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.