This morning we started by dismantling the indoor Christmas decorations. I put away the tree, the Santa Stitch, all of the ornaments and garland that were placed around the house. The Peanuts tree, complete with Linus's blanket, was shoved back into its box. The trifle dishes were emptied of ornaments and returned to their packaging. Stockings, tree skirt and angel went back into their boxes for another year.
That was no small job. And I'm still finding little bits of Christmas every time I turn around. Perhaps by Thanksgiving I'll have gotten it all put away.
By the time 9:30 rolled around, The Princess and I had eaten breakfast and were ready to go. We hopped into the car and headed to Crystal Lake for the O&A play group while Daddy worked. Play group was fun, for the most part. The Princess always enjoys the free play time, and Kiera was kind enough to indulge her with an endless stream of bubbles to play with.
It was a larger group than normal and The Princess interacted well with the other kiddos, until a couple of little ones started crying. Unfortunately it got a bit loud for her liking and she began to cry and cover her ears. She and I walked over to a quiet area by our diaper bag and busted out Dirt Pink (her most favorite blankie). I laid him (Dirt Pink) on the floor and The Princess got right on and laid down. Drawing two corners together by her neck and the other two by her feet, I lifted her up and swung her back and forth for a few minutes.
Works like a charm every time.
The Princess, Dirt Pink and I walked over to join everyone else for circle time, where we sang songs and listened to a story called "A Stranger In The Woods". The Princess was snuggling on my lap and not really participating, but at least she was tolerating the group atmosphere. If you know her, you know this is a big deal.
After circle time came Mommy's favorite part - craft time! The project today was to make a snowflake relief painting on blue construction paper using white paint and a cotton ball. The Princess isn't ever really sure what to do with these art projects, but she's a good sport about letting me help her by doing things hand-over-hand.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to present The Princess's art project from today's play group:
This beautiful piece of art is currently adorning my kitchen door.
After play group we headed home to straighten up a little bit before our new developmental therapist dropped by for her first visit. Her name is Jill and she's a sweetheart.
The Princess greeted Jill in her usual Julie-fashion...she went straight for the toy bag. Jill took the time to tell me what DT is all about and, though it's still a rather abstract concept, I appreciate that immensely. We talked about the OTA program at MCC that's starting in the fall and she may actually be doing that along with me. She's been interested in OT for a while and is thinking about making a switch before too long.
For a first visit, it went extremely well. There were no tantrums and no battles of will. The Princess vocalized requests a couple of times, which is huge...especially with a new person. The session lasted about 45 minutes until it was no longer productive. This was fine with me, since I wanted to pick Jill's brain and get a feel for her.
She'll be back in two weeks for the next visit, and The Princess and I have some homework to complete by then. The homework involves taking turns and imitating, and it should be fun.
Jill took off for her next appointment, and The Princess and I jumped back in the car to return our library books that would have been due tomorrow. Don't want to get caught in a snowstorm, dontchaknow...
From the library we headed over to Grumma's house where we spent a couple of hours playing and watching Playhouse Disney on On-Demand. Not to mention digging through snack mix to find favorites and, of course, chasing bubbles around while giggling uncontrollably.
After a stop at the grocery store, The Princess and I are currently chillin' out at home with Daddy and The Girls. It's been a big day...perhaps it will be an early night.
What does O&A stand for again?
ReplyDeleteOptions & Advocacy - this is the non-profit that Heather, our service coordinator, works for. She's the one who hooks us up with all of the different therapists, and she helped set up the medical diagnostic and all that good stuff. They basically do all of the EI (Early Intervention) stuff for us so we don't have to muddle through it alone.
ReplyDeleteSo is it a therapy as well?
ReplyDeleteThe play group has kids of all skill levels, so some of them are completely normal for their ages. It's not so much a therapy as a socialization exercise...something Chloe can definitely benefit from. :)
ReplyDelete