Jordan celebrated the new year a little early… We counted down to midnight in Greenland so the kids could go to bed early. It was fun and complete with noise makers and hats. We hope you had a wonderful celebration and an even better 2010!!

I have a few stories to tell about Jordan… but I’m running around for work. But I wanted to quickly post video of Jordan climbing up the play area at my new gym. She’s amazingly flexible and is so proud of how she can get to the top. She was a bit distracted and we needed to get home to eat dinner when I shot the video… But I just had to share how she gets it done:

A member of the Sammy’s Friends group found this… Oh man this is cool:

The video is on Engadget‘s website. Another member found this piece of video about the iLimb.

Jordan had a chance to witness history today… and it interupted her Little Einsteins marathon as she recovered from an icky fever-induced cold that set her back a day and a half. I kept her home today to make sure she was really feeling well enough to return to school tomorrow. So she had a chance to watch the swearing-in ceremony with me.

I thought that was pretty cool.

She thought it was in the way of her television watching — which happens rarely on a weekday. In our household, illness equals open access to television viewing so you will stay calm and take huge naps. (Which she did today) I explained to her that we were about to watch our country get a new president.

“A new present? I like presents!”
“No honey, a new president. A new person who will help run the United States… our country.”
“Will I get a present?”
“No… But we’ll have a new leader. Barack Obama.”
“Oh! I like Barack Obama! He’s my friend.”
“He’s your friend?”
“Oh yeah!”

“Can I watch Little Einsteins when it’s over?”
“Yes. Yes you can.”

When I turned on the ceremony, she decided to play with her pretend kitchen. But I stopped her for a second and pointed out the HUGE crowds of people. She sort of paid attention in between serving me big pots of wooden food which I was required to “eat.”

When Barack Obama was on the television screen I asked Jordan to come over and I pointed him out and reminded her that Barack Obama was going to become president. She seemed a little interested, especially when I pointed out that he was a dad who had two little girls. I showed her Malia and Sasha. That seemed pretty cool.

“Mommy, I’m going to give him a hug someday. Can I give him a hug?”
“Um, I’m not sure that will be very easy to do.”
“I’m going to. I’m going to give him a hug.”

Hey, you never know when it’s Jordan we’re talking about. She’s surprised me in all kinds of ways. Maybe she’ll get her wish.

I pulled Jordan near me to watch the actual swearing in ceremony and made sure she knew that Barack Obama was the new president. I also asked her to pose next to the television when he started talking to the crowd. I just wanted to capture a little moment of history with her. Then she sat on my lap to watch the rest of the ceremony. I was really surprised to see her kind of pay attention. Maybe she just liked the mommy cuddles.

When the speech, poem and prayer was over she perked up and noticed the event was over… and immediately asked if she could watch Little Eintsteins. I put it off a little longer. I wanted to watch more of the pomp and circumstance. She liked looking at the happy crowd.

Soon the Obamas were walking side by side with the Bushes and I pointed out George Bush to Jordan.

“That’s the old president. His name is George Bush.”
“That’s Barack Obama! He’s a daddy. She’s a mommy.”
“Her name is Michelle Obama. George Bush is a daddy too.”
“Oh… He gets to go on a helicopter! I wanna ride on a helicopter. Can I ride on a helicopter when I get bigger?”
“You never know. Maybe you can.”

I eventually let her watch her show… and got her to take a nap. I thought it was pretty incredible that George Bush will be someone she studies in school but she’ll have no memory of his time as president. I guess that would be Gerald Ford for me.

Jordan woke up from her nap just as the Obamas were riding through the early parts of the parade. She came downstairs and immediately asked:

“Can I watch more Barack Obama?”
“Well, actually… He’s in a parade right now.”
“I wanna watch a parade! There’s fireworks in parades! Can I watch fireworks?”
“Um, you will probably have to watch a while. I’m not sure if there will be fireworks.”
“There’s fireworks.”

When the president and Michelle Obama walked a portion of the parade Jordan got very excited. She waved to them and reminded me that they were her friends and they were a mom and a dad. I guess our time watching this event brought her a little more connection to our new leader and his family.

I don’t share my political feelings in public, but I do think today was a moment worth remembering in history. Our nation’s attitude towards race changed so rapidly since Martin Luther King Jr. spoke. President Barack Obama shows my children how leaders don’t have to have our identical skin color or our identical heritage. And I don’t have to teach that, Cameorn and Jordan will just know it’s okay to be different because of who they have as president. I have many hopes for the next four years. Who knows what can happen in our nation… But I know the next four years and beyond will be incredible for Jordan. The past three have been amazing, exhausting, exhilarating and such a learning experience. I kind of feel our country is heading into a new period in time… And with a change in Jordan’s care and her new school I feel we’re in a bit of a new zone for her as well. But all of it is for the better. And I’m ready to see what’s ahead for all of us.

By the way – I’m adding this to the group at 5 Minutes For Special Needs on their Special Exposure Wednesday group… Just to say hi to everyone and make sure they know Jordan’s blog is at a new URL. (Hi everyone!)

I keep forgetting to bring the camera or the video recorder… But Jordan has stunned me once again.

I joined a gym last week and I’ve been really focused on getting healthy. If you have followed me long enough you may have noticed I went through a better eating phase, but I haven’t really added a commitment to exercise in a very long time. I had a membership to a different gym, but this one is very nice and you want to be there. The kids want to be there too.

From Vox Magazine, 2006, Photo by ALYCIA LEWIS

There’s a really cool play area for kids where they have a netted climbing area with a really slick slide. When I saw it at first, I was certain Jordan couldn’t climb it. It kind of looks like this photo — but it isn’t as large. Jordan has to climb straight up to get pretty darn high and go down the slide. I made sure Cameron wouldn’t pressure her to go down it. What I didn’t expect is she wanted to climb and she DID!  And she’s climbed it many, many times. The folks who watch the kids there are so amazed by her. Especially since her climbing style is very original. We’re making sure she has the bouncy arm on to give her more leverage… She uses both “hands” to pull up while Jordan throws her left leg up to add in that pulling up action. She’s amazingly flexible.

She’s having a ball there. She’s officially named the gym’s kid play area/daycare as the “Slide School.” She actually got upset earlier this week when I took her to her real school. Jordan had set her sights on that big, tall slide. She got over it though. She really loves her new school. (Which is so awesome)

As for me — This health thing has me thinking about running a 5K next month. I ran two miles straight on a treadmill today. I’m wondering if I can do that again outside… And move that towards three miles. That way I don’t look really silly when I get to the race and become the last person to cross the finish line! I know two and three miles are no big deal… But to me this is HUGE!

I’m happy to introduce Jordan’s new and improved blog to the 5 Minutes for Special Needs crowd. I’m proud of how I can offer extra ways to reach out to other moms and families. Anyway — Here’s a great picture of Jordan on the top of playground equipment last Friday. She’s getting SO brave and finding her balance to climb a lot of things lately.

Jordan’s Poppy and Grandma visited the family this weekend… She absolutely loves grandparent attention. It means she can get away with more stuff and doesn’t always have to say please like when her Mom is always around.

I had to work – and I started a new commitment to going to the gym. I even joined a new one where there’s a bigger emphasis in actually using the gym and getting healthy. There’s a super cool play area for the kids. Of course this also means a totally new environment for me to introduce Jordan to — Jordan is no problem. It’s just a completely new set of grown ups and kids to introduce her. And after a while – I’ll be honest, I am a bit tired of all of the questions. It’s nice to have your comfort zones without the questions and the stares.

Honestly, that was probably the hardest part of being at Disney. There were a lot of stares. I truly go about life with my family without trying to look for all of the people staring – but Disney was so crowded over the holidays, you couldn’t avoid it. So many curious children. So many rude adults. The worst part: A bathroom attendant in Animal Kingdom asked if I had done drugs or something to cause Jordan’s arm. I tried very hard to not let that little moment bother me. But it did. I know she didn’t mean to be rude, but that’s not the coolest thing to say to a parent of a child with a missing arm.

The best thing about Jordan’s princess outfit was it was so darn obnoxious that people had a different reason to stare at her. That was so funny.

Anyway, we’re getting life back to normal with another week of school. Jordan continues to sleep in late. I have to wake her so we can get Cameron to school. If we don’t, she wakes up close to 8:45 each morning. That’s incredibly late. That also means she is still sleeping 12 hours or more each night. That seems like a lot for a three year old!!

Tomorrow is Jordan’s yearly physical – I’m pretty sure she’s pretty average when it comes to her height and weight. I think she’s pretty darn skinny, but when you pick her up you can start feeling a bit of weight there — She is NOT as fluffy and lightweight as she used to be. Of course the “weight” I’m talking about is close to how much Jordan’s brother weighed when he was one years old! (yikes) We’re also getting closer to setting up occupational therapy with Jordan’s old therapist – just out of our own health care plan instead of Missouri’s First Steps program.

I’ve also been asked to speak to students about what it’s like to be the parent of a child with special challenges. Once again, I hesitate to say disabled since she is so able. But I know I can offer a lot of perspective for students who are learning to become teachers and early educators. It’s a perk to Jordan’s new school – She gets to teach the teachers in training and so do I!

By the way – I’ve made it official. This is the new location to keep up with Jordan. If  you keep up with her through a feed reader, please click on the little “RSS” button on the top of this blog! Thanks for being a supporter of Jordan’s blog and keep those comments coming! Feel free to spread the word about her blog for any parent you think would be interested!

I’m playing around with a new blog for Jordan:

http://www.bornjustright.com

I’d love your thoughts before I officially make the move! I’m still tinkering with possible layouts.

UPDATE: New look as of 1.11.09!!

I had a big meeting with the public school district yesterday to decide if she would qualify for their Individualized Education Program or IEP. It’s a specialized plan for a child with disabilities in a learning environment. I had mixed feelings about the process since I don’t consider Jordan disabled… But I kind of wanted an IEP so I could continue to get assistance in the expenses needed to keep Jordan in occupational and physical therapy.

The school district spent HOURS working on her case. And their conclusion: She’s not disabled. To hear them say that is wonderful. I’m proud of all the hard work we’ve done to make sure Jordan is self-able and confident. She’s a take charge kind of girl and we’ve worked very hard to keep her from falling behind in any type of physical skills. At the same time I’m bummed because her therapy becomes an out-of-pocket expense. Interestingly, the school district said they plan to monitor Jordan to see if she ever needs more analysis and assistance. My guess is that I’ll never let her fall behind enough to have that happen.

So I’m in a mixed place… I’m honored to know they consider Jordan so well adjusted and able. They complimented us on our parenting and advocacy. It’s just kind of hard knowing all of the resources out there that can help her — but we can’t tap into them because we’ve worked so hard to get where we are. It’s kind of funny. They will only help kids that are behind in skills… And I want to work hard to make sure Jordan never falls behind. Shouldn’t our system have that same attitude? Prevention first?

Today I had another really cool moment with Jordan. I was working on dinner when Jordan pulled out her tricycle. I keep it in the house… I figured why not. Anyway… She pulled it out and ASKED for her bike arm. Wow. She’s never done that before. But that’s the whole point to her prosthetic — wear it when she needs it. Not only did she want to put on her arm… She wanted to do it. She didn’t put it on perfectly… but she did both steps of rolling on the arm gel sleep and clicking her arm on. She’s so amazingly independent. She didn’t ride her tricycle very long — She needs her seat moved further back so the bike arm is easier to use. That lack of an elbow really makes this a challenge. But as Jordan proves every second, she’ll find a way.

In the meantime, we’ll deal with the normal challenges: moodiness, demanding everything at the drop of a hat… You know, traditional three year old stuff. She’s got us working very hard these days!

I’m working on launching Jordan’s blog again — this time new and improved. But I have to import all the old stuff and figure out how it works.