddy.
This weekend we headed to Detroit as a family. We stopped along the way at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on a gloomy, rainy day, but we managed to explore with a short 3/4-mile hike, enough for the boys to earn Junior Ranger badges from a fantastic ranger who offered, multiple times, for Teddy to get the free National Parks lifetime pass that he's entitled to receive. We told him that we appreciated the offer, but we're more than happy to contribute our annual fee to the National Park Service each year as our way to support them. The really cool part was that he included Teddy right along with AJ and gave him a Junior Ranger badge as well.

We finished our drive to Detroit Saturday morning and headed right to the expo center for packet pickup. There was a minor snafu with my passport, so I spent some time with the problems and solutions people to make sure I was set to run my international leg of the relay race the following day. While there, we met up with Heather and her husband Steve, who were a part of our relay team. We continued through the expo and sat down with some snacks when Bridget arrived, walked up behind AJ and surprised him. (Honestly, I think she scared the dickens out of him because she popped right next to him, and he was completely focused on the food he just got.) This was the first time we ever met Bridget, and AJ was so excited to spend time with her. He went through the expo again with Bridget and her friends from her running group, Sole Family. Teddy used that time to thoroughly explore the expo center. He rode the escalators with Dave and I, took Heather to the wine bar and tried to sneak her espresso and showed Steve every single shoe shine station. In other words, he had fun.

Later that afternoon, we met Bridget and her husband Joey, along with Heather and Steve, at a cider mill. Cider mills are apparently Michigan's version of apple orchards. This one had animals to look at, a walking path along a river and delicious cider and donuts. We explored together and just enjoyed the opportunity to get to know each other better. It was a dreary, cold, rainy day, but the time together (and still-warm apple cider donuts if you ask Dave and the boys) was worth the chilliness.

Teddy took a shine to Bridget immediately!
Sunday was our relay race, and Bridget had custom shirts made for our relay team, complete with the number for our leg on the back of the shirts. She included all our running buddies and had the CDG logo for Teddy's diagnosis, along with my buddy's awareness ribbon for Down Syndrome. Since AJ has no logo, Bridget included the Superman one because she sent AJ a Superbrother shirt earlier this year. I chuckled to myself when AJ read the back of the shirt and immediately identified that as Superbrother for him.

Custom shirts for our group, thanks to Bridget.

Since it was cold and windy, not to mention it was downtown Detroit with 15,000+ runners and roads closed for the race, Dave stayed back with the boys. They went shopping and enjoyed the hotel's water park while we did the marathon relay. Bridget kicked us off, running over the bridge into Canada, where she handed off to me. I ran underwater through the tunnel back to the United States, which was extremely cool and just an awesome experience. I spent a portion of my time running thinking of my grandfather, whose memorial service was that day. As much as I felt like I should be there instead, my mom was understanding and supportive of us heading to the race still. I handed off to Steve, who ran the rest of the race, along with Heather, who was our official runner for the last two legs.

All smiles in the warm expo center after our marathon relay, team I Run 4.
Once all the other Sole Family folks got done running, we headed out to meet Dave and the boys for a late lunch. (Oddly enough, these full marathons take about twice as long as the half marathons I usually do.) We ended up at a tiny IHOP, but that didn't matter. It actually worked out perfectly that AJ got a booth to himself with Bridget for 1:1 conversation and attention. Several of Bridget's friends from Sole Family joined us, which was great since I already felt as though I knew them from all her posts and their welcoming us with open arms into their group throughout the race.

Best of buds, in person finally!
We had to say our goodbyes, until next time, to Bridget when we left the restaurant. Since Heather lives only a few miles from where we stayed (which made it convenient for them to graciously get me to the start of the race since I had no idea where I was going), we headed to their house for a little bit longer to visit. Teddy loved meeting their three dogs, cat and bunny, and AJ thought their shuffleboard table was as cool as their Harry Potter LEGOs. I'm pretty sure AJ knows a remarkable amount about Harry Potter from the 50 million questions he asked Steve.

Heather was a good sport with Teddy's odd requests, like playing in her bed together.
All in all, it was just incredible to spend the weekend with these two people, and their family and friends, who provide so much happiness, joy and support for our family. My heart is filled with gratitude.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Weekend Plans

This weekend we're heading to Michigan for a long weekend, pulling the boys from school Friday and Monday. A year ago, AJ's running buddy ran the Detroit marathon, which prompted his buddy, Teddy's buddy and I to decide we should do the marathon together as a relay. Fast forward to this year, and we managed to organize a relay team.

So we're heading to Michigan, with a stop Friday at Indiana Dunes National Seashore to explore, stretch our legs and get Junior Ranger badges. Then we'll head the rest of the way Saturday to meet our team for packet pickup. AJ's running buddy, Ms. Bridget, is going to run the first leg. I'm taking the second leg, followed by Teddy's running buddy's husband Steve. Teddy's buddy Heather will finish our marathon team.

AJ's super excited to meet his running buddy for the first time, and I'm excited for the whole weekend. We'll get to spend time with both buddies, outside of the race, and have some fun time together as a family after a week of work travel for Dave. It's a weekend spent with people who enrich our lives and are two of the biggest supporters of our children.

The only downside is that my running buddy, who lives in the area, is out of town. Guess we'll have to try again next year, right?

Monday, October 8, 2018

The Day The School Called Three Times

Last Friday I got a call pretty early in the school day from Teddy's school nurse. I was a bit skeptical because the last time she called, the school's policy involved sending Teddy home because of a rash on his face of unknown origin. ( We worked through that situation without Teddy coming home, as the school is new to Teddy and not familiar with the breakdown that frequently occurs on his face due to his drooling.) This time she was informing me of an injury that involved Teddy smacking his face into a door frame. 

Since she said he seemed completely back to his usual demeanor and not affected by the incident, I told her that an ice pack wasn't necessary unless it was a really significant injury because he has no interest in them. She said that he tolerated one for about 30 seconds, but his teacher had it with him as he continued on with his day.

So I was a bit surprised when the nurse called me again around lunch. She had given Teddy his medicine he gets with lunch and wanted to update me that it looked more like a scratch. I said OK and laughed to myself when we hung up the phone. Seriously, if I called someone every time Teddy got a bump or bruise ... 

And then Teddy came home.

Teddy a.k.a. Scarface
Well, I understood why the nurse called me twice. He looked pretty rough, but of course he was all smiles. 

Teddy's teacher had asked me to call her to discuss the incident. It turns out that Teddy thought he should go to gym instead of his classroom when he arrived at school. So he made a beeline for the gym, probably laughing and running because he knew he was doing something he shouldn't. It was all fun and games until he ran straight into the corner of the door frame. I think the real reason his teacher wanted to talk was to apologize and tell me how terrible she felt. I did my best to reassure her, although I'm not sure that telling her that I smashed Teddy's hand in the door earlier in the week was reassuring ... but it does prove the point that accidents happen frequently with Teddy. 

On the bright side, I don't think I've heard from AJ's school nurse once yet this year. And, honestly, Teddy's school nurse can call me every day this year as long as it's not to inform me that Teddy's had a seizure. 

Friday, October 5, 2018

Last Night was Special

Last night Teddy did another run with myTEAM Triumph (MTT), which is nothing extraordinary, although each run with MTT is special in its own right. But last night was extremely special, not because of the race, but because of the circumstances surrounding the race.

You see, Dave and I both were out of town for work, not getting home until late, so we couldn't make the race even though it started at 7:30 p.m. We were grateful for Dave's folks for coming down to watch the boys but weren't going to ask them to try to figure out how to get Teddy to a race with AJ in tow.

When I posted that we wouldn't be coming, one of my friends from work who also runs with MTT, Stephanie, offered to take Teddy to the race. She made it so easy to say yes, asking if she could pick up Teddy and bring him to the race. She made it sound like it was no big deal, almost like we were doing a favor to allow her to take Teddy, rather than the other way around.

You might not understand how remarkable this is. We are blessed with an incredible network of family, friends and co-workers who help us raise our children. I had a difficult time scheduling all the adventures for AJ this summer because so many people asked to spend special time with him. That doesn't quite happen with Teddy very often. In fact, only two times come to mind.

It's not that people don't invite Teddy places, but it's not for a solo, special time adventure. It's not that people don't like Teddy or enjoy spending time with him. It's a combination of who Teddy is with his needs and, quite honestly, the energy and strength required to keep up with him and redirect him as needed. He's simply a lot of work.

Don't get me wrong. There have been offers, but there's always a bit of guilt on our part because we know the effort required with Teddy is different than with AJ. So it takes someone essentially saying, "Can I ..." or "Here's what I'm going to do." That makes it easy to say yes and know that it's not a burden.

This makes me smile and gives me all the feels. 
Last night was incredible, even though we didn't get to be at the run or see the run. I heard Teddy had a fantastic time and loved all the glow lights and his cool doughnut medal (because why wouldn't a Run with the Cops give out doughnut medals). I know he had a wonderful time given his smiles when Stephanie brought him home, the look of joy on his face when he looked at Stephanie and the big hug he gave her before she left.

As I said to Dave last night once Teddy went to bed, "The best part of my day was when Teddy got home. Gosh, that sounds weird because that's usually not the case."

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

The Time Teddy Almost Crashed the Golf Cart

Wait. Which time?

The most recent golf cart escapade was this weekend at my parents' farm when we visited for the day with the dual purpose of spending time with family and giving Dave an extremely enjoyable 10 hours to do linear algebra homework. All right, it may not have been enjoyable, but at least he got a bunch of homework done.

Teddy got to spend a couple hours in the cool, misty weather riding and driving tractor with his Grandpa and exploring with the 4-wheeler. Right before we left, we headed to my uncle's place to pick up the children's giant pumpkins. AJ picked the largest pumpkin, which definitely weighs more than 50 pounds. Teddy ended up with the slightly smaller pumpkin, which my dad joked weighed about "one Ted." He likes to use Teddy as a unit of measurement for weight since Teddy's always been quite the solid kid.

Teddy could have cared less about the pumpkins because his beloved golf cart was finally present. His great grandfather brought the golf cart back by the pumpkin patch, so Teddy immediately headed to the golf cart. My dad plopped Teddy's pumpkin next to him on the golf cart for a picture, so we could at least pretend Teddy cared about his pumpkin. We snapped a few pictures, and then Teddy hit the gas. His great grandfather forgot Teddy's desire to drive the golf cart, so he didn't have the cart turned off.

This is the look of a child about to commandeer a golf cart.

That made for an interesting 15 seconds as my 96-year-old grandfather tried to hit the brake and turn off the golf cart. I was a foot away from having my foot ran over, and my uncle was in line to be smashed between the golf cart and our vehicle, but the bike rack would have slowed the impact. My grandpa hit the brakes, and the 50-pound pumpkin went catapulting forward. My mom and then my dad lunged to catch the pumpkin and re-situate it while instructing my grandpa to turn off the golf cart. And Teddy laughed hysterically through it all.

I'm not so sure we should trust Teddy and Great Grandpa alone together on the golf cart ...

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

The Best of Both Worlds

We're in our third week of school, and we got off to a fantastic start with Teddy's first day. Today we stopped by the school to install a mini wall that we built to help Teddy's teacher create distinct spaces within her classroom. We had the chance to talk to both Teddy's teacher and his kindergarten teacher.

There was so much positive that his teachers shared in the short time that we were there. The kindergarten teacher wanted to discuss two upcoming field trips with us that she, in her words, would "love" to have Teddy join. One is a trip to a farm, and the other is a play. The only caveat is that since Teddy's classroom still needs the aides to support the other children is that we need to supply a chaperone to help Teddy be successful. Given how much effort his team at school puts forth to ensure Teddy has opportunities to integrate and participate in a wide range of activities, I have no problem with us attending as chaperones. (That's something that's normally fun to do, anyways, right?)

OK, I do have one problem with us attending. The play sounds a wee bit like torture to keep Teddy contained for 45 minutes during a show, but who knows, maybe he'd be so fascinated that he'd be an incredible listener and follow the lead of his friends. I'm hoping Dave is the one who gets to find out rather than me.

His kindergarten teacher shared how excited the children are when Teddy comes to the classroom. She said she makes an exception to her 4 children in one play area rule when more children ask to play with Teddy. (Doesn't that just make you smile?) She said there's two children in particular who have taken quite a shine to Teddy.

It was interesting to hear the questions her students had for her before Teddy first came in the classroom. She had talked to them about how Teddy doesn't talk, so she had quite the range of questions: Is he a robot? Does he have a mouth? Does he have ears? Can he hear?

She said it's been a great experience for all the children, including Teddy. She also said if she's having a tough morning that Teddy's smile always makes her happier.

This smile. But he's definitely not a robot. 
Then Teddy's regular teacher said that Teddy just has a way of connecting with each child in her class. She teared up as she told us about a child who does not like physical contact or interaction with others, yet Teddy can sit right next to him without any issues.

I think all this makes up for me wanting to sell or trade Teddy yesterday ...

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

All My Titles for This Post are Inappropriate

In other words, today was one of those days with Teddy. He woke up in a good mood, which converted into his mischievousness, destructive mode as soon as AJ left for school. I only had Teddy home from 7:15 (when he normally gets on the bus) until I took him for his 8:45 a.m. annual checkup. I tell you, that 1.25 hours (because we left the house by 8:30) felt like forever.

In that time, he ripped down 3 of our 4 shelves of movies, rolled around in them laughing hysterically and managed to rip open a few cases to schmutz the discs. Most people would find this at least mildly annoying, but since I'm extremely weird and need our movies in alphabetical order ... well, let's just say it's hard to alphabetize anything while Teddy is still a whirling, twirling machine of destruction.

This kid. It's not like he'll even watch 5 minutes of TV, much less a movie.
Sometimes Teddy gets into moods where he is just bound and determined to destroy things, whether it's pull things apart, knock things over or whatever else he can do to create chaos. And he does this all while laughing. It's not that he is upset or mad and throwing a fit. He's extremely pleased with himself to render things a complete mess. I'm not sure if it's the reactions that he's going for or if he just thinks it's funny to be a dink.

I would have been relieved to drop him off at school, aside from the fact that he was limping from his flu shot. He literally was staggering and needed a hand for assistance while walking. I'm not sure why that was the case from a flu shot, but he seemed better when he returned home from school. Granted, I spent most of the time he was at school wondering how he was doing ... something as simple as a flu vaccine causes paranoia for Dave and I given Teddy's propensity for seizures.

And when I say he was better when he came home from school, I mean his limp was gone. His mischievousness remained, so I was quite glad when it was finally late enough that I could pick up AJ for his CCD class. That at least meant Teddy contained in a carseat where he could inflict relatively minimal damage. Teddy ended up riding on my back for the last 30 minutes or so before dinner, so that I could get food ready without it all being stolen or thrown or dishes dragged everywhere in the kitchen.

At least when I picked AJ up from his after-school program, the staff made a point to tell me how well AJ reads and that AJ reads much better than many of his peers. And when I asked AJ how his homework was, his reply was, "Way too easy!"

Now, to figure out if Teddy will be the Tasmanian Devil or a bull in a china shop for Halloween. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Teddy's Puppies

This past weekend we had two young dogs visiting our house for AJ's birthday party, so Teddy was in dog heaven. Teddy is fascinated by dogs and loves to play with them. Unfortunately, most dogs aren't too fond of Teddy's methods of playing, which are the same as when he plays with people: he likes to sit on top, push, pull and ride. He doesn't mean to be aggressive, but his interactions with dogs usually include careful supervision with plenty of reminders to be gentle and  physical redirection when he tries to ride the dog, which inevitably happens.

That's not the case with the dogs who were visiting. Zed has known Teddy for a year and loves to wrestle and play with him, and this was Rook's first time meeting Teddy. Rook was incredible with Teddy, very mellow and chill except for one time that Teddy sat on her when she was tired. (He's a lot of weight for her since Rook is still very much a young pup. Teddy better watch out when she outgrows him.)

Teddy had an absolute blast playing with the dogs, wrestling them, snuggling into them, sharing toys and playing tug-o-war. (Never mind that he was using his teeth to play tug-o-war, imitating Rook.) When I tried putting Rook in the backpack carrier one morning, Teddy kept trying to unbuckle the carrier because he wanted to wear the carrier with Rook on his back.

Teddy was so proud of himself for carrying Rook!
Thanks to John and Lindsay for raising Zed and Rook to be awesome playmates for Teddy!

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

I Love This Kid!

AJ had his first CCD class, which is the Catholic way to teach our children more about our faith and prepare for the sacraments. He wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of this lasting for 10 years (hey, he asked how long he had to go!). But he really enjoyed his first class, and I couldn't have been more proud of the conversation we had afterward.

He told me that he prayed for Finny because he wants his fish to feel better (since Finny is sick with disappearing fins) and one other thing that began with a T and ended with a Y. He said he prayed for Teddy, so I asked what he prayed for Teddy. His reply, "I prayed for God and Jesus to help Teddy talk and walk better." He continued to explain that it would be nice for Teddy to be able to talk without his talker because we don't really know what Teddy's vocalizations of "eh" mean. He added that he also prayed that Teddy wouldn't have any more seizures because AJ really didn't like the one last December where Teddy had to go to the emergency room and then Milwaukee.

Dang, kid. Those are pretty much my same exact prayers for Teddy.

Teddy's the little brother who's loved in a big way!

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

A Fantastic First Day of Kindergarten

Teddy had an absolutely fantastic (albeit exhausting) first day of school yesterday. It began with discovering that his morning bus driver from last year, Lori, is his driver for his rides both to and from school. Lori told me the first thing she did when she got her schedule was to check to see if she had Teddy on her route again. That put a smile on my face to start the day.

When I walked Teddy into his classroom, he immediately found cool things to play with and was content to be there. One of the classroom para-professionals (paras) knows of Teddy from working the Early Childhood program last year even though she didn't work directly with him, and two other people greeted Teddy by name. One was the program coordinator for special education services in his school, and the other was someone who was a substitute teacher for him last year who recognized and remembered him. I tell ya, the boy makes quite the impression on people. 

Teddy could care less that I left his classroom because he had all these new people to play with and things to explore. I'm sure he will keep his teacher and all the paras plenty busy. From little bit I talked to his teacher afterward and the note that came home, he had a great day. He did well at lunch time in the little lunch room and was working independently on a matching game when I arrived.

Teddy was all smiles, as was his teacher!
After school was done, we met with the kindergarten teacher who will be working with Teddy's teacher to provide Teddy opportunities to interact and learn with his age-group peers. This is something that we feel is incredibly important because Teddy learns from watching others, so time spent with other kindergarten students will help Teddy to pick up on social skills, routines and who knows what else. We recognize fully that the skills gaps between Teddy and others his age will only increase as he gets older, so we view these early school years as the best opportunities for him to have as much natural interaction and integration as possible without preventing the other students from learning. Last year, we really had to push for integration, and it only happened at recess and then periodically when staffing was available because Teddy needs a para directly supporting him for it to be successful.

This year, though, the kindergarten teacher spent time on the first day of school to meet Teddy, talk through the plan they've created and left me feeling so hopeful. I recognize the plan might not work perfectly and might be adjusted based on how things go in real life, but there's actual, intentional thought on how Teddy can spend time with his age-group peers. Quality time. The plan is that once things settle down next week and the kindergarten students are familiar with routines that Teddy will join them for the first 1.5 hours of their day, except for the days that Teddy has gym class. That means Teddy would get the opportunity to eat breakfast (they do breakfast at his school, which is just weird to me), enjoy play time and morning meeting with his age-group peers. 

The kindergarten teacher had a spot at the table for Teddy with his name, along with an extra crayon box and crayons that she had. That means that Teddy belongs in the classroom, that he's a part of it rather than just fitting him in as a visitor. The kindergarten teacher gave Teddy his first homework project to create the same "All About Me" poster that all the other students are doing, so that everyone can get to know Teddy just the same as all their other classmates.

Teddy sitting at his spot in the kindergarten classroom.

Last, but not least, she talked about how they do sharing time during their morning meeting. She said she's already given Teddy's regular teacher the list of questions, so that we can program Teddy's talker to have his answers. That way, his para can help Teddy answer questions like, "What's your favorite color?" just like the other students.

Are you crying yet? Because I almost am.

It's just so amazing to have Teddy be so welcome, supported and accepted at his new school. Now, let's hope it lasts once they get to know the very opinionated, mischievous side of Teddy. 

Monday, September 3, 2018

An Incredible Weekend

A couple weekends ago we spent a short weekend in Chicago. The boys and I met Dave in Fond du lac at 11 Saturday morning and headed south. We checked out a donut place in Milwaukee, which was nothing too remarkable aside from serving vegan donuts. We also snagged some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory for the adults' treat. (Let's just say it was a rough week at work, and I was finally to the point that I was eating my emotions.)

Our first stop in Illinois was Legoland, which had lost a bit of its magic for Dave since we first visited two years ago. I think Teddy enjoyed it more this visit. We rode the few rides together, and AJ watched two 4-D mini movies. Teddy soaked himself with the water area, and AJ could barely leave the store with all the enticing LEGO products. Amazingly, though, he left without purchasing anything despite more than $100 burning a hole in his pocket.

From there we headed to visit Sammie and her family. Sammie is an 11-year-old girl with CDG-PIGN, the same diagnosis as Teddy. We first met Sammie, her brothers and parents two years ago at Legoland, and it was such a blessing to actually meet another CDG-PIGN kiddo for the first time. When we reached out to them a week before this short trip, we were able to make plans for dinner together, so we headed to their house.

Spending time with Sammie, her older brother and parents was the best part of this weekend for me because it's just so incredible to see someone else with this diagnosis and all the similarities. In a world where Teddy is just so rare, moments where you see another child and think, "Wow, that's so much like Teddy!" don't happen. Sure, there might be kids with braces like Teddy or charming smiles, but it's different to see someone with similar (of course, more advanced) communication styles, gestures, attention spans and personalities.
They have a ball pit. It was awesome.
I loved watching AJ play with Sammie, falling right in step with games of hide-n-seek to help her find her older brother. He understood Sammie so well that he only once or twice asked for help understanding her, despite her not using her talker, because he's so accustomed to Teddy's methods of communication that he could piece together between that background and Sammie's limited vocabulary. That's a pretty incredible skill for a soon-to-be 7-year-old child.

We enjoyed our favorite deep-dish pizza with them and watched the children run around while we conversed as much as we could. I wouldn't say their house was completely Teddy proof, but they understand the art of physically blocking spaces and redirecting children who want to be elsewhere. It was so comfortable to just let Teddy be Teddy with minimal efforts to keep him contained or any need to apologize for his lack of social skills or appropriate behavior. They just get it because they've lived it.
So hard to get both Sammie and Teddy still for a picture, much less looking at the camera.
I hope they get something out of our visits because we spend so much time asking questions to understand when Sammie reached milestones or what challenges still exist and what things have gotten easier over time. It's like a window into the future of what could be, and it gives me so much hope.

After several hours of fun together, we left to catch a quick dip in the hotel pool before bed. We hit the jackpot of hotel pools with a warm pool for once! We didn't stay in it long because it was late, and we had more adventures the next day.

AJ was slightly afraid of sting rays. Teddy wanted to go in their pool.
Sunday's plans were the real reason for our short trip to Chicago. We headed downtown to the Shedd Aquarium to meet Teddy's running buddy from I Run 4, Heather, and her husband Steve. This was our second time meeting them, as they came over last summer to spend a weekend with us and run with Teddy. We met somewhat in the middle since they live near Detroit to hang out for a while. We've never been to the Shedd, and it was a really neat place to visit. There were interesting displays of art made out of garbage from the oceans and more sea and water creatures than you could imagine. The boys both pet sting rays and sea stars. Teddy and AJ had fun on the submarine for children to explore as well as the penguin play area, and AJ got to see a few penguins up close and personal as they were being transported behind the scenes by the elevators. It's a pricey place to visit, but it was definitely worth seeing, particularly with the company we had.

AJ's highlight was his close penguin encounter.
Heather has been such a fantastic running buddy for Teddy, sending him posts via Facebook, cheering him on with all his milestones and simply being part of our extended family. The time they spent with us last year was incredibly comfortable, and this was the same. I love that Teddy gets to spend time in person with his running buddy because that is what connects for him, so then he recognizes Heather's pictures when I show him her posts.

Somehow we got everyone looking! This was before Teddy discovered the Segways.
We grabbed lunch at the aquarium and then headed toward home with one more stop at the LEGO store in Milwaukee and Barnes and Noble for some escalator rides, which is Teddy's jam. AJ finally managed to score some LEGOs at Barnes and Noble that were on clearance to boot. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend full of fun, friends and positive memories.