Aaron's Artwork

T-Rex drawing - my favorite! - and "Levinson." Aaron is so proud of his writing - he can write his first name clearly now and write/recognize lots of other letters.

First meet of the year

Luke's coach was absolutely right - having Luke do level 4 again was a wonderful decision. He was confident and placed 2nd overall in his age group (out of 7 boys), and all but one of his events were in the top three. He won vault. It was also encouraging to see the growth from last year:

Floor - 14.2 (2010), 13.4 (2009)
Pommel - 13.5 (2010), 7.2 (2009)
Rings - 14.5 (2010), 13.9 (2009)
Parallel bars - 14.4 (2010), 10.0 (2009)
High bar - 14.1 (2010), 13.4 (2009)
Vault - 15.1 (2010), 13.9 (2009)

* Video will go to full screen - just click on the 4 arrows on the bottom right below the video *

Aaron - assessment & diagnostic appointment

At Aaron's 4 year check up Rich and I were concerned about his difficult behavior and wondered if he's on track developmentally. The pediatrician referred us to Square One with Dr. Axelrod, a pediatrician who speciallizes in developmental and psychological assessments for children. She did several rating scales with us and Aaron's teacher, a physical and neurological exam, an hour long observation and screening with Aaron and the child psychologist, and a clinical interview with us. She also referred us for an additional speech assessment.

We met with Dr. Axelrod and Dr. Causey (child psych) last week. Aaron meets criteria for ADD, in attention and emotional regulation. They said that they did debate over this as a diagnosis and said that as he matures and we have more information, the diagnosis may change somewhat. They are concerned about a mood disorder. His IQ is normal and his speech is typical for a 4 year old - both causes for celebration because we've worried about a cognitive delay and he had an expressive speech delay as a toddler. He still has low motor tone in his upper body and sensory integration concerns.

We have some direction now. They are recommending one-on-one work with a child psychologist (checking Humana for out-of-network expenses for the one we'd like to use) to work on his frustration tolerance, self-help, and social skills, plus work with Rich and I on how we parent him. We are also going to continue with the occupational therapist at Green Hill for sensory integration, so Aaron will get to continue riding horses and she also does a lot of work on fine motor skills and self-help, such as buttons, zippers, etc.

Medication is an option. Dr. Axelrod suggested re-evaluating medication after about three months of therapy to see where he is on mood and frequency of tantrums at home. Her concern is his developing self image and typical mood, that it's not healthy for him to be consistently frustrated and out-of-control.

I was surprised by ADD as the initial diagnosis - my fear was that he would be on the Autism spectrum with either Asbergers or PDD. Dr. Axelrod said that his early speech delay probably has slowed down his development socially with his peers.

Thanksgiving

For us it's a relatively travel-free Thanksgiving - a quiet Thanksgiving at our house with Momma and Pappa, happily napping and decorating for Christmas in the afternoon. Yesterday we drove north of Cincinatti to a resort, Great Wolf Lodge. The big attraction is an enormous indoor water park with lots of slides, a wave pool, and - ahhhhhh - two hot tubs big enough to swim in. Aaron has been a riot, laughing the whole way down the slide and swimming independently with a life vest for boyancy.

Happy 54th

We celebrated Rich's birthday today at Huber Farm in Indiana - pumpkin patch, a tractor-wagon ride, and lots of sweet baby goats. Unfortunately Rich has a cold so he didn't feel great, but it was a lovely, warm fall day.

Roadrunner cartoons

The video is from earlier in the week - Aaron has been on a Road Runner kick recently. Church picnic today a big hit - great music, facepainting, armpainting (thanks Jordan!), and I won a pie-baking contest. Dad picked out the recipe and Mom helped me with a complicated recipe, so it's hard to claim much credit!

Misc whiny mommy

Aaron is exhausting me at night....he's sleeping through the night most of the time (yipee!) but taking close to two hours some nights to go to sleep and creating chaos that whole time (boo!!).

Luke went to his friend Sammy's house this evening and was terrified by the new version of "Willy Wonka" - it took quite a while to get him settled down.

Love Note to Louisville

I asked this question on Facebook: Ok FB friends.....what's the best part of living in Louisville? Rich and I are trying to convince his Ma to move here from NY and she's skeptical about what this region has to offer. She's here for 10 days to try it

Love all of the great responses, so here they are!
Nina Grow - there are only 5 (or maybe 7) cities in the US that offer all of the 5 major art forms professionally--orchestra, theatre, opera, ballet, and visual arts. Louisville is one of them.

Jerry Uthoff - One of the best things, her g-kids, L and A live here. You're boys are awesome.

Julie Kredens - Great healthcare centers... affordability (more house for your money here than in NY for sure!)... reasonably mild winters, for the most part... lovely springs and autumns...

Ruth LeMaster - Umm... isn't enough that your family is here?? It's a small city so easier to get around compared to NY traffic, lots of arts and culture, beautiful topography, milder weather, less pollution, less taxes, within a day's drive of Nashville, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Chicago, and people are friendlier.

Ed Staats - Go buy a dozen bagels from Dooley's -- the only decent ones in Louisville -- and she will think she is back in Nyoo Yawk.

Gloria Beswick - The best part is that you and Rich and Aaron and Luke are here of course! Plus there is all sorts of beautiful and varied scenery within a couple hours drives - lakes, mountains, waterfalls, moonbows, etc. Several active senior citizen organizations, the Kentucky Center, Broadway series, Actors, Derby Dinner, Orchestra, Opera. What's she want?

Heather Levinson - She's concerned about moving away from friends and if there will be opportunities to meet people she would really enjoy - avid reader, liberal politics, painting, & movie buff. I think being with us is important, and so is the financial flexibility & increased options that would afford her. The bagels couldn't hurt.

Nina Grow - Plenty of older liberals around here who get together all the time. Plus she'll be just in time for the fall elections. I'd love to hear what she thinks of Rand Paul. Tell her that Jefferson County went for Obama.

Julie Kredens - Ed... I agree with you on the bagels! Also... I think Whole Foods sometimes carries bialy's... so that should be alluring, too! And I do think she could become as politically involved as she desired. A friend of mine was very much involved in the local "Move On" group... but I'm sure there are other avenues to pursue, too. And Gloria, you're right... several active seniors activities/groups... including continuing education programs like Bellarmine's Veritas Society.

Lee VanZandt Goss ‎- 1.. Pewee Valley is a great place to live
2. Pewee Valley Presby. is a great little church with lots of great people!
3. She could join the Pewee Valley Women's Club, a really nice group of Ladies that do some good things in the community.....and have lots of fun, eating out, the theatre, garden tours, shopping! You could join too, Heather! Lots of the ladies are widows and live in the patio homes in Forest Springs! Nice ladies!
4. Rich and you and the boys are here! :)

Pamela Van Hoose Galage - My hubby is from NY (Newburgh) and he loves Louisville. He says the weather is so much better and the cost of living is great! Plus there are lots of fun "city" things to do here.

Ruth LeMaster If she misses her friends, she can always fly back for visits, and they can come here and visit her.

Kristin Olsen Bikram Yoga at the Hot Spot!!!! ha ha ha ha...just hydrate her!!!!

Gloria Beswick - Did we sell her on the idea yet, or should we keep going?

Becky Levinson - Grand kids who love her and lower cost of living

Heather Levinson - She looked at condos today and said that they were tempting, and we're making several social contacts over the next several days so she gets a better feel for the community - you have offered an amazing range of ideas and suggestions - I really appreciate it and she's enjoyed reading over my shoulder! And keep it on coming, Gloria!

Melinda Walters - great bourban, fried chicken and gravey, cheap cigarettes-also home of the a"World's Largest Rotating Fez" (gift to Louisville parades from the Shriners)-what else could anyone possibly want?

Slacker

I've been awful about writing this month! My boss said that she noticed that I spent July boycotting work and I suppose the same is true for blogging. All for a good cause.... I realized that I was exhausted and burned out, and I feel wonderful after spending the month hanging out with the kids & Rich, sleeping, reading trashy mysteries, and exercising. I'm FINALLY motivated to start prepping for the year and reading work materials sounds like fun now.

Today Rich is in Cincinnati with 3 little boys at King's Island, an amusement park and water park. They had a wonderful time and the boys were great. One funny thing he told me is that he realized that one little boy behavior is not unique to Luke: They either don't have to go at all, or they are desperate and doing the potty cha-cha. That was a challenge in a giant parking lot, so he taught someone else's child to pee between cars. Both of my boys have known that trick for years.

Not sure that I've written this before - sometimes when Aaron is talking I'll respond to him and he'll tell me, "No Mommy! I talking with myself!!"

Teeth, finally!

Luke has been desperately wiggling his bottom two front teeth for months, but they refused to come out. When I took a good look in his mouth a couple of weeks ago I was alarmed because his adult teeth were coming in about a quarter inch behind his baby teeth.

Fortunately a friend at church, Margaret, teaches at the dental school and she took a peek in his mouth while he was climbing a tree after church. She said that the position of the adult teeth is good because the bottom baby teeth were in front of his top teeth, so the adult teeth are in much better alignment (maybe less time in braces if we're lucky?). However....she also said that one of the jobs of the adult teeth is to push out the baby teeth, and that wasn't going to happen for Luke. She recommended a bit of "help" from his pediatric dentist, Heidi Yang.

Today was the big day. We didn't tell Luke about the appointment so he wouldn't be scared. I requested laughing gas, Dr. Heidi numbed his mouth, then pushed and tugged. Several minutes after his teeth were safely packaged, I complimented him on his big boy smile and he said, "I didn't know she pulled my teeth!?" A perfect dentist experience!

Dr. Heidi told him that if the dentist pulls your teeth, the tooth fairy has to pay double. And that you have to have ice cream for dinner. And that there's a decent chance that she'll have to help the next two bottom teeth. Luke said that he's totally happy to go back for another tooth tug as long as he gets laughing gas.

Marengo Cave

We decided on a whim to go to Marengo Cave today with Tracey, Fifi, Sammy, and Dad - beautiful caves, and we ate our bodyweight in watermelon

I'm watching Luke's gymnastics class today - a couple of weeks ago he was invited to join the Future Stars group. This is a developmental group for USA-gymastics. Coach Doug invited two of the six year olds to practice with tem even though they are a couple years too young to compete.

Luke is by far the least skilled in the group so far, but he is realy fortunate to be in the it because Doug is incredible and it's only a handful of kids so he gets lots of coaching.

He's doing a round off back handspring now and he's doing back tucks on the trampoline. The handsprings have scared him, and today he's definitely bonked his head on the landing more times than I can count, but he's making progress - he just did a couple of them with his legs together and pretty body position (and a safe noggin'!). We'll have to decide in August if he's going to keep coming to Future Stars during the school year. I hope so, but it would make four practices a week and a tired kid.

http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/pages/men/pages/overview_futurestars.html

This kid has magic swinging hips - over 1000 swoops of the hoop!

Blessed on Father's Day to have my wonderful dad and my husband....we celebrated with Vietnamese food and a relaxed day.

On the way home from daycare I pointed out a convertible VW bug to Aaron. He said, "And it's roof fell off!"

After a time out he told me, "I'm naughty at you."

Copperfield Swim Meet

Luke had a wonderful first swim meet of the year! He had three races - the first was a free style relay (2nd place), a 25 m. freestyle race (somewhere in the middle of the pack), and a 25 m. backstroke (1st in heat, we'll see how he places overall). He was sooooo excited about his backstroke, and he can't wait to get his ribbons tomorrow morning.

Ok, here are the results:
freestyle - 55.86 seconds, 18th overall
backstroke - 53.47 seconds, 7th overall

Happy Aaron, Happy Daddy

My new favorite photo!

I told Aaron to take his dinner plate from the table to Rich in the kitchen. He said, "I can't. I'm singing a song." He treated us to a medley of 10 Little Monkeys, Hokey Pokey, and Rock-a-Bye Baby. Cute, included gestures and facial expressions.

Waffle House

Luke's assessment: "That's the best food I've ever had!"

I've started working seriously on getting back into shape - finally have motivation again. Running, Bikram yoga, a cleanse (vegan diet + herbs, fiber), and tracking everything online. I ran with Dad this morning for the first time in 1 1/2 years - it was great to go out with him, even though he is so much fitter than I am!

Piano practice

Rich is the one who really needs to write about playing the piano with Luke, but we did finally take some video clips today. Luke is THRILLED with himself on the piano, and he's trying to figure out how to play the theme song from "Star Wars" (of course!)

Good Hair Day

Luke had extra crazy hair this morning, so we helped it along a bit!

Dump truck

Aaron does this nifty spin any time he's driving a truck, car, or train

After a bath Aaron likes to pretend to be a baby - I wrap him up in a towel, rock him, and sing "Rock-a-bye Baby" - twice. Then he tells me, "Say, 'cute!'" And it is cute! He's a wild man in the bathtub, where he like to pretend to be at swimming lessons with Ms. BJ, which involves lots of splashing.

Reading Guy!!!

Luke is stunning.....a couple of night ago I was reading a Magic Treehouse book to Luke and he said, "I'll read now," and he did. I didn't know that he could read this level independently, and it was so amazing to hear him!! I went into a mom-frenzy and got him a bunch of Magic Treehouse books and a couple of samples of other series. We started a new one tonight, and he's SOOOOO proud of himself - he reads two pages, and either Rich or I read one page. This is such a great part of being a parent!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.courier-journal.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D20105240365&h=cacbc

Westport made the newspaper today, and by default, so did I - I was one of three people who presented the plans for Westport to the Board of Education during the Monday work session.

Aaron now regularly says, "Don't bother the animals." He didn't like Trixie growling at him, but the nip from Mika did the trick, finally.

Aaron sang another great version of the ABCs, but of course he refused to sing it on camera....he did make up a goofy little dino song for me!

Piano recital

Luke had a great first piano recital - he played two pieces, one by himself and a duet with Rich. It was the only parent/child duet, which was really cool. We were nervous that he would have a meltdown like he did at the Christmas recital, but he kept his cool and did exactly what he was supposed to do. The best thing about the night is that he came home and was so excited that he played the piano for another half hour...bits of songs he has memorize, plus songs he made up.

How to eat a cupcake

Wow!

Luke started singing the ABCs in the car, and Aaron joined in. It sounded pretty good, so I asked him to sing it again -- and he was great!! It was so clear, except for the "ema ema p" but then he hopped back in at q. I never would have believed he could do this a year ago!

Walking with Dinosaurs

We went to the Walking with Dinosaurs with the boys yesterday - they were delighted with the life size dinos. Rich and I both dozed off!

Yet another weird Aaron illness. He picks his nose and managed to get a bacterial infection in his nostril. More antibiotics for this goofy child.

Aaron's new OT report

Aaron's updated diagnosis - Sensory Integration disorder, with hypotonia and lack of coordination. This isn't a big change from his last assessment a year ago. I'm really glad we have him back in therapy....wish there was a quick fix, both for his sake and ours.

Sara (his new OT)wrote this summary: Aaron presents with deficits in the areas of fine motor skills, visual motor skills, self care skills, and sensory issues. Treatment techniques that will be used include therapeutic exercises to improve motor control, therapeutic activitis to increase motor planning, bilateral coordination, and fine motor skills, and neuromuscular reeducation through equine tri-planar movement.

Peabody Developmental Motor scales: grasping - poor, visual-motor - average

Sensory Profile Caregiver Questionnaire (lots of categories, only listing concerns):
touch processing - definite difference, oral sensory processing - probable, auditory processing - probable, modulation related to body position - probable, modulation of movement affecting activity - probable, modulation of senorty input affecting emotional responses - definite difference, emotional/social responses - definite difference, behavioral outcomes of sensory processing - probable

Ode to a Lego Starwars Ship

ARC-170 Starfighter
It is cool
Fun to play with
Concentrate to build it
Look at directions
Step by step

-Luke, for a writing homewok assignment

Greenhill Therapy

Aaron started occupational therapy again, but now he is going to a new therapist since he has aged out of First Steps. On the horse he rode facing forwards and backwards, played basketball, and worked on some fine motor movements using clothespins. Inside he used the bumpy slide and a really challenging swing. The photo with the crazy expression is from right after he pushed a big ball through a fabric tunnel. His therapist is also continuing to work on motions crossing the mid-line of the body, like making big X's on a chalkboard.

Aaron updates

I dropped Aaron off late for daycare this morning and had a chance to talk to his teacher, Kara. She'd sent a note home yesterday that he did lots of hitting and pushing. This morning I was relieved when she told me that he was one of many naughty ones yesterday, and that he didn't hurt anyone, just was part of the general annoyance of the day.

Aaron issues

I'm really frustrated with Aaron. He's destructive - today when I came home he systematically threw several things. Not in a tantrum, not at anyone, just picking up shoes and toys and throwing them. When Rich or I correct him, he sometimes seems so defiant and unconcerned that we're unhappy with him. It's hard for me to separate normal toddler behavior from what really should worry me.

Today at daycare he hurt another child. The incident report said, "Aaron hit another child with a very large, heavy block. It left a bump and broke the skin. We spoke to Aaron about hitting and he sat in the office." When I asked Aaron why he hit the other little boy he just said, "I don't know."

On a lighter note, when we went into the bathroom, Aaron pointed at the potty and said, "Ms. BJ (his swim teacher) says don't swim in there." He was so busy talking about swimming and potties that he peed on his feet.

Derby for the boys

is fortunately being celebrated at school since Rich and I are happily clueless. Luke and I made his Derby float - shoe box creation, modeled after some machine on Star Wars, of course. The kindergarteners do a parade for the older kids. Aaron has to wear orange this week for some reason.

When I look at the picture of Luke making his crazy face for the camera, I can see what he'll look like as a teenager.

Legos and Jesus

Luke told me "I'm just not into dinosaurs anymore." Legos, especially Lego Star Wars ships, have taken their place. In many ways this is cool because he'll spend hours constructing the elaborate ships, and he takes great pride in doing them without our help. However, I figured out that the Lego kits cost about $12 per hour because he finishes them so quickly. Fortunately he's started to re-use the pieces to invent his own ships.

This morning he came out of Sunday School and proudly showed me the drawing on red paper above. I looked at the person with the x's on his eyes, thought about his Star Wars drawings, and asked, "Is your bad guy dead?" Not quite. "Mom, that's Jesus going to heaven from his tomb." Rick, his Sunday School teacer, confirmed that they were talking about the ascension and making drawings about their understanding of Easter.

Crestwood Spring Festival

The kindergarteners and 1st graders performed a circus musical - Luke volunteered for a speaking part, then backed out a couple of days before the performance. Rich and I were surprised that he volunteered in the first place. What we didn't know is that he's learned to hula hoop!

Aaron was dreadful all evening - no bribery, punishment, or distraction lasted more than a few minutes.

When I picked Aaron up from daycare yesterday he told me, "Aaron not go in trees. That's for birds, and penguins."

Super Reader

This series of books is now my favorite! They're written so the text is divided for two readers to take turns, then some sections are written to read out loud together. The language is challenging for Luke but he can sight read enough of it for it to be fun reading it through even the first time. I also like that the way the stories are written in a way that really encourage dramatic reading. Rich and I have been so amazed with Luke's reading - he's confident and he can decode so many words, and he likes trying to figure out signs, words that flash on the TV screen, and things like the church bulletin. So cool!

more bugs

Aaron ran a fever and had a day off school on Friday, and it looks like Luke is taking his turn with the same bug. He has a fever and a headache. Unfortunately his timing is bad. Jefferson County is doing state accountability testing this week and Rich and I can't take off work. Time to start juggling.....

Aaron is standing on Luke's desk with Rexy, his T-Rex skeleton, "eating" a stegasaurus model he made with Momma. He's young enough that he admitted what he's doing when I called down to him, but it was pretty obvious anyway because of the sound effects he's making and the rattle from Luke's medals on the desk each time Aaron shifts his weight.

I told Luke what Aaron is doing, and Luke did a perfect imitation of me, with eye rolling and shaking his head.

Aaron has had a dramatic week. When I snuggled with him at bedtime last night, he told me:
"I fell off the bridge" (true, but just the little one over the stream behind our house)
"I fell off the wall" (also true, riding a bike at the end of our driveway over a 3 foot drop into the weeds)
"The bike fell on top of me" (true)
"Daddy got it off" (thank heavens)

He can also give a good catalogue of his boo-boos, but at this point they are healed because they were little to start with.

Indianapolis Children's Museum

This always seems like a fun trip, but maybe there is a full moon?? Aaron screamed for 3 out of 4 hours in the car, plus threw two tantrurms in the museum. We went with the Weis family, and fortunately (?)one of their kids was throwing a tantrum too, so we all decided that it was better to cut our losses and head home early.

Spring break misc

We decided to stay close to home for spring break this year, and I'm so relieved to get a chance to relax and goof off. I spent the first several days reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" and "The Girl Who Played with Fire," and I can't wait for the third book in the series to be published in May. I've made it to yoga most days and started to do some light running & walking, and it's felt good to do more exercise. Luke did one gymnastics clinic, front and back handsprings, but he's also really wanted time to just lay around the house. Grandma Barbara came for four days to visit, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the boys. The big news really is for Aaron. He had his assessment at Green Hill for continuing occuational therapy. The therapist let us know that he'll qualify and we set up his appointments. We talked about motor planning as a possible additional area of concern, and definitely a source of frustration.The cool thing at Green Hill is that they do therapy for half of the time on horseback, which is supposed to be wonderful for core strength and for increasing proprioceptive awareness. Aaron was so excited by the horses, and really wanted to ride that day. We talked about motor planning as a possible area of concern, and definitely a source of frustration. Grandma Barabara distracted him for a bit with ice cream, but he asked about the horses several times through the day.

This site gives good basic info on therapy with horses:
http://www.americanhippotherapyassociation.org/aha_hpot_tool.htm

Easter 2010

I delayed hiding our eggs and giving Easter gifts because of the enormous sugar rush already in progress. Maybe they'll be over it by Tuesday? Mom and I decorated eggs with the boys yesterday. My laugh during egg decorating was that both boys were more eager to eat the eggs than dye and paint them. Grandma Barbara arrived safely for a visit, and the kiddos (big & little) are delighted that she's here!

Oops?

Just realized that Rich sent Aaron to school without any underwear.

Cake!

I found a book of recipe's for kids on a clearance rack..... Luke picked out a crazy crown cake for his first foray into baking in a few months. His friend Sammy was happy to join in, and Aaron actually managed to decorate his cake as well as eat the decorations.

Luke's poems

These were in Luke's folder yesterday:

tooth is loose
tooth is loose
I can't wait
for another loose tooth
(it's a little bit of wishful thinking here.....his teeth are solidly planted!)

Love Dog
Dog is fun
Dog is cool
Dog is fuzzy fun
Dog loves Tuesday
Garbage man comes
Dog hates bad guys
Stabs them dead
Dog is crazy fun
I love him

Gotta think this is about Charlie, but who knows!

Aaron has a stomach bug so we went to the doctor today. He's finally a little over 28 pounds, so he's about at the 5th percentile. I also had Dr. Haney fill out the paperwork for his referral to Green Hill for more occupational therapy.

I posted this a couple of days ago....

At bedtime Aaron was yelling, "STOP Luke!" over and over. I asked what he wanted Luke to stop doing and he said, "Sleeping!!" Kinda the point of bedtime?

Rich and I figured out that Luke was snoring...which makes a lot more sense!

No biting, but....

Today's report from daycare: "Lot's of spittig today at friends and on the flour. We used the toothbrush for awhile. It seemed to help some."

A friend of who teaches kids with severe disabilities reminded me that if we eliminate one behavior, we need a replacement behavior. This one is annoying and gross, but I'll ignore it for now and see if a brilliant replacement comes to mind.

Big questions a'comin.....

Luke asked me last night about the tampons he saw in the bathroom. After a quick flash of heebie-geebies, I gave him a 6-year old level, pretty clinical description of the menstrual cycles and why women have them. He told me, "You don't need those anymore so you can throw them away." Rich and I assume he meant that I'm not having more babies, but it's open to interpretation.

Rainy day, big umbrella

Luke's state gymnastics meet

Not a good meet. Luke was unfocused and with a terrible coach, and we saw inconsistencies in scoring. He was out of uniform 5 out of 6 events. I'm more upset than he is, especially following a series of irritating experiences this week with the booster club.

Dipthong

Aaron says:

Na - yow (now)
yay - es (yes)
Tahy - et (that)

Rich is trying to correct his accent. I think it is a hopeless case.

Cutting

Aaron has cut holes in several items of clothing (cutting paper is his hobby) - occasionally he cuts a little hole and neither Rich or I will notice it. However, WEARING a shirt with a little hole makes him insane, crying and begging for a new shirt.

Rich forgot to take Aaron's backpack - which has extra clothing - into daycare today, and of course, today is the day he happened to have on a shirt with a tiny hole. When I picked him up, his daily note said, "Aaron was upset this morning that his shirt had a hole in it. He was very persistent :) so we gave him a CDC shirt." Thank heavens they were understanding!

Aaron Update

No biting so far this week! His teachers are doing a lovely job incorporating some of our suggestions and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with them yesterday. They emphasized that his biting has seemed more exploratory than aggressive.

Another note....he calls toothpaste, "poothtaste."

Aaron, night time mayhem

Oh, this child! No biting and no hitting at school today - whew! Instead he tormented me tonight..... an hour and a half of potty breaks, dino needs, and clothing issues AFTER he was already in bed. He didn't want to wear the shirt that he cut a couple of small holes in last week. My word.

Ideas from Jane

Aaron's OT Jane called last night and we talked about the daycare problems. She had lots of ideas for positive ways to get his sensory needs met, some new, some familiar. Here are my notes to send to daycare:

Ideas for Aaron

1. Needs a close bond with one of his teachers – safety for asking for help, extra physical affection. Maybe transition to new room plus teacher going on a medical leave is an extra stressor. One suggestion from Jane is that he choose and bring a little treat for his grown up this week, and then he get a big thank you and TLC.
2. Managing transitions – Aaron probably would do better near the front of the line where it’s less likely for him to be accidentally bumped or have extra movement around him. Maybe a job like carrying something (like a couple of books to the library, or a toy to the gym) or holding the door to give him a positive, distracting task. In circle, seated near an adult or in a place where it’s easy to see him and intervene if it seems like he’s getting agitated.
3. Oral stimulation – we’ll put a vibrating toothbrush in his bag. He can just use it at logical times of the day like after meals – just put on some toothpaste and let him play with it (he calls it poothpaste….very cute). I’ll also send in some things that Jane used with him that other kids may enjoy as well as part of your normal routines:
 Straws to blow pom-pom balls and feathers, or to suck on straws to pick up and move little objects
 Blowing bubbles – with normal bubble toys, but also in a flat bowl or baking dish with straws, races blowing little toys across a water table with straws

4. Joint compression & heavy work – with the type of sensory processing disorder Aaron has, he needs stronger physical sensations than other children. This helps him feel settled and physically comfortable. Here are some ideas that may be easy to incorporate into his normal day:
 Wear a backpack with a couple of heavy books during normal play
 Pushing mats, stacking chairs (Jane said he really likes this), carrying heavy things to “help”
 Tug of war with a towel or jump rope
 Frog hopping, crab walking, walking on hands with adult holding feet
 Quick back massage or joint compression with very firm pressure
 Hold him under the armpits and swing him
 I’ll send in a weighted ball – use for general play (e.g. bowling, or rolling on the floor between kids) or put it in his backpack to carry
 Play airplane with his tummy on an adult’s feet, or have him lay on the floor and push his feet against the adult’s chest
 Hammering golf tees into a Styrofoam cooler with play hammers – Aaron LOVES to do this – if it is appropriate at daycare let me know and we’ll bring these in

5. Dinosaur play & conversations – let’s encourage these to be our special “at home” types of play…. Toy dinos, dino books, dino tshirts, dino role play at home rather than at school as his special time with Luke, mom, and dad. His ability to tell the difference between fantasy and reality is pretty shaking at this age, so this may minimize the chance of play bites if that is part of the issue for him.

Daycare Thug, Friday

I've exchanged email today with the daycare director, and she sent me home with a book on biting. Today, no biting, but...."Aaron was playing with dolls with another child and hit the child with a doll in the face. The hit was unprovoked and left a mark on the child's face."

In response to a note I sent to the teacher she replied, "I did want to let you know that Aaron has been biting a numer of different children, not just one. Leslie & I have been talking about why Aaron might be biting. The instances have often happened during transitions, but they have been unprovoked. Also, for the most part, it has been a calm environment. We will continue to remind Aaron to use his words. We will also continue to remind him that biting hurts his friends."

We're meeting next Tuesday to talk about his behavior.

Daycare thug

Aaron is making everyone crazy. Here are the two notes from daycare today:

"In line to go to the library, Aaron leaned forward in line and bit a friend on the back." From the assistant director

"Other than the biting, over the last few days we hae caught Aaron tearing up the puzzles in the room. We've talked to him about this several times, but it hasn't seemed to help. He has torn up for puzzles over the last several days. Could you please remind him to play nicely with our things at school?" From his teacher

Really unhappy with him, not sure what to do with him.

Sweet boys

Really seeing the payoff in great male role models....

I needed to run downstairs to grab pajamas and I asked Luke to see if he could get Aaron to go potty. When I came upstairs Luke had him in the restroom, successfully pottied, up on a chair and helping with his hands ("make sure you get between your fingers, good job Aaron!"). Then Luke brushed Aaron's teeth and did a good job of it. I think Aaron was glad to get TLC from the big bro he worships.

And more idols - Leonard plays with the boys on Wednesdays until I pick them up. Tonight he was teaching them to play hockey with plastic hockey sticks and a rubber playground ball. The boys totally ignored me in favor of Leonard, and both hugged/wrestled him when I finally convinced them it was time to leave. In the car Aaron told me, "I play Lemerd. I love him!"

Mom still has great moves!

She said she was awesome at hula hooping in elementary school. Luke really wants to learn, but he has some practice to do.

Columbus OH trip

Luke's meet this weekend was a big improvement - by far the best he's looked and scored. Dad says he's gotten past the plateau of the past few months. Overall he was 4 out of 8 in his age for Level 4s, and his highest place on event was a 2nd - we think rings. Event scores: floor - 13.3, pommel horse - 11.7 (much better than before), rings - 13.6, vault - 13.5, parallel bars - 13.3, high bars - 12.9.

We also went to the Columbus Science Center for much of Saturday. The dinosaur IMAX was amazing and the boys had fun at the exhibits.

Also went to our first college gymnastics meet, Penn State vs. Ohio State. The college men were amazing and one of the Penn State gymnastics came from Luke's gym. Unfortunately Luke was less impressed that my parents and I......he was much more interested in assembling a robotic pet we bought at the museum. Aaron gave me the best laugh of the weekend. He took a nap on Dad's lap during the meet and peed in his sleep, soaking Dad's leg and dripping on the floor. Dad's expression was priceless.

Cool writing