Museum fun

Well, since everyone was semi-healthy FINALLY this week, we decided to hit the museum on Tuesday.  We left around 11 and had lunch in the car on the way since it is an hour away.  I was a little worried when we got there because I forgot the stroller for the Little Guy.  We decided to leave our coats in the car and hurry in so we wouldn't have to lug coats through the whole place.  We got in there and got started, and they all had a complete blast.  I think my eldest and Little Guy had the most fun.  It was funny to see their different personalities shine through.  My eldest who has always had a thirst for knowledge went through having to read the trivia questions in all the areas and was totally engrossed in every little bit of info he could absorb.  My niece who is quite hyper was practically dragging me along and rushing through the areas but stopping to touch and look at everything she could.  My Baby Girl who has some auditory sensitivities due to her sensory processing disorder kept clamping her hands over her ears when her brothers would push certain buttons, but she loved the discovery area that has a tree house and animal puppets.  I think that was her favorite.  She found a fawn puppet that she absolutely adored and played with the whole time we were in that area.  Little Guy was so totally ready to explore that the stroller ended up being completely unnecessary anyway.  He really enjoyed walking through it all and loved the things to touch and buttons to push.  He did get stuck in the tree house and we had to go up and get him.  All in all we had a total blast and hope to go back real soon.

Small accomplishments....Feeding Issues!

Well, Little Guy who has his fair share of food aversions conquered a milestone today.  For those who don't know what food aversions are this basically means picky eating that goes above and beyond picky eating but due to a more serious issue like for Little Guy sensory issues and low awareness in his mouth.  He has always hated the taste and texture of bread in general although he had been known to sample a hamburger on a bun or a roll of some sort, he has NEVER been able to tolerate sandwiches of any kind.  I have tried every variation I could think of and still no go.  Well this is where peer pressure came in handy today.  He saw big brother making himself a PB sandwich and became very intrigued by the whole process and was pointing at the jar doing his usual "I want that" grunt.  I seized the opportunity!  Grabbing a slice of dairy-free bread, I put it on his high chair tray and let him watch me make a PB sandwich.  I folded the slice in half and handed it too him and he picked it up and took his first bite.  He then proceeded to eat the sandwich with absolutely no coaxing on my part although I did offer a ton of praise during which he beamed up at me proudly.  Then when he was about half through, we hit a road block, figures!  You see Little Guy has very low awareness when it comes to his mouth and he has a tendency to cram it full of food, far more full than he should.  And you can just imagine what happened when he tried to do that with a PB sandwich.  He choked of course and bad enough to scare himself and me for that matter.  I had to use my finger to pull a couple of dough balls out of the back of his throat.  Then he of course decided he was done.  Hopefully he will be willing to try again soon.  Now if I could just get his sister to eat something other than ez-mac, football brownies and Pediasure we'll be doing good.  She's been having a horrible time with eating lately and she's eliminated a bunch of previously acceptable foods.

Getting back to normal

Well, I am finally in the process of taking down the Christmas decorations.  Something I have been meaning to do for a few weeks.  I actually got my part all done today.  I just need my wonderful hubby to take down the tree and stuff everything back in the attic!  :) 

We are also getting back into the swing of school after taking it a little slower at the beginning of the month.  I signed my daughter up for Time4learning since I am liking the program so much for my son, and she seems to be enjoying it for the most part.  Although I am finding that she is not near as into math as her big brother.  Granted I did discover that she is reading at a first grade level and she's only 4 mind you and her math is about late kindergarten level.  Close enough that I went ahead and started her on the first grade math with a little extra help and we will work on a few things separately to get her up to speed.  I'm so proud of my baby girl though, I had no idea she was so far ahead. 

We are just getting back into the swing of therapies as well.  We've all been passing strep around and it put a halt to therapy for a little bit.  Little Guy had speech and OT on Monday and his speech therapist thinks he is at about a 12 month level for speech now which is an improvement.  Granted he is 21 months old now so that still puts him at being significantly delayed but hey progress is progress.  He still only uses one word independently without prompting and that is Daddy.  Still can't say mama for the life of him, but when prompted can say an approximation of his brothers name.  He also uses sound words when prompted like pop, bgm for boom, deet for beeb, and a few others I can't think of right now.  He is still engaging in a lot of repetitive play like filling and dumping or throwing the toys and is lacking in really purposeful imaginative play.  The developmental therapist is working on helping him with his play skills.

Now that everything is running more smoothly, I hope to plan a field trip within the next month.  Maybe a museum or something.  I would also like to take the older kids to a movie since I don't think we have gone in over a year.  wow  :)

We made it through the holidays!

Well, we made it through all the Christmas family functions with little to no meltdowns from any of the children which is a huge relief.  We just had our last family event yesterday and all went relatively smoothly.  Unfortunately we have all been sick off and on kind of passing stuff around in between events and I have been to the doctor with different children way more than I would have liked.  And the kids have been on antibiotics to keep from being contagious and spreading stuff to others.  We are just this past week starting to get back into the swing of things for homeschool.   Truthfully we have been slacking just a tad trying to get back into the schedule.  I expect this next week to be more productive.

We did hear from Easter Seals about my little guy's autism evaluation.  The next slot they had available was in may exactly a month after his second birthday.  I am nervous and excited at the same time.  It will be an all day evaluation which will probably be totally exhausting for the little guy, but I am really ready for some answers about what is going on with him.  Hopefully they will be able to help us get on the right track with therapies and such.