DD has some anxiety that I am keeping my eye on. In particular, her fear of animals is crippling.
This week she *asked* to go to my mom's house (unheard of-she hates going and screams whenever the dogs come near her). She didn't cry once this time and got brave enough to pet both dogs. She exclaimed the whole time that they weren't scary after all. Yay, progress! She got knocked down by a dog 2 years ago and it's been a long journey to get her over that.
She followed that up by asking me to dunk her under water at the pool the next day.
What is happening here ?! So proud of her for facing fears.
DS has 2 action figures: Raphael and Michaelangelo. I am always Michaelangelo. It is probably because Michaelangelo is shorter than Raphael and red is his favorite color.
Every time we've planned to take Chris (or now the boys) somewhere like a park, zoo, garden, etc, it usually ends in disaster. Usually we're there for an hour before Chris wants to do something he can't do, we say 'no' and then all heck breaks loose.
So this past Saturday when out of the blue we decided to go to the aquarium, I didn't say anything but really thought we'd be there an hour and Chris would hate it the entire time and it would just not be fun, BUT, I'm adamant that I don't want Lucas to miss out on things because of his brother. I don't want that kind of resentment.
Well, we get there and IT'S CROWDED so I offer for Chris to sit in his 'seat' (stroller) and he does so and as soon as we get into one of the exhibits he's squirming to get out, not because he's freaking out but because "FISH!!!!!!" and the biggest smile ever. So I unstrap him and he makes a beeline for the glass and can't get enough of it. All the colorful fish. "Purple! Yellow! I want purple!!" Color me shocked.
He did get a little antsy at one point because it got super crowded and people were getting a little pushy so he got back in his seat and I pushed us over to a wall by the exit door and he said "wait for daddy" because DH had Lucas over by another exhibit. No tears at all. None. We then walked on the boardwalk which he got a complete kick out of. He had a blast - and so did we. He even had french fries on the boardwalk! (the boardwalk being the famous Coney Island boardwalk)
DS has 2 action figures: Raphael and Michaelangelo. I am always Michaelangelo. It is probably because Michaelangelo is shorter than Raphael and red is his favorite color.
DS1 was quiet all night for 2 nights in a row. Today he got me up at 4:40 AM for potty and again at 5:40 AM. He really went both times (pee and poo). Getting ANY undisturbed nights is good and having some early wake-ups (especially with no screaming) is OK. It was so bad before. I'm sure lack of rest is the reason that when I got sick, it was for 3 weeks, not 7-10 days. He's had 6 totally quiet nights in the last 2 weeks! (me and my spreadsheets, LOL)
DS1 is drinking some water! We have to remind him constantly not to blow bubbles in it (he's doing that with milk, too), but still. He has accepted his new feeding therapy foods (watermelon and carrots) much better than his first fruit and vegetable.
He has been asking for lots of hugs lately. He's always been cuddly, but this is sweet.
"Excuse me". Went to EXPLORA last Sunday with DS. He loves that place (children's museum of science..it is 100% hands on). It was crowded..so several times DS would almost bump into somebody on his way. I took him outside for lunch break (we spent 4 hours there!) and told him how it is not nice to bump into people, how he needs to be aware when he is someone's way, and that if someone is in his way he can say "excuse me". Well, as soon as we went back into the museum, he started using "Excuse me" very appropriately! And has been since. Yay!
One more..not a brag, but a funny (I think it is). I
usually give DS warnings of a kind "5 more minutes and then we get ready
for bed". And he would show all the fingers on his hand: "This many?"
"yes". Then I give him warning at 3 minutes.. He again shows 3 fingers
"This many minutes?" I confirm. Then 1 min... One day when there were no
more fingers left, and he desperately wanted to keep jumping on the
bed, he said "How about the side
minute?". "Huh?" And he shows me the outer side of his pinky finger:
"This side minute is not done yet!" - He says. LOL. Now we always have
this extra side minute for almost everything... Last evening DS asked him how
did he come up with the side minute, and DS answered "I bought it in
Walmart for 35 dollars". DH commented that it was an expensive side
minute... How long does it last? DS said "Forever".
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X has come so far with his dr anxiety/shot phobia. I realized there is one more vaccine series they need before they can start K. We sprung it on the boys today that we were going for shots. My NT kid flipped out and screamed his head off both in the car and in the office once we were finally called back. X, OTOH, announced "I'm going to be brave. I'm not going to cry. I won't even say ouch." He actually got his shot first, as an example for his brother, and did awesome. For a kid with anxiety and abnormal sensitivity to touch/zero pain tolerance, I was pretty darn proud of him.
Also, he had his first ST session today to work on pragmatics, and did really well with eye contact during the game we played about it.
I waited until today for this because I didn't want to jinx it. Last summer DD1 (6, ADHD, SPD) told me she wanted to take ballet classes. Her hair and clothing issues and rigidity around colors were so bad, though, that I didn't think it would work out. I signed her up for a week-long dance camp at the place where she does OT. She loved it, but the PT who was running it said DD found it pretty tiring even though it was only an hour/day.
After that, I told DD that I would sign her up as long as she understood that she would have to wear a basic pink ballet outfit with her hair pulled back. She said she wasn't quite ready, asked if the teacher would let her wear her hair down, why couldn't she wear a blue leotard, etc. I told her we weren't signing up until she was ready to follow the ballet school rules (most of the ballet schools around here have pretty rigid dress codes even for the younger kids).
Around February she decided she was ready. I bought her a pink leotard and signed her up for a six-week pre-ballet class at the community center. That went pretty well, so I signed her up for a second six-week class. She wanted to do a ballet camp this summer, so I signed her up for a week-long, half-day camp. The camp was this week. It was 3 hours/day, and she did GREAT!!! The teacher said she thinks DD will do really well in a class at a dance academy!
I know this is long, but I am so excited. We worked so hard, and I can't believe that the girl who a year ago would only wear her hair down with blue dresses and rain boots is ready to wear a black leotard, pink tights, ballet shoes and hair pulled into a bun. And on top of that, she loves the classes
Re: It's Brag Day Wedneday!
!
This week she *asked* to go to my mom's house (unheard of-she hates going and screams whenever the dogs come near her). She didn't cry once this time and got brave enough to pet both dogs. She exclaimed the whole time that they weren't scary after all. Yay, progress! She got knocked down by a dog 2 years ago and it's been a long journey to get her over that.
She followed that up by asking me to dunk her under water at the pool the next day.
What is happening here ?! So proud of her for facing fears.
One more..not a brag, but a funny (I think it is).
I usually give DS warnings of a kind "5 more minutes and then we get ready for bed". And he would show all the fingers on his hand: "This many?" "yes". Then I give him warning at 3 minutes.. He again shows 3 fingers "This many minutes?" I confirm. Then 1 min... One day when there were no more fingers left, and he desperately wanted to keep jumping on the bed, he said "How about the side minute?". "Huh?" And he shows me the outer side of his pinky finger: "This side minute is not done yet!" - He says. LOL. Now we always have this extra side minute for almost everything... Last evening DS asked him how did he come up with the side minute, and DS answered "I bought it in Walmart for 35 dollars". DH commented that it was an expensive side minute... How long does it last? DS said "Forever".
Phew.
After that, I told DD that I would sign her up as long as she understood that she would have to wear a basic pink ballet outfit with her hair pulled back. She said she wasn't quite ready, asked if the teacher would let her wear her hair down, why couldn't she wear a blue leotard, etc. I told her we weren't signing up until she was ready to follow the ballet school rules (most of the ballet schools around here have pretty rigid dress codes even for the younger kids).
Around February she decided she was ready. I bought her a pink leotard and signed her up for a six-week pre-ballet class at the community center. That went pretty well, so I signed her up for a second six-week class. She wanted to do a ballet camp this summer, so I signed her up for a week-long, half-day camp. The camp was this week. It was 3 hours/day, and she did GREAT!!! The teacher said she thinks DD will do really well in a class at a dance academy!
I know this is long, but I am so excited. We worked so hard, and I can't believe that the girl who a year ago would only wear her hair down with blue dresses and rain boots is ready to wear a black leotard, pink tights, ballet shoes and hair pulled into a bun. And on top of that, she loves the classes
BFP#2 2.5.11 (EDD 10.15.11) DS born 9.28.11
BFP#4 8.27.13 (EDD 5.6.14) DD born 4.23.14
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