Friday, June 25, 2010

Working Hard With A New Tool!

I found a great product for Gavin to use. It will help him to sit up better while he is sitting in his walker. (I used to have to stuff several blankets around him, to help keep him from falling over all the time.) I'm going to try it out in other situations too.....hopefully it will be quite versatile for him. (I might even try it in a shopping cart???) You can find the product here if you want to get more info on it.

Here is a picture of it:



As I've said before, Gavin is unable to sit by himself or even have good head control due to the severe stroke/brain injury that he had 3 years ago. His being unable to sit by himself is probably the most difficult thing that I deal with on a daily basis. It's physically hard on me to hold him, because I have to continually use my muscles, just to hold him into a sitting position when he is sitting on my lap. Plus, he has high tone, due to his stroke, which makes him very tight and this makes it even harder to hold him, because his muscles are fighting against me while I'm holding him! Also, it's sad to see your 3 1/2 year old not able to sit up. I hate having to lay him on the floor to play all the time.....he looks so pitiful laying down all the time!

Anyway, Gavin's not being able to sit on his own is seriously the biggest hardship of all to me! I can handle (on most days anyway) all the meds, nebs, his not talking, the doctor visits, etc., but his not sitting usually has me feeling very sad and frustruated.

So, when I found this product in a magazine, I thought it would be very helpful to Gavin and I.

Here is Gavin putting it to good use!


"Oh Man! Mom is making me work again!"





"This is hard work!"



"Hey! This thing is cool! It helps me a lot!"




"This might even be fun now!"




"But, it's still lots of work!"



"But, this pillow thing sure is helpful for when I get too tired out!"







Here is Gavin singing with me, while he works hard:



Great job Gavin! You are working so hard!



"I feel like such a big boy and Momma looks so proud of me!"



Momma is very proud of you Gavin! Great workout session today!


"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

11 comments:

Amy said...

OH MY GOODNESS, I'm in love! But I already was. This looks like such a great product, and it's clear it will help motivate him to use his own head strength. So glad you found it and that he seems to be enjoying it. These pictures totally made me smile...might have to visit this post another 100 times in the next month. :o)

April said...

What a wonderful tool! Love the pictures! They made me smile today!

Tamara said...

Hey sweet momma! How you been! Wow this is a great gem you have found! Do you think it would work for Abby? I would love to see it in a grocery cart! Abby might be too long... but I will check out the web page, thanks for sharing! I miss you and our talks! I am back now and am going to try and get into the swing of posting more often! I will read your blog in detail tonight... we are off to the pool! I love you and think of you often, even though I have not been here leaving you comments!! (((HUGS)))!!!!!

Cammie Heflin said...

I'm so glad it's helpful!! Sitting is definitely a skill that makes things so much easier! I so hope and pray that he will be able to sit soon!

Alicia said...

Awesome! Way to work hard, Gavin!

Have a great weekend, VW's!!

Unknown said...

I love it! Thanks for sharing. We too struggle with the never being able to sit up alone. For her birthday this year, we got Izzy a little infant to toddler rocker which works for her, but it would be great to try her in something like an exersaucer or something else. She isn't as active or interactive as Gavin, but this definitely could help Izzy work on her head control. Thanks for sharing the great idea. We are going to have to get one of these for her to sport too. :)

Becky said...

Oh my goodness, it's PERFECT! I LOVE the picture when he is tired and resting on the pillow. What a treasure.

Lacey said...

OK, were did you get that? Im sure if the back is high enough for jax because he has zero head control, but its worth a try!

Proctor family said...

wow that works really good. I bet he loves being able to be up even if it is hard work.

Debbie said...

very cool...
this is why I love networking...
how would we learn about great products if we didn't have eachother?

I don't think it would work for H though...Gavin looks like he has way better head control than Huds.
The pic of G slumped over with his face in the cooshy pillow is probably all H would do. Wish I could just "try" it, ya know?

Leah said...

hi there! thanks for posting this - i'm really interested in purchasing something like this for my son - canyou send along the name or magazine where you found it?

my email is

lcg019@hotmail.com you can see my son and i on www.thelittlestcowboy.blogspot.com as well!

thanks

Leah