New Crochet stuff

Well one of my old friends from highschool just had a beautiful baby boy. She asked if I could come up with a small blanket for him.  She gave me free reign and said blue,green, yellow and make it cute. I can totally live with that.

Enter the pattern from here - totally cute and adorable

I have also been making some toys for our little Booger for when He/She/It arrives in October. 

this cute rattle from here

I cant wait to get everything finished!

Thankful thursday- Bubble Mountain

Nanners has gotten more dependent with her oral fixations. Everything goes in the mouth. Stuffed animals, toys, shirts, dress straps, you name it it has been in her mouth. This of course drives me nuts. However I stop and think its just her SPD and her calming herself. Id rather have a calm child chewing than a crazy child. One way to curb it is to have them using straws consistently. She loves them so that was an easy one. However I wanted to see if she could handle blowing vs sucking. Its different muscles that need to be focused.

We had to clarify that we blow and not suck and she only messed up once. After drinking soap she decided that she was going to do it right.Presenting Bubble Mountain! She played in it and touched it which made me so happy as some days its a challenge. I am so thankful that we are finally having answers and able to help get her where she needs to be.

A heavy elephant

With our final diagnosis I of course have been the dutiful mommy researching EVERYTHING to help Nanners/me/daddy to cope with this SPD. We just dealt with the punches before but obviously that didn't work.

In her IEP it was suggested that we get her a weighted blanket/ backpack. Well she doesn't care for backpacks too much so I wanted to try it on a much smaller scale. I have seen that many people use stuffed animals instead and weighing them to use as cuddle objects. Nanners is a sensory seeker it seems and needs rubbing/ bear hugs / pressure so something heavy would make sense. I considered using one of her Elmo toys (she has almost 20 I swear) but figured she would get very angry that one of her Elmo's just wasnt right.

I remembered that I had taken a bag of stuffed animals out of her room and put them in a closet. I grabbed one of the bigger ones and it turned out to be a Heffalump. Nanners knows what elephants are so I figured it could be something to relate to.

 I took it and opened up the underside of its belly and "fixed " it. Aka 3 double bagged sandwich bags filled with rice. Sewed the bugger right up and its barely noticeable.

All I needed to "fix" Mr. Elephant

 

He's a bit chubbier than before but about 2 lbs heavier. Nanners was hesitant at first picking him up and yelling "He's too heavy!" We went on our walk in the stroller and I told her that the elephant wanted a ride too. (Long stroller rides are horrid especially when Nanners hides her shoes on Mommy) She sat with him and I convinced her he wanted to sit on her lap for the ride. She cuddled right up to him and actually laid down for the first time in the stroller in MONTHS. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was so nice that for the first time I didnt have a screaming/figity child in the stroller.

and the best part is from what I understand she hasn't let him leave the room since. 

It may be a beautiful friendship between her and Mr. Elephant. 

well we have our diagnosis

Nanners finally has her diagnosis. They agree that she has some behavioral issues and most of it is sensory based. She was perfect and even advanced on everything developmental especially her speech. We have a few goals and want to get the most out of therapy as we can in the next few months. We have already been told that we most likely will not qualify as you can not get Occupational therapy on its own which is the main component for what she needs.

I have a book I am required to read and we are going to try to get her set up quick.

Update on Nanners

UPDATE: The lady just came and went. The person I talked to on the phone didn't mention ANY of the sensory issues to the paperwork lady. After talking to us she decided that it may be a good idea to bring an Occupational Therapist in as well.

We will be meeting with a Behavioral Therapist  and an Occupational Therapist sometime within a few weeks and will have a total meeting with everyone on the 11th. I am so relieved they didn't say we were crazy, shitty parents or were making stuff up.

She was very impressed on how we had handled her sensory issues so far and how great her speech was. She could also see though her rough housing like crazy and her defiance all within the hour without a meltdown. I will be so happy when we get some suggestions on how to deal with her.

They did already say though that as soon as she turns 3 in September she will need to be transferred services. We will have to see how things are going at that point as we aren't putting her in the public school so it puts us in a weird situation. In IL we are still entitled services but you have to be careful how the school district is and make sure they arent pushy in a bad way.

Thankful Thursday- Big news

I havnt posted lately as I have been very unsure of where we were going in our life. Blessings none the less but some you have to go through some hell first. Mostly this is very personal on our end but its nice to get it out somewhere.


 Late January we found out that we would be expecting number 6. Yay! However it is always a concern how everything will work as I am the only one working and get no maternity leave. Not so yay. The big guy upstairs has some plans I'm sure but still leaves me with some fear of the unknown. We also have been unsuccessful to find a home birth midwife that accepts our insurance and I do not have large chunks of money laying about. We will be going through a UP/UC which is all unassisted pregnancy and childbirth. Baby seems to be doing well and I'm gaining weight so all looks good on our end.


Our other big news is on Nanners. She has always been my handful child and always will be. She keeps us on our toes and occasionally makes me pluck gray hairs from my 20 year old head. We have always known that something was a bit off with her but just accounted it as quirks. However she has become increasingly more violent with others and herself now. Her speech has regressed tremendously and although she can still tell you stories about her Papi if you ask her to tell you what she did wrong it sounds like a bunch of marbles. We had always been on the fence about calling Early Intervention but after she gave herself plenty of bruises we felt as if we don't have a choice. She needs more help than obviously we can give her alone. She still is excelling intellectually but behaviorally she is gonna need help working through her feelings and expressing them appropriately. We are having our first consultation next week and then will be meeting with a developmental therapist and a behavioral therapist to get some suggestions to help her.

Prayers are always appreciated as this is a new road for all of us.

Cleaning

One of my favorite aspects of Montessori is the application of practical life. We had always had squirt bottles around for Nanners hair as it needs some help in order to look manageable. She has always had an interest in them but I never enjoy water all over my house. When we went to the zoo she was given the opportunity to use one in full force and "water" all of the plants in the greenhouse. She loved every part of it and of course I didnt get any pictures. This being said when we got home she wanted to go to work and spray every aspect of my bathroom. I had to explain that some things could not get wet (Mama's phone) but the bathtub could use a good scrubbing after you spray. She loves the feeling of accomplishment of helping Mama clean up.