I noticed

Kate,
I noticed you looking at yourself making funny faces in the mirror.
I noticed when you were not happy about going to bed without a snack, you calmed down in a few minutes.
I noticed how easily the exercises went today.
I noticed when we were at the pool and I said there wasn't enough time to swim, that you found your own solution and just put your feet in.
I noticed when you were on the phone with Violet, you talked with her about what SHE called about.
I noticed that when Violet had to go eat dinner, you said goodbye right away, and asked if she wanted to say goodbye to me.
I noticed that, even though you were irritated about leaving Polly(the parrot) at the library, you were able to carry on with our plans without throwing a fit.
I noticed how you wore your glasses and earplug through the whole movie.
I noticed you talking with friends about a variety of subjects and only mentioning car washes briefly.

You are growing quickly.

Love,
Mommy

A few moments to myself

Kate is in the shower, again, singing.  Really.  So I will blog a little.  She just said how she LOVES the water running down over her head and we were talking about when she HATED water.  We were laughing about it and she couldn't believe that she felt that way.  It was cool.  She even asked why she felt that way!!  I told her I had no idea, haha.

Yesterday was a challenging day.  I learned alot though and have a new resolve to keep things positive.  My sweet Kate is so scared of things sometimes and I know the only way to get through it is to support her and show I love her.  Easier said than done, but today I was/am in a much more centered place and it really helped the mood of the day. 

I have been stressing about not getting all the exercises done.  And today I just let it flow.  We did primitives 2 times and no core, but I am ok with it.  It seems one of the Brain Balance songs is bringing negative energy, so I played different music during exercises and both times Kate was more cooperative.  I am thinking of some other ways to make them more fun, or new incentives to do right after. 

I went to the grocery store while Kate was at her session.  I am kicking myself now for not getting some kind of treat.  Oh well.  At least I got ingredients to make macaroons, but no parchment paper.  Maybe tomorrow.  It was nice to get some shopping done so we just had to go to Costco to get avocados and blueberries.  She is doing well at taking her B vitamins and juice plus in avocado-blueberry pudding.  She takes the yeast supp in almond butter.  Hopefully soon she will be able to swallow those capsules, still working on that!

It was fun to see Kate playing with the kids at BB while I chatted with the moms.  She was being a witch and chasing a younger friend.  It is the only time she gets to be around other kids and the only time I get to be with other adults, for the most part.  I am going to try to get us out to the playground more, we always seem to run out of time if the exercises don't go smoothly.

Daily I am reminded of the Son-Rise program and how it has been so helpful in bringing a new way of looking at things.  I am really grateful for that training and I am wanting to re-read the book "Happiness is a choice".  I need a refresher so I can practice the Son-Rise attitude with more gusto.  It really is all about attitude for me.  And I am the model for Kate so I'd better do my best at being positive.

Ps.  Kate wore a new pair of pants today.  Not fuzzy fleece, but tie-dye tighter fitting pants.  And she tried on a few pairs of shorts, tie-dye and light blue.  Trying to transition to summer clothes before it gets blazing hot!

Just the last part

So, today was one of those days.  I will just share the awesome parts.  At Brain Balance Kate got another brain.  She gets a paper that looks like a brain everytime she goes up a level or does something noteworthy.  So, today she went up a level in making inferences.  Yay, Kate!

Well, the last hour makes up for the whole rest of the day!!  Kate asked me if she could take a shower tonight.!  And even though it was 8:00, of course, I said YES!  So, she showered until the hot water ran out.  She scrubbed herself with a toothbrush that she has been cleaning various things around the house, but hey, she cleaned her own body.  So, after the shower, I dried her jammy pants and asked her if she wanted to try on some shorts (boxer shorts).  I also brought out a pair of socks, just because I saw them on the shelf.  Well, she put the shorts on by herself and wore them AND the socks for about 10 minutes while I was reading the bedtime book.  The jammy pants took about 30 minutes to dry and she was happy to have them back, but it was exciting that she parted with them for so long. 

So, I guess that was my bonus for staying relatively calm and loving today despite the many opportunities to flip out along with Kate :) 

Perfect Quote

You can be fully satisfied with where you are, understanding that you're eternally evolving. When you get into that place of feeling appreciation of where you are and of who you are, and appreciation of what you are, and you accept that you are a never-ending, always unfolding Being, then you can stand in that delicate balance of being optimistic about what is to come, without being unhappy about where you stand. Find a way of eagerly anticipating future changes, while at the same time you are in love and satisfied with who, what, where and how you be.

~Abraham

1st story...

I woke up this morning to Kate wanting to read to me.  Yes, that is right!!  She had read a funny story while I was sleeping and wanted to read it to me.  First, she paraphrased the story and then read it.  It was a short story from Poppleton Everyday by Cynthia Rylant called The New Bed.  Kate only needed help with one word, saleslady.  It is also cool because, not only is she reading the story, she is understanding what she read.

We have always read books and she likes books, but until today, she had never read a whole story OR been excited about it.  The most she has wanted to read to me is a couple of sentences, and that wasn't even in a book.  Everytime, in the past, that I wanted her to read, she would say that she didn't like to read out loud, or it was boring.

This really brings up the whole idea of being willing to do something, and excited to do it.  I didn't do anything.  It is just something that has clicked on for her.  CLICK, and everything is so different and new!

She did the exercises pretty easily today.  She came over within 5 minutes and moved through them pretty quickly.  She has enough stickers to go to the pool or to the toy store, so she is excited about that.

Before bed, she took another shower.  And this time, I only asked her once and she said "Sure!"  I am extremely grateful for this new interest in showering.  SO MUCH EASIER!!  And she even scrubbed the tiles with her toothbrush while she was in there.  BONUS!!

We are both addicted to The Magic Thief.  That makes it easier to get to bed on time so we can continue reading it.  Good book....

Another new shirt in the rotation!

Quick:

Bombed on exercises today, but...wore another new shirt to BB.  Yellow and orange tie-dye.
She played at the park with a group of friends while I got to share some Reiki.  She left her fur and things in the car the whole time.  Cha-ching.
I got to share some Reiki!  Yahoo!  I love it.
Got to see Julie and Gianni, whhoooot!  They have been sick for a while, too long.
K had a hard time falling asleep tonight, but didn't want Reiki.  Hmmmmm...
I watched part of a movie, boring, kitchen a mess, breakfast not planned, but I'm off to bed.  Night.

PAY DIRT

It is late and I must go to bed, it's a school night.  So all I am going to say is.....

Kate took a shower tonight.  And enjoyed it.


Ooo, those words are so sweet.  I can hardly stand it. 



At bed she said "Ok, tomorrow, I have, like, a thousand things to do!"

Activities!!

Kate's free play time is in the morning while I am taking a shower.  This whole week I have taken a shower before breakfast.  Amazing since her rule was that my shower had to be after breakfast.  And I obliged her because some tantrums need to be avoided and this was a long standing rule.  Say 5 years??  Well, she is doing well at "letting" me shower when I want.  Can you believe it, Matt??

While I am making breakfast, she stays busy with an activity that I set out at the table.  Mostly doing small motor stuff, since she is still at a 3 year old level.  I ask her to use her left hand, which is even more challenging for her. 

Up until now she has not liked art.  Any table activity that we did together was short lived.  She is liking art now!!  She reads the note that I write for her and starts on the activity by herself, where before she would need me to be there to get her started.  

She cut this car wash brush out of paper.  Cutting is getting easier for her now and she likes it!

She drew some pictures of salamanders for me.



A dishwasher and sprayer with plumbing :)



I asked her to transfer the pompoms with her left hand using the spoon.  She started out using her right hand and then switched to using her left.  Pretty good.  It was hard for her though.  No wonder she never liked this stuff before!  Who wants to do stuff that is too hard??

This one took her two days to do.  She had a hard time with it and wouldn't wear the glasses.  But, the next day I put it out again and she made a necklace and was pretty proud of herself, saying she was going to keep doing it until it was full.

I feel like I get to bring out all of my preschool ideas again.  It is pretty fun!!  But, I have forgotten alot, so I am always jogging my memory.  What were all the activities we used to do??  Now that she is so receptive, it is fun to set things up for her to do.

Climbing!!!

Kate did the exercises so easily today.  The first set she took 5 minutes to come over and start and 15 minutes to finish all the primitives.  The second set she took about 1 minute to come over and finished in 20 minutes (the core).  I didn't time the others, but they went fast also.

She wore the turquoise striped shirt to BB today.  She wasn't very happy about it and kept commenting that it was uncomfortable, but I just said "oh" and went out the door.  Then she said she didn't want anyone to comment on it, so I told Savannah at the front desk and she told everyone.  When Kate got out of her session one of the moms and her mom commented that she had a different shirt and they liked it.  She said, only with slight irritation in her voice, that she didn't want anyone to comment.  And that was it!!!  No big fuss, yay.

We stayed for about an hour after her session.  She played with the other kids and I got to talk diet with 2 of the moms.  Then we went to the park and Kate put ALL of her things and fur into a bag and I held it for the entire time at the park.  She climbed up one of the elements that I tried to get her to climb when we first got here and she wouldn't.  This time, I didn't even ask her to do it, she just went over and started climbing.  She kept herself busy actually climbing and moving around the playground playing on the structure.  She didn't play with the woodchips or make anything into a sink! She even watched a boy going down the fireman's pole.  Maybe next time :) 

She took off running across the grass and yelled back to me "Come on, Mommy! Let's collect leaves."  So we ran around to the trees looking for leaves.  I had her take her shoes off for some good grounding time.  She went over to the water fountain and asked if she could play in it.  I told her it was time to go and she said ok.  WHAT???  She didn't HAVE to play in the water!! We ran and walked together back to the car, looking for leaves along the way.

We stopped at the store to get some eggs.  We were at the car and she asked for her "things" and fur.  So I grabbed the bag, they were still in the bag from the park, and put it over my shoulder.  We started walking in and she said she needed her fur.  I reminded her that we have been to this store before and it was pretty warm outside.  We kept walking and did our shopping without another word about it.  The next time she asked for them was when we got home and got ready to go inside.  Sweeeeet!

Really fun day!

Babies

Today, I was thinking  about Kate when she was a baby.  Because we saw that her development was not typical, I think we were extra excited when she met new milestones or learned something new, regardless of when she did it.  It was so very exciting when she learned to walk.  We had been waiting for it for 19 months!!  And then all of a sudden she was walking.  What a thrill. 

Well, I am feeling those same feelings when she does new things each day.  I have always loved child development and watching kids grow and learn new things.  But this is especially exciting.  I get to watch as Kate goes through some of the stages of development that she missed or were experienced only partially.  It is as fun for me as watching toddlers explore or babies crawling for the first time.  I love it.

Staying Positive

When Matt was here, I was having a hard time keeping focused on all the wonderful new things we are experiencing with Kate.  She was having more rough days, taking extra long to do the exercises, and being grumpier than I had seen her before Matt's visit.  It is easy for me to get pulled into her negative space and as I realized this, I tried even harder to look for the positive.  When we finally realized that we were focusing on what we didn't want, Matt and I made an extra effort to talk about the cool things that happened that day and gloss over the hard moments.  And that is what I am doing with the blog too.  I am intending to pay more attention and write about all of the happy, uplifting things that we are seeing and experiencing.  It is not an attempt to make everyone believe that we are all happy and joyous all of the time, believe me we are not.  This is hard work.  And it is intense at times.  And I will only say that once, because the more that I say it is hard, the harder it will be.  That is my belief anyway.  So I just wanted to explain that.  If we are having a hard time or a hard day, I may write a little about it, but I will concentrate most of my posts on all of these amazing changes we are witnessing.  And they are SO amazing.

Awesome Day!!

Exercises have been a struggle to put it mildly.  So I figured out a new way to arrange them in our day and it worked out really well today.  I divided the exercises up into two groups. Primitives and Core.  These are the words Kate knows so she knows which ones she will be doing.  So we will do the Primitives three times a day, plus the exercises that need to be done 3 times.  And we will do the Core exercises two times a day, plus the exercises that are ok to do twice a day.  So the lists look like this.  Matt and Mom will be the only ones who know exactly what I am talking about, but that is OK.

Primitives:
blocking glasses, music, earplug
brush arm and leg
whiskers
hands
fingers
airplane
salamander and reverse salamander
wolf
pill bug
starfish
snow angel
eye exercises/stretches
metronome

Core:
blocking glasses, music, earplug
brush arm and leg
number tracing on hand
one arm, one leg
cross-crawl
sit ups
plank
supine bridge
push ups
leg lift
smells
sm motor (squiggly worms)
whiskers

Kate was able to get going easily because I told her that it would take less time the way I had it figured out.  She liked doing them for less time, for sure.  The Core group works out well because she will do a core(like sit ups) and then an easy one like identifying an essential oil.  So she gets a little rest in between.  Helpful.

So on Brain Balance days (MWF) we do the Primitives two times in the morning and the Core once in the morning.  We skip the second set of Core exercises because she does them at BB and just do the Primitives once more.  It worked out great!!  We had more free time in the afternoon today!

Daddy Near, Daddy Far

Well, Matt went back home on Saturday.  He was going to go back on Friday, but we talked him into staying another day.  I am glad he did, I am missing him already.  I called him my househusband because he was so helpful with cooking and doing laundry while I was relaxing and going to the spa.  Haha.  It was a wonderful break not to have to cook or do dishes.  I am grateful for that.  It was great that he got to see what our routine is like and Kate was excited to have her wrestling partner back for a while.  AND...I got a chance to go to our interim chiropractor twice and go to a Girl's Night Out at Brain Balance.  AND....I got to spend the day with my friend, Julie.  We had lunch together and went to some thrift stores.  Fun!!!

So I feel pretty refreshed.  Thanks a bunch, mahoney!



Another Great One!

Many around you want to point out "reality" to you. They say, "Face the facts. Look at what-is." And we say to you, if you are able to see only what-is—then, by Law of Attraction, you will create only more of what-is... You must be able to put your thoughts beyond what-is in order to attract something different or something more.

--- Abraham

And this is how we came to be doing Brain Balance with Kate.

Willing

I wanted to share a little about being willing.  I have found a big difference in being "able" to do something and being "willing" to do it.  Kate is able to buckle her seat belt, get her own drinks, dress herself etc.  But she lacks the willingness to do these things.  She doesn't have the internal motivation driving her to do many things for herself.  And what I want for her is for that motivation to be internal, not external.

And it is coming.  I see her, at times, being excited and proud of something she just did.  And not things like "I just made this cool car wash, or garbage disposal".  Like writing the message.  Or reading.  Or doing 10 sit ups.  She never has been excited about those things before Brain Balance.

I am excited that I can see her resistance fading and her willingness increasing. 

She is beginning to say "SURE!"  first, instead of an abrupt "NO!"

She is more willing... to try new exercises.....to go to a new park......to put on a new shirt.....to play an unfamiliar game....to look at things in a new way....to follow my lead.

Comfort Zone

So, I am supposed to be pushing Kate out of her comfort zone.  Mixing things up.  Having new experiences, meeting new people. Playing new games.  Doing new activities.

Yesterday, after about 3 weeks of asking on random days, Kate wore a shirt that a) wasn't tie-dye and b) hasn't worn in 2+ years.  Turquoise with white stripes! AND she wore a coat that she has only worn once in a year and a half.  Well, she wore the coat for about 5 minutes and then decided she didn't want to wear it out of the house.  I am still excited about it.  Before, she wouldn't even try it on without a big fuss.  She said that she didn't want anyone at the library commenting that she was wearing something new.  Ha!  I explained that we don't know anyone there and lots of kids wear fleece coats when it is 48 degrees and raining.  At least she thought about what I said.

Today, I told her that I wanted her to pick a new spot at the table at each meal.  For years, she has had "her" spot at the table and would flip out if anyone else sat there.  She grumbled a little about how she only likes this certain spot and what an idiot I was.  BUT........and this is the great part.....she ended up choosing a new spot for the 2 subsequent meals.  A little grumbling, but it only took her about 3 minutes to work through it.  The flexibility is just overwhelming me.

Tonight at bedtime, we picked out some new songs to add to Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Ordinary Miracle.  I put it on shuffle :)  She was ok with it!

Here is my list that we made together.  Well, I had all the ideas, hehe, and she watched me write them down.

*Pick a different seat at each meal
*Park in different spots at BB and at home(sometimes)
*Use a variety of dishes (not just a certain style bowl)
*Do exercises in random order
*Shuffle bedtime songs, add new songs to playlist
*Choose a few "things"(animals, toys) to bring with us places and leave some home, give other animals a chance to see where we go
*Drive new ways to stores and BB
*Wear a variety of clothes
*Change seats in car, sometimes go without booster
*Go on dates with Kate to new places (she offered this one :)
*Wear your fur less often
*Wear different shoes sometimes (she said "But I only have 1 pair" haha, we'll get another pair!)
This one is for me- use left hand to do some things, wear my purse on opposite side

"VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE"    our new motto!

The Magic Thief

We have been reading this book by Sarah Prineas!  It is sooo good and Kate is loving it.  We can hardly stop reading when it is time to go to bed.  Kate and Daddy made this wizard's book together while I was sleeping in.  This is the passage from the book that inspired Kate:

   "The book had a worn leather cover and raggedy-edged pages and bulged with paper markers, dried leaves, diagrams in faded ink, fragments of maps-all bound together by a thick leather strap with a lock in it.
    Well, well, Nevery muttered to himself.  "I thought they would have burned this."  He pulled out his locus magicalicus, whispered a spell word, and, with a little pop, the lock opened." 

Kate's locus magicalicus(magic stone) opening the lock

Message

This morning I found this dry erase board and wrote a note to Kate to show her how the letters look when you use the lines.  I wrote "Hi Kate,  What do you want to play today?  I love you always."

She read it to herself and smiled.  A few hours later I asked her if she would write me a note on the white board.  She picked up the board and seemed to be writing.  I tried to peek, but couldn't see anything, she was tilting the board toward her body.  She said she was a little embarrassed about what she wrote but gave me the board anyway.  This is her message:

To MOMEY K(she said this stands for Kate, like when people put their initials at the top of their journal)

              

                   Hi        (the "letters" by the Hi are a password so I can read the message)

               iHOPiCANHVEAMOViE&POPCORN.

I teared up when I read this.  This is the first sentence that I have seen her write, ever.  And, to answer my question from earlier is so awesome.  She may be writing at BB, but I haven't seen any of her work.  She looked up at me with a smile and asked me if I liked her writing.  I love it!!!!

Random Newness

Ok here are some tidbits of what we have noticed in the past few days:

*Kate hasn't been talking about or playing car wash non-stop, only a little
*Today, as we walked to the car, she walked in a straight line right beside me.  In the past, she always would walk in my path and I would have to swerve to avoid her.  And then she would do it again and again(but not on purpose)
*Kate read a whole sentence by herself about how to do a sit up.  She has been reading words everywhere! On signs, cars, food packages...
*One time, she didn't need salamander to go with her to wash her hands.  OH!! And, I asked her to wash her hands before her session at Brain Balance and she only got mildly irritated about it.  It took her only a few minutes and then she was able to transtion smoothly to the cubbies to take off her shoes.

I am having a hard time remembering!  Time to get out my notebook again and write them down right after they happen.  I'll add more as I think of them.

Socks!

Kate has always hated socks.  When she was a baby, she would rub her feet together or on the floor and slip her socks off.  Matt would pull her socks up over her pants to get them to stay on for a few minutes, but she would always get them off.  In fact, I looked through over a year's worth of pictures and there were maybe 5 pictures where Kate was wearing socks!

Around 10 months....Matt's attempt to keep the socks on

At 9 months with Grandma and Grandpa Grape,  that sock will be off in a second

So, Kate tolerated socks for a while.  She used to wear them, with a fuss, until about 2+ years ago.  Then she decided she had had enough of socks.  She hasn't worn them since.  We even tried to convince her to wear them to go play with Terra and the kids at the cool indoor play area.  No dice.  We've tried tie-dye socks and the fuzziest, softest socks ever.  Nothing.  When we go in a store, I point out the cool variety of socks.  No.

Ok, that brings us to Thursday. We decided to go to the bouncy house place, where everyone has to have socks in order to enter the play area.  Well, we always have Kate's leather booties in the car and she wears those instead of socks.  Thursday, we took the truck.  We got there, and in the parking lot I realized I had forgotten the booties.

We discussed some possible solutions to this problem:  Kate-go back home for the booties   Me-buy the $1 socks at the place and jump  Kate-NoT GoinG to HAPpen!

We were a little short on time and I told her that we couldn't go home to get the booties and we could jump another day.  She really wanted to jump today!  But she couldn't commit to the socks.  So, we left and went to the thrift store so I could find some chairs.  When I got back out to the truck, I offered one last time to go back to buy the socks and jump.  She said maybe!!! But, she wanted me to bring the socks out to the truck to see if she could wear them.  Fine.  I brought the socks out, she picked the pair she liked and, with a little stalling, tried them on.  She thought they were soft!  One baby step accomplished.  Matt and I were so happy at this point.  Can you believe it?? Happy, that our kid put on a pair of socks.  As I type this it sounds silly, but to us, it's a big deal.  It really shows how much she is changing, becoming more flexible and willing to try things that she previously wouldn't or couldn't do.  I was thinking that even if she didn't go and jump, I was thrilled with just this step.  But, I kept imagining her with her socks on sliding down the slide.

Well, it turns out that,with some encouragement, we all went inside and she wore the socks while she jumped to her heart's content.  She didn't mention the socks again while we were there.  But, when we got back in the truck she wanted to make sure I remember the booties next time.  Maybe I will, maybe I won't :)

Thanks Mama!

We were so lucky to have Gramma C visit us this past weekend.  She came around dinnertime on Friday and left after Kate's BB session on Wednesday.  Mom and I got to go to an Art Fair on Saturday which was very fun.  Matt and Kate went to a movie and it was nice to be able to spend time and talk with my Mama.  We both love art and going to art/craft fairs. 

Mom is such a good sport.  When Kate "allowed" her to, Mom did all the exercises with us.  When she wasn't allowed, Mom hung out with Matt on the back deck and waited, sometimes hours, for Kate to get the exercises done.  Kate is still having a hard time when there is more than one person around.  I know that it will be easier for her soon, but she gets so distracted when others are around and cannot do what I am asking her to do.  Like she said, why would she want to do stupid exercises when Gramma C is here??  Gramma is WAY more fun!! 

Matt and I got to go on TWO dates!!  We went to see The Hunger Games one night and went for a walk the other night.  It was great to spend time with my honey, just the two of us.  Thanks MOM!!  It was probably better for Mom to spend some one-on-one time with Kate.  She is a different little person when she is one-on-one.  So I'm sure they had a good time while we were gone.

It was so great that Mom was here because she got to watch Kate's session on Wednesday AND listen in on the progress report.  I am happy about that.  It is really fun to see Kate firsthand in a session.  Sometimes, I don't believe my eyes!!  She is really working great with the coaches there.

It was a sad goodbye for Kate, but she eventually recovered and was left with her "boring" parents (hehe).  So grateful that you could come Mom!

The Truth Comes OUT!

For weeks now I have been trying to figure out why Kate gets so fatigued when she does the exercises.  Some days she has to rest so much in between exercises that it takes double the time.  I have been wondering:  is it food related? is it the high ammonia?  is it my attitude?  is it the time of day? are the exercises too hard for her?  is she pretending to be tired so she doesn't have to do them? WHAT IS IT????

Well, a little while ago she said that being tired was an effect of the exercises.  Ok, I thought, they are too hard for her.  Today I was asking her about it and this is what she said, "It is an effect of the exercises.  AHHH.  I don't know, it is hard to explain.(getting irritated).  It's an effect of me not wanting to do the exercises!"

Well, there you have it!  Now I know.  So, I told her that she can choose to do the exercises and be tired, or she can choose to do the exercises with energy.  Either way, we are still doing the exercises.  THREE TIMES A DAY, EVERYDAY.  Hopefully soon she will realize it is easier to move through them quickly.  She will be able to do more of what she wants if she gets them done sooner.  She is still learning it however.

I'm Clean, I'm Clean, I'm Clean

To appreciate this occasion, I will give a little backstory.  To those who don't have kids with left or right brain weakness, this probably seems pretty extreme, but it is just one of the "stuck" areas that Kate was in.  I don't remember the dates, but you will get the idea.  A while ago(2 years?), Kate decided that she didn't want to get wet.  Honestly, I don't even remember her reason or rational for it.  No swimming, no bathing or showering, no washing hands, etc.  Anything having to do with water was out!  Luckily she would drink it :)  Well, last August her uncle and cousins were with us and we all went to the hot springs.  She really wanted to go swimming with them and with a little incentive she got into some swim shorts and got in the pool.  Momentous day!  Well, since then she has enjoyed going swimming and she will shower off after the pool, but only at the pool's facilities.  She has refused to take a shower or bath at home.  It's a really good thing she has a creative Mama who managed to keep her somewhat clean :)   

Yesterday, Kate wanted to go swimming at the pool at our apartment complex.  Before we went out, I explained that if she wanted to swim she would have to use our shower to get the chlorine off after swimming.  She easily agreed. So, Kate, Matt and Grandma C went swimming and we all came back to the apartment.  I prompted her to go right into the shower and after a slight hesitation, she did!!  She said the warm water would feel so good because she was a little cold.  She got right in the shower and I washed her up, even her hair, with no complaints.  When I was done, she asked for a washcloth and I peeked in to see what she was doing.  She was scrubbing her chest and belly!!  She stayed in for quite a while enjoying the warm water.  Eventually, she got out and I dried her off.  She was a little irritable for a few minutes, but then easily moved into an activity.

Just after the shower!

"I'm a carwash brush!"

What a momentous day!

Progress Report #2

Program Director/Coach Notes:
We have continued to see significant improvements in Kate!  She has increased in levels in many of the areas.  We are excited by her increase in core muscle strength.  She also has worked especially hard at cross crawls.  She continues to become more flexible and is willing to have other coaches work with her when necessary.  She is able to leave more of her "things" in her cubby, rather than bringing them all back to the room.  She takes her fur off for almost the entire session now.  We are excited by the progress Kate continues to make.

Cognitive Coach Notes:
Kate is making great progress in all areas of reading.  She is improving in math.  She recently told the cognitive coach that she needs more difficult math.  Kate is listening and following directions really well.  She is improving on her ability to stay on task.  She has a cute sense of humor and is fun to work with.



Things to work on at home:
Continue primitive and core exercises
Work on fine motor activities, using left hand when possible
Stand on left leg as long as possible (goal of 30 seconds)
Continue to push her out of her comfort zone

Core

When we started the program, Kate needed help to do sit ups.  Well, it's been about 12 days of doing sit ups everyday, 3x a day and now she can do 6 sit ups in a row.  Yay for her!!  She is really getting stronger.  The level one goal for her is to do 25 sit ups in 1 minute.  Level 2 is 35 and Level 3 is 45 in 1 minute.  So, she still has a long way to go to reach the Level 3 goal, but she is on her way!

On Wednesday it will be Kate's 20th session.  So, it's progress report time!!  We will see where she is at in all of the areas.  Stay tuned :)

JUST DO IT, already!

When I was young, I used to call my mom names when I was mad at her.  Well, now it's my turn.  Kate has been calling me the meanest names she knows in order to get me to bend to her will! 

Last night, before bed, she was washing some "cars" in her car wash invention and I asked her to get ready for bed.  She would say "just a minute" or "I'm coming" but 20 minutes later hadn't moved.  This scenario is typical for us.  It is always hard for her to transition from the activity she likes.  She just gets "stuck" there.  Anyway, I feel like it would be easier to move from one thing to the next if her inventions weren't out all the time because the inventions get "stuck" too.  Kate doesn't allow them to be moved or put away. And, in the past, if I moved them I knew that a major tantrum was coming.  She explained it well last night when she said(yelled) "I DON'T LIKE CHANGE!"

So, after many threats over the past few weeks, I finally did it (with Matt's help and support).  We put away all of the toys and inventions and set-ups that are NEVER to be moved.  Phew.  And all the while we were thinking how we were going to handle the morning (or day) of tantrums and name-calling.  We were going to be happy and loving and support each other.  That was the plan.  So the living room is bare, except for the chairs and table.  NO TOYS.

One of the reasons I wanted to do this is that we are supposed to be doing lots of NEW activities.  New stimulates right brain, old and repetitive stimulates left brain.  It is hard, but getting easier, for me to get Kate to do new activities when her special interests are set up.  And sometimes she is calling me names when I ask her to change activities. Huh.  Imagine that!!  The nerve, haha. So, it was past time for me to change it up!!

So, this morning when she woke up she played in our room for a little while.  Eventually she said "Mommy, I decided that if you take the car wash down, that you have to put it back up."  Huh?  And when she walked out into the living room and saw that everything was gone, she just said how she didn't want it all moved and that it would be hard to put it back.  She TALKED about it and how she was feeling!  Double HUH???

The other part of the plan was to have a yummy breakfast to distract her.  Matt had it ready and she just went right to eating.  After breakfast, we moved easily into doing the exercises and now Matt and Kate are drawing with colored pencils and have been for the past 20 minutes. 

Sigh of relief.  She is in such a good mood right now and it is a nice change from the last few days.   Mom is coming for a visit and we are excited for that.  So I hope this mood continues so we will have an easy weekend.



   

Deactivate!!

:: Pushing Buttons ::
When toddlers get ahold of computer keyboards,
telephones, or any other gadgetry, they go wild
pushing buttons! They're driven to discover the
magical powers at their fingertips.

At any age, children are driven to push their parents'
"buttons" too! Not because they're "naughty" but for
two reasons:

1. They need to know what's there -- to map the
    emotional terrain and keep the map up to date.

2. It's an efficient way to get their parents'
    heightened attention *and* feel more powerful.

When your child pushes your buttons, s/he's doing you
a favor: revealing that you've given your power away
to the triggering behavior or conditions.

When you de-activate your buttons -- consciously
choosing to stay Connected and Present, regardless of
conditions and behavior -- you reclaim your Authentic
Power! You cease to be someone who can be controlled
like a mindless machine.

And your child will lose interest in the buttons
you've de-activated, especially if you're also helping
him or her find better ways to feel powerful.

http://dailygroove.net/pushing-buttons

Take the next step...
Join the PATH Program:
http://www.enjoyparenting.com/path/info

       Get "The Daily Groove" BOOK!
       http://www.enjoyparenting.com/book

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Copyright (c) 2012 by Scott Noelle

More Eyes!!

A quick post.  Matt and I watched The Event last night and now we are hooked on the series.  There are 4 more discs to watch. 

About Kate!  The other day I watched as she bent over to look her friend G. in the eyes.  She actually bent down to his 4 year old eye level  when she was talking to him!  Well, she did it again today.  I was interacting with a little 18 month old girl and Kate knelt down beside me and started interacting with her.  She has never really been interested in younger children before. 

Kate is trying so hard to swallow capsules.  It is tricky for her tongue to let them go down.  So she started practicing with Spry mints.  They are going down a little easier, but it still takes her a while.  I gave her some B vitamin in some applesauce today, just a tiny bit so she could get the taste.  She didn't like it much and I explained that was why I want her to practice. She was good with it and understands better why I am asking her to practice.

The exercises went great tonight!  I think it was because she had a session today.  She just seemed more coordinated and happy after the session.