Blog Archives - Love Dexter

Check My Sitting!

4/30/2015

I've been working really hard on my sitting.
It's hard for me... My cerebral palsy means I don't have strong muscles in my torso, so sitting tall and straight takes a big effort. And then, I have to hold my head up, too. And, I have to remember to keep holding on to the bar!
This cerebral palsy thing is tricky!
But, this is me.
I'm sitting on a regular chair!
I'm using my arm wraps, to help me keep my arms straight and strong.
I'm holding on to the ladder!
Mum is sitting behind me, but she isn't touching me!

I'm holding on to my therapy ladder. I can use it for sitting, standing, moving from a sitting position to a standing position and also, for walking.
These ladders cost so much money, so Mum and Dad made me this therapy ladder. They did a good job. See how they made it here.

#cerebralpalsy #raisingawareness #therapy

Dexter's 2013
Dexter's First Month
Dexter's Vision
Dexter's Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's Cancer.
Who is Dexter?
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Mum & Dad Went on a Date

4/29/2015

Something different happened today, after school...
Mum didn't pick me up!
My Grandma and Grandad did, because Mum and Dad had a date day - without any of us kids!
I missed my Mum cuddles!
And, my noisy sisters got even louder, when Mum and Dad came home, because they missed them too!
(But I think Mum and Dad missed us more!).

Dexter's 2013
Dexter's First Month
Dexter's Vision
Dexter's Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's Cancer
Who is Dexter?
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Scootacino Time!

4/29/2015

The Scootacino will be brewing up some Brooding Italian coffee at the Doing it for Dexter renovations!
Read more here.
Thanks Paolo!

Tetra Lights

4/26/2015

Today was rainy and a bit miserable. So, it was a good day to stay inside and practice my hand and eye work. I'm getting much better at picking up things, and letting them go whenever I want to. (Sometimes, my cerebral palsy means I cannot let things go. My cortical vision impairment makes seeing things a bit tricky.)
These are some cool tetris blocks. I was given them.
They light up when they touch! That's so cool! I had them on my tray.
There was a black mat under them, to make the colours really stand out.
Mum helped build the blocks into towers, for me. I liked knocking them down again!

My CVI Bedroom & Nanoo’s Quilts
Nanoo’s Book
My Braille Books
Learning to See
Dexter's 2013
Dexter's First Month
Dexter's Vision
Dexter's Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's Cancer
Who is Dexter?
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And Then, They Whispered About Me

4/25/2015

I was talked about, today.
Well, actually... they whispered.

We went to the park, to tire out my noisy sister.
Mum and I had been on the swings together, and she had helped me have fun on the big slide. After we had some fun, Mum put me back in my wheelchair pram. It was time for her to have some fun with The Noisy One. My pram was at the edge of the park. Mum and my noisy sister were on the swings. There was another swing, between me and Mum.
Some ladies were there. They were having fun at the park, too.

They talked about me: "Do you know Dexter?"
And then, standing between Mum and I, they started whispering.

We don't know what they said.
Maybe, they were talking about how much fun I had been having, and how well I was doing at holding my head up. Maybe, they were talking about my cool bike, and the trips to the park I make on it. Maybe, they were talking about my surfing or my efforts at walking.
We know they talked about my preschool, because we heard that word.
Maybe, they were talking about how cool I looked, as a ninja turtle, or they might have been talking about my cool preschool paintings.

We're not sure what they were talking about, because they started whispering.

We were right there.
They didn't say hello.
They didn't smile.
They didn't even look at Mum.

We get looked at, pointed at and talked about, all the time.
Every day.
We're 'kinda' getting used to that... a little bit.
But the whispering? The whispering hurt.
We left the park not much after they started their whispering.
And, when we left, Mum had a little tear in her eye.

Don't stare... Just care.

I was recognised by some other people, today. It was earlier in the day.
The lady and the man knew me from preschool. They have a child who goes to the same preschool.
My preschool friend's Mum recognised us. She told her husband that I was there.
Mum didn't know them, and I don't have the words to tell her. But, Mum recognised the other mum, as soon as she smiled. The man turned around, and gave Mum a big smile. And then, he called me a preschool friend and smiled, again.
That made Mum smile.
Thank you for saying hi.

A hello and a smile is always nicer than a whisper.
Whispers hurt.

#RaisingAwareness #CerebralPalsy

You Look Funny
One of Those Days
Cerebral Palsy Doesn’t Stop Me Understanding Stuff
Do You Have A Question?
Out of the Mouths of Babes
Today, I Just Want To Be A Mum
Cerebral Palsy – Blah!
Who is Dexter?
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For our ANZACs

4/25/2015

My great grandmother was very proud of her brother. We will remember them.

Grandpa, What Did You Do In The War?
(This poem was written by Jeff Cook.
It was taken from the ANZAC Day website.)

I’d been mowing the lawn and pulling some weeds, and slipped inside for a breather
I picked up the paper and turned on the news, not paying attention to either
When my grandson came in with a look on his face and a question that hit me full bore
An innocent question, no intention to hurt, “Grandpa, what did you do in the war”?

My skin went all creepy, I had sweat on my brow, my mind shot back fifty years
To bullets that thudded and whined all around, to terror, to nightmares, to tears
I was crawling through mud, I was shooting at men, tried to kill them before they killed me
Men who had wives and children at home, just like mine, just like my family.

“What did you do in the war?” he had asked, a question not meant to cause pain
But it brought back the horrors I’d left far behind in a deep dark recess of my brain
I remembered the bombs being dropped from the planes, the explosions, the screams, and the loss
Of a friend - or an enemy - but a life just the same, replaced by a small wooden cross.

The visions attacked me of tramping through jungles, hot and stinking, with leeches and flies
Of orders that seemed to make no sense at all - of distrust, of suspicions, of lies
I lived once again all those terrible storms, the dysentery, fever, the snakes,
The blisters that lived with me month after month, all those blunders, and costly mistakes.

But how could I tell the boy all about that, ’Twould be better if he didn’t know
It’s a part of my life that I don’t talk about from a good half a century ago
So I gulped, took a breath and tried to sound calm, and bid him to sit at my side
Then opened my mouth to say a few words, but the tears welled up and I cried.

He cuddled to me with a look of concern, and I mumbled of feeling unwell
Then took hold of myself, blew hard on my nose, while I thought of some tales I could tell
“What did I do in the war,” I began, then the stories began tumbling out
And they flowed with such ease I felt better again, and got over my pain and my doubt.

I told him of how I had made many friends, how I’d trained and had gone overseas
Made a joke of how seasick I’d been on the way, almost dirtied myself when I’d sneezed
I told of the joy of the letters from home, of the hand-knitted socks and the cake
That I got for my birthday but three weeks too late ’cause it went somewhere else by mistake.

We talked about mateship and what it had meant to trust someone else with your life
And of when I came home to my family again, to my kids, Mum and Dad, and my wife
Of the crowd on the wharf, the bands, and the pomp, and the pride I felt in the parade
But I’m not ashamed that I hood-winked the boy, a decision I’m glad that I made.

He can grow up without seeing fear in my eyes, or know of the terror I knew
For he’d not understand - and neither he should - all those memories that hit me anew
But maybe some day when he’s older than now, I will tell him what war did to me
But with luck he won’t ask me ever again, about wars that never should be.

Jeff Cook

Read more Jeff Cook poems.
Read more ANZAC poems at www.anzacday.org.au

I Was Only 19
Performed by The Lancer Band (Australian Army) - ANZAC Centenary 2015

Dexter's 2013
Dexter's First Month
Dexter's Vision
Dexter's Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's Cancer
Who is Dexter?
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Woohoo! Back to School!

4/20/2015

I was pretty cranky at Mum this morning.
So, she thought that I might have to leave preschool early. She thought I was getting sick, and would have to come home.
But, I was just tricking her!
As soon as I got there, I gave everyone a really big smile!
I had such a fun day with my friends.
I played ninja turtles, and wore a green headband. I made play dough, and my friends helped me mix it. And, I played with stamps.
I missed school!

Dexter's 2013
Dexter's First Month
Dexter's Vision
Dexter's Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's Cancer
Who is Dexter?
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Off to the Park

4/18/2015

The other day, we went to the park. We walked there, because there is a park really close to our house.
That sounds easy, right?
We had to juggle, a little bit.
I was on my bike. Mum is getting good, at strapping me in it, but it still took quite a few minutes. My belly has the velcro strip across it, and my hands and feet are tied in. My new, heavy shoes are good, for helping me think about pedaling. I still have to concentrate on holding my head up... and in this photo, you can see I wasn't doing a great job, at that.
My noisy sister is a bit of a run-away. She waits for the exact, perfect moment... and then, she looks at you, smiles and... runs. She's so cheeky!
My louder sister is still little enough to be strapped in. She can't run away, yet!
We're on the road, because... with our little convoy, the footpath was just a little too tricky!
No wonder Mum gets tired, sometimes!
Love her.
Kisses xx #raisingawareness #cerebralpalsy

About My Bike
Dexter's 2013
Dexter's First Month
Dexter's Vision
Dexter's Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's Cancer
Who is Dexter?
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My Digital Footprint

4/18/2015

For a boy who doesn't walk, I sure leave a lot of footprints.
Digital footprints.
We know this. We don't like it, (it scares us, a little) but we're looking towards the greater good. My digital footprints are helping raise awareness.

Here's a little challenge:
Go to google, type in your first name and your surname. Go to images, and see whether your photo comes up.
Did it?
It's fun, right, seeing who comes up, when you type in your name.

When we type in my name..., we get a whole page of my photos.
The same thing happens, with Mum's name. There's a whole page of photos of Mum and me. She has done the interviews and newspaper articles, with me.
When we type in Dad's name, he gets half a page of photos, mostly photos of me.
When we type in my noisy sister's name, she comes up, too. She's only two! There aren't too many photos of her, and only a couple of me. But still... her photo already comes up in a google image search, of her name.

About 75 photos...
The first photo is me. The first 17 photos are mine. Just 23 of these photos are not mine. We get recognised at the park, on the street and in the shops.
That's not always easy. We don't always enjoy that.
That recognition is because of this website, and my social media accounts.
And sometimes, it's my sister, who is recognised first.
We are recognised, because we share so many stories and photos.
But, we've raised a lot of awareness and understanding. It feels great, knowing people are confident and comfortable enough to say hi to me.
Through my website, we can promote amazing people and wonderful programs. And so, we will keep sharing my stories.

But, we will try to keep my sisters away from the 'spotlight'.
On this website, we usually don't write their names.
There are not that many photos of them, shared on here. (At home, we have thousands of photos of them! They are pretty cute!)
It's not because I don't want to share this website with them... It's because I want to protect them. I want to help them hide. I want to minimise their digital footprint.
They don't have cerebral palsy.
They don't have a vision impairment.
They don't have a history of premature birth or liver cancer.
They don't need to have everything about them splashed on the internet.
As they get older, they will get to choose whether or not their photos are shared.
But for now, we will protect them. We won't use their names, but will use names like the Noisy One and the Louder One.
We have lots of photos of them... heaps! But, we won't always share their photos, on here. They are gorgeous, and they are such characters. They are brave and clever and strong and funny. And, they are mine... so, I will mostly keep them to myself, for now.

Through this website and my social media accounts, I have made so many friends. People everywhere are proud of me, for the little things (which are actually big things for me!) People I've never met, support and encourage me.
It feels like I have an army of people, protecting and supporting me... and that is amazing. I'm very grateful!
Thank you!

As long as we have your support, and we are raising awareness and acceptance of cerebral palsy (and childhood cancer and other disabilities), we will continue to share my progress. My digital footprint will continue to grow.
But, for now, we will keep my sister's lives more private.
We're pretty confident, that if someone ever saw one of my photos being used for the financial, or greater gain, of a stranger... we would be told, quickly.
That's one thing we are afraid of; someone stealing my photos, and using them for any reason.
It's why my photos have Love Dexter written on them.

And, so... my digital footprint will continue to grow.
This website has done many great things. Thank you for your ongoing support.
And, thank you, for helping me protect my sisters.

I Push
My Sister & The Beach
For My Sister
My Sister Knows
Equal Love
Dexter's 2013
Dexter's First Month
Dexter's Vision
Dexter's Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's Cancer
Who is Dexter?
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Artist At Work

4/16/2015

This painting business is fun!
Today, Mum put some paint on the paper, and stuck the paper to my tray.
Then, she walked away. When she came back, I had already started painting.
Before, I didn't really like the feel of the paint.
Now, I think it is very cool. I love spreading the paint, everywhere.
And, when I am done, I rip the sticky tape off the painting, and hold it up, for Mum to see. If she's not fast enough, I end up dropping it to the floor.
I like painting!

Dexter's 2013
Dexter's First Month
Dexter's Vision
Dexter's Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's Cancer
Who is Dexter?
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