Dougie On Skis

Longtime readers of this blog will recall Dougie's athletic exploits on grass (soccer) and water (swimming). However, both of these surfaces are in short supply during the typical Calgary winter. Therefore -- what else could we do but throw Dougie on a pair of skis and see what happens?

We signed him up for ski lessons at Canada Olympic Park -- the facility that hosted both the Jamaican bobsled team and British ski jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards during the 1988 Olympics. Seemed like the perfect place for a skier of Dougie's calibre. COP is now a fantastic ski center for beginner skiers -- tons and tons of little kids (and their parents) learning firsthand about gravity. It also happens to be 10 minutes from our house in Calgary -- much closer than the big ski hills near Banff.

The report? According to Dougie, skiing is something of an acquired taste. His balance is pretty good, but he gets quite frustrated at his lack of control -- particularly at the bottom of the ski hill where the ground is flat and he has trouble moving around. Luckily he hasn't fallen too much, but he certainly relies on Dad to pull / push him along.

(Dad, incidentally, got roped in as this is a "parent participation" class -- and Dad had not set foot on the slopes in 12 years... perhaps the bunny slopes were a good reintroduction!)

At any rate -- he's making progress. Couple of photos from the last couple of weeks...


In the ski lodge before starting. Check out the skis -- 85 cm. Never seen them that small!


In his ski boots, just before starting the lesson. Note the beautiful blue sky -- we've had some gorgeous weather here.


"Dad... how did these things get on my feet?"


Going up the "magic carpet" ski lift. Kim pointed out to me that the angle of this photo makes it look like we're going down a double-black-diamond -- trust me, that's an optical illusion (or a bad photographer)

Unfortunately, because Kim and Connie weren't able to come out, we don't have any "action shots" of Dougie in motion (as you can imagine, I had my hands full catching Dougie). But he's doing OK -- one more lesson next week!

Fun With Dogs

Incidentally -- we have been getting the occasional snowfall in Calgary (who'd'a thunk it??) -- which makes for some white & fluffy puppies. (In case you can't tell from the photo -- this is Oliver and Maggie snuggled together -- gotta stay warm somehow!)



And I'll bet you never thought you could stuff 2 dogs (combined weight 215 lbs) into a single dog crate...! (yes, look closely, once again Oliver and Maggie are a bit close for comfort here)

Resolution for February -- get more pictures of Bailey and Claire...

Connie's Head

It's hard to imagine that with such an adorable head anything could be wrong with little Connie. Unfortunately, sometime in the last month or so, she's developed a ridge along the top of her skull. We first noticed it about two weeks ago but didn't think much of it. After some Googling (not really my friend in these sorts of situations) we decided that we should get someone to have a look.

Notice how her head comes up into a bit of a point behind her soft spot


The doctor in Calgary referred us to a pediatrician. They felt it was urgent but weren't going to be able to see us for several weeks. By this point, we (okay, it was mostly me) had worked ourselves up into a bit of a tizzy about the whole thing. So, based on the advice of our pediatrician in Dallas, we decided to bring Connie back to see him.

Still cute, but definitely a ridge


Our doctor referred us to a craniofacial surgeon to be evaluated further. We were able to meet with him on the same trip. By all accounts, this is "the guy" to go to and he just happens to work in Dallas. In a nutshell, he told us 3 things:

1. Connie has a condition called craniosynostosis. This means that two of her skull plates (which are normally free-floating in an infant) have fused together. In her case, it is her sagittal suture (starting behind the soft spot and going to the crown of her head).
2. However, other than the ridge itself, she is doing great -- she's not showing any other symptoms, which is really good news. Typically this would result in an altered head shape as it grows, but right now Connie's head is perfectly shaped.
3. So, while most babies with this condition require surgery to correct it, the specialist was not worried about her -- in his opinion, she's likely to develop just fine and will not likely need any surgery. We're keeping an eye on it, and we need to go back to be evaluated in 6 months but at this time, it doesn't look like anything further will be required.

We likely will get a second opinion for our peace of mind but at this time, it's as good news as we could hope for. Meanwhile, she's been smiling up a storm and doing a great job at surviving the constant attention of her big brother.

Writing

We have started working with Dougie on his writing. Our first step is to get the basic motions of holding a pen, making straight strokes and control. We got a book that has "tracing" practice. It is mostly drawing lines from one object to another. Dougie loves doing it though.

The fact that Dougie is left handed has added some complications to the process. We're working hard to not have him write with a "hook" type hand. We've found several suggestions online as well a from friends so I think we're just about on top of that.

Focusing hard


The results


I should note that these were the first ones he did. He's improved a lot in only a few days.

Erasing his work


You may notice that the pages are all in plastic. We bought Dougie a few Kumon books and ripped out the pages. Each page was then put in a plastic sleeve and we use dry erase markers to do his work. It allows us to go back and re-do the pages as many times as he wants. Since he asks to practice at least twice a day - it's worked out well.

The Sharaburas Come to Calgary

What with Connie's birth, Dougie's birthday, Christmas, and a relocation to Calgary, it's been a busy couple of months for the Sharabura clan. So what better way to cap it off than hosting a crowd of out-of-town relatives??

Grandma & Grandpa Sharabura came up to visit from Vancouver, and Auntie Suz was able to fly up as well. We had a fantastic time -- it was everybody's first opportunity to meet Connie, and it had been a while since they had seen Dougie. They got to see a big difference, with Dougie now able to talk much more clearly and engage in conversation -- coming up with entertaining phrases such as "no nap, stay here!" and "help, over there, fall down, on the drop!"

We were also able to celebrate Grandpa's birthday with a nice dinner and apple pie, and Dougie taught everyone about the various details of Bob the Builder characters. Connie's still learning how to entertain visitors but luckily being small and cute is enough to make a good first impression.

Couple of photos from the weekend...

Auntie Suz seemed to like having another girl in the family


Grandma and her newest granddaughter


... and over to Grandpa!


Dougie really digs looking at pictures of himself on digital cameras...



I've got a baby and I'm not afraid to use it!



The visitors had great timing -- Connie was just entering into mega-smiley mode for their visit...


Dougie and Auntie Suz






We also took a drive out to Banff, to take a look at the mountains and wander through town...

Dougie and Auntie Suz in Banff


Dougie, Grandpa and a horse


In Banff, evidently there's a burger place that delivers... Dougie now has a job lined up for when he turns 16.



Mum and Dougie strolling down the street in Banff