Aaron Recognizes Grandpa Arnie in Photo

For some time now, I have been pointing out family members that are in the photo collages hanging on our downstairs wall. Last week I pointed to various family members and asked Aaron who they were. He said, "Grandpa Awie" when pointing to dad. He also recognized Aunt Becky and Uncle Ed. I'll keep working on the rest!

Aaron's assessment with Occupational Therapist

So, the good news is that she said that he doesn't have severe sensory issues and that he'd probably manage and mature well without therapy. However, he does have some tactile issues, but more notably, proprioceptive issues. I don't understand yet what that is in a meaningful way, but..... http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/proprioceptive-dysfunction.html this article is a decent start. She said that this explains the jumping off things and doing belly flops onto the carpet, loud crashing with toys, all the throwing, some of the fussiness, and maybe some of the sleep difficulties. This type of wild self stimulation affects the serotonin output in his brain and he needs more focus strategies to teach him to calm himself. Jane, the OT, showed us some ways to provide deep stimulation by pressing on his body and with movement. She also suggested trying a weighted blanket in his crib and she's bringing a type of chair for him to try at the dinner table that gives more physical support. We'll see how these initial things work and I'm curious what else she'll recommend.

Blackacre Farm-Feeding the Animals

Lovely morning at Blackacre Farm, a nature reserve with several animals for children on an old farm in JTown. We'd never been before, and all three kids were enthralled with the friendly animals and volunteer farmer. The goats were particularly enthusiastic and sweet.

Jokes

Luke: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Luke: A van.
Me: A van who?
Luke: Funny, a van just ran into a pole.

Aaron: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Aaron: A shoe!
Me: A shoe who?
Aaron: A big shoe!

Character assassination

I just read Luke a dinosaur version of "The Emperor's New Clothes." At the end, I asked him what kind of people would behave like the emperor. He said, "Jerks."

Super kid

Raha won a student of the month award. What a long way he's come. Today he happily played in a dodgeball tournament after school then came home and was entirely happy to vacuum and mop. He survived CATS testing (JCPS still has 5 days).

Aaron updates

Aaron has gained 6 ounces and grown a bit taller - good news! Ahna recommended doing an analysis of his eating preferences related to flavor, texture, and appearance of foods then creating food chains based on favorite foods to expand the range of foods he'll eat. Yeah, sounds complicated, so I ordered a book about food chaining and eating issues with toddlers. Tonight he refused broccoli (a previous favorite) and baked pasta, then happily ate raisins and goldfish.

All of the children are nuts

Mother's Day

The little boys have new spring outfits for Mother's Day from Grammy. Luke is very aware of being handsome, and he's relieved that I finally bought him a belt. We had brunch at church - sponsored by the youth group - nice to not brave the crowds. Mom and I both have lots of grading to do so more work than play today.

My ego has taken a beating this week - a student asked if I was pregnant, then two days later a nurse asked if I was Zachariah's grandmother. My friends at work have decided to ignore any indisrections on my part, and say that a pregnant grandma isn't expected to be very reliable. Oh well.

How to eat spaghetti

Bad Words, Artwork

Luke is picking up my bad habits. Tonight in the car he started a statement with the phrase, "Holy Crap, Mom!" Eesh.

Rahsjay has gotten a major couple of boosts about how capable he is in art classes. He brought home two wonderful self portraits that demonstrated a strong ability to see value - one a collage and the other done in a gray scale. His art teacher wants to enter them in the Scholastic Art Competition next fall, and recommended an art camp this summer. I've registered him for that - a week at Blackacre with a different artist every day - pretty light but a good experience. His art teacher also is writing a recommendation for a series of art classes through the Louisville Visual Art Association, and he's really excited about the classes after seeing the exhibit this weekend. Rich and I are both really glad to see him focus on something other than sports as a skill, especially since this is a more genuine talent.

He's also reading for pleasure now, sometimes for hours a day. Of course....it's Twilight (teenage vampires). Still, reading!