Warning--Picture heavy!

Today, S was invited to spend the night at my parents' house so after I picked him up, I took him over there.  We all visited for a while and then I took the little ones to get some dinner.  It was a tad chilly but the sun was shining and I knew a walking path were the wind would be mostly blocked for trees so I asked the Littles if they would like to go for a walk.  It was a resounding YES!  They are just as tired of being cooped up because of the cold as I am :p  So off we went to one of our favorite parks to walk in :)

Some fishermen and lots of birds

When we arrived, I parked near the lake and oh, boy, was my little B ever excited!  There were people out on the frozen lake!!  He insisted we needed pictures.  He has heard of ice fishing because his Dad likes to go but I don't think he really knew what ice fishing meant until today.  He was just in awe of people sitting out on the ice and fishing through little holes.  He kept trying to yell "HI" to the guys out on the ice and wasn't so sure I was right when I told him they were too far away to hear him and he should try to be quieter so he didn't disturb the other people there.  I finally told him his shouting would scare the fish so I could get him to stop screaming across the ice--it worked!  He was worried about scaring the fish so he talked in a whisper until we were further away from the ice fishermen.  Oh, and he thought my first picture of the men fishing on the ice was "too small" and I should go across the ice to get closer.  I showed him how to zoom in with the camera and he settled for that :p 

Ice fisherman close up!

B and Iz were ready and willing to go for a walk on the ice but I suggested we stick to the walking path and while they were disappointed, they agreed ;)

He really wanted a picture with this wet spot.  I don't even know.....

We briefly lost the sun behind the clouds

We'd only gone about six tenths of a mile when they spotted a bench overlooking a smaller lake and decided they needed to sit down and rest :)  I believe they sat still for a whole thirty seconds before they were up and at 'em again.

B declared we were climbing a mountain and needed sticks to help us up

At a little under a mile we reached a pavilion with big binoculars.  They were so excited when they saw the pavilion because they recognized it!  Normally when we walk at this park, we start out at this pavilion :)  The sun was beginning to set and was blinding!  The only way to get a picture was to use the roof of the pavilion to block the sun enough to get a picture.  The sun sure did feel good, though!

Every single time we come to this pavilion, three things need to happen:

• They must run like crazy people back and forth and around the perimeter

• They must sit on the benches.  Usually all of them.  In order.

 

• And they absolutely must look through every pair of binoculars, multiple times.  And while they wait for me to lift them high enough, they must stand on the foot rests :p

 

They really wanted to continue on the trail but I wasn't so sure Iz could make it further and then all the way back plus I could already feel the temperature dropping as the sun dropped behind the horizon.  So off we went back to the parking lot.  One and three-tenths of a mile in total and Iz was fine and ready to go longer when we got back!  Maybe by the end of summer her stamina will be up enough for us to go all the way around the lake :)  We've never made it all the way around!

She speaks!!

When we went to playgroup on Wednesday, I thought it was going to be a rough day because the first thing Iz did when we arrived was to hide behind me.  And then she laid on the floor and covered her eyes (in her mind, no one can see her if she covers her eyes).  She did eventually start to play a little but if anyone spoke to her, she would cover her eyes. 

She moved over to the play kitchen (one of her favorites) and started to play with me and she didn't leave when other kids came over!  She interacted with them a little bit but mostly played by herself but not leaving when they came over is pretty big for her :p 

The EI teacher in charge of her playgroup is concerned by her lack of social skills and the big regression we've seen as far as speech and anxiety and is recommending Iz get another full evaluation for services to see if she qualifies to move into the next program to get extra support to help her reach her social/emotional developmental milestones.  She's not sure its severe enough to get her into B's program, which is a special education preschool program, but she may qualify to move into their "regular" early childhood education program with extra support.  We talked a bit about Iz's unknown neurological issues and the teacher is thinking we should do the evaluations towards the end of the year to give neurology time to do their tests and try to figure out what's going on so we know if the neuro issues could be causing the social/emotional issues (Iz has also started having outbursts than can rival B.  This is around the age it started with B so there is some concern that she could have whatever B has--he's got an appointment with a neuropsych coming up so we can try to figure it out!  Iz could just me mimicking his behavior but who knows :\).  So we'll see what happens.

At one point, all of the students and parents were on one side of the room and Iz led me over to the other side to play with her and she started talking to me--last week, not one word out of her the entire time (hour and a half) so her talking to me while we were in the room was great :)  Her favorite little girl came over and Iz talked a little to her as well.  She talked a little on and off the rest of the session so that was nice!  And she sort of participated in some of the songs/games during circle time :p

Yesterday was speech therapy and she opened up there and spoke to Miss Emily, too!  We are apparently on a roll this week :D   The first word she said to Emily was an accident, I think.  Up to that point, she'd been pointing or grunting or mouthing words with no sound.  But a word popped out and it seemed to open the floodgates because a few minutes later, after trying out single words here and there, she was talking up a storm.  Emily is impressed with her grammar LOL  She may not be able to say the words clearly but she knows how to put them together ;)

Her therapist (who we saw Tuesday) is going to try to come to a speech session so she and Emily (and I) can coordinate to try and get Iz over this anxiety that is keeping her from speaking.  She couldn't make it yesterday because she couldn't rearrange her schedule but she's trying to shuffle some things around to make it next week.  If she can't, we'll try to move one speech session to a time all of us can do and then go back to our normal time.

We've got several things coming up!  In a little less than two weeks we have Iz's MRI, B's neuropsych appointment, Mr. Piper is coming for a week, we have another genetics appointment, and then in a little over a month we have a 24-hour EEG.  I was told the EEG was an overnight but when they called to schedule they said nope, full 24-hours.  Yikes.  Luckily, we were able to schedule it during a time Mr. Piper will be home (not til May, though) because I have to have a second adult there.  I wish I had thought to ask some more questions :p  Will she be tethered to a machine in her room?  Because keeping a toddler in a hospital room is not fun.  Or is there some sort of portable machine so she can walk around the hospital and go to the playroom?  Guess we'll find out when we get there in May!