So at the McQuilkin household, summer means time to be on the move, and having 4 children doesn't hold us down!! After Max finished baseball season, we were free to travel some more. We are so blessed to have a beach house in the family, and we were determined to put it to good use. The only thing holding us back was Miss Khari's physical and occupational therapy once a week. As Kent said, being at the beach was good enough therapy, she could miss a few weeks worth! I was not so sure of this.
Warning: This is where I will rant for a short while about my crazy parenting style of Khari!!
You have to understand. I am by profession a pediatric (intensive care) nurse. I have seen tons of kids with all sorts of medical issues and I knew exactly how resilient each of them has been. I stopped working (outside the home) after Khari came home. When we decided to do a special needs adoption, I wasn't really aware of what a chunk I had bit off. So when I realized that this tiny, developmentally delayed baby was not going to just decide to do things like my other children have done, I decided this was a priority to get her motivated. So at that point I took the job of mother to a whole new level, because that is what she needed. My children are all so different in such wonderful ways, but Khari needed a new "hard core" mommy version that I wasn't used to giving out. (By the way our wonderful Physical Therapist "DeDe" is the one that named me "hard core".) I will agree, I was a little over the top. But.... then you had to see our sweet baby girl, she was soooo behind. At one point the eye doctor thought that she had a pretty bad brain injury at birth and that she had a cortical brain injury and could see but not make the connection with her brain as to what she was seeing. Anyway, back to the point, it worried me to miss much therapy. Kent was much more sure of Khari's progress and even stated that she wouldn't need therapy much longer. So anyway.....
We took off for the beach. We were joining family for our annual July 4th gathering. This time last year, we were enjoying our family, but scheduling our travel to Ethiopia. When we took our family pictures, I couldn't help but think of the next year when we would be +1. So this trip was so rewarding!
So all of our family returned home, but we stayed. We were there for about 2 1/2 weeks! It was so nice.
The kids really enjoyed the beach, almost every day. Khari was a little indifferent to the beach. Some days she was happy, others she wanted nothing to do with that icky sand. I can't blame her!
One of the last 2 days, she started walking on the beach! Up to this point she has taken series of steps, but was really just interested in crawling. She was 16 months old when she started walking, and crawling was much more familiar and a lot easier! It was so rewarding watching her work hard on walking on the sand and very uneven surfaces! She was so cute!
Right after we returned home, we went to North Carolina to see Kent's cousin perform in an opera, Hansel and Gretel. The kids enjoyed it and even Khari made it all the way through. (with lots of snacks, toys, and finally the long awaited nap) The best part was Samuel commenting on how the witch was supposed to be a girl, but it was an ugly boy dressed like a girl. Ha, ha, ha!!! After the opera we enjoyed a delicious italian dinner to celebrate! The kids were so cute all dressed up!
On our way home, Kent remembered a place called Sliding Rock and we went to check it out! There is a huge rock that people use as a slide. It is pretty cool. There is even a handrail and a lifeguard on duty.
When we arrived home, it was time to celebrate our 1 year anniversary of Khari's official adoption in Ethiopia! July 28, 2010, she was legally ours, but had to remain in Ethiopia until her visa was ready. So what better way to celebrate then to take all of our local family to our great Ethiopian restaurant, Gosh, to celebrate!! Our families were such good sports in trying the food, even the great grandmothers came!
If that isn't enough action for one post, the final high point of the summer was Khari graduating from Physical Therapy. It was bittersweet as all of these people have become like family to us! But we are so proud of the gains Khari has made in the past year we were celebrating! I never thought within 11 months of bringing her home, that she would be walking!! ( Much less graduate therapy) So I will leave you with a few of our pictures of our last day at PT! Blessings!!!!
Warning: This is where I will rant for a short while about my crazy parenting style of Khari!!
You have to understand. I am by profession a pediatric (intensive care) nurse. I have seen tons of kids with all sorts of medical issues and I knew exactly how resilient each of them has been. I stopped working (outside the home) after Khari came home. When we decided to do a special needs adoption, I wasn't really aware of what a chunk I had bit off. So when I realized that this tiny, developmentally delayed baby was not going to just decide to do things like my other children have done, I decided this was a priority to get her motivated. So at that point I took the job of mother to a whole new level, because that is what she needed. My children are all so different in such wonderful ways, but Khari needed a new "hard core" mommy version that I wasn't used to giving out. (By the way our wonderful Physical Therapist "DeDe" is the one that named me "hard core".) I will agree, I was a little over the top. But.... then you had to see our sweet baby girl, she was soooo behind. At one point the eye doctor thought that she had a pretty bad brain injury at birth and that she had a cortical brain injury and could see but not make the connection with her brain as to what she was seeing. Anyway, back to the point, it worried me to miss much therapy. Kent was much more sure of Khari's progress and even stated that she wouldn't need therapy much longer. So anyway.....
So all of our family returned home, but we stayed. We were there for about 2 1/2 weeks! It was so nice.
The kids really enjoyed the beach, almost every day. Khari was a little indifferent to the beach. Some days she was happy, others she wanted nothing to do with that icky sand. I can't blame her!
Right after we returned home, we went to North Carolina to see Kent's cousin perform in an opera, Hansel and Gretel. The kids enjoyed it and even Khari made it all the way through. (with lots of snacks, toys, and finally the long awaited nap) The best part was Samuel commenting on how the witch was supposed to be a girl, but it was an ugly boy dressed like a girl. Ha, ha, ha!!! After the opera we enjoyed a delicious italian dinner to celebrate! The kids were so cute all dressed up!
On our way home, Kent remembered a place called Sliding Rock and we went to check it out! There is a huge rock that people use as a slide. It is pretty cool. There is even a handrail and a lifeguard on duty.
What a moment, seeing her walk through those doors!!
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