Christmas tradtions! - December 25th, 2015

We had some rough moments this week with all the schedule changes but we still had some great moments too! Here are some fun and memorable times Ashley got to experience this week!

Saturday

In the morning, she said "watching" when tv got turned on. When Jeremy asked if she wanted to go to the park she responded "yes".

This morning we met our family at local park to see my brother's drone that he just got for Christmas! The kids loved watching it and were even chasing it for a while! Ashley even sat in the circle waiting patiently to see it lift off!

On the playground, she saw these two boys sliding down these poles. She watched them a few times and then grabbed my hand to lead me over. She indicated that she wanted my help to climb up so we did that probably 5 times! She would watch each boy coming down the slide and made eye contact with them too! :) At lunch she said "juh" (for juice) and "chee" (for chip).

In session with me, she said "puh & etzul (for pretzel), more, juice, ball, this, straw (for strawberry shortcake), potty, push, tih (3 times for tickles) & awesome." We had a good time running around, spinning balls, tickles, & looking at books! During a long tickle session, she said "tih" 3 times during pauses to indicate she wanted more tickles! She took my hair tie out again when I was on my knees eye level with her. She made eye contact smiling, gave me a kiss and then said "awesome". In session with Jeremy she enjoyed listening to music and jumping!

I got to meet with 3 other Son-Rise mom's at Mozart's for an hour! Feeling so thankful and encouraged by these Son-Rise mom's in Austin/San Antonio area!!!! We met this afternoon and I got some great ideas on how to encourage our daughter to "wait" for various activities and items! Some ideas were more baking and waiting while it bakes in oven and make wait time fun. Also make sure praising her EVERY time she waits patiently or quietly.

After bath time, she always likes me to wrap her in towel and give her a bear hug! I LOVE this time because she is wanting affection and we are eye level since I am sitting on top of toilet seat cover. Tonight as soon as I hugged her she said "I wuvu" mumbled together!!! yay!!! I said it back to her smiling and she looked at me smiling too!

Sunday

Today Ashley woke up pretty angry and then Noah really set her off. It was really rough at church and the afternoon. I don't even want to count how many meltdowns she had. My mom did come in the afternoon to do a session with Ashley and she was eager to take Grammy upstairs to Playroom.

At night, I took Ashley to attend a special needs family event. We had fun at Leander Trail of Lights on horseback @ Open My World Therapeutic Riding center! Ashley got to meet Santa, see large fire up close for first time, makes smores for first time, run in circles around small waterfall and ride Bella the horse! It started out rough (waiting to ride) and ended badly because she did NOT want to leave. However, the hour in between was a lot of fun!!!! When we were there she said "Awesome" and "water".

Monday

Ashley and everyone else seemed to wake up much happier today!!! We went to Hop N Happy and both kids loved it! They got some great exercise! As soon as we got home, Ashley gave me the picture of the Playroom wanting to go up. She wanted to play with her small Bubble Guppy figures and Tinkerbell today! In session, she said "water, bubbles (2x for Bubble Guppy toy), ball, tuh (2x for Tink book & Tink sticker)". 

Ashley and I baked a yellow cake after session while Jeremy & Noah were gone for our "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake. She did great cracking the eggs (hand over hand), pouring in the water, oil and cake mix! We worked on counting with eggs and then waiting while it baked. Then Ashley helped me decorate the cake with chocolate icing, sprinkles, & Reese's pieces. We did hand over hand writing "Happy Birthday Jesus" on top of the cake before she poured out lots of sprinkles all over it! She was so proud of herself and I love that she responds so well to praise! Then she had to 'wait' until after dinner to have a piece.

At speech and OT, she did a great job following directions and enjoyed playing in the gym! After Jeremy took her to a park to play and she loved playing with daddy! We had scrambled eggs at dinner and Ashley ate them! After dinner, Ashley took my hair tie down again standing in front of me. Then she gave me 2 kisses and big smiles! :)

We started our family tradition tonight that my parents did for my brother and me. Every Christmas we would make a cake and decorate. Then we would sing "Happy Birthday Jesus" and my brother and I even acted out manger scene a few years with us being Joseph and Mary! If only I could find a picture of that!

After dinner, we got out our toy manger scene and Jeremy did a very brief summary on the birth of Jesus an why we celebrate Christmas! :) Then we got the cake out with 2 candles and all sang Happy Birthday. Ashley even said "Jesuh" and we all enjoyed a small piece! The rest of the night Noah kept singing happy birthday which would have Ashley looking around for cake! haha!

Tuesday

In session with Tracy, she said "water, nack (for snack), pretzel (really clearly!!!), bubble bubble (for bubble guppie toy), what" and other approximations. She really enjoyed fairies, bubble guppies, books, and matching colors.

In speech with Brooke, she said "whoa, this one, tink (for tinkerbell), help, Nemo, Bubble, more (along with signing), yeah, and thank you." She said thank you completely spontaneous after Brooke got her some crushed ice! She had a great session but transition to leave was rough.

That evening we met Uncle John, Cousin Amber and Cousin Shelby at Chic-fil-a! It was great to catch up with them and we did get Ashley to wave to them. In the playground Shelby went to play with her and started jumping like a frog. Ashley thought it was really funny and  made great eye contact with her. Then Ashley seemed to take Shelby's hand everywhere after that inside the playground! Noah loved playing with Amber on the playground too! We didn't get to stay too long since it got really crowded with face painting and animal balloons.

Wednesday

Ashley did not sleep well today so this morning was different. She kept playing a musical toy over and over stemming on it. I took her to local park to get outside and she enjoyed rolling the ball around. She really didn't engage much and wanted to be in her own world.

In speech with Brooke, she said " watching veggie, bubble, eat, yeah, go, pudding". She also said "strawberry strawberry eat" when she saw Brooke's chocolate covered strawberry! :) She has a sweet tooth like her mommy!

We took the kids to do a private class for Cookie Decorating with other special needs kids and siblings. Both our kids apparently are not big fans of gingerbread cookies but liked the icing! Ashley did pretty good squeezing the icing out onto the cookie!

In session with Tracy, Ashley said lots of different sounds but no words she could distinguish. She loved watching Tracy dance around with pink and purple fabrics and then even danced around too! She is really into Strawberry shortcake, fairies, and Bubble Guppies right now.

Thursday

This morning Ashley got to play at park with daddy and really enjoyed playing with him! When she got home the kids got baths and we got ready to leave for HCBC Christmas Eve Service at noon! Our new special needs coordinator reserved a section for Special Needs Families so that we did not have to arrive too early. She also got us fake candles the kids could use and gluten free cookies. Ashley seemed super anxious before we even left and we kept trying to explain that we were going to church. I guess she has seen us dress up 2 times lately for parties and then we left her with babysitter. I think that is what she thought when she saw us dressed up....that we were going to leave. :(  When we got to church she was set on wanting to go to her sunday school class so she didn't last too long in the service this year. She did enjoy the songs at the very beginning but when they started that short movie she was done. Then I lost my car keys so we were stuck there for another 30 minutes trying to find them....kids not very happy. Some how I had dropped them in my friends Christmas gift sack. She drove back to the church to give it to us. Jeremy was able to start making jokes pretty fast like "Merry Christmas! You got a used car!" Haha!

After we went to my parents house and they got my Grandmommy from San Antonio so she was able to join all of us!!!! Ashley definitely understood Christmas presents this year and wanted to open pretty quickly. She did help us hand out some of the gifts which was great listening and patience in opening. She then helped Papa and Grammy open their gifts but didn't seem to like what they got so she moved on. The kids sat at separate table but turns out both our kids wanted to come join us at the big table! It was an enjoyable night and great to be with our family!

Friday

Christmas morning! We kept routine the same that morning for Ashley and then brought toys out later to surprise them! Ashley got a new bike since she showed interest lately so we will have to start working on her using her feet to push the pedals! Noah got Ashley's tricycle since she never wanted to use it we put it aside for him! We took Ashley out to try her new bike and we need to get sturdier training wheels for her so she doesn't feel like she will fall over.

She had a great time at the park with Jeremy! There were some kids in line at the park doing a family game and Ashley went and got in line! In session with me, she said "Straw straw (for new strawberry shortcake book), Bubbles (for bubble guppies book), want, water, and two-tie (4x for cookie)." When we were doing counting and I asked her for the number 1 card. She looked at me and copied making #1 with her finger!!! She did it again and then tried also making #3 and #4 with her hand so I helped her. She thought it was funny! She made great eye contact and we had a good time having 1 on 1 time!

Her friend D (classmate from ESLE class a year ago) came over to drop off a gift and they seemed excited to see each other! D even gave Ashley a spontaneous hug which was so sweet! Where was my camera when I needed it??? Ashley did not hug her back but she did stand there and tolerated it! When D was about to leave, Ashley got her hand and pulled her back into living room to play 2 different times!

While I was making dinner, Ashley got Noah's puzzle box and brought it over to me. She wanted to do the puzzle so I opened it for her and she sat down to complete. She got frustrated on one piece so I helped her with that one but she completed the rest of it independently! Yay! She did not even look at the picture of it either.

 

 

 

Cow Santa & Party - December 18th, 2015

Sunday

Ashley had a great time today at church! Haley was gone today so Ashley played in Kings Kids A! In session with me, she said "juice, emon (for lemon), balls, want, water, one, bahs (for books), tuh (tink book), I want, straw (for strawberry shortcake book), & awesome" after she took my hair tie out again!
We had a great time playing with balls, Strawberry Shortcake, running in circles, tickles, singing, looking at books and taking my hair tie out! She did the actions with me for the "Head, shoulders, knees & toes" song 2 times! When we were looking at her Strawberry Shortcake book I asked if she could point to Lemon. She did it right away with no hesitation and looked at me. I asked her to point to the other 5 and she did great! She is getting so much better at identifying objects and showing us just how smart she really is! :)  We are trying to mix up the counting activity with jelly beans now so we ask her for a number. For example, I ask her for the number 2 and she grabs the index card with that number to give to me. We always celebrate and I put it next to my eyes. Then I get out 2 jelly beans and we count them. Today she got the number 2 and 3 correctly when I asked for them but doesn't seem to have 1, 4 or 5 yet.

In the afternoon, Jeremy took her to Hop N Happy and she got some great exercise the entire time! We all had a nice dinner together eating Mexican Casserole and then I cut both kids hair....Ashley's looks good but a little shorter than I wanted for her ponytail. Noah's hair was tricky and I don't think I will attempt that one again. yikes.

Monday

At school, she said "sort" during a new sorting activity and she got it on the 3rd try! She was really focused and did all her work really well today! At home she said "water, watching, awesome, & shoes". We were not able to do a session today since I needed to fix problem with work but Jeremy took her to the park. She was really interactive with him and wanted him to climb everywhere with her!

Tuesday

At school, she said "match, bubbles, water, nemo" and went to potty on her own! She had a really great day and no challenges!

In session with me, she said "ball, water, want, & trash". She did a lot of stemming with her hand today by almost making a claw and looking at her hands. I started joining her trying to do the same thing. She paused 2 different times to look at my hand and then smiled! :) She did a great job with counting! When I asked her for the number 2 and 3 she got those correct! She loved taking my hair tie out again making great eye contact for several minutes!

In session with Jeremy, she had fun playing chase with him making great eye contact! She also said "bath".

We almost went to the Austin Trail of Lights tonight but after talking with good friend about their experience we decided to stay local. We were fortunate tonight was pictures with Santa Cow at Chic-fil-a especially since we didn't make Caring Santa! Ashley loved them!!!! She was turning Santa Cow's head different directions and clapping his hands together!:) When we asked her if she wanted to sit in Santa Cow's lap for a picture she hopped on! Noah was a little scared but after seeing Ashley hop on he had to also! Afterwards we walked through Chinati Square lights!

Wednesday

At school, she said "bubbles, water, one brother" and went to the bathroom on her own today without any prompting!

In session with Tracy, she said "yum, wanna, want one, ball, green, this one, apple, watch it, & Ashley is awesome!" She said that phrase "Ashee is eesome!" 5 different times and got very giggly! When tracy rolled a ball over to her and it almost touched her pictures, she said "watch it". She had great time playing with pipe cleaners and using Twisslers to trace letter A, B, and C.

Thursday

At school, she said "Jesus, one, watching" and was very productive! We had her SLE class party at 1pm which was fun to see her in her environment and talk to her teachers more! Jeremy, Noah and I all came to her party! During the party she said "cookie" when wanting one and "water". She made an ornament and did game where students put carrot on the paper snowman. When I got out my phone to take a picture of her she played peek-a-boo! haha! The picture on the right is her lead teacher Ms. Meyers (on left of Ashley) and Ms. Callie (on right of Ashley) spends a lot of time with Ashley during the day too! They are both WONDERFUL!!!!

In session with Tracy, she said "blu (for blue), wall, wee, juice, baabee (for berry), Da (Dora), Blub (for Blueberry Muffin), huh (for help), red, what, bat, straw, oran (for orange), water & berry." She started out a little rough from the party at school that had just ended but started getting vocal after hour.

Friday

Each morning after breakfast at table I give her a small bowl of crunch cereal since OT suggest it as an alerting activity. She is getting better each day on her approximation of cereal and its hard to write out but almost sounds like "sheeahh" for cereal.

At school today she said "bubbles & one". She did really great today with all the schedule changes and extra parents in the school due to parties.

Dinosaurs & Bike Shopping - December 11th, 2015

Saturday

Today we went to Dinosaur Park in Bastrop with Austin Special Needs. It was a little bit of a drive and cold starting out but it ended up being a lot of fun. They have a trail to walk through and you can see large statues of different dinosaurs with their facts. Noah liked looking at them but Ashley only maybe looked at one of them. :) They had a large playground area and field so the kids loved playing there after! They had sand pits too that the kids could dig through and find fossils! While we were there Ashley said "water, cha-cha (for cracker) & trash" when I asked if she could put item in trash.

At lunch, she said "cheeps & juice". In the afternoon, the kids got to attend Christmas at Camp Grace and had a great time! At bath time, Ashley said "ath, water & love you" after I said I love you! Both kids went to bed pretty quickly since we had a full day.

Sunday

We actually got to church early today! However, that was a huge mistake. We got there way too early so her teacher, peers and buddy were not there. Ashley was pretty upset so we will just always be a few minutes late from now on! :) She said "I want, ball, dum-dum, and no" to a question. In the bathroom, they have colored tiles on the wall. Haley told me that Ashley pointed to the red tile and then pointed to her shirt. Next she pointed to the blue tile and pointed to her blue jeans! When I picked her up from class she seemed happy to see me. I got on my knees to give her a hug and she put her arms around my neck while making eye contact and a smiling! She also tilted her head looking at me like she always does after taking out my hair tie. I think she liked that I wore my hair down for church! It was really sweet!

In session with me, she said "want, water, ball, balls, one, tree (for three) & red (2 times)" when we were counting with red jelly beans! We removed the dots from the numbers 1-5 and she is still putting the correct number of jelly beans on each number! She was very affectionate today, lots of eye contact, and super happy! She loved getting tickles today and also taking out my hair tie!

Jeremy took her to a park which she loved being outdoors and the swings! The adventure got ruined though when an ice cream truck showed up and all the other kids got ice cream. :(  We honestly are not seeing much of a difference with the GFCF diet so we will be talking to her doctor this week about it. It been really hard and it is very expensive.

At dinner, she said "water & straw" when wanting to help with strawberries!

Monday

At school, Ashley said "water, bubbles, & book." She worked really hard today and worked on handwriting and labeling.

 In session with my mom, she had a good time playing! In the evening she said "bus" when playing with her bus toy. She put in the Fairies clothes into the bus and then pushed it around. This was very different because she normally plays with toys that have faces. She always discards these clothes or tries to chew on them. Noah was not feeling good today and was really clingy so it was tough on Ashley too.

Okay so tonight Ashley wanted to put ONLY the Fairy clothes on her bus and push it around. VERY different... She prefers to play with toys that have faces. I couldn't help see this bus and not think of the rapture scene from the Left Behind book :)

Tuesday

At school, she said "want, one, & diamond" and did great following directions,

In session with me, she said "straws (for strawberry shortcake), want, craber (for cracker), buh (for book), drink, water, balls, brace (for bracelet), what, busy-bee, tri (for triangle), one & tuh (for two)." We played a ring toss game but she was not too interested in it. She decided to take the bracelets onto her wrist and shake them to make noise!  I put a few on my ears and then she copied that too! We had colored shape sorters today and I put out all the red shapes (circle, star, square, triangle, heart). I asked her for each shape and she almost did it correctly! At dinner time, she said "straw" for strawberry and "awesome"!

Wednesday

At school, they said she was really unfocused and whined a lot. However she did say "blocks, Nemo, I want, chips" and did great job matching when focused.

In session with Tracy, she made lots of sounds and great eye contact! She said "awesome, yum, ball, berry, up, this, whee, want, blue, gree (for green), eat, more, mon (for mouth), twizzle, water, tweetwee (for treat), sna (for snack), one, two & sp (for spin)."

Thursday

At school, she was not very vocal but went to the bathroom on her own twice! After school, we had to see specialist for follow up appointment. During that time she said words "baby" and "piece".

After the appointment I took her to Academy to look at bikes since we are thinking of getting her one for Christmas. She did so great and stayed with me the entire time! She seemed to love the teal and purple bike and kept wanting to sit on it! We even picked out a helmet and she didn't mind it on her head at all! We also got training wheels that will work for a 20 inch bike and a Minnie Mouse basket to attach so her toys can come along! She seems to show interest in others' bikes and we feel she might be ready to finally learn how to ride bike! It will be fun to have it there on Christmas morning for her and we will use Ashley's old red tricycle for Noah's present. She never wanted to use it so its in great condition! At night she said "bath" and "water".

Friday

At school, she said "one" and "bubbles". She was much more focused today and even asked to go potty with no prompting using her IPAD!!!

In speech with Brooke, she said "want, titen (for chicken), waxberry (for strawberry), ope (for open), pease (for please), yeah, no, momma, tinte (for tinker bell), no, hep(for help)." She also transitioned leaving the facility really well too!

In session with Tracy, she said "eat, yum, yummy, one, bear, bears, & red". She had fun with strawberry shortcake, balls, counting, spinning, magnets and books.

Puzzles & Tracing letters! - December 4th, 2015

Ashley loves when my mom and Tracy come to play with her in the Playroom! Since she was waiting so patiently today I thought I would catch her eagerly waiting!

Sunday

At church she was in a great mood and loved dancing in worship both hours! They have some special sensory toys for Ashley and one of them is a small dog that moves if you touch his back! She loved it!

Once we got home, she said "shoes, juice, want, cheeps (for chips)" at lunch time! In session with me, we played Hungry Hippos, Strawberry Shortcake, rolling balls, spinning balls, and counting activities! She said "chee, cheese, & cheeps" for chips and "want, ball, straw (2 times for strawberry shortcake cards), one, tuh (for two)."

Haley took Ashley to local bounce house and she said "sli (for slide) and juh (for jump)" while there. It was super crowded so she did a lot of rocking. :( She lined up her Petshop again several times today so I thought I would take pictures each time to try find a pattern.

Before dinner, she helped me with the strawberries again and said "strawbe". After dinner, Jeremy got Ashley's help to shut all the blinds and during it she said "shut" 2 times! While they were cuddling on the couch, Jeremy asked her "Do you know I love you?" and she said "yeah". :) At potty time, she said "all done" when finished!

Monday

At school, she said "water & green" and was in a really good mood! In session with Becky, she said "cheeps" 2 times for chips. We got a busybody book with Strawberry Shortcake characters and she loves them! She is matching the 1 inch figurines to the cards and the houses on the map! My mom started being goofing and jumping on one foot. Ashley started imitating her and lasted about 1 minute!

After dinner, she said "water" and "mubbin". I asked her "Can you give me Lemon?" and she gave me the correct one! I went through the other 5 characters and she did them all correct too!

Tuesday

At school, she said "water, trash, beans, yes & teetee" at potty time! In the afternoon, she was very cranky and not focused. She did not have best session with my mom and was very focused on her strawberry shortcake figurines. She did help me later make Mexican casserole! I explained each step and she seemed to really be listening to all of it! When daddy got home, she want to get tickles from him and cuddle. She also grabbed his hand and said "Run, run!" wanting to initiate it!

Wednesday

Today at school, she said "Nemo, water, & swing." She did a great job following directions today especially when walking down the hall with the group.

In session with Tracy, she said "tru (for truck), straw (for strawberry shortcake), yum, want, sn (for snack), want, water, ball & naana" sound a lot today. They tried a new game of Ring Toss and Ashley wanted to participate. They also used bracelets with the game!

In the evening, she said "ath" for bath and sang "watree, watree, watree, watree" (how she says water right now) all the way to the tub! :)



Thursday

At school, she was not really vocal BUT she had an incredible day! She was in a great mood and had NO sensory issues at ALL the entire day! Ashley also pulled off the shelf a new puzzle she has never seen before. She completed a 24 piece Mickey Mouse puzzle independently and without any visual picture aid today at school!!! It is so exciting to see her problem solving skills increase so quickly this year!!!

When we got home she said "water" and got Tracy's picture off the visual schedule! Today she was very patient waiting for Tracy even though she was eager to go up to Playroom! She got her Petshop toys again and lined them up in double row again. However, this time she seemed to babble to each one, move their head while talking to them and then set them in the row! :)

In session with Tracy, she said "tru (for truck), red, sn (for snack), berry (for strawberry), this, A, B, two, moose (for cracker...), boo (for blue)." She tried new activity with Ashley using pipe cleaners to make letters A, B and C which was not too motivating for Ashley. We might try string Twizzlers next time.

After session, she thought it was funny to take my hair tie out several times and made great eye contact! She helped me again with the strawberries for dinner! I help her cut the tops off but then I leave her with dull butter knife to cut strawberries in half while I finish dinner. She really enjoys it! :) After dinner, she said "want, bath, watch & straw" for watching strawberry shortcake.


Friday

Before leaving for school, I turned on Chicken Little and Ashley said "bus" 2 times when it came on the tv!Today at school, she said "first, want, bubbles, one, watching, & Veggie Tales!" She had another super day at school and no challenges! They have been working on tracing letters and today she traced the letter "A" 4 times independently! The one on the upper right was done hand over hand but the others she did all by herself!!!!

In session with me, she said "eat, water, etschul (2 times for pretzel), lemon, want, hi, juh (for jump), balls, drink, one, tree (for three), & tru (for truck)." I was getting a lot of green lights today so I thought I would write her name in orange and see if she would trace it. She traced her name Ashley completely independent with green marker and did AMAZING! Took a picture later so we can see her progress from here.

After I got her help to bake Caramel chocolate cookies using Rolo candies! We like to bake some sweets for our neighbors every Christmas! She enjoyed breaking the eggs, pouring in the oil & cake mix, and trying to stir the batter. By the end she was catching on quickly! She helped make small spoonfuls of batter, push Rolo into center, and then make ball around Rolo! :) She did enjoy a few Rolo candies too!

After dinner, she said "watch, Straw & tv." She was really playful with Noah wanting to climb over the couch with him and then playing with daddy when he got home!