The day just started off bad :\

Miss Iz was so excited for Miss H to arrive for W's speech session.  She ran right out the door to greet her and ask what she could help with.  She offered to help carry things in but Miss H said no, she would carry her own things.  It all just went downhill from there.  Miss Iz spent most of W's session crying and carrying on and  having to be sent up to her room.  She'd calm herself down and come down to try again, her offer of help was turned down, and off we went again with the melting down.  *sigh*  I sure hope next time goes better......

W had a good session at least.  He really enjoyed the activities and books today and was really talkative.

And the other kids have discovered their favorite day!

Physical Therapy day!  We met Miss C at the kids' favorite park.  She said she's lived and worked in this area for a really long time and didn't know the park was there.  It was a good one to do PT at because there were several activities for  him to do to work on his goals and the three older kids had plenty to keep them occupied as well.  We arrived fifteen minutes early and W had worked out some of his energy so he was more focused on what Miss C wanted from him.

Miss C told us about another park near our house that we didn't know about with a good playset and a splash pad.  I bet we'll get plenty of use out of that one over the summer!

Miss Iz was supposed to see her GI after PT but we got the call that Dr N had a family emergency so we had to reschedule for August.

Miss Iz had her PT session in the afternoon and it was a little rough.  She was just so over all the exercises and activities.  Miss N got her attention by promising to show her something new if she did her work and that got her motivated and she got to try out two new exercises (rocket ship and dolphin).   Dolphin was too difficult but she had fun with rocket ship.  Miss N and I are thinking the last few sessions have been more difficult because she's getting bored with doing the same few things over and over.  There's not a great deal of wiggle room in what she can do but maybe if we change up the routines just a bit we can get her attention and cooperation back.

And the Educator gets to see "normal" W

Miss S is still new to us so W has been on his best behavior--calm, focused, cooperative.  Today, Miss S got to see him at his normal speed--distractible, short attention span, demanding, flitting from one thing to another. She was flabbergasted at the change in him.  I told her this is pretty normal for him.  He can be a lot more flighty so it was still a calm day but he is always on the go, never stops, doesn't stick with one activity for too long.  Kid doesn't even stop moving in his sleep until he slips into a deeper sleep.  Its good, though--she needs to see it because this is what she was brought in to work on :p 

It is official!

There are four of them underfoot 24/7 :p  It is one of those things that you both look forward to and dread--no super early alarms, no school runs, no homework, no rushing about to drop off and pick up.  But then again, they all need to be fed and entertained all day long :p

W's favorite day has arrived!

He's been working with his OT, Miss M, the longest and he's the most comfortable with her so he is always super excited to see her :) Miss Iz loves to see her, too, since Miss M is very relaxed and always includes her.  Iz ran out to greet her in the driveway and Miss M let her help carry things in.  She loves being a helper to the therapists so when one has a job for her, she's thrilled!  Miss M had W and Iz taking turns with the various toys so it was a relatively peaceful session ;) 

Speech with an extra kid!

Our schedule with the SLP has been so erratic lately (she has been rescheduling) that we have had plenty of W's speech appointments after Iz gets out of preschool but its not official--with preschool out, she'll be there for all of them.  It is quite stressful for me :\  I have to try to keep her from interfering and occupied but ALL she wants to do is "help" W and be involved and take part.  W's SLP isn't very flexible and she seems to struggle having other kids around vying for her attention.  I'm trying to keep Iz separated but things will only get worse at the next session when the boys are out of school and all four of them are underfoot!

PT times two

Now that Miss Iz is out of preschool, she gets to be there at all of W's appointments this week.  First up is PT.  Now that the weather is nicer, we are meeting at parks to take advantage of all the equipment and the sunshine.  I picked one of Iz's favorite parks hoping that she'd be occupied with playing and not need (want?) to attempt to monopolize Miss C's time.  NOPE.  She was distracted briefly with playing but soon she was vying for attention and when she didn't get it she stomped back to the van and sat inside the rest of the session *sigh* I sure to hope it gets easier :p

After W's PT we ran some errands--this restored Miss Iz's good mood as she likes running errands.  We stopped at home to have some lunch and then off we went to Miss Iz's PT.  She was excited to go and then once we were there she was surly and uncooperative.  Miss N was very patient and managed to get Iz to get back on track and we made it through the session but man, was it a rough day!

The Educator

Today was W's second session with the EI educator, Miss S.  We are still in the "get to know you" phase so she brought a bunch of toys and is letting W warm up to her.  He is super shy when she first comes in but warms up to her when she gets out toys :p  She lets him lead the way right now so he tends to flit from activity to activity but eventually she'll be working on helping his stay on task for longer times.  Her visit was complicated by Iz being home but she is rather flexible and was able to incorporate Iz and make her feel included while still getting some one on one work with W.

Speech and the Barn

W was really focused this week at speech therapy!  Miss H had a book all about farm animals for them to read and then she had a barn playset to play with and W really liked it.  He did get a little restless the last page of the book but when Miss H told him they could play with the barn after the page, he turned his focus back on her and finished the book.  He had a lot of fun with the barn and was pretty sad when Miss H had to go.  Miss Iz was home (Miss H had to postpone our session an hour so Miss Iz was home from preschool) and she really wanted Miss H to see their blocks so Miss H stayed an extra few minutes to see Iz and W make some towers (W has been practicing in OT how to hold the blocks so they will stack so he got to show off his skills).

The Nature Center

W's PT mentioned there was a free indoor area at one of the parks we like going to so the kids and I went to check it out.  We always loved going to the nature center back in Michigan and this one is a lot like it.  They have a play area with toys and games and a big fish tank, a reading area with a couple games and huge windows to watch wildlife, and a room with tanks of fishes and turtles.  They had a lot of fun and a few days later when it was time for PT, W went back again to explore with Miss C (it was raining so no playing at the playground for PT)

Oh, dear

Someone decided to give herself a haircut.  It was long in some places and very very very very short in others.  Off we went to get it repaired and there really wasn't much they could do with what was left :p