99% positivity. Does that sound too good to be true? Not when I tell you that there are so many lovely people who want to give Ella-Marie a top time, making really great things happen these days! Autumn may be in the country, but for Ella-Marie the sun is shining!
Hug a rabbit
Friend Maxime came up with a great idea! What if we went on a
pet date in faraway Zandhoven? Louise and Kamiel, Maxime's
children, took Olivia and Ella-Marie to the "Groenhof" petting zoo.
Viktor the pig was waiting for them and together they got to
cuddle, pet and feed all the animals.
With enormous enthusiasm, both daughters came home in the evening
and each had a wish list of animals to be purchased. Papa Pieter
was able to tell them that the local Delhaize had no rabbit, but a
chicken on a spit would certainly do!
1%
Among all the bunny hugging moments (note that as a Scrabble word, it's 46 points!) there was also one downside. Out of nowhere and very quietly, we suddenly saw some tears emerge. Ella-Marie has learned to talk about her feelings and once again she was able to put it into words very well.
"I miss my classmates from the IMG. I would so love to be back in class with them". It will be a long time and Ella-Marie has to learn to live with that. By focusing on all the fun things going on in the Pulderbos, distractions soon arose.
And add to that, super teacher Conny also had a nice surprise up her sleeve! Together with Jessie, the new teacher at the IMG, they had secretly agreed to "call via computer". On Thursday, Ella-Marie got the news and on Friday they started calling. So at 2 a.m. Ella-Marie got out of bed and was ready to call. Just a little too early so and the night shift tucked her in again :-).
By all accounts, the calling went very smoothly. Several questions were asked and Ella-Marie answered everything with a smile. She also talked about everything she had done during the vacation. The biggest success turned out to be Tomorrowland. So the tickets are going to sell out even faster in 10 years!
Busy weekend
Mom Annelies went on an outing with the moms of Ella-Marie's first class, according to annual tradition. It also just goes to show here that even though Ella-Marie is no longer in the HHC, there are still many fun contacts. You ask for a short report on their trip? The stores in Antwerp have become a lot richer again, and the good atmosphere and laughter were heard almost as far away as Heist-op-den-Berg. The biggest advantage of Ella-Marie's operation was that, for the first time, mama Annelies could enter an "Escape Room" without having to worry about Ella-Marie. Coincidence or not, but the ladies got out of the Escape Room with 6 minutes left! :-)
When the mom is gone, the kids dance on the table! Or sort of, anyway, because what a busy weekend it was. Action 1 on Saturday morning: breakfast in bed and watching a movie. Silence before the storm, but it was very cozy with 3 in bed. The car also started its working day and a visit to Delhaize was programmed first. It was the first time Ella-Marie stepped through the store with her crutch. So the wheelchair stayed in the trunk and relatively smoothly they got around the store. Spatial insight is not her strong suit, but the way to the candy racks was found extremely quickly and efficiently. Or could there be more to it after all, and is there effectively some progress on the cognitive front? You can read more about that later in this blog!
We drove to Olivia's gymnastics and Ella-Marie's swimming. The bigger of the two was met by Jana and the enthusiasm when both see each other is contagious. You can really see that Ella-Marie wants to be able to swim again. Backstroke remains the favorite stroke, regular breaststroke works, as long as she doesn't have to breathe. So coordination is not yet running optimally, but well.... we are only swimming for 2 weeks!
MaVa
Friend Maarten, the man who will lay the electricity in our house, was, like your writer on duty, a lonely dad on weekends (I can hear you up to here thinking "ooooh, ocharme" ... or is it? :-)). And lonely dads obviously need to comfort each other, so friends Laure and Wout came along for a visit. Some beautiful works of drawing and painting were created (Laure is really talented) and different gymnastic exercises were tried out.
Ask kids where they want to go out to eat and a fast food restaurant is pronounced no time. This time the local clown was allowed to rejoice in our visit. The girls sat down separately and that too shows that the operation was a good move. Where we always had to put Ella-Marie next to us to make sure we could catch a seizure, she could now be her happy self without fear of epilepsy. The evening ended with some big hugs and soon the eyes fell closed.
Neighbor Simonne
You have known her for some time, of course. Should there ever be a trophy handed out for neighbor of the year, our Simonne was in first place every year. And no, she is not on loan and we are never going to give her away! :-)
Sunday morning the kids got to choose what they wanted to do. Olivia had crafts and Roblox Rainbow Friends in mind. Ella-Marie replied very firmly, "I want to go to Simonne". And whether it is 8 a.m. or 9 p.m., Simonne is always ready to "spoil" Ella-Marie. Together they watched Family and the Neighborhood Police and some goodies were enjoyed.
Baby shower Nora
You are reading this blog thanks to http://www.marsvaardig.eu. Friend Tom has been taking care of websites for various companies for years, and thanks to him, we can also use their technology.
Tom had super news a few months ago. A beautiful baby girl "Nora" was born! So Sunday was baby shower time. Ella-Marie was fairly tired, so an entrance was made by wheelchair. After some delicious waffles and a drink of water, it soon became clear that Ella-Marie was eager to join the other children. She grabbed her crutch and went for a walk. A lovely sunshine followed like a spotlight a determined young lady!
#namiddagjepulderbossen
A double booking in the calendar sometimes causes stress, but in this case we were also looking forward to the second important appointment of the day. Rehabilitation Center Pulderbos (follow them on Facebook here) was hosting their annual party and of course Ella-Marie wanted to be there! After an hour's drive, we arrived just in time to enjoy some of the fun activities and shows Pulderbos had to offer that day.
A very special moment for Ella-Marie (and secretly also for the parents, Olivia, omi and opi and Simonne) was the visit of 2 clowns. Especially for Ella-Marie, 2 supervisors from the living group had kept up their act for a few hours longer. Because of that, Ella-Marie could admire them in full action. Even after they had exchanged their costume for normal clothes, they still came along to the table to give Ella-Marie a nice day. To say that these people really have a golden heart is an understatement!
It was also striking how beloved Ella-Marie is in Pulderbos. Fortunately, she can already lift her left arm a little more, because she needed both arms to wave and hug. Physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists ... all came spontaneously to greet our daughter. It may be Sunday afternoon, but everyone from Pulderbos is always there for the children!
Dinnertime!
Does it strike you that there is much to tell? The following paragraphs are about food and drink. So don't forget to take a sip of some goodies and have something small!
Your writer on duty was able to blow out 39 candles in January. According to annual tradition, a nice dinner is also offered by the people who made it possible for the writer to actually create this blog. The grandmother and grandfather of Ella-Marie are lovely people. They really do everything for their (grand)children. Cab grandpa, artistic grandma, walks in picturesque Leefdaal, sports in the playground, ... everything comes into play! It is also thanks to them that we were able to finance the operation in Utrecht and offer Ella-Marie an adapted home.
The dinner itself could only take place now. Between December
and March there was no question of going out to a restaurant. The
epileptic seizures were so numerous that it just wasn't possible.
And after the operation in March, the focus was first on
rehabilitation and de-stressing.
We went for a delicious dinner in Leuven. Not only was the food
good, but knowing that Ella-Marie was seizure-free in Pulderbos and
Olivia was taken care of by mega-omi made it a truly enjoyable
evening.
The following day we also got to join friends-in-the-street Tom and Hilde. Ella-Marie wanted to walk to the house. The supported crutch did its job and a little slower than a normal walk we arrived. The little kids are about the same age as Ella-Marie and Olivia. So there was a lot of playing and chatting and the homemade fries with stew were a hit! The battery was completely drained by the end of the evening, though, and an ultra-short car ride was chosen for the way back. Regardless, it was a complete success!
Family
Saturday was swimming and gymnastics day again. Neighbor Stijn had cleaned up the communal hedge and it prompted daddy Pieter to take care of the pollarded willows as well. Due to a lack of energy, nothing was done to the trees for 2 years, but with the super help of Olivia and an approving look from Ella-Marie, a few trees have already been trimmed.
Sunday we then got to celebrate the traditional family party along side Omi. Omi was the organizer of the whole event, but unfortunately the germs had gotten hold of her. Besides the good food and a cozy get-together, she also missed a very sweet moment. Namely, the family had made a present for Ella-Marie (and Olivia). A shoebox was transformed into a beautiful puppet show and with some subtle (and not so subtle) hints, it soon became clear that the present was a visit to the Efteling!
What also stood out was how empowered Ella-Marie has become. Together with the other youth, 15 to 20 years old, she happily went along for the ride. She felt really good among the others and what was especially nice: she was really well taken care of. A lot may be said about "today's youth," but what we saw really made us happy. Hugs, talking, laughing and enjoying. Our little girl is growing up. And thanks to surgery, she can also effectively grow and explore on her own.
Could it be...?
Closing we do with unpretentious banter. Thanks to Elke from Pulderbos, Ella-Marie is able to participate in a special program called "Cogmed." The software is specially designed to train working memory and improve concentration skills. In all honesty, this was one downright disaster before the surgery, but what did we get to read in Ella-Marie's diary?
"Ella-Marie has already made very nice strides (both literally and figuratively) over the past few months. For both math and language she is working hard and gaining independence and working pace."
Dear reader, I hope this 99% positivity puts a smile on your face too!