Caleigh's Pool - Week Nine - Completion

Day 29 - Manual vacuum, Rocks sealed and Clarity added 1-16-12
The manual vacuuming wasn't getting all of the fine plaster particles so a product called Clarity was added to the water and the filtration system was turned back on. The rocks were also treated on this day. We will have to seal the natural rocks at least once a year to protect them from the saltwater.

Day 30 - Chemistry Checked 1-17-12

Day 31- Deck wash, salt added and saltwater pump started 1-18-12
Something isn't working right on the saltwater pump. We are waiting on a repair at this time.

Day 32- Fill line and irrigation adjusted, Heater repaired and started, Saltwater training, Signed off 1-19-12
They had to put a new transformer on the heater. We are thinking there was a power surge at some point that caused the heater and saltwater pump some issues. When they were done, we started the heater in hopes of swimming the next day. The temperature was going to be about 75 degrees so we set the heater at 85 degrees.

That night we dipped our toes and talked about swimming the next day. Caleigh was kicking and squealing. She was so excited.

Day 33- Grass laid, Lift plumbing re-routed, Backyard prep and 1st Dip 1-20-12
Eric re-routed the plumbing line that will go to Caleigh's pool lift when it is installed. The lift will by hydro-powered, so some fresh water plumbing was involved to get it set up. We are looking at probably getting the lift installed this summer.

The landscaping company came back and laid more grass to areas around the pumps and by the new fence.

By the time all of that was done, it was almost 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The pool water was 85 degrees and you could hear the gas meter hissing from the street. I would say this was Caleigh's first dip, not so much swim. We only lasted maybe 30 minutes.

The water was chilly in spots and we learned a good lesson about heating the pool. Turn off the waterfalls, so that the warm water is flowing directly into the body of the pool and not losing it's momentum in the air.

It wasn't ooh la la comfortable, but had we swam a few hours earlier when the sun was higher, I think it would have been perfect. Caleigh was no doubt excited to finally get in, although she agreed it wasn't summertime splashing fun.

There is a lot of fine tuning that we need to figure out as far as the heating system goes. We've heard a lot of "comfortable" temperatures to set it at, i.e. 85. We've also heard a lot of times to heat the pool for, i.e. 10-12 hours. I think we will just have to test it out, see and hope that we don't rack up a huge electric and gas bill at the same time. The pool heater is mostly to extend our swimming season. So for Texas this most likely means March - early December.

Our next dip in the pool isn't in the foreseeable future, or at least the 10 day forecast. We've decided that it needs to be at least 75 degrees outside, preferably 80 before Caleigh's muscles will be comfortable enough in the water. The wind has a lot to do with how comfortable the experience is as well. We've downloaded a weather app on the iPad so that Caleigh can track the possible next swim.

It was 75 degrees yesterday, but the winds were kicking in around 20-30 mph. It would have been miserable. So instead of swimming we hung out on the deck and I painted Caleigh's toe nails in the warm air while Eric worked on the never ending landscaping tasks.

That's it. The construction is complete. Caleigh's been in the pool. It's done. Never in a million years could we express just how special this pool is for Caleigh. We have a get together planned for everyone involved with Caleigh's Pool this coming week. Somehow we will try to show our immense gratitude for this amazing gift.

Edit: Because I always get a ton of comments and emails, this is the neck float that we use for Caleigh. We use the large size. Waterway Babies

Teaching Her

I've been Caleigh's official teacher for almost two weeks now. I almost feel like this is the beginning, but really I've been teaching her for years now. The only difference is a more intense curriculum, record keeping and an official title for me.
Homeschool mom.

Let me talk about that title. It scared me to death. Mainly because I feel like I do not fit into this category. I wasn't one to grow up wanting to be my child's teacher. I didn't know the moment I got pregnant that homeschooling was for me. The only plan that I had was to stay home with my child until she/he started school. As in, out the door at a school...learning.

From my reading and research there are three different kinds of homeschool parents (my opinion here.) The ones that always knew they would teach their children even before their birth. The ones that started teaching their toddler, loved it and continued on. And the ones that had their child in a school system, didn't like the situation, for one reason or another, and decided to withdraw their child. Disabled child or not, that is what I have found.

With our case we fall in-between. Maybe that is the disability route? We kept Caleigh at home with a central line during her first year of would be starting PPCD. Her health was our concern. I started a day by day casual pre-k unit program. Then we were full steam ahead when she turned 4. She was central line free and at a point that we felt she could handle the exposures. We yo-yo'd if you will. We attended meeting after meeting. We attended preschool with Caleigh for over two weeks. Health concerns and teaching concerns just didn't fit. It wasn't right for our daughter. So here I am, homeschool mom.

Basically, I fought what I knew was right all along. I fought, what is still to this day socially "different." Maybe I wanted to fit in with the normal path that parents take. Maybe I was concerned that the professionals that work with Caleigh would think we were bucking the system. Maybe this was my last holdout of "My Plan" as a parent. Maybe I wanted Caleigh to have the school experience that Eric and I had. The stereotypes in my mind were pretty ingrained as well. The long hair and skirts, the large families, the evangelical christian co-op groups. It was hard for me to see myself in those stereotypes, but that's just what they are, stereotypes. They aren't always the truth, and so what if they are, differences make the world go round.

After I got over my issues and started focusing on Caleigh, all of my worries disappeared. I let go. At this point I wish that I hadn't put Caleigh through starting and stopping school. Although, hindsight is always 20/20; our experience by no means leaves us with "what if" questions. We already know the answers.

Today I attended our last ARD meeting. This meeting was set to go over the fact that our school district was denying Caleigh home bound education. They feel that their schools can accommodate "Caleigh's chronic diarrhea." Obviously we disagree with this. Mostly that "chronic diarrhea" is not really the issue here. They had missed the mark....again. It was a very short meeting. The home bound coordinator and teacher failed to show up....again. The coordinator participated over the phone after being called. This meeting was easier for me than the others because I was resolved to homeschool my child. I wasn't expecting anything from these people and I wasn't having to fight for anything. I felt no need to hash everything out. We're done. D-O-N-E.

Now on to the fun stuff, teaching her.

These past few weeks have been a lot of fun for both Caleigh and I. Our curriculum consists of just about every subject. Caleigh is doing 3rd grade math and actually gets a little annoyed with me sometimes because it is still pretty easy for her. I thought the mathematics load would be too much for her just because of fine motor skills, but she has proved me wrong. I've also started with the basics as far as phonics goes just so that I know that we have covered everything. She is doing some easy readers by herself while we are reviewing blending and letter sounds. I feel like I've been reading non-stop. Caleigh asks to read her library books and school books all the time. We've read through chapter books and re-read favorites. She has always loved to be read to, but it has really picked up since starting.

For holidays and special events we will do a unit study. Monday we talked about Martin Luther King JR a lot. We did a brown and white egg comparison. Caleigh spelled out on her iPad what was the same and what was different between the two eggs. We watched MLK's famous "I Have a Dream" speech on YouTube, and Caleigh watched the full 17 minutes of it intently. Having a child with a disability makes Mr. King's speech take on a whole new meaning for me personally. We also read a really good library book on the subject.

Our schedule is so flexible with teaching this way. Caleigh took a 3 hour nap the other day. She needed it and I was able to let her do that. A full day at a school couldn't offer such rest. It works perfectly with Caleigh's therapy schedule and doctors appointments. We also start art class back up tomorrow morning. By the time Caleigh is ready to go to bed we have completed everything that I had scheduled. So far so good.

You know that feeling of complete and total acceptance in your decisions? Confidence. The feeling deep down in your gut? I now have it. It's a good place to be.