Saturday, September 29, 2012

Building Strength!

         We had a consult in Orlando at APH to see if Cyler was a candidate for their "intensive feeding clinic".  He had to perform a number of tasks in front of a group of specialists including a doctor, therapist, nutritionist, and social worker.  He did really well with the actual tasks.  I wasn't sure how it would go especially after he decided to tell the social worker that his name was "poop" when she asked him.  After the evaluation we were informed that they feel Cyler would benefit from the program.  YAY!   Now we just need to arrange transportation to and from Orlando 5 days a week for 4 weeks!  YIKES!
   
       Also, at the appointment a new diagnosis was thrown into the mix.  We were told that Cyler has low muscle tone, also known as Hypotonia. I was completely taken off guard with that one.  I never considered this even though all of the signs were right there in front of me.  Not being able to balance on one leg, being wobbly, and lack of shoulder definition.  I brought this up at our pediatricians office and we now have a physical therapy consult and a neurology consult.  He should have never been discharged from PT.  When he met his goals new ones should have been created.   The neuro concert is to address some of the self stimulating behaviors that Cyler has (dancing, vocal, and focusing).  So now we are taking our "learning" to a new level.  Focusing on gross and fine motor skills.

       We made Cyler a "busy board"  to work on his fine motor skills.  Some people have asked why I am teaching him to unlock things.  My son is 4 years old and already knows how to do these things.  If we have something under lock and key for his safety the key is not within his reach!  It's that simple!  Part of the board is a "geoboard".  It's just nuts and bolts placed so that he can use rubber bands to make various shapes.



     We also found a park far enough away from the road where Cyler can run.  He LOVED it!


 

     It was so awesome to see him run like this.  He is always active but tends to forget about safety. I think that it's a boy thing.   If we let go of his hand for any reason, he takes off running.   This park is PERFECT.  There is enough area to run and it's semi closed in by a fence.  Cyler has told us that next time we go that he would like to play soccer.  Sounds like a plan!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Straws!

There are so many things that can be done with a handful of straws and a few empty containers.  Cyler enjoyed making letters, shapes, and people.  I was able to sneak in some math as well.  I asked him to count how many were there, then took one or two away, and asked him to count again.  We did this several times and he did amazing.  We also worked on one to one recognition by having him place a certain amount of straws in each container.  This is to ensure that he understands that each number represents one object instead of just counting by rote.  This kept us busy for about thirty minutes.







We added letters to the mix.  Today he was able to spell GMC, Cyler, stop, and of course Ford!





Yesterday was talk like a pirate day (for real).  We didn't know until later in the day but we were still able to talk about it some and incorporate some activities.  Cyler played with his palm tree and pirate ship for a while on his private island.  We watched the Rubbadubbers--pirate episode and went on a small treasure hunt.  








Monday, September 10, 2012

Painting and such.

Glue and sand art.  Cyler really enjoyed this.  He really liked pouring the glue on the paper.  He than started sprinkling some sand on the glue. Finally he decided to mix all of the colors together and see what would happen. The end result was a really pretty peach color.   











Below is Cyler painting with classical music in the background.  I can't believe the concentration.  It's amazing.  He was completely focused.  That is until the static interfered and totally wrecked his groove.  Nevertheless he did manage to create a few nice pieces.  


Even daddy got into the fun and decided to introduce transfer painting.  He folded a piece of paper in half and asked Cyler to paint only one side.  Cyler loved this.  It was so much fun to watch his mind process how this was working.  Daddy looks like he was having fun too!