Family Vacation Part 1 Minden (In the Kawartha's)

For the very first time (since Quinn was born) we went on a vacation that did not include doctors, surgeries, appointments or PHACE related conferences. What an amazing thing that I likely would have taken for granted years ago. To do a normal family thing, well our normal anyways which is just fine by me.

Every time we stopped we made sure it was a WalMart so Quinn would be happy. I used to cringe doing this out of town because there was a time when he would attract the attention from people across the store. I find now that we can go in somewhere almost incognito. People only look if they get close and when they do they are likely trying to figure out what "happened" The only ones who say anything are kids which is not big deal, I usually end up feeling bad for the parent who generally looks mortified that their child said something.

No, the only thing that might be weird about Quinn's time in WalMart is that he is the only 3 year old NOT having a fit or begging for a toy.

Quinn and Ty (Quinn is deep in the A-Zone (autism) focused on the ride and watching the big trucks)

Tyler asking for the 500th time how much longer the trip would be, and Quinn's response

Ryan is SOOOO good with Quinn

He covers his ears a lot now as you may have noticed

It's hard to believe at one point there was a ginormous hemangioma on and in that beautiful face

Ah his lip.....a bit of a complication, the overhang is back BUT on the bright side look at his cheek,

Dr Waner sucked the rest of that hemangioma out and now both cheeks are the same size. The scarring looks different everyday and will continue to change for another 4 months

Hopefully he will only need one more surgery to touch up the lip now that his face is symmetrical

We are getting closer!

Sooo laid back, can you tell he is a real handful *wink*

My Mighty Guy climbing stairs STANDING for the first time

(Prenatal Stroke: 1/Mighty Quinn: 1,0000000)

Still kicking that stroke in the Asstronaught

Uncle C playing guitar and singing he was obviously doing a good job because Quinn would have had his hands over his ears like he does when Grandma M sings to him on the phone

This picture is so precious. I only wish this awesome kindergarten teacher (well Gr 1 now) could teach Quinn. He adores his Uncle C

3rd times a charm for this Tommy Hat, all 3 have worn it. It's for a 4-7 year old but it covers him up really well, if only he'd leave it on!

Can't remember if I mentioned this yet, but he does not lick very much anymore, the only problem is that when you eliminate one behaviour it gets replaced with another, I thought the licking was bad until he started chewing his shirts (thus the tank top to protect the poor Ramones)

Look at those ribs! We really do feed him

He was stimming like crazy over the waves hitting the shore. he was flapping so much I thought he was going to get some air!

Did I mention he chews his shirts..........?

This is a cute picture....but it is what it means that is so important. When he was assessed and diagnosed he was not exploring whatsoever, but now he has started taking a serious interest in his environment and for him water has always been "scary" so this pic is pretty big

Autism: 1,000/10,000

I took quite a few pics on that part of our trip but many were of the boys in their bathing suits, for reasons I am sure you understand I did not post them where they could be seen by the wrong people. The full album is on my facebook account, which is private so you can see them there.

Tomorrow I will post the pics from Niagara Falls where the kids had a BLAST even though it was over 100 degrees (hey Northern Ontario girl here, humidity kills me)

I will get around to doing a proper update as soon as I can. School starts again on Tuesday. Until then I will be that person in the Staples/Office Depot commercial singing "It's the most wonderful time of the year"