As expected we have been busy, but things are going great despite a few sickly people in the house. Olena picked up something because she was suffering with terrible congestion and stuffy nose, and me...well, remember the slightly swollen eye? That got worse. A LOT worse. Ended up going to the urgent care and the found a scratch on my eye lid that got infected so I ended up on 3 antibiotics, 2 for my eye and 1 oral. Then because I am so lucky I managed to acquire all of the lovey side effects to the antibiotics. I am finally getting back in the "saddle" and now playing catch up around here.
We spent 2 days in Windsor with Rickie and had a good time. We went for a 4 mile hike through their nature trail. There were a ton of bugs which Olena wasn't too fond of, but we managed. And then the next day we had a little picnic by the river. Played on the play ground, and fed the birds. Olena chased them more than she fed them, but we all had fun none the less. It was relaxing and the weather was perfect.
Olena gymnastics wasn't going to well so she has been put into another class which seems to be going a little bit better. Due to her sensory integration, she has a hard time realizing where her body is in space. This hasn't hindered her abilities thus far but what problem it does present is her ability to LEARN new flips because of trust. Since she cannot identify where her body is in space she relays on the person who is "flipping" her to of course help her keep her balance. If she doesn't know and trust you, there is no way you are going to flip her over without her panicking. Because her instructors are new to her, she is not yet comfortable to take things that far. For the time being, they decided to take her down one class and let her focus on other things like the beam, the bars, jumps, and building her strengh.
She is now also in a dance class - ballet/tap, which surprisingly she likes. We tried back last year and she hated it, I ended up taking her out after a few classes. This time, she is pretty excited and even comes home and "practices" and shows us her dances. She spends the day with my mom and dad on Thursdays and Fridays and she goes to her dance and gym class while with my mom and it gives me a nice break to get things done around here and run my errands.
OT should be over this week. She had what they call a Peabody test and she has shown improvement in pretty much all areas. According to the standardized testing she went from the development of a 24/28 month old to 36 month with these past 3 months of therapy. My biggest concern was and still is her ability to control her emotions. That was the whole reason for seeking help and starting the therapy, but of course, due to the insurance run around the therapist had to show she had a developmental delay. The testing only shows 36 months but honestly you don't see anything different with her from any other 3.5 year old except her speech. She talks up a storm, it is just her pronunciation that she needs to work on. We are on the waiting list for the speech therapy so that should be starting soon. As for the emotional side of it...I couldn't ask for better results. As long as we keep up the sensory "diet" here at home, she does great. You can really see a difference if we slack though, so J and I stay on top of things pretty closely. Hey, we do want to keep our sanity :)
We also started a new project, the big deal will be when we actually finish it! We pulled up the carpet in our living room and now need to lay the Pergo. After 4 weeks of having the carpet up, we finally went over the weekend and bought the flooring. Now we have to make the time to do it. I cannot wait. The floors look terrible right now and it is killing me. So hopefully I will have some pictures of how good it looks when we're done! If all goes well, my plan is to carry it into the kitchen and paint in there too. I say if 'all goes well', because my poor husband is driven to slave labor around here. I am painting freak...I should say, I love to have my house painted, because I myself, do not paint. Not that I don't want to, its that I do a terrible job and I wear more than I put on the wall. With that being said, J has been nominated the painting man of the house :) and lucky for him, we usually paint at least 2 rooms per year. This entire house has been painted at least 20 times since living here in 2001. And NO, I am not just a freak of nature with nothing better to do! This 1000 sq ft house is the home to 1 toddler, 2 adults (one who is really messy) 3 big dogs, 2 cats, 1 bird and 1 big tank. Between the kids and the dogs, I get more snot, slime, dirt, and grime on my walls than I wish to truly reveal. There comes a point when washing just doesn't cut it anymore and painting is a necessity. The last time the kitchen was done was about 3 years ago and our cupboards are the worst so it needs a complete overhaulin'. I would like to paint our cabinets a dark chocolate color and being that my walls are currently off white and orange I am looking to go with a more neutral color since we want to sell in a few years. I would love to get this all done before the hard winter hits! I'm keeping my figures crossed.
This weekend we will be enjoying a local Harvest Fest with Ethan and his mommy (my cousins wife, Cindy) while the men do some roofing. They have a petting zoo, pumpkin painting, hay rides, and the local fire department bring the fire truck for the kids to play on. It was a lot of fun last year, so I am really looking forward to it.
Showing off her new dance moves :)
We spent 2 days in Windsor with Rickie and had a good time. We went for a 4 mile hike through their nature trail. There were a ton of bugs which Olena wasn't too fond of, but we managed. And then the next day we had a little picnic by the river. Played on the play ground, and fed the birds. Olena chased them more than she fed them, but we all had fun none the less. It was relaxing and the weather was perfect.
Olena gymnastics wasn't going to well so she has been put into another class which seems to be going a little bit better. Due to her sensory integration, she has a hard time realizing where her body is in space. This hasn't hindered her abilities thus far but what problem it does present is her ability to LEARN new flips because of trust. Since she cannot identify where her body is in space she relays on the person who is "flipping" her to of course help her keep her balance. If she doesn't know and trust you, there is no way you are going to flip her over without her panicking. Because her instructors are new to her, she is not yet comfortable to take things that far. For the time being, they decided to take her down one class and let her focus on other things like the beam, the bars, jumps, and building her strengh.
She is now also in a dance class - ballet/tap, which surprisingly she likes. We tried back last year and she hated it, I ended up taking her out after a few classes. This time, she is pretty excited and even comes home and "practices" and shows us her dances. She spends the day with my mom and dad on Thursdays and Fridays and she goes to her dance and gym class while with my mom and it gives me a nice break to get things done around here and run my errands.
OT should be over this week. She had what they call a Peabody test and she has shown improvement in pretty much all areas. According to the standardized testing she went from the development of a 24/28 month old to 36 month with these past 3 months of therapy. My biggest concern was and still is her ability to control her emotions. That was the whole reason for seeking help and starting the therapy, but of course, due to the insurance run around the therapist had to show she had a developmental delay. The testing only shows 36 months but honestly you don't see anything different with her from any other 3.5 year old except her speech. She talks up a storm, it is just her pronunciation that she needs to work on. We are on the waiting list for the speech therapy so that should be starting soon. As for the emotional side of it...I couldn't ask for better results. As long as we keep up the sensory "diet" here at home, she does great. You can really see a difference if we slack though, so J and I stay on top of things pretty closely. Hey, we do want to keep our sanity :)
We also started a new project, the big deal will be when we actually finish it! We pulled up the carpet in our living room and now need to lay the Pergo. After 4 weeks of having the carpet up, we finally went over the weekend and bought the flooring. Now we have to make the time to do it. I cannot wait. The floors look terrible right now and it is killing me. So hopefully I will have some pictures of how good it looks when we're done! If all goes well, my plan is to carry it into the kitchen and paint in there too. I say if 'all goes well', because my poor husband is driven to slave labor around here. I am painting freak...I should say, I love to have my house painted, because I myself, do not paint. Not that I don't want to, its that I do a terrible job and I wear more than I put on the wall. With that being said, J has been nominated the painting man of the house :) and lucky for him, we usually paint at least 2 rooms per year. This entire house has been painted at least 20 times since living here in 2001. And NO, I am not just a freak of nature with nothing better to do! This 1000 sq ft house is the home to 1 toddler, 2 adults (one who is really messy) 3 big dogs, 2 cats, 1 bird and 1 big tank. Between the kids and the dogs, I get more snot, slime, dirt, and grime on my walls than I wish to truly reveal. There comes a point when washing just doesn't cut it anymore and painting is a necessity. The last time the kitchen was done was about 3 years ago and our cupboards are the worst so it needs a complete overhaulin'. I would like to paint our cabinets a dark chocolate color and being that my walls are currently off white and orange I am looking to go with a more neutral color since we want to sell in a few years. I would love to get this all done before the hard winter hits! I'm keeping my figures crossed.
This weekend we will be enjoying a local Harvest Fest with Ethan and his mommy (my cousins wife, Cindy) while the men do some roofing. They have a petting zoo, pumpkin painting, hay rides, and the local fire department bring the fire truck for the kids to play on. It was a lot of fun last year, so I am really looking forward to it.
Showing off her new dance moves :)
My eye! ewww gross.
Lana chasing the birds
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