He's still got us covered

There are all sorts of pieces of equipment that are available for children (and adults) with physical handicaps like Krassi - eating chairs, bathing chairs, seating chairs, wheel chair, adaptive strollers, gait trainers, standers - and I'm sure there's more, too. Part of the problem with this overwhelming array, particularly when you're not starting with an infant and working up to it slowly, is that it's hard to know what you really need, what you can get by just fine without, what takes up more space in your home than it's worth, and what falls in between all of those categories.

For Krassi, we've gone with a less-is-more approach, partly because we wanted to give him as much unrestricted time to explore his surrounding after so many years of being confined, but also because too much equipment all at once is more trouble than it's worth! It was wonderful to start out with a basic large umbrella-type stroller from Dondi that we could use while we traveled to pick Krassi up - it folded up well, and did the basic work we needed. For a long time after we got home, it was also what we used during mealtimes with Krassi

Eating in Sofia, Bulgaria on our pick-up trip, October 2013

Very soon after coming home, we were at the house of new friends who have a daughter with cerebral palsy, and loved the chair she sat in for mealtime, so very quickly ordered ourselves a Special Tomato seat in the right size, and it's been a great fit for Krassi, and still is.

At home, December (?) 2013

Also within weeks of Krassi's arrival, one of the other regular families at our therapy center offered us the long-term loan of their daughter's adaptive stroller as she was outgrowing it, and it had a number of semi-custom features that were a good match for Krassi, such as the pommel to help with his scissoring, and the ankle-holders on the footrest. This thing is a beast to heft in and out of the trunk of the van, and means that any time I go grocery shopping, I have to load in all the children, and then fill the aisles of the van with groceries because my trunk space is full, but I can't imagine what we would have done over the last year without it! We use it for walks and for errands, he sits in it at school and church, and it also makes a great place for Reuben or Evania to sit and stay out of trouble while I'm dressing Krassi in the YMCA locker room after his pool therapy sessions!

At school, January 2015

As I've posted about a few times, we are currently (still) in the middle of the (very slow) process of getting Krassimir his own custom wheelchair that he will be able to learn to maneuver by himself. We will also get it rigged so it can be secured into our new van (when we eventually decide to get one!) for getting around, and it will allow him to take the bus to school instead of needing one of us to take him and pick him up every time. We are very much looking forward to its arrival!

Well, over last weekend, Matt was talking with me about how it would be really nice to have something other than his wheelchair that he could use around the house. Something with wheels, but also obviously the capacity to lock the wheels, and not something that Krassi could move by himself. It would be really great if it had some height adjustability so he could be low to the floor with the other kids, or up at table height. He was thinking a tray would be nice, too, so Krassi could have a surface on which to play with toys.

As he's done so many times before, God already had us covered. Just two days earlier, when I was at our home away from home (aka, the therapy center), one of the new (to me) moms asked what I had at home for my son to sit in, and I described a few of the things that we use to make do, but that we didn't really have anything specifically for that. She proceeded to bring up a photo on her phone and ask if we would have any use for one that her daughter had outgrown.

Um, yes!!

But I didn't think to tell Matt about it until after he'd described to me what he was envisioning.

Which was, pretty much exactly this chair:

Krassi can sit up high...

...and at the touch of a foot pedal (and a bit of a push by hand), he can sit down low enough to play with his three-year-old sister.

And today, we used it to Paint!! Krassi and I have attempted painting together a few times, but with the chair (and a sleeve-less shirt covered by an apron), he was able to be more independent about it than he's ever been! There was still plenty of hand-over-hand guidance needed, but he delighted me by reaching for the paint, wiping his hand through it, and then going for the paper.

Krassimir was painting today to help out his buddy, "Brandon," who I've mentioned before. Past Pleven families (and others) have over the last few years put together internet auctions of donated items to help new Pleven families raise funding for their adoption, and "Brandon's" family is going to be the beneficiary of the next Hidden Treasures auction. Krassimir's contribution is a set of eight hand-painted notecards. ;)