Our New Occupational Therapist

This week for the most part has been pretty uneventful other than we finally got Kelsie into therapy at the Children's Therapy Center which we are thrilled about! We had the initial evaluation last Tuesday and Kelsie really hit it off with the Occupational Therapist, Ms Mary, we will be seeing. It seems like she is really going to work on some of the major issues we are having with Kelsie and she actually listened to our concerns and discussed a plan for dealing with some of these issues. The last therapist we worked with was unfortunately the type of therapist that Ms Joyce our ECI OT warned us about. She was more concerned with working on handwriting and things that won't really help Kelsie at this point.

We had our first session with this new therapist Tuesday and Kelsie really did well despite the fact that the timing for our appointments is not the best. (It is at 2:30 on Tuesdays and that is usually Kelsie's nap time especially after school) I couldn't believe all the things Kelsie was willing to try! Ms Mary spun her around in a baby swing and I really thought that might scare Kelsie, but all she kept saying was faster, faster, faster. She got into a pretty deep ball pit without a moment's hesitation which is something she wouldn't do at all at the old therapy center. She even drank some milk during our "tea party" (Ms Mary's attempt to get Kelsie to try new foods). Kelsie has never been a milk drinker ever since she was weaned from nursing!! I am already extremely impressed with what Ms Mary is able to get Kelsie to do and this was only the first real session we had with her. I am very hopeful that she will continue to do that well every time we go!

Hump Day

Wednesdays are typically my least favorite day of the week. I know Mondays are that way for most, but I find Wednesdays worse because we usually don't have anything planned and I am already starting to look forward to the weekend which makes the day drag on and on. Today was the exception to the typical Wednesday rule. We had a full day planned and it turned out to be a beautiful and fun day!

We had a play date with the mommies group this morning and for a change Kelsie was very excited to go. I told her we were going to a play date and she said "Play date? I love play dates". Usually I get something like I want to stay home or I don't want to go today. We actually didn't even have any struggles getting dressed or getting out the door other than she was trying to rush me! It was wonderful and refreshing to have such a great morning. When we got there Kelsie was a little hesitant to start playing, but that only lasted about 5 minutes. After that she happily played for the entire 1 1/2 hours we were there! I think that she felt very confident at this particular play date, because she was the oldest and biggest kid there. Typically although she is the same age as the rest of the kids she is usually one of the smallest kids, because she is small for her age.

When we got home it turned out Kelsie's friend Sophia (our next door neighbor) wanted to play, so we played with them until Kelsie decided it was nap time. She must have really been tuckered out from the morning's activities, because she said she was tired and ready to take a nap which rarely happens. Even when she is visibly exhausted she often denies needing a nap!

After nap we watched a little TV and then we were off to an early dinner at Lupe Tortillas again with the mommies group. They have a large play area with sand and playground equipment, so it is the perfect place to take the kids! It was great the kids got to play and get their energy out while the moms and dads chit chatted.

Kelsie wasn't ready to wind down completely when we got home, so she and Mike went to the neighborhood park to play until bath time. I am assuming she will crash and sleep well tonight. She certainly had enough opportunities to work out all her energy!

I really wish more days could be as easy as today. We all had a terrific day! It is so nice when things go so smoothly!

Happy Easter!

Today was Easter and it was a great day despite the fact that it started our very dreary. We spent the day at my brother and sister-in-law's house and we all had a wonderful day. This was the first time Kelsie has been there and she did great! She loved everything she got from the Easter Bunny and grandma and grandpa. She got candy, wind up toys, a singing/dancing duck, and a stuffed chick. She was so excited as she was going through it all!

Then we had the egg hunt. We had to do it inside due to the weather, but Kelsie didn't seem to care. All she cared about was finding out what was in each one! After it was over she started hiding the eggs for Uncle Grant to find. It was so cute to watch them play together.

By the lunch time Kelsie was exhausted, so she got a little cranky mostly because she got up extra early at grandma and grandpa's house 5:30 am. We all had lunch and then took Kelsie up for nap time. I wasn't sure she would nap even though she obviously needed one, because she has so much trouble sleeping in different places. I stayed with her and she did sleep although it was much shorter than normal. Luckily it was enough to lift her spirits again and we enjoyed the rest of the day!

I love family days like today! We enjoyed each other's company and even got to play outside for a while in the afternoon once the weather cleared up. None of us wanted the day to end!

Easter Egg Hunt with Mommies Group

Today we had an Easter Egg Hunt and picnic with our mommies group at a local school. The kids played on the playstructures for a while and then we hid the eggs for them. All the kids were so excited when the eggs were being hidden! They couldn't wait to start the hunt! It was so fun to watch all of them scramble for the eggs. Afterward we enjoyed a picnic lunch together. It was a great way to celebrate Easter with our friends! :)

Easter at Grammy's

Friday we went over to Grammy's house for Easter. Kelsie was very excited about the baskets Grammy prepared for all of us! She enjoyed checking everything out. Ever since she keeps asking every few hours to go through the baskets. I think her ploy is to get candy out of the deal, but she seems content just to look at all of it most of the time at least! ;)

Haircut

Kelsie was in such a good mood after her reward that we decided to chance getting her bangs trimmed. We went to Mastercuts because they were empty and Kelsie did pretty well. She sat in my lap and the only part that seemed to bother her was the hair falling on her arm. I would have liked to have done that before the Easter Bunny picture, but figured that would be too much to ask!

Originally our goal was to let the bangs grow out, but that is nearly impossible when Kelsie won't wear barretts or anything else in her hair for any length of time. I guess we will just have to wait until she gets a little older to accomplish that task. If all of her haircuts could be as easy as they were tonight I really wouldn't mind. It is just really hard when she fights and cries to the point that we aren't even sure that the cut will get finished at all let alone be reasonably straight!

Easter Bunny

Tonight after some bribery Kelsie took a picture with the Easter Bunny! She got some bunny ears that she actually wore for much longer than I would have expected and got her reward cookie after we changed her out of her dress.

Potty Training Update

Kelsie is doing wonderfully on the potty training front! She is wearing panties 24/7 now, she tells us fairly consistently when she needs to go (we still remind her if it has been a while, but we will probably do that for the first few years), she goes potty at school and at other people's homes, she is for the most part accident free (occasionally she has trouble making it on time first thing in the morning), and she is resisting washing hands afterwards less and less! I guess it just took her deciding that she was ready to get there. We had a much easier go at this than most people that I have talked to about it and we are thrilled that she has taken to it so well!

Public potties continue to give us trouble, but I have found that is a common issue with a lot of kids. Luckily we have only had one accident so far due to not wanting to go in public, so I can't complain. Apparently Kelsie has superior bladder control for her age and is able to hold it until she gets to a bathroom she feels comfortable using. (I also try not to give her too many fluids when in public and we go right before we leave the house, so she won't have to go very often while out.) We are slowly working on exposing her to the public restrooms little by little and I am hoping she will eventually either grow out of her fear or figure out a way to cope for the little time we are in there.

Excuse Me

One thing you can always say about Kelsie is that she is very polite for a 3 yr old. Thankfully she has willingly picked up on her pleases, thank yous, and excuse mes. Of course she doesn't use them properly all of the time and has to be reminded on occasion, but for the most part she consistently says them at the appropriate times. Somehow she takes that a little further when she passes gas. I am not exactly sure who taught her this, but when Kelsie toots she will say "That is the air coming out of my body, please excuse me"! She says it so proper and she sounds so grown up that it is really hard not to laugh! :)

911

For the last couple of weeks at MDO Kelsie and her class have been learning about community helpers Drs, Policemen, Firemen, etc. They also learned about dialing 911 if someone needs help. They even have a song they sing about it that Kelsie sings all the time now.

Today my dad was telling my mom in front of Kelsie that he had a mild allergic reaction to his medicine and so he quit taking it and got some Benadryl to counteract the reaction. Kelsie looked at him very seriously and said "Grandpa you need to call 911"! He of course wanted to know how she new about 911 and she matter of factly explained that she learned about it at school. I just think it is so cute that she wanted to help grandpa by telling him who to call for help!