Week 9 Day 5 - Tuesday, July 14th - ST and house news

Tuesday, July 14th

This morning we had to get moving a bit faster that we would have liked. We got some of our things put away and cleaned up in the trailer then we jumped into the car! Q had speech Therapy today. We had a babysitter, Rachel, meeting us there so we made our way over and took our time cleaning up the van a bit (since we were super early). We went up to the front doors and found Rachel there. All of us went into the area to meet with the teacher and for some reason the clock seemed to be very fast so we thought we were running late. I made sure it was ok with the receptionist for the babysitter and my oldest (K) to be playing there for a bit and I gave Rachel the keys to the car so she could take Kyler out there around 11:15am or so and we could just meet them there instead of coming back in and then going back out.

*I’ll write more about his ST class later*

We dropped Rachel off at home and stopped at McDonalds by our place and the kids played there. I had realized we had little to no food in our fridge for lunch! So we headed out that way. After lunch we came home and the boys napped (in fact Q fell asleep on the way home and it’s not that far). While the boys were napping I read some more of my books. I know I should have been napping with them but it just wasn’t happening!

When the boys woke up they played outside and I realized I hadn’t been taking a lot of photos lately so I did snap these 2 of the little men:




Once Arnold got home they had supper and I went to Bible Study at Jaime’s house. It was good to get out for a bit and talk to some friends of mine, who aren’t you know… kids!

I got home and checked my e’mail there was one from the landlord of the house, Rob, saying that he had just come in from a busy day of painting and would call my references the next day. And he said to say hi to the boys. I was so excited!!!!!

I went to bed around 11:30 or so and Arnold stayed up just a bit longer.

Week 8 Day 5 - Tuesday, July 7th - ST day

We had speech therapy today with Quinton. And since my babysitter was busy doing some camping of her own we went to Auntie Lori’s house. We left super early and got there around 9:30am ish. We went inside and said hi and dropped off K. Q was very upset that he didn’t get to stay so Auntie Lori gave him a little toy to take with him to ST.

Q and I drove back there and got there in time for class (more on that in a different post)

After ST we hit up a McDonalds and went back to Auntie Lori’s house and played around for a bit there. The boys were doing so well playing together I was really impressed. I talked to Lori about the house and how excited we were. By then we had faxed everything over to the agent and were just waiting for him to email Arnold back and let him know what comes next.

That night we just hung out. There was some talk between my parents and us about our house we were trying for but we just kept a low profile for that night. We put the boys to bed a bit early and went to sleep ourselves early that night. We were tired from a long day.

Speech Therapy - Week 2

This week we all kind of knew what to expect. Another child joined our group which was nice. When we got there we made nametags for the kids only and then let them play, or join some parents in the circle.
During our circle time we learned a few new things we could do this week. This week’s goal, along with going with what we did last week, is to hold back toys. Try to make them say the toys name or whatever you are calling it. If you are playing with blocks you can hold back some blocks and say “block” count to 10 or 15 in your head and say “block” again and see what they do. Most children will try to repeat you to get the toy. When they do praise them and give them the toy. If they move on then just give it to them anyway, or move onto something else entirely. They have lost interest and need to try something else instead.

This is a lot harder to put into practice. Especially when every boy in the class wants to play with the cars. Q had a car as well as 2 other little boys but it was hard for us to get things in order. Not all of the 3 children’s parents could get in there at the same time to get them to play with them and talk. It was frustrating for me more than anything. I even tried to move him onto 2 other toys and eventually we made our way to the books, with the car in hand, and got to read a few books. The issue with that is Q wouldn’t sit on a chair. He wanted to sit on my lap but then he isn’t making eye contact and seeing my face. I was getting more and more frustrated. I felt like today was a total waste.
Q started to imitate what he saw other kids doing and I guess that worked better than nothing. We would talk about making your car go up on your head and he would drive his car up and you could try and get him to say “up” and “head” but he wasn’t into it as much as I thought he might.
Again at snack time he tried to bolt out the door. I managed to get him to sit down again and it seemed to be doing ok. He did get some more snacks and a few more words together to say “Please more cookie” and that made me happy. Then we had circle time (after another bolt). He didn’t want to sit with me though! He wanted to sit with a little girl in the group. It was so cute! They shared a little square to sit on.

We didn’t read a book today but we did do the songs. We were told to wait and see if they could get the words. So we sang Rolly Polly. We did it like this once:
Rolly Rolly Polly
Up Up Up!
Rolly Rolly Polly
Down Down Down
And then we started again but we went like this:
Rolly Rolly Polly (and paused). We waited to see what the kids would do. No one got the words for Up so we kept going,
Up Up Up!
Rolly Rolly Polly (and paused) and after a few seconds Q goes
DOWN!
It was so funny. He did it with this attitude that said more like “Are you stupid? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

We headed out right after this. In 2 weeks (since next week we have no lesson) we are learning new songs! Thank goodness too! I need some new songs!

Week 6 Day 5 - Tuesday, June 23rd, ST and special treats!

We had a quick morning hanging out and playing and then we headed off to Speech Therapy. All of us went (in other words Kyler, Quinton and I) this time. I had our babysitter, Rachel, meet us there. She finished up school the week before I think and was more than willing to make some extra cash. It worked out well for us.

It was another hot hot day so Rachel and Kyler were allowed to hang out in the Centre we go to for the Speech therapy. I did double check that if I left the babysitter here with Kyler was it ok. She said sure no problem so they played with some new toys and such the whole hour. They loved it!
I’ll post more about Q’s ST later.
After we were done we drove Rachel home, the roundabout way since I had to get some cash. When we dropped her off we headed home to hang out. The boys got a special treat by going to get the mail and then going to the pizza store! The pizza shop up the road was having a sale on their ready to go ones so we picked up one med cheese, and one med pepperoni pizza. The boys also got their special drinks as well. I tell yah, if you want to try something different as far as drinks go make sure you like it! K has such a great memory he got me a root beer at the pizza shop and I don’t normally drink them, just when we get pizza from there.

We got home and had lunch and hung out for a bit. It was nice to relax. We even shared the pizza with the electrician coming around checking all the boxes for water. Nap time happen shortly after that and we didn’t do much until Daddy got home. Here’s what the boys had to say about nap time:





And K just wanted his photo taken:




Arnold made supper and had a fire with the kids while I went out to Bible Study and chilled there with some girlfriends for a while.

I got home around 10 or so and Kyler was out. Quinton on the other hand was wide awake! He got some hugs and kisses from me and then I put him back to bed. He freaked. Arnold and I couldn’t figure out what was bothering him and then Arnold guessed it. I guess earlier that night the boys were walking back from the washrooms and Q saw the Raccoons and got scared. Normally when we get close (and they are out) one of us will take his hand so he is ok but for some reason he freaked out. We had left their ‘back’ window open so Kyler could check for monsters (last night) and tonight it was scaring Q. Arnold closed the window and then Q knocked right out.
 

Speech Therapy - Week 1 - UPDATE

We have been working on it for almost 1 week. I would say about 2 to 3 times a day Q will come up on my lap, take my hands and say ROW or UP UP UP! Then I know what he wants. In our books we were given there was a spot that talked about a 'new' song to do called "'Round and 'Round the Garden"

Basically here's what you do:

Take the childs hand in yours and have it facing palm up.
With your pointer finger do this:

Sing:

'Round and 'round the garden
Goes the Teddy Bear (While drawing a circle on their palm)
One step (make your fingers 'walk' up their arm)
Two step (get closer to their shoulder)
Tickle you under there! (and tickle them).

Q loves loves loves this one!

We are working on reading books, when we can. We have our library books for 1 more week so that is helpful. Then we will bring them back and get some new ones.

He also spends alot of time on my bed (since it's been raining alot) and we play eye to eye. A friend of ours (thanks SOOO much Tracy) got Q a game called "knows the nose" or something like that. You have 4 animals to choose from (you get cards with their faces on them) and you have to put your hand into a bag and pull out a nose and see if it matches your cards. We have so much fun playing with that saying things like "Nose on! Nose off! silly Nose (when it's on the wrong one)" It really is a new teaching adventure!

We have now 'mastered' the words:

up
down
out
in
peek
sleep
Rolly
Row


I will have to find our list for the other words he knew when we went into our appointment compaired to what he knows now.

Speech Therapy - Week 1

We started out in a group at the main centre then we went over to another room. There are 6 or 7 kids (I think 1 was missing). When you get there first the parents sit down for ‘circle time’ and the kids go off and play. We get told what our ‘goals’ are for this week and how to apply them. Then we head off to our kiddos. This week we had 3 different goals. They are very similar to what we were told to do in our assessment already. 1 – Get down to their level. Play with them on the floor and when talking to them crouch down so they know you are there and can watch your mouth. 2 – Don’t ask questions (unless it has to deal with things like do you have to go potty). They wanted to make sure we didn’t sit around asking the kids questions that they already know like “Is that a ball?” when the child can already say ball. Why make them do it again? Work on something else like point to the ball (or hold it) and say “BIG ball” or “Red ball”. And see if you can get them to say another word. 3 – Talk face to face with them. We were challenged with looking into their eyes so they can see our face. Also if we are at their level we can see what they are looking at.

During our play time Q and I played with some balls. So we did a lot of “balls in! balls out! Match balls.” That kind of stuff. Then we played with some rings and we did some “rings on, rings off, rings stuck, big rings, small rings”. Our last toy was blocks. So it was more of “Blocks on, Blocks off, big blocks, tower, crash!”. I was beginning to feel like I didn’t learn anything, like I was just repeating the same thing but it seems to be working. About this time was when Q had felt like he was done. He started packing up all the blocks and zipping up the containers. It made me laugh. We went and had snack time. The 2 main leaders split up into 2 tables and had snacks. They sang a song and tried to get the kids to sit down. Q did *not* want to stay but I managed to get him to sit down. We talked about everything on the table. The kids were given cups, and had to try and say cup. Then they got to pick their juice (apple or orange). The teacher only gave them a bit so that they had to ask for more. Then they got some napkins and Q wiped his face and was ready to go. She pulled out cookies and he sat right back down again! He was really good with asking for more fish (goldfish crackers) and juice. When we were all done he cleaned up really well. I was very proud of him for using so many words.
Again after this Q was beyond ready to go. He even took my hand and went to the door. Instead we sat down for circle time and learned a new song. When Q finally sat down we learned about how important it is to read with the kids. To take a few moments every week/day and read with them. It’s not that they have to know what is going on and you don’t even have to read the words but anything is good. We ‘read’ a spot book. It was cute. Then we sang some songs. Q and I learned some new ones. We did “Row, Row, Row your boat”, “Rolly Polly”, and did them a few times. Even after only singing Rolly Polly 2 times Q had caught on to different things and what they mean. It was so cool to see. Then we said goodbye and off we went!

Week 5 Day 5 - Tuesday, June 16th - Nana and Papa arrive

PHOTOS TO COME LATER ***I still have to upload them from the Zen so it will be a bit but I promise to post them later***

Since I am a bit behind I can tell you these last few days may not really make much sense, or have much grounding but I figured I should post them anyway.

Today my camera got a bit of a break. Our day started out with Daddy heading off to work a bit early and us chilling out. I cleaned/organized a bit and got ready for Trevor, the babysitter, to come and watch Kyler. Trevor showed up *just* at 10am and off Q and I went. Q was so upset about having to leave Trevor. They have a blast all the time. Q and I went to his Speech Therapy. It was cool. (more on that in the next post)

Once we were done Quinton and I headed off to Arnold’s work. We dropped off the meals I made Arnold the night before and took Arnold out for lunch. It was nice to get a few minutes alone. We even made use of what we learned in Tim’s with timbits! After saying goodbye we headed home. I did get a few second to stop and pick up some things we needed for supper at the store. When we got home Trevor and Kyler were watching a movie after a long bike ride. They had a lot of fun.

Once Trevor headed up to meet his mom for a ride home I put the boys down for a nap. I bribed them (yes you read that right) with telling them if they had a big sleep Nana and Papa would come. I didn’t lie I just couldn’t make it ‘unhappen’.

My parents arrived around 5pm I think. It was a lot longer than I thought but they said the highway was just crazy! They got here and started to get situated. I had to laugh because Dad had some serious issues getting the back wheel on the wood to make it level. Mom and I finally decided to give him his Father’s Day gift early. It’s these Lynx blocks. Kyler thinks they are big lego’s; which really, they look like it. Dad got a set of 8 or 10 I think and used those to help with their RV. It worked perfectly! I’m glad he is getting good use out of them!

We chilled out for a bit while I waited for Arnold to get home. He was running a bit late but it worked ok for us. We just hung out. I got supper ready about when he was getting home. We had Sour Cream chicken with rice and broccoli. It was really good. After supper Mom and I did dishes and headed out on a walk while Arnold and my Dad checked the van. I’m having issues with it and the AC so they check and I guess it’s working just not as ‘fast’ and as ‘cold’ as I want it. Oh well.

Once we had done our walk we started a fire! The kids were in heaven! They watched the fire for a bit and we did one last run up to the washrooms and back down again. It was time for bed but Nana made them go to her tent and get their faces washed. Silly us for not washing them.

We all headed off to bed about the same time. It worked out rather well actually. We were so tired!