We took Ethan to the doctor on Wednesday. He gave us a nasal spray for him and wants to see him again in September. The doctor was pretty good answering our questions and is supposed to call Dan back when he reviews the results of the hearing tests.
Ethan of course is the one who remembers his spray in the morning because mama forgets.
We went to the bookstore to find his summer reading books (which we did not find by the way) and we bought this very good craft book, “My Book of AMAZING CRAFTS”, and he has been nonstop. Its great because all you need are scissors and glue AND I don’t have to sit with him apart from sometimes helping him with the directions he can do it on his own and is very good with it. I may have to go back and get another book so he can have something to do on the drive up to PA.
He had his first sleep over at his cousin’s house two weeks ago and did fairly well. He promised he would not cry and didn’t, although I was told he really wanted to at one point because he wanted to go home :(. He held it together and didn’t fall asleep till 1 am, but over all it was a success, and he may do it again soon.
Our sweet Bianca is getting so big. There are clothes that were big on her last week that now fit her perfectly. She is becoming more aware of the world and is learning so quickly. I was able to teach her some colors in about ten minutes with pompons. She now likes to tell me the colors of things. It’s very cute. She is also going through the “naked” stage. I cannot keep clothes on her. Ethan calls her ‘jungle girl’. Last night when I went to check on them before going to bed she was sleeping on her bed completely naked. The funny thing is, that she has no problem with me putting her clothes on, but then will take them off in a few minutes.
She continues to be very affectionate and now plays with Ethan quite a bit. She even gives him unsolicited kisses, which make Ethan very happy of course.
Our beautiful Fifi is full of surprises. We had our placement meeting for her, and were asked to bring her along so they could meet her. Dan was able to come this us. It was the same people that I had met with for Bianca’s meeting. Fifi charmed them immediately even though she was not very happy about being there. The speech pathologist was very concerned because it is so hard for her to communicate, which frustrates her so much. She made sure that if Fifi doesn’t start to communicate better by the first grading period that they will provide her with a “speech aid device”. We are not sure what that means right now. She will be in the same class as Bianca. Which from what they were able to explain to us is a mixture of different therapies. They use some ideas from ABA, Floortime and TEACH. They also use the PECS system and they are very structured. Fifi will also have 60min. of speech therapy a week.
As they were all writing their reports and we were waiting for our copies, the speech pathologist went to the computer with Fifi and was showing her a game that teaches the letters, which Fifi really liked. She told Dan that Fifi might already have some reading skills.
Dan sat with the speech pathologist as I was signing papers and was able to ask her about extra therapies for the girls. She suggested for us to wait and see how the girls do in school before getting them involved in extra therapy. She said that sometimes people try to do too much and the kids end up overwhelmed and still progress very little.
We believe that she may have a point and will wait, since school is starting very soon. I think that the girls are going to do great. They learn so quickly and I am reading all the books. I have four at the moment: One on ABA, one on Floor time, one on brain damage and “Autism: a parent’s guide”. Thank you Christie. I think that with school and the things that we can do at home with them they will be able to get better. If we see that they need more help after that first month in which we are supposed to have a meeting with the teacher, then we will look for more things to do.
Coming back to our little Fifi. That same day when she brought me the doodle pad to draw for her, I wrote CAT instead of drawing a cat. She said cat, I then wrote FOX, she said fox, she was able to read COW, DUCK, HORSE, and a few more. She recognizes the words, and yes they are all animals. Thank you Baby Einstein. It’s very cool though.
She has been a delight the last few days and between yesterday and today she has been going to the bathroom. Like she did with walking, she took her time and waited till she was ready. Great timing too, because they were going to teach her at school. Now, they don’t have to. She seems to be realizing that she can communicate with us, even if it’s by just pulling me towards what she wants or putting my hand on what she wants to do. Like putting my hand on her pajamas' zipper so I will take it off. So we have a little less meltdowns.
Over all we are all doing well and we are learning a lot with our little ones. They are learning new things each day and we are learning to be more patient and understanding and it is making our lives a little easier.
We will be gone next week end, and I will be back with many more pictures from our trip.
