In mid-August Ethan attended a summer camp for the first time ever! It was a gym and swim camp which started with crafts and he had a great time, which pleasantly surprised us. I wasn't sure how much he would enjoy the crafts and gym portion...but then had a hard time picturing how they would adapt the gym portion. It is really neat what is out there... I went with him to the camp to do his feed/meds and so got to observe much of the camp. The downside to his feeds running as long as they do is that he wasn't able to get into his walker much for the gym portion.
Ethan doesn't often have a lot of room to roam around in and I think he was enjoying the freedom of movement at camp. The door knobs were of particular interest for him on the first day.
Ethan (and most of his friends at camp) enjoyed the pool session the most. It was Ethan's first time back in a pool in about 2 years. At first he was just getting used to the different sensation but started to feel more comfortable on day two and just kept going all week; splashing and kicking his feet. He had a wonderful volunteer helper working with him. The final day of camp they had a treasure hunt with a pirate theme. Ethan's tattoo stayed on for a long time, until I finally removed it - which surprised me in comparison to Lorelei's tattoos...I guess that is the difference when you use your hands and wash them a whole lot.
It was a really great experience for Ethan and I hope he can do it again next year!
That week was a rough one for us. Besides illnesses that arise and any serious medical issues, which I think we typically handle in stride, the hardest time for us is when we are sleep deprived. For about a two week period Ethan wasn't sleeping well through the night, waking for hours on end and not always going back to sleep. He pulled at least two of the latter nights the week of camp and that pushed us over the edge. It was later in that week that we found out what could have been contributing to it...
If you look really closely you might notice that his lower gums have whitish spots on them... Ethan is growing his adult teeth! I suspected this the day before his dentist confirmed it at a routine follow up appointment. It has been almost two years since Ethan first lost a tooth. But what the dentist went on to tell us, surprised even me! Ethan has pushed through his bottom two 6-year molars. As the name implies they are typically grown later than 4 1/2 years old!
Thankfully, Ethan rounded out the week with a couple good nights of sleep which we thoroughly appreciated!
