New Stroller Weekend

I love this picture. Skipping mine of course, we've got 4 generations of Olson's up in here! Nan is wonderful with Liam and he has always loved hanging out with her. You should have seen her excitement when we surprised her with a visit.

It was New Stroller Weekend this weekend. Liam's new custom made stroller was delivered and assembled by our mobility specialist on friday afternoon. It took 3 hours of tinkering for it to be built and sized just for Liam and when I asked how I could learn to adjust the parts for his growth I was shot down. Growth adjustments will be handled by the company who will come out periodically to make sure he fits just right. This thing truly is the Cadillac of strollers.

We have been waiting close to 3 months for this unit to be made. Measurements of all of Liam's limbs were taken early in the year and all of his equipment has a place. Gone are the days of lugging large heavy bags and equipment for a simple stroll around the block. This thing is freaking awesome. Our old store bought stroller while great for any other family just wasn't a safe option for us. With the ventilator hanging on the back of it we couldn't ever let it go for fear of the whole thing tipping over due to all the weight. The large solid wheels make this thing off-road ready. Next weekend is the March of Dimes March for Babies (click the link on the right to donate in Team Liam's name) through Colt State Park. That park doesn't even know what coming. We are gonna walk all over that place!

It wasn't until last night, three days after we got the thing that we realized its only drawback. It doesn't fit in our car. It collapses a bit to take up less room but not nearly enough to fit into the trunk of a Honda Civic that's for sure. It took a few tries and a lot of the type of thinking I haven't done since geometry class but if we take the seat part off and pop the wheels off the base unit we can fold it enough to fit in the front passenger seat of the car. Its a temporary solution as it is obvious to us now that our only real option for the future is to find a minivan or SUV of some kind. If anyone knows where we can pick up one of those for under say a hundred bucks let me know. For now, Karin will ride in the back with The Kid because his stroller's ridin shotgun.




The Boy loves his Grampa too and he got to see the pottery yesterday while on our walk. The hat he's wearing was made by my Mom for him. With his old stroller Liam was always so sunken into the seat that interacting with him was difficult, not the case with the new ride and we have taken full advantage of that. In fact while we were on our walk whoever wasn't pushing the stroller was able to walk by his side holding his hand. There is nothing like walking down the road with Liam's hand in mine. With the new ride and the warm weather, that will be happening all the time.

Karin and I thought that we would be getting a nurse today from 8am to 3pm so when she got me out of bed another hour early (about two hours after I went to bed) because she had a migraine I didn't really mind. I was sure that in a half hour or so the nurse would relieve me of my post and I could get a few more hours of sleep. 2 and a 1/2 hours later I realized that no nurse was coming and I would have to muscle through a long day. Karin felt much, much better when she did get up so it was worth it. I actually like the days without nurses because after 9 months in the hospital the last thing we want to do is watch another nurse care for our boy; but when nurses are here both karin and I can get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.



Once she got up I headed over to the pottery to help my dad get set up for his open house/pottery sale. We spent most of the afternoon moving display shelves, pots, and bonsai trees before emptying the kiln of the newest batch of "Liam the Lion" bowls. They are small bowls decorated with lions along the outside and all proceeds from their sales will be donated to the March of Dimes to help other premature babies and their families. The bowls are obviously named for and dedicated to my son and hopefully we will sell out of the current stock and be able to donate close to $2500! I'll let you know how it goes.




Liam had another good day. He slept, he ate, he pooped and he snuggled with his mom, dad, and grampa. He's been getting more and more aware of himself and his surroundings since he came home. A few days ago he realized that he could control the hands at the end of his arms and that his hand fits quite nicely in his mouth. He has been having a great deal of fun chewing on his fingers and sleeves. It is a big milestone for a baby who had been sedated and in a medically induced coma for so much of his young life. His favorite stuffed animal continues to draw large smiles and reactions which is also new behavior. I can't tell you how proud of this boy I am.

It's getting late now and even though my "shift" doesn't end until 4am, I'm going to check Liam's diaper, feeding pump and ventilator before seeing if I can grap a nap on the couch next to his crib. Wish me luck.