4/3/2017

Hi guys!!! Where has the time gone? It has been 5 months since I posted on my blog and I have A LOOOOOOT to update on here! This week finally seemed like a less hectic week even though I have wanted to write a blog post for months now. AND, April is Autism Awareness month so in case you are not aware… 😉 My goal is to update once a month (hopefully the first week of each month). Because I have so much to say, I will try to cut out the lengthy details and get right to the main points.

• I officially pulled Isaiah out of preschool and placed him in Applied Behavior Analysis. He receives an average of 25 hours a week of one-on-one ABA Therapy/Intervention in a center that takes me about 12 minutes to drive there! (Praise the Lord) He started on February 1st and I have seen his spontaneous communication erupt. He is meeting goals, learning how to socially interact with peers, complying to commands, practicing speech and articulation, waiting patiently, learning independent play, communicating his wants, decreasing self stimulating behavior, learning imitation skills, etc. There has been ups and downs but overall, I am very happy with this decision and look forward to many more months of ABA!
• Eating: 5 months ago, I introduced carrots. Today, he chooses carrots over his beloved pb&j sandwich. Overall, eating has improved. We all sit at the table and eat dinner as a family together. Wow. Isaiah has to sit (without screen time) until he is all done eating. He also faithfully eats cucumber. I recently introduced deli ham, which he has been eating a cut up slice of on a daily basis. He eats it, but is not a fan. I typically have Isaiah try at least 1 bite of our dinner and he does better with new foods than another 3 year old that I know… The other night he had a cut up hamburger and a piece of pineapple. Wooohooo! My goal is to get him to eat ham and cheese sandwiches. Then I could easily introduce other sliced meats. Instead of just chicken nuggets, Isaiah has been enjoying crispy chicken tenders too.
• Isaiah LOVES “Pete the Cat” books, his new Series 2 of “Signing Time”, saying “Dinosaur GRUMPY!!!” (from a book), pretending to “sleep”, pretending to “swim” on the floor (its hilarious), leaning in for a kiss and saying “kiss” and then pulling away at the last second and giggling at my reaction, Signing/saying “sad” when we make him do something he doesn’t want to do, playing “red light green light” on the drive way, catching bubbles on his tongue, intentionally saying “no” and laughing at our “surprised” (“what?!?!? You don’t like ice cream? You’re kidding me!!) reaction.
• Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy ended in December and then I began a search to find another company that took my insurance. I found one and insurance was a nightmare. It didn’t work out for a variety of reasons. It just wasn’t the right fit. I found a new Speech Therapy company just 5 minutes from my house. We have gone through the evaluation process and hope to start services this week. I am really hoping this works out. I have decided to put Occupational and Physical Therapy on hold.
• Isaiah still has moments of frustration and bites. It is not very often though. We use chewy tubes very frequently now and make sure there is always one in his lunchbox at therapy and one in the car.
• I am currently awaiting approval from the “Gardiner” scholarship. Hopefully, Isaiah will be able to receive some funding to cover additional therapy costs. I also have considered the “Mckay” scholarship but because of the public school requirement, I haven’t really pursued it.
• For the last 10 weeks or so, Chase and I have led a family devotion time on Saturday mornings. We read a bible story, watch a short video, color, do a craft, and pray. Both kids are struggling a bit but I have seen a lot of improvement in Isaiah being able to sit and participate for 10 minutes in bible time at home. We also have been going around our neighborhood to meet our neighbors and hand out gospel tracts and church invitations. Isaiah struggles a bit with going a different route than his usual walking route but I have seen GREAT improvement with this as well. Isaiah happily sits in the wagon or gets out an walks as we go to about 10 houses.
• Isaiah is doing better and better at church as well. In fact, this past Sunday he had no interest in going into the Sanctuary during the music worship time and cried to go back to his classroom. So, I let him go back for the full 2.5 hours. Our church has recently changed the bible curriculum/method of teaching and Isaiah is doing way better now. Still not perfect. But much, much better. He actually sits on his aids lap and listens during the bible lesson. I haven’t had to correct his behavior during church in a while and I have been getting good reports back. One aid even told me that Isaiah doesn’t need an aid anymore. (lol yes he does) For now it is going well and for that I am thankful to the Lord.
• Isaiah is understanding more and more and is demonstrating independence in a variety of ways.
• His favorite shoes: Flip Flops. This kid could not stand flip flops just last summer.
• We have implemented a “no jumping on anything other than a trampoline” and its a little rough on him sometimes. He defers to going to his bed, throwing all the sheets and pillows off, laying down, and pretending to sleep.
• Much improvement with playing with his sister. They chase each other and tolerate each other more. Isaiah looks at her and her reaction. He is sad when she gets disciplined or when she cries.

Thanks for reading! We have been very active with the kiddos… going to the beach, playgrounds, science center, Aquatica, Seaworld, Islands of Adventure, etc. I am so thankful to see Isaiah’s continual improvement in speech. I can’t believe he will be turning 5 in just 6 months!

Fall is Here!

Hey guys! Thank you for taking the time to read about Isaiah. Isaiah had a really good week except for Sunday. I dropped the ball a little and made a mistake that affected his day… more on that later. We also had a little bit of a cold front this past weekend so we offically busted out the long sleeves and jeans! Here is a quick summary of my week:

• This week is a little more busy, there is a lot going on but I will tell you all about it next Tuesday!
• Isaiah did great at school this past week. I remember he did well with Ms. Sharon in Speech Therapy on Tuesday. In Speech on Thursday, Isaiah worked on his CVC words. He is getting more accurate but still needs the verbal cueing. They worked on “I see +CVC word”. He keeps wanting to say “I want” (which I have noticed at home too). But, doing the sign for “see” helps and he does better. Overall he did really well. And he did well in OT. I brought in a copy of his IEP so his therapists could see what his goals are in school. I think that was helpful for them.
• I spent more time each afternoon with Isaiah. We have worked on many puzzles and activities. I have been managing his stimming and engaging him a lot. On Sunday, I thought it would be fine if I just skipped his nap. I was selfishly thinking that I would be able to put him to bed earlier.That wasn’t the best choice. He was super stimmy and difficult to control. Learned my lesson, next time put him down for a nap and let him stay up later and die to my own selfish desires. Sometimes, I need days like those to remind me of what is best for Isaiah. But! he did well in church with his aide and I didn’t have to go back and correct his behavior.
• He did very well in ABA yesterday, which I was worried about because he took a nap at school. Typically, he is super cranky when he wakes up (like he was on Friday, and did terrible in ABA and screamed a lot). But this time, I noticed when I picked him up, he was sleepy but not angry. He did very well in ABA after school. He told her potty when he had to go and he sat still on the bean bag chair while she read a book. Typically, he is all jumping around when she tries to read to him.
• We went to Seaworld on Saturday and we were there open to close. The weather was beautiful and the kids did so well! We started of with touching the sting rays and Isaiah LOVED it. We saw all the shows and did the rides in Happy Harbour and Chase even took him on Atlantis which he had not been on because you have top be 42 inch. The kids took a nap (at the same time) in the stroller which was awesome.
• Isaiah and Trinity had a baby sitter stay with them last night and Isaiah did well with that. Leaving him with a sitter has never been an issue and I am very thankful for that. I know a lot of children with Autism do not do very well with other people and other people do not do well with them. I am thankful that Isaiah is easily manageable and I don’t have to be concerned that he will have a 20 minute meltdown about something.
• We have been going on walks and playing the backyard almost everyday. We went to a friends house on Friday evening. Isaiah got in the pool for a few minutes but he was done really quick because the water wasn’t too warm. I was impressed with how well Isaiah did there and we were there for about 4 hours and he only watched a 30 minute movie of my phone. I was thankful for a pretty typical Friday evening at a friends house.
• Isaiah doesn’t like long sleeves and pulls at the sleeves often.
• He has been screaming/crying in rebellion for when he is upset or doesn’t want to do something or wants to do something that I don’t allow him to do.
• Thanks for reading! In the pictures below, I included a day of his communication log and an activity from OT at school. Have a great week!

Legoland

Welcome back y’all! Thanks for stopping by to read an update about Isaiah. I feel like it was a pretty normal and typical week in regards to Isaiah. But here are some updates:

• Isaiah went to school everyday and even had picture day on Friday. He got good reports back all week. Nothing was said about biting. The 4 of us went to Isaiah’s classroom for open house on Thursday. I was able to see his classroom, his cubby, the toys there that he likes, etc. I was also able to talk with his teacher a little more. I pretty much just encouraged the staff to discourage Isaiah’s stimming by distracting him or keeping him busy on another task. And that they shouldn’t be afraid to say “no” or “stop” to Isaiah. Also, Isaiah has been either communicating that he needs to go potty or just going at school so that is great news!
• Isaiah had Speech and OT with Tahnee and Lindsay but no speech with Sharon. He also had 2 sessions of ABA last week. In Speech, they worked on playing pretend with pretend food and making animals eat and drink and run. They did turn taking and practiced waiting with “quiet hands and quiet mouth”. He was at about 50% in learning it while taking turns with a monkey game. They also worked on common objects by function. He can do basic “what do we eat with?” but they they stepped it up and asked questions like “which one do we use to eat yogurt?”. I’m sure they will continue to work on those types of things this week. In OT, Isaiah follows a line better with cutting when there are stickers on the line to help him stay on track.
• I have noticed the need to bite and chew at home. Chewy toys are our go to. Yesterday at MyGym, he needed the chewy toy just about the entire class.
• Isaiah had his 6 month dental cleaning last Tuesday. I think he did about 1% better than 6 months ago. He still is very unhappy and screams and cries. I still have to hold him down. But, they cleaned his teeth quickly and the dentist said that everything looks ok. Phew. See ya’ll in 6 months. I take Isaiah to Threshold Dental and they are very accommodating to patients with special needs.
• We went to Legoland on Saturday and had the BEST time. A huge thanks to Merlins Magic Wand for giving our family free 1 day admission tickets and free parking! Saturday was definitely one of the perks to having a child with a disability! The best part was that Isaiah was measuring at 42 inches on all the rides so he could go on almost every single one! Isaiah got to go on the roller coasters twice, once with papa and once with mama. Even Trinity was able to do more rides than last year. Duplo Valley was still a huge hit but this time we spent way more time on the other rides in the park and we didn’t even go to the waterpark. We were there from 10am- 5:45pm. The clouds started to roll in and the park was closing down the rides but we were wiped and ready to go! Isaiah had a super awesome high volume of sensory input that day and as a result was awesome with waiting in line (although they were pretty short) and sitting at shows. It was a great day for everybody!
• Isaiah also had a good day at church on Sunday with no biting. He took a nap when we got home. I woke him up 2 hours later and he played near the other kids that were at our home. All and all, he did pretty well with all that. Also, Isaiah is now on a prescription Omega-3. His doctor recommended it. Isaiah was already taking omega-3 in gel capsules daily so I decided to try it. This new fish oil comes in a powder and it tastes terrible. His gel capsules were at least sorta flavored and he would chewy and swallow them with no problem. I am having to be a bit more creative now. The best thing I have found is mixing in 2 capsules of the powder into a cup of applesauce. its only been 2 days but that has worked so far. I have enough for 3 months so we shall see if we see a difference in his attention span/focus and his hyperactivity.

Thanks for stopping by! Tune in next Tuesday on Isaiah’s Journey!

3rd Week of School

Hey guys! Isaiah has been doing great in school! It was so sweet yesterday when his teacher put him in his car seat at pick up and said that Isaiah “makes her heart happy” and gave him a kiss on the forehead. ❤ He is still not napping at school though which is making our evenings a little rough. He is nearly asleep on our drive home after school and therapy and then tells us “good night” and goes to bed by himself pretty much immediately after bathtime. Poor kid is exhausted. I’m hoping he will take a nap today, he woke up before 6am.

So, this week I made some new goals that I would like to stick to unless I need to change things up. I want to intentionally spend at least 20 minutes one on one time with Isaiah. My goal is to eventually get back to 30 minutes a day like we were doing over the summer but this school/therapy schedule is leaving very little time at home in the evenings and the mornings are typically breakfast/pack lunch/get dressed/ brush teeth/ get in the car we gotta go right nowwwww. Although, I got to work with Isaiah this morning for 20 minutes since we were up at the crack of dawn. I also want to have at least 15 minutes of intentional, uninterrupted bible reading time. My goal is to also make that 30 minutes a day. One reason, is that the bible reminds me of my responsibility to be a faithful, loving, and patient mother and ultimately gives me a reason to press on and joyfully serve my family and die to myself. But now that I am in the car for 2+ hours a day, this is a little more difficult to achieve. But, achievable with the help of the Lord.

A few things about Isaiah this past week:

• I notice him counting on his fingers a lot. He starts with a fist and then unwraps his pinkie finger, ring finger, and so on. He gets to 10 with both hands open. I see him doing this a lot and it is VERY interesting to me. I don’t discourage it.
• The need to bite is still very much there and it happens when he gets excited not out of frustration. He is chewing on chewy toys frequently now.
• He had been blowing out of his nose but now blows out of his mouth finally. This will be particularly helpful when he goes to blow out his candles on his birthday cake in just 3 weeks!
• We had an ABA evaluation at OCA on Friday. They also have a blog here. Isaiah will get ABA therapy with a therapist in their new facility every Monday and Friday for an hour each. Yesterday, was his first day and his therapist said that Isaiah did VERY well. She got him to imitate a lot of words and he always made some sort of an attempt. He was very motivated by bubbles and would blow them with his mouth off the stick. She got him to say “tickle” and “bubble”. She seemed impressed. Thank God. I had a hard time answering the questions in the evaluation on Friday. Like, “What are his problem behaviors?” Um…. his speech? He did show a little frustration when they did puzzles and she held all the pieces and gave it to him one at a time. She said that he will have some sort of “waiting” goal in order to decrease his frustration. She will continue to see where he is at this week and then make goals for him soon to work on each week. I like his therapist and their facility and so far am very happy with OCA. Not to mention that it is 2 minutes from his school which is extremely convenient.
• We still have a MyGym membership and had our class yesterday. Isaiah didn’t do very well. He was super tired and cried a lot because he didn’t want to sit and wait. It was a little discouraging but probably just a bad day so we will continue on for a little longer.
• Isaiah did very well with Ms. Sharon last week in Speech and am looking forward to showing her today how he can blow with his mouth!
• We went to Blue Springs state park and Isaiah wasn’t really feelin the cold water but he did enjoy sitting in my lap calmly on the inflatable boat we got. He also enjoyed going on walks through the park and playing on the playground and looking at the water at the various look out spots. We then went to a birthday party after the kids napped and at first, Isaiah wanted to get back in the car. Then, he told me “eat” and happily ate a slice of pizza and a juice box. Then he played well on the playground and enjoyed a cupcake. 🙂 We rented “Zootopia” that evening but Isaiah wasn’t very interested unfortunately.
• On Sunday, I didn’t get a bad report back from his aide. So that’s good. He fell asleep in the car right before we got home but then would not continue his nap in bed. This made for a difficult afternoon/ evening because he was so tired. He did play a little with the other kids that we had over at our house for fellowship.
• He had OT and Speech last week with Tahnee and Lindsay and he did really well. My personal goal is for Isaiah to have unprompted, clear (anyone could understand), two word utterances by his 5th birthday. Like, “more milk” or “I want outside”. But Tahnee said that his ability to imitate has gotten SOOO much more accurate!! He was able to sit and concentrate and he was such a good boy for  her! She said that his vocab has definitely increased too and he is expressively doing the initial sounds spontaneously and accurately.
• He also did well in OT. Took off all his clothes by himself.  He has some new goals now:  1.put on shirt, shorts, socks, and shoes 2. cut, following a line 3. Imitating block patterns, 4. small buttons 5. complete a lacing card 6. Imitating strokes (cross, square, diagonal lines)
• We had a very busy week with house projects, people over to our home, and a date night. Chase and I were in bed by 9pm on Sunday night lol.  This week I really want to get back to the basics and focus on the kids and our primary responsibilities. My to do list this week is a fraction of what it was last week hah!
• Enjoy these pics below. I also included a picture of a sample communication log that Isaiah brings home daily. He hasn’t had a bad day yet!

Slow Down Summer Break!

Hey guys! I am shocked that Isaiah goes back to school in 19 days! So much to do until then! Trinity was sick with a cold all week so that freed up a lot of my schedule (due to childcare). We checked off a lot on our “to do summer list”. Enjoy this read, pics at the bottom!

On Tuesday… Isaiah went to camp. Like he did this morning. He will go again on Thursday and then next Tuesday is his LAST day! Although I enjoyed getting a little break from therapy and working hard with him, I will not be doing this camp next summer. Next summer, I am going ALL out. ABA camp 5 days a week, $200/week. It will be worth it. This was a good “trial” summer… now I know what he needs.

On Wednesday, we went to the beach ALL day. My back is currently peeling as proof lol! We left at 8am and set out for Ormond Beach. Ormond is my favorite beach that is closest to where I live. It has a brand new beach access with a splash pad, playground, changing rooms, bathrooms, etc. Its a very short walk to the beach. The sand is packed down which makes for good walks with the stroller. Low tide is around 2pm which means lots of shallow water and  little “hot tubs” in the sand, perfect for the kids to play in. We didn’t get home till 4:30pm. The kids watched Thomas the Train on the way there. Isaiah wore flip flop sandals for the first time in his life. It was hilarious to see him walk in them. He was like “what are these?”. He would shuffle his feet and stomp around in the garage to hear the noise they made. He wore them in the car the whole way there! Since then, I have put them on him a couple time and he will wear em! This is a big deal because he has a major shoe/sock issue and wants to take them off ALL the time. Isaiah did well overall at the beach. He enjoyed jumping in the water and into holes in the sand for the majority of the time. When we first got there, he hated the splash pad but when we went back later, he would walk through the water no problem! He slept the whole way home!

On Thursday, he went to camp.

On Friday, we checked out the YMCA pool and aquatic center. We stayed there for a few hours that morning. Isaiah had a difficult time with all the “rules” we had to follow. It wasn’t our best outing experience. He was stimmy and hard to control. But, we checked it out and it was free and now I know that we probably won’t do that outing again. Then he took a nap and that evening we went to “A kids gym” from 5pm-6:30pm. The kids got to play on trampoline, balance beams, obstacle courses, etc. Isaiah had trouble waiting in line so I had to work with him on it. He would get frustrated when I would tell him that he needed to wait. But slowly, he was getting it. He did some really cool flips on the gym bars too! (see pics below).

On Saturday, things started to go downhill…. we went to Seaworld from 9am-3pm. Isaiah loved going on the roller coaster, obstacle course, and the other rides. He also did well when we went through Antarctica and did the ride to see the penguins. Then, I let him drink an entire icee. This is where I think it all started. Isaiah was stimmy during the 12pm Shamu show (typically his favorite). So i figured he was tired, I gave him a melatonin and he took a nap in the stroller. Then I woke him up to see the Dolphin show and he was grumpy the whole time. Then we decided to check out a splash zone area. He felt the slightest bit of water spray on him and screamed. He wasn’t having it. Autism struck. Sunday and Monday were difficult. I started to see him go back to normal yesterday evening. No more artificial dye for Isaiah. No more jello or Icees. Limited amount of sugar/ sweets. No soda. Lesson learned.

On Sunday, Isaiah didn’t do too great with his aide. He purposefully disobeyed (when he knew it was wrong). She told him not to eat a little piece of paper in his hands so he hide his face and looked at her and then put it in his mouth. He also was angry when he she wanted to go wash his hands. He didn’t want to share his puzzle with the other kids. We went home, he took a nap. That evening we went to the Crayola Experience. Our passes expire in October and we have maybe gone 5 times. I made a very strong effort to work with Isaiah. He would do the activities with me but then run too the playground area and climb to the top and just stay up there and stim until Chase would go get him. He was obsessive about putting the little light up sticks in the holes and would scream if someone touched “his”.

On Monday, I worked with Isaiah doing our “school”. He wasn’t doing too well. Then we went to Aldi and then to Speech and OT. Even Holly said that he was extra stimmy during Speech. But he did his work. He said “I see a horse” completely. He also was not focused in OT and then told her he needed to go potty. After that he had 10 minutes left where he did a little better. We went home, and took a nap. We had Speech with Sharon at 4pm and I made sure we got there earlier and that I told Isaiah several times, “we are going to see Mrs. Sharon to do our work. No crying”. He found his Barney book and wanted to just stare at the pictures of Barney. He loves that book and smiles really big when I get it for him. He wont let me read it though. He just wants to look at it. I try to read it to him anyways. “BJ plays the drum”. Isaiah would say “duh” for “drum”. He had high energy with Sharon but he did pretty good overall. He wasn’t teary. They worked on mouth positioning and “ooo” and “ohh”. They worked on labeling. Right now she is accepting anything he gives her when labeling. I told her that I am specifically working on the end sounds of words that he typically leaves off. Because he only says the first sound of a word, nobody can understand him, and a lot of the times, I don’t know what he is saying either. So that evening we went to a trail “MyGym” class. Its a 50 minute class with 2.5-3.25 year olds. I put both kids in that class. There were only 5 kids total. Both Trinity and Isaiah had trouble waiting their turn but Isaiah was getting the hang of it. There was a circle time, free play, activity, free play, activity, free play, and then the end. During that activity, each kid was called up to do something like walk across the balance beam. At first, Isaiah had trouble with all these sit down and watch and listen activities. Slowly, the screaming and fussing started to go away. He would watch the other kids and then excitedly did his turn too. It went pretty well overall so I decided to sign up the kids for a membership. I will try it out for 8 weeks. They get 1 class a week and the opportunity to go to several “open” plays a week. They will both be in the same class and parents are encouraged to assist the children during the class. His OT actually recommended this for Isaiah and said it would be helpful with social skills like turn taking and also let him jump around in an “acceptable” environment. Then we went home and Chase said that Isaiah was doing well with eye contact and communicating.

This morning Isaiah woke up and ate breakfast, we did a puzzle and then went to camp. I hope he has a good day! I plan on doing more school work with him when he gets home from camp. Most likely he will have not napped or maybe napped for 20 minutes. Praying for a better week! I’ll be watching his diet pretty carefully. God Bless You and thanks for reading!

Summer Fun and Therapy Runs

Hey guys! This week has really slowed down… for me at least.

On Tuesday, Isaiah went to camp and his teacher said that he had a good day! When I asked why? She said that Isaiah went into the bathroom by himself, sat on the toilet, and went #2 and he took a nap during nap time. lol pretty good I suppose. It was Cow Appreciation Day. So we went to 2 different chik fil a’s for our free food. (even though my kids don’t even like chik fil a nuggets). Isaiah quickly ripped off his taped on cow spots that I put on his shirt. It was difficult to keep them on him. But, they both enjoyed playing on the playgrounds and getting ice cream!

On Wednesday, Isaiah slept till 6:45 which was a nice change. He had a difficult time doing school work with me that morning. Then we left the house to run an errand and then go to bible study. At church, we just ate and had a fellowship so there was no childcare. He was difficult at church, he wouldn’t obey and come when I asked him too. He ended up watched super simple songs for the majority of the time on my phone.  I have also noticed this new habit of his… he frequently grabs his private area. I see this happen all the time and at first I thought he just needed to go pee. But no, its a phase he is in right now and I am working on correcting that behavior whenever I see it. We went on a walk that evening when it was really cloudy and windy. Isaiah did better this time. Whenever we go on a walk with Papa. Isaiah has a serious desire to sit on Chase’s shoulders the WHOLE time. Well, I am trying to break this “need”. So I have been making him sit in the stroller or walk. This time he did better and didn’t cry as much when he was told “no” and had to sit in the stroller. Walks are not as frequent right now because of the heat so I can’t be consistent on that. But as soon as I say “Let’s go on a walk”, he cries until he can sit on Chase’s shoulders.

Thursday was a blur. Isaiah woke up at 5:45am and I had the worst stomach pain ever all that night and into the day. I needed Chase’s help in the morning and then the kids watched TV until it was time to take Isaiah to camp. I was in the fetal position for most of that day…

On Friday, I was feeling a lot better. Isaiah woke up at 6:30am. He was really into watching the water in the sink in the bathroom. He would randomly go in there and turn on the faucet to watch the water drain. Interesting. I need to observe this more to see what about this is so fascinating. We went to Double Down Athletics for 2 hours that morning. The kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and into the foam pit and also going into all the bounce houses. But, Isaiah was starting to get stimmy towards the end so I am glad it was only 2 hours. We went home and the kids napped. Chase was with the kids Friday night and most of Saturday while I was at a Women’s Conference.

Chase took over with the kids on Saturday when I left around 8am after feeding them and getting them ready for the day (brush teeth,change clothes, etc) . They did puzzles and sang songs together and then went to a friend’s house to play in the pool for a few hours. Isaiah took a nap that afternoon and then I met them at the mall. At the mall, we walked around, played in the kids area, and rode the escalators several times (Isaiah’s favorite). In the kids area, I could see how Isaiah would just run into people or step on things because he was just not paying attention to the world around him. He didn’t even know what he was doing. Its easy to apologize for a 3 year old but what about when he’s 7? Well, that evening Isaiah did well with me. I went to TJMaxx and got several new puzzles and activities for us to do together. He loves his new puzzles 🙂 These are big puzzles made by “The Learning Express”. There is a picture below of one of the puzzles. We do these often and they are a great way to keep Isaiah engaged without stimming and to teach him. Each puzzle takes about 10-15 minutes. I had to put a puzzle away because he became too obsessed with it. It was a number and alphabet train and he constantly wanted to do it and wanted me to sing the alphabet or count the numbers. I’ll bring it back out in a few weeks and try that one again. I could really see some obsessive compulsive behavior with that puzzle.

On Sunday, Isaiah did well in church with his aid. I never was called back to correct him. The kids took a nap ( I never let him sleep longer than 2 hours). That evening we got Jeremiah’s Ice (YUMMY) and went to play on one of Isaiah’s favorite playground. It has a very long zipline type of deal and he loves to ride it! It had just rained so we pretty much had the park to ourselves. He also loves to sit on the dual person swings. Where I sit and face him and he is in a bucket seat facing me. Isaiah also has this new thing where he looks at me and says “mmm” and “yummm” whenever he eats something that is “yummy”. He also is kinda obsessed with the word and sign for “good night”. I was reading to him and he would just crack up whenever I would say/sign “goodnight”. Now he frequently tries to imitate by saying “guh guh” and looks at me like …. do it mom!

Yesterday wasn’t Isaiah’s best day ever. I gave Isaiah a quick haircut (it took me like 7 minutes). He didn’t really like it when I did it around his ears but the rest was easy and he let me buzz away. We did school work in the morning but Isaiah wasn’t too impressed. It was hard to keep him sitting and engaged. We did some grocery shopping. He had good behavior there. He sat in the cart, and helped unload the groceries at the cash register. I then transferred the kids to a new pediatrician located right next door to Isaiah’s therapy (Insurance reasons). Isaiah then had OT and Speech. In OT, they are working on circles and cutting. Isaiah wants to make continuous circles instead of just one. And with cutting, he kinda chomps at it and isn’t too mindful of the line that he needs to follow. He also practices his fine motor skills by picking up colorful cottonballs in a clothespin and releasing it in a bowl. I tried this with him yesterday and he wasn’t into it. In Speech, Isaiah showed off how much we  have been working on “the wheels on the bus”. He did well completing the sentence and doing the hand movements. They are working on saying sentences now like “Car is Big”. Showing him a car then showing him the letter B and saying “Car is Big”. I need to practice this at home. Afterwards, he took a nap and was cranky and wouldn’t eat after I woke him up. We went to Speech with Mrs. Sharon. He got frustrated a few times but overall he did well. She just practiced labeling things so as soon as he attempted the word for “car”, she gave him the car.

I woke Isaiah up around 7am this morning. It was weird, he went to bed around 7:45pm last night but then I heard him talking at around 9:45pm. I took him out of bed, went potty, and I snuggled him on the couch. He has been really enjoying sensory intake on his head. He likes it when I apply pressure by squeezing and kissing his head. I put him back in bed and he went back to sleep. We ate breakfast and did some writing in our dry erase books. He then went to camp happily this morning.

We have a lot of open free time this week so I will be able to finally take the kids to some summer destinations I have been wanting to go to with them. Stay tuned next week! These pictures do a good job demonstrating a lot about Isaiah and what he loves. Bye!

Mid Summer!

Hey guys! I can not even believe that there is only 5 weeks left of summer vacation! Time is seriously flying! Our summer schedule is changing yet again lol But overall, the Lord answered my prayers and gave Isaiah a very good week. He has been attentive and focused. He hasn’t thrown a fit or complained (too much) about doing his work. He has a desire to sit at our “homeschool” table and do his “work”. It has been easier top get him to complete undesired tasks. Basically, he has been more teachable this week which has made my life easier lol. Not perfect, but better! I think Isaiah is starting to understand and enjoy our summer schedule of no school and more time at home and out and about having fun. Ok so lets do a quick recap of this past week….

• So Tuesday of last week… Isaiah went to camp and I don’t remember much of that day…
• So Wednesday, we had 3 sessions of therapy in our day and I had pink eye again? We did not go to bible study that morning. Isaiah did AWESOME with me at home while we took 30 minute sessions to work on “School”. Most of the time Isaiah goes past my 30 minute mark and I don’t make him stop until he wants a break. We went to Sams club and then to Speech and OT and Isaiah did VERY well that afternoon withe Jeanne and Holly. We came home and Isaiah did take a nap (after I gave him a melatonin). We then went to Speech with Sharon and we got there a little early. Isaiah did well in the waiting room and ate a granola bar (a different ind he has never had) and had a drink there that they provide. Isaiah happily went back with Sharon and had his best session with her yet! He was a happy camper that day for sure!!
• On Thursday, Isaiah went to camp and did not nap. I picked him up and we went straight to a friends house to swim. We stayed for a couple hours and then went home. Isaiah did well in the pool but once he started to stim to the point of no return, we started to pack up our stuff.
• On Friday, Isaiah had his last day of ABA camp. (more on that in a bit). He did AWESOME with Britani. In fact, we got there a few minutes before Britani did and Isaiah found a toy off the shelf went and put it at a table, pulled out the chair, sat down, and started to play with the toy. All by himself with no prompting! Then when he saw her, his face lit up so big! It was the sweetest thing! He had a very good time doing his work with her and then going to a local splash pad and swimming pool. He enjoyed his time very much. When I came back, Isaiah was sitting at a table eating a popsicle with Britani by his side. I always love to see him sitting and eating because he would much rather eat and run around at the same time. But unfortunately, that ABA company can no longer do camp because of financial issues? Not only that but they will no longer provide therapy services at a center and will only do in home therapy. So now I have to search yet again for an ABA therapy center that has a facility that Isaiah can go to. I do ABA at home with him anyways, he needs a center to have a different experience with new people and new toys and to focus on his work and not beg for a snack from the pantry. I plan on taking him to a new jump place on Friday though instead. 🙂
• We have definitely been trying to stay inside and go to indoor playground this past week. Temperatures have been in the lower 100s with a heat index of up to 107!! The clouds have been rolling in and raining in the evening which has been helpful.
• We had a great day on Saturday as a family. We went to Winter Park Fire Station and had a great time. Isaiah LOVED it. He cried when we had to leave lol. We got to ride on the fire truck and Isaiah was in heaven. He got to slide down the fire pole, drink out of a shoot a fire hydrant hose, and sit in all the firetrucks.  In the beginning when we first got there I was nervous it wasn’t gonna go so well. First of all, Isaiah was crying because all the door were locked and we were trying to find a way in and he did not like that we couldn’t get it. He would just sit down and cry on the sidewalk. Then we got in and then we took a small tour inside the station and Isaiah wanted to take off his shoes and we wouldn’t let him so he cried more. He finally was happy when we got to the fire trucks. Then we killed some time by going to a shaded playground and then headed off to a pool birthday party. Isaiah enjoyed jumping and swimming in the pool and scarfing down some pizza really quick so he can get back to the pool. Isaiah took a nap and then we went to another park that evening and played on a playground and got some Jeremiah’s Italian Ice (my new favorite place for a cool treat in this heat).
• On Sunday, Isaiah did well with his aide at church. He came to church shoe less… ahem… chase 😉 Isaiah has a particular friend at church that he loves dearly. Whenever he sees this young boy (maybe 11 years old?), he runs up and gives him a HUGE hug and a big kiss right on the face lol. It’s the sweetest thing ever. Later, Isaiah saw me while going to the bathroom ( I was serving in the nursery) and he didn’t want to leave me. He loves me sooo much! 😉 Isaiah almost fell asleep on the way home so he got a melatonin and took a nice nap while we hosted a fellowship at our home (it was an awesome time!). I woke him up after 2 hours and he was in a good mood. We went on a walk around our neighborhood that evening after it rained. I fell asleep at 9pm (like 30 minutes after Isaiah), I was exhausted!
• I don’t know why but the past couple of mornings the kids have been waking up before 6am which has been different than the 7:30am that they were sleeping till. That just means that naps have certainly been taking place lol. Yesterday went well too. We were up at the crack of dawn but we were able to get some good school work done and Isaiah enjoyed playing and doing puzzles at home. I also got 5 new leap frog dvds that the kids have really been enjoying. Isaiah will sit through the 30-40 minute dvd and I feel confident that he is learning from all the letter and number songs they sing. We then went to Speech and OT and he did very well during that hour of therapy as well. He says “I did my work” like a pro now and it is carrying over to other therapies too. Holly wants Isaiah to be able to associate some of the things in “the wheels on the bus” book. They made a sentence book for him there and we have some “homework” to do this week. He needs to be able to create a sentence (eventually) that would say for example… “The horn” “on the bus” “goes” “beep,beep,beep”. So he needs to find the right picture/words to velcro together on a velcro board and he also needs to say and do the hand motion (at the same time) ( which is difficult for kids with Apraxia). Challenge accepted! He’ll get it in just a few short weeks, I’m sure of it. Isaiah has mastered putting on and taking off his shorts. He can put his feet in the correct holes and pull up his pants (even reaching over his bottom to pull them up in the back). Isaiah fell asleep on our way home and then I woke him up after 2.5 hours of sleep. Shortly after that, Isaiah had Speech with Sharon. I like to get there early but we were actually running a few minutes late because the home depot delivery guys got to my house while I was loading the kids in the car! Unfortunately, Isaiah wanted a snack and water again before going back to Speech so he didn’t want to leave me and he was weepy during the entire session but he loved doing puzzles and building blocks with Sharon. (But my new washer and dryer are off the hook and I am ready to wash everything fabric  in my house! 🙂 )
• Anyways, yesterday was overall a good day. We got our free ICEE’s from 7-11 and today we look forward to getting our free chik-fil-a for dinner for Cow Appreciation Day ( I need to go make some cow spots lol )
• Isaiah went to Camp today and other than that we just have Chik-fil-a on our evening schedule. I’d imagine that he wont nap at camp and so he’ll go to bed by 7pm. But we shall see!

I think this week will go well also, Lord willing. Isaiah will have Friday evening and all day Saturday with Papa while Mama is at a Women’s Conference. Hopefully his good behavior continues for daddy too! Enjoy these pictures!!

Burchett Family Vacation 2016

Hey there! Man do I have a blog post for you today! We just came back from a 9 day vacation and it went better than I expected! Luckily, I took about 600 pictures but choose the top 50 to add to my post today LOL! Seriously though, the best way to explain our vacation is through pictures. But let me start from the beginning….

We left on Friday June 10th at around 9am. But lets back up even more…on Tuesday June 7th, Isaiah had a very very good time ST and OT. But, since his teachers said that he wasn’t acting himself at school on Monday and Tuesday, I went ahead and made a doctor’s appointment for him Tuesday after therapy. Of course, as we were driving there I was thinking “I am taking a completely healthy child to the doctor”. Turns out he had an ear infection! So I started him on a 10 day antibiotic and then he gets uncontrollable diarrhea on Thursday…great. We are about to go on a road trip with a 3 year old who has diarrhea. Thankfully, it went away by the next morning. The nurse said that it was due to the antibiotics flushing out his system. Just in case, he had a pull up on for that morning drive.

So…. Friday was day 1.

The kids did really well overall on the trip. Isaiah and Trinity watched a movie for about 2 hours and we stopped for lunch in lake city, where they got to play on a chik fil a playground. The next 3 hours, Isaiah slept on the way to Panama City. We got there at around 2pm (did you know there is a 1 hour time change?!) We played in the pool and then went to the mall and played in an indoor bounce house place. That night, Isaiah slept in a pack n play in the bathroom of our hotel. It worked out very well. The next morning we went to the beach and the kids of course loved that. Isaiah even was trying to swim without his floaty. He was really motivated too! We tried to get him to fall asleep before lunch but it just wasn’t happening. But he had perfect behavior at the restaurant we ate at. We then played some games at dave and busters because it was like 97 degrees outside (literally). By that time Isaiah was super tired and super stimmy. We left at around 3? and drove an hour to the tallest waterfall in Florida. Isaiah slept on the way. He was kindof a grump when we got there but then he got over it and was walking on the little hike we did. The kids were very exited to get in the car and watch a movie. We had about a 4 hour drive to Atlanta ( I think). We stopped at a burger king somewhere in Alabama and the kids played on the play ground. Then they fell asleep on the way to Atlanta. We always did our best to plan driving time during nap time or bed time.

Alright, this is gonna take forever if I go into this much detail… so lets speed this up lol

In Atlanta, I noticed Isaiah would be very stimmy in the mornings when we did the Georgia Aquarium on Monday morning and the World of Coke on Tuesday morning. The kids were waking up kind of early so I think he was just tired which is usually why he is stimmy. By stimmy I mean, grinding his teeth/ clenching his teeth and stretching and putting his head to the side…. repeatedly. But on Sunday, we went to a church in Duluth and I got a good report back from those serving in the childcare. I was nervous about Isaiah not having an aide. But he did well, thank God! There weren’t too many kids, there was a large room, they didn’t do a constructive bible time for that age group, they had a playground, and they had a bunch of toys/puzzles. After that we went to Piedmont Park and walked around and played on the playgrounds. Isaiah wanted to take off his shirt because it was like 95 degrees again lol. We got the kids popsicles and Isaiah really enjoyed his chocolate banana popsicle.  He fell asleep in the stroller while walking around. Come to think of it, the kids never napped in a bed the whole trip, it was either the car or the stroller!

Isaiah started doing this thing where he would pretend to fall on the ground on his two hands and look at me or Chase and say “kuh”. He wanted us to ask “Are you okay?” Then he would smile/laugh.

In Asheville, Isaiah did well with hiking. He was a tropper and walked a lot… can’t say that about Trinity, that little stinker just wanted to be carried everywhere. Isaiah loved the waterfalls and touching/splashing in the water. His absolutely FAVORITE thing was throwing small rocks/pebbles into the water. He could do that for hours. Which provided us with lots of relaxation at each waterfall we hiked to because Isaiah was busy looking for rocks and throwing them into the water and watching it make a splash.

Isaiah has become 100% independently initiating going potty. This started on the trip and has continued at home. He comes up to me or Chase and signs potty and says “puh-puh-puh”. This was particularly hilarious when he told me potty while at a waterfall on the Blue Ridge Parkway. So I had like less than a minute to figure something out. We climbed back behind some trees and I held him up over a log and he went! Not sure what else I was gonna do at that time lol! And Asheville got some free fertilizer out of that deal 🙂 We would be gone all day and the kids would sleep in the car as we drove either back to the hotel or do our next hiking spot. In the evenings, we enjoyed swimming in the pool. We also went grocery shopping and packed lunches so we could eat in the car since there are no restaurants or cell phone service in the mountains! We always managed to find ice cream though 😉

On Friday, we visited the Biltmore which Isaiah just watched Super Simple Songs on my phone while we walked though the estate. Isaiah did enjoy walking through the beautiful gardens and eating ice cream after the tour.  We then started the drive to Savannah. The kids slept until we hit Colombia, South Carolina. There, I took Trinity to an urgent care because she had a high fever and a severe cough. (Thankfully all the tests came back negative and she just had a virus) Isaiah and Chase went to a nearby mall and played on the playground and ate chicken nuggets. Then we drove to Savannah. They watched a movie on the way and we went to bed when we checked into the hotel. Isaiah never woke up in the middle of the night or had any issues with sleeping. Praise God!

On Saturday morning, we went to Hilton Head Beach and really enjoyed our time there. Isaiah enjoyed swimming and playing in the sand. He even played in the splash pad for a little bit. We then drove to the river walk where Isaiah fell asleep in the stroller. We walked around for a bit and Isaiah ate a grilled cheese and then Ice Cream, of course 🙂 We left at around 6pm and got home at around 10:30pm Saturday night.

2 summers ago, we flew to D.C. for a few days and then to Cincinnati Ohio for the Creation Museum. That vacation had more “bumps” in the road than this trip did. Overall, Isaiah did EXTREMELY well. I have even noticed how much his eye contact and intentional communication has improved. He hardly even had to be disciplined, he obey very well. The only downside I would say was when his stimming was getting in the way of participating in the activity. It showed up the worst in Atlanta. but one cute thing he did was at the Georgia Aquarium. We saw the dolphin show and every time the dolphins did a jump into the air, Isaiah got all excited and jumped too! It was so cute to watch him imitate the dolphins and it was so clear that he was imitating their jumping.

On Sunday, since the 3 of us have a little cough thing going on, we didn’t go to church. Isaiah played really well at home though! On Monday, Isaiah slept in till almost 8am! We did a little check up for Isaiah at his pediatrician. Although he still has a cough, he has no ear infection or any trouble breathing so it’ll clear up on its own soon. He just has some fluid draining in the back of his throat that is causing him to cough sometimes.  Isaiah also had ST and OT with Jeanne and Holly. He did very VERY well and was on task the whole time and was very obedient and focused. We stopped by a playground for a bit and then went to ST #2. He was pretty tried by this point so he didn’t do as well. But, he enjoyed making faces in the mirror. Sharon is trying to get him to round his lips for “oooh” and “ooow”. He still cries and wants me to go back in the room with him.

Today, I dropped him off at his first day of camp that he will be going to on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Its from 8:30am- 4pm but I will probably pick him up around 2:30ish. He liked his room but he wanted to leave with me. He cried when I left 😦 Hopefully he has a good day.

In other news, Trinity pooped on the potty for the first time yesterday!!!

Enjoy all these cute pictures!

The day before we left, he had an upset tummy and just wanted to snuggle.

Panama City…

 

Asheville and Florida Waterfall above….

Asheville below…

More asheville…

Memorial Day Weekend

Hello again! Thanks for stopping by to read about Isaiah. I am always really encouraged whenever someone reads something in my posts and then later remembers a specific detail and asks me about it. That’s awesome! Well this weeks post will be short and sweet because I don’t really remember much and its gonna be in random order as I do remember. I am going to try to take notes this week on Isaiah’s last week of school for next weeks post. 

On Sunday, Isaiah bit his aide (not out of aggression). After I disciplined him, he was noticeably more obedient and had a better attitude. We then drove to my parent’s house in Sarasota. Isaiah had some poor behavior but overall did pretty well.(and in my laziness and fear of man, I didn’t discipline him like I would  have at home… note to self…don’t do that). He did well in the car ride. I was a little nervous about him not being able to go pee for like 3 hours but he did totally fine! He ate lunch and watched Barney in the car. Isaiah did not nap like I had hoped. Probably because he has been seriously sleeping in! Like till 8am when hes typically up at 6:30am.

I think he may have went through a little growth spurt because I have noticed this past week he has been eating more at home, especially before bed. Its so cute, he’ll open the fridge and take out two slices of cheese (one in each hand) and come looking for me to open it for him lol! Then he’ll slam down a yogurt and an applesauce cup after he ate dinner! 

• When we got there, we got in the pool like immediately. It was weird, he didn’t want to get out of the car when we got there but when i carried him inside and showed him the pool, it was as if he said “oh yeahhhh, i remember this place”. We played in the pool and both days, he would get out of the pool and look at me in the eyes and try to take off his shorts. We ran to the potty and there it went, #2 in the hole! We went out to eat on Sunday night and Isaiah did really well, he didn’t even need a movie to keep him calm and sitting. 
• On Monday morning we headed to the beach and stayed for almost 4 hours. Isaiah loved it ( not surprised). He even was attempting to purposefully, on his own (without prompt) to swim to Papa without his floaty on. I think to him it was a game to see if he could stay afloat when he doggie paddled like crazy. The picture below of Isaiah on Papa’s shoulder has a bit more meaning to it then you think. You see, the past month or two, Isaiah has preferred to be on his daddy’s shoulder instead of going on walks or having to walk himself. He doesn’t ask me to put him on my shoulders, its only papa. This too, is a phase that will be gone soon but it is interesting and sometimes not very convenient. Sometimes at home he will climb up there and just chill. When we are at home and we say “ok, lets go on a walk”, Isaiah goes straight to Chase and backs up to him and says “up”…doesn’t even want to sit in the stroller. 
• Isaiah slept in his own guest room on a mattress on the floor the whole night. Even though I didn’t have an option of locking his door, he still never woke up and tried it. He didn’t nap again after the beach and was responding poorly to “no” that evening but feel asleep around 7:15pm in the car ride back to Orlando. 
• On Saturday, we had a conference at our church that also provided childcare. Isaiah bit one of his teachers and so I had to discipline him again but then he did well. He enjoyed the water bounce house they had behind the church. We left the kids play on it during the lunch break too and then went home. Isaiah didn’t nap but we went to the Crayola Experience that evening and Isaiah did really well playing the playgrounds appropriately. Then we walked through the mall (he walked the whole way while holding Chase’s hand) to get to the food court. Unfortunately, he didn’t eat his pizza. We went to another mall playground and he played well and then we went home. He fell asleep on the way home and slept with no pull up on and the next morning he was still dry! 
• Last week, Isaiah didn’t have very good behavior at Speech or OT. In ST, they did another 6 month evaluation and since February, he has improved! 
• Isaiah also had ABA for an hour each on Thursday and Friday and did well obeying and not throwing a fit and matching his colors and animals, etc. I also signed Isaiah up for “ABA camp” on Fridays from 9am-2pm. They will have an “outing” that they will go to but Isaiah will still have time to work on some of his stuff with Britani or Shari. His first Friday will be June 24th so we won’t have ABA until then. The last day of school is next Wednesday, June 8th,  but I think I will make Isaiah’s last day on Tuesday so he can go to bible study with me next week and be in the childcare for 2 hours. It’ll be good for me him. 
• We didn’t have our new Speech Therapy yesterday due to Memorial Day but we rescheduled for tomorrow after school. Hoping that Isaiah likes Sharon and that they will be productive and be a good match. 

Otherwise, things have been pretty busy around here. Chase went out of town and I will be picking him up from the airport tomorrow with the kids. Hopefully, Isaiah does well with that. I want to show him the airplanes taking off. Maybe he will like it. Next Tuesday will be my last post before we go on our “tour of the south”. Then I will be off the grid for 9 days!! Thanks for reading, I really do appreciate it! Enjoy these cute pics! 

Life is always easier at the pool

Hey guys! My mind is all over the place today. But, I am determined to sit down and write this post about Isaiah. I’ll be glad I did. Isaiah is getting easily frustrated when being placed with demands but overall he is doing very well. Even when I work with pronouncing words correctly, he is getting frustrated, impatient, and LOUD. He thinks that the louder he says the word, the quicker I’ll be satisfied with his answer. Problem is that most of the time when he gets louder, he isn’t trying, he just wants to be done. I have even had to go as low as a whisper for Isaiah to settle down and have an “inside” voice when working on our words. The good news is that he is trying SOOOO hard and he’s not a quitter. I have also been thinking about how easily he will comply (even though its not with the right attitude). He will cry but obey the command while crying. And for that, he has to be rewarded. 

So on Tuesday, Isaiah took a nap at school. He seemed pretty happy to go to OT and Speech therapy but I could hear him cry/scream a lot that hour. He was very easily frustrated with the commands for him to use his words but he said “car” and “tub” perfectly during Speech. Pulling these words out of Isaiah is like slowly pulling teeth without any pain killers. He is just gonna have to get used to all these different people working with him everyday (including mom at home). We had a playdate after therapy and I’m glad we went. Isaiah was happy and did well, he particularly was excited/scared of the two small (and very excited) dogs they had. Isaiah wants to pet the dogs but is scared/surprised at the jumps and licks. But, he smiles the whole time. 🙂 Isaiah became obsessive over a melissa and doug toy. He does this with his magnet letters at home. Where he won’t let Trinity even stand near them. Its like he is having a panic attack. The anxiety that he has that someone will touch his precious toys throws him into a crying panic. I eventually just had to hide the toy ( after the rod of correction was implemented) just like I had to do this morning with his letters. If he can’t share, he can’t play with them. 

On Wednesday, I think he was a little sick. He was quite and not himself. Slight fever of 99.something with no other symptoms. He wouldn’t take a nap at home after I picked him up from school. He went to bed early. 

On Thursday, Isaiah was back to his normal self. He went to school and then ABA. During ABA, I had a meeting with his teacher at school (I can’t believe her last day is Thursday 😦 ). We went over his 3rd 9 week progress report, he is doing excellent on almost all of his goals and has shown so much improvement. His teacher also said that Isaiah has improved greatly since the start of the year. His behavior in the classroom is wayyyy better. He used to come into class and just run back and forth. Now, he comes in, unpacks his backpack and hangs it up, picks out a puzzle, and goes and sits down in a seat at the table to complete the puzzle. ALL BY HIMSELF WITH NO PROMP! The kid LOVES circle time. Yesterday, during snack, Mrs. Sarah set out the chairs for circle time a little earlier than usual. Isaiah decided to skip snack and put up his lunch box and sat on the chair on the circle time rug and was going to wait. lol! He is just so excited during the songs and books they read that he can barely sit in his seat (he knows he has to sit). In ABA, he had a great session! Even went #2 on the potty with his technician. ( he typically waits till we get home hah) He was sorting colors without needing a prompt and did very well sitting at the table. 

On Friday morning, we were playing with Kinetic sand before school. Isaiah was done and looked at his sandy hands so he went to the bathroom, moved the stool, turned on the water, washed his hands, and came back out. ALL WITHOUT PROMPT. That’s a big deal, on so many levels. He did well in school and in ABA. His BCBA worked with him for an hour and he did good but he was getting frustrated and I felt like he could have tried a little harder. 

On Saturday, we walked about a mile to a playground and then back home. Isaiah had good behavior that morning. I was gone for the rest of the day and he was asleep when I got back. On Sunday, I was with Isaiah in Church and he did pretty good but he wasn’t interested in the craft? That was kinda weird. 

Yesterday, Isaiah had Speech with Beth. I was able to watch the whole session through the window. He had his fingers in his nose or mouth the WHOLE time and I thought I was going to explode.He was also laying his head down on the table. But he did his “Saw” and pah” and we have “nah” and “tah” for this week and the same 5 words as last week “see, go, egg, ice, high”. We had a play date at the pool yesterday. Isaiah loved every second of it and didn’t stim one time. I was thankful for a semi normal pool experience. 

Isaiah was up at around 6:30am. He has really been sleeping very well. And waking up 1 time at around 10ish which is usually before I go to sleep so I am able to sleep straight through without waking up except for when Trinity wakes up at 5:30am like today.

Thanks for reading! Have a great week 🙂