I have been racking my brain for a couple of weeks now trying to come up with ideas for blog posts. I came to the conclusion that maybe I should just talk about an average day with Maddi. Our day starts when we hear Maddi through the baby monitor that we have set up. She will be 5 this summer and we still use the monitor, I think it is more out of habit than anything else. We had to use it for a long time because of the feeding tube alarms and the fact that when she was a newborn she had major heart issues. After I get her out of bed she gets dressed for the day (sometimes we have days where we stay in PJs), and I fix her “shake”. The shake started about 3 years ago while we were trying to get Maddi to gain weight so that we could get her Gtube out. Her shake consists of a 4oz container of whole fat Toddler yogurt mixed with 4oz of Pedisure. Before she can have her shake though she knows that she has to take her pills, one being a heart pill and the other is for acid reflux. If I take too long preparing her shake she starts to get cranky and whinny, but as soon as she gets it she as happy as a pig in mud. So if you can’t tell yet routine is a very big part of our day to day doings. Some of the things that go on probably do not need to happen, like the shake, but because we did it for so long Maddi has become used to it and sometimes expects it.

After Maddi gets her shake in the morning she watches cartoons for a bit until I get breakfast ready. Now I have heard arguments on both sides about allowing your child to watch TV, I do not care about those. Maddi loves the cartoons that come on Disney Jr. like; Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sofia the First, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Octonauts, Chuggington, etc… I feel that these are good shows with positive messages and more importantly Maddi loves them. Here lately we have had things going on as a family on the weekends so the schedule gets messed up when we have to go out and do things, but usually after breakfast Maddi and her sister play with toys or look at books. If the weather allows we will take them out side so that they can walk up and down the dirt road or swing in their swing. Are you noticing anything yet? Her days are just like “typical” (I hate that label) kids. She loves to play and laugh often times she will fight with her sister and then do something sweet like hug her and kiss her. I have to say that a lot of times she entertains me immensely.

During the week Maddi attends Southern Maine Children’s Academy, this is a therapeutic preschool. They cater to children with developmental delays like Down syndrome and Autism just to name a couple. I think that when she is at school she works harder than “typical” kids. I say this for a couple of reasons. First, kids with a diagnosis are not allowed to have naps, this is because the state does not allow any place to bill while the child is asleep. Secondly, Maddi works with a; Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, and a Speech Language Pathologist, this is on top of the normal activities that they do in the classroom. By the end of the day when I pick her up she is “toast”, most times she falls asleep on the 15 minute car ride home. Once we get home she watches cartoons till dinner. We eat dinner as a family every night between 5:30 and 6:00 pm. After dinner she gets her “tubby”, and dressed for bed. By about 7pm she gets her evening meds and shake and watches cartoons till 7:30, which is when she usually goes to bed. We do kisses and hugs, I lay her down and turn on her CD. This CD is a bunch of lullabies done by the singer Jewel, Maddi has listened to this CD for about 4 years now every single night.
I hope that after reading this you get the idea that Maddi is just like any other kid, for the most part. She plays, fights, eats, and sleeps just like other children. The only difference is she has an extra Chromosome.