Respite Care

Did you know that Dave and I hadn't been on a date since Isaiah was in the NICU? Don't get me wrong, we've had quite a few offers from others to babysit Isaiah, but I'm a crazy control freak worried about the reality of it all....OI and the what ifs of a fracture happening.  Teaching said person to pick Isaiah up/put him down/change his diapers/etc.  Fevers aren't just kid fevers...they could be, but they could also be signs of a shunt malfunction or port infection.

These are just some of the crazy thoughts that go through my head when people offer to babysit. ;-)

So the cool thing is that our local therapy center (that all of Isaiah's Early Intervention therapists come from and that he goes to for water therapy) has something called Respite Care once a month.  It give parents the opportunity to take a break, leaving their special needs kiddos (and their siblings) to hang out, play, and watch a movie with therapists, a nurse, and volunteers....it's once a month and one of the therapists that works it happens to be Isaiah's occupational therapist. ;-)

Meet Angie.  She agreed to be Isaiah's one-on-one for the night...which was just what this control freak of a mom needed to hear. ;-)  She worked on picking Isaiah up and putting him down recently so that I could confidently leave him in her care....we chatted about a plan....our date would only be a few miles away...she'd text if we needed anything...it would all be ok.

I prepared for the night by packing Isaiah's I-Pad, a few pacifiers, his favorite snacks, and this....

You guys, this was my first time writing Isaiah's name in a sweatshirt.  I even took a picture?  I'm so lame.  I worked in education before Isaiah was born, and now to be on this side of the labeled sweatshirt? AHH! (Yep, I am so very lame.)

Anyways, the night went perfectly.  Isaiah was happy to see Angie and had a ton of fun playing with her!  They played outside in the preschool playground ringing the doorbell on the playhouse (She sent me this picture.), played a few games with other children there,

And had fun in the music room, too!

While Isaiah had fun, we enjoyed dinner out at our favorite restaurant and even ran to the mall and did some shopping!

It gave Dave and I time to reconnect and relax.

Isaiah stayed at Respite Care for two hours....and when we came to pick him up, he was exhausted and whiney, but you could tell he had an awesome time. All the girls were saying goodbye to him and it was clear that we'd be signing up again soon. ;-)

Yep.  Definitely signing up again in the future. :)