Catching up!

Massively behind on the blog. Things have been going pretty smoothly, but have been very busy.

School: We're currently on winter break, and missed last week due to sickness, but school has been going fairly well. Bug is excited to ride the bus and so it is easy at least to get him ready to go. Last I checked in with his teacher, there were still the behavioral concerns. She also mentioned trying a weighted vest for him to help him focus during circle and fine motor time.

I have definitely seen an improvement in his willingness to color and help with projects, so we're definitely seeing benefits. His IEP is due to be re-evaluated, so it'll be interesting to see where they set his goals.

Speech: We went through a bit of a rough patch with Laura. I think things were a little too rigid for Bug's liking and he wasn't too happy about it. Laura changed tactics and has been doing less structured activities as well as using a timer to visually show Bug when transitions are coming. We're still working to get him to understand that he'll get a "reward" activity after completing a "work" activity. He's not quite there yet. We are making good progress with "yes" again--we had backslid a little. And Bug is doing a great job expanding "I want _____" to "I want to eat/drink/look at/etc _____". He still needs prompting a lot of the times, but he's getting the hang of it. I know he's working hard for us!

OT: Especially with the weather being less enjoyable, OT has been a very important part of our week. Eli is doing wonderfully with Frances, and I'm super impressed with her too. She's been very helpfully giving me ideas to do at home, and activities with Wiggle, and suggested a really great book, "Raising a Sensory Smart Child", to read as well. She's been working on a lot of fine motor skills with Bug, like cutting and coloring. We've also had a lot of success playing with him in the ball pit and barrel swing. She's also been very receptive to pushing him speechwise, encouraging him to say "Yes" and ask for things using full sentences. I am so grateful for OT.

Home has been an interesting mix of hard and fun. The hard part is that we're a lot more cooped up than any of us want. We are getting a playset (ASAP!!) for the kids (THANKS TO FAMILY FOR MAKING THAT GOAL A REALITY!!) but for now we're doing a lot of roughhousing (both boys love to be flipped upside down) and bouncing. Auntie Amy got the boys a bouncy cow for Christmas, and Bug is so excited!

Cow goes where Bug goes

I've also been doing a lot more tactile activities with the boys (Wiggle seems to struggle a lot, and it's good for Bug too). Messy, but fun.

Painting with balloons

Daddy dropping beans on Bug's head

Playing in flour--MESSY!

Paint bubbles

One of the coolest things that we did, that Bug actually initiated, was finding and circling letters on a sheet. Does look like much, but Bug was finding the letters on his own and circling them unassisted. It was extremely rewarding to see!

We've been working on getting more videos for PRT, but things have been very busy, and it seems like a lot of times we're playing/working with Bug and things evolve without the camera rolling. Hopefully we can finish them soon so we can do another session.

Well, that's about it for Bug. Lots of great progress. I am just so proud of him!