We had some rough times over the break where Ashley would have multiple meltdowns in a day because she was not getting her way or just change in schedules. She throws herself on the ground screaming and then starts hitting herself on the head or thigh. It is so hard to watch her doing that but now we are seeing that it is attention seeking behavior. Once we figured that out, we did our best to ignore the behavior and if necessary move out of the room. Then I would keep moving out of her sight and she would calm down. That was rough but it got better by Sunday thankfully!
Saturday
This morning I asked Ashley if she wanted to get her stool from pantry to help me make breakfast treat and she got up quickly! While she was bringing the stool into the kitchen she said "breakfast" and when I put the Breakfast Treat into the fridge she said "treat"! She loves cracking the eggs and stirring! She was a big help making it and has a good memory because later in the day she asked for it using her Ipad for dinner! :)
Jeremy took her to park to get outdoors before the rain came and they had a great time! Before she left I said Come on let's go potty first and she said "come on". She helped me pack her backpack and said "water" when she grabbed her sippy cup.
We had a special needs event at local bounce house and it was so great with low numbers so our kids did not get overwhelmed! Ashley's classmate D from last years ESLE class was there and she followed D around for about 30 minutes. I am also good friends with D's mom so our girls see each other a lot but we have not seen them engage with each other like this before!!!! They made great eye contact with each other and Ashley really wanted to play with her. At beginning they were almost hugging each other and holding hands! However, towards the end she started grabbing D's arm to try get her go on slide with her. D did not want to so she started running away from Ashley. It is a good problem to have BUT not yet sure how to teach Ashley how to play properly. I would say Be gentle and you cannot grab her arm to pull her, etc. The first time I said "be gentle", Ashley petted her head like she does with Oscar sometimes! Haha! It was hard to get good picture since they were both nonstop moving!
Haley also took Ashley out that afternoon and had a great time! She said "jump, sli (slide), I want, no, yes, & straw" for strawberry shortcake book! She also climbed the big tall stairs all by herself!
At night she said "mubbin (for muffin), iii (for ice) & awesome" when she found strawberry shortcake stickers! We also had good family time running around and giving tickles!
Sunday
Before church Ashley went into the potty on her own with no prompting and used bathroom. Then later she selected potty on her Ipad to let her know she needed to go!!!! She also said "straw" 4 times when I was talking about her characters in strawberry shortcake book and "bubbles" for Bubble Guppies book.
Today at church was a little challenging since low attendance and some regular people were not there. She did bring her Strawberry Shortcake book and matched her multicolored fruit chews to the shortcake characters. She also said "straw (2 times for book) and no" to Haley's question.
When we got home from church she wanted to go straight to her Playroom to decompress. I asked if she wanted a sandwich and she shook her head no! I asked if she would let me eat first and she waited patiently for me to eat!!!! Yay! We are looking for more opportunities to have her practice 'wait' and praising her when she waits patiently! In session, she said "juice, want, what, water, tuh (tinker bell book), buh-ball (for balls), rib-it (like frog) & straw" 3x when we were looking at her book.
Alissa took her to Jumpoline and she got her some great exercise. Jeremy and I are both fighting sinus infections again so it was great to have some rest time. Tracy & Haley got Ashley a new toy called Brain Flakes so we all enjoyed building star war ships! :) Ashley liked picking handfuls up and dropping them almost like a sensory activity.
Monday
This morning she went in to use the potty independently and with no prompting again!!!!
We went to Hop N Happy this morning with Austin Special Needs and we carpooled for the first time! A good friend and her daughter (Ashley's BFF named D) needed a ride so we thought we would try it! When we were all walking to the garage, Ashley said "awesome" since she loves Hop N Happy and probably because D was with us too! I didn't have time to prep Ashley for it but when we got to the car I asked her if she could sit in the center seat. She moved over without a fuss and then watched as D got into her seat. She handled it REALLY well!!!! Our first carpool was a success!
When we got home she wanted to go straight to the Playroom but we couldn't go then since just me and 2 kids. Noah is battling allergies too so he is a little fussy and hard for them to be around each other. She said "water & cheeps" at lunch and then "shoes" when we left do run some drive-thru errands. She got a little frustrated waiting.
When Tracy pulled up in her car, Ashley was so excited and said Tracy's name 4 times like "Day-cee"! When I gave her bowl of ice chips to take up to Playroom Ashley smiled and said "awesome"!
In session with Tracy, she said "trays, Tink, this one (for puzzle piece), spu (for spin)" and other approximations. She did great following directions, dancing, puzzles, and laughing at herself in the mirror! We put 2 new puzzles in Playroom today she had never seen that were each 16 pieces. One was Toy Story and the other one was My Little Pony. There was no picture for her to see layout either and Tracy said she completed both independently. When she could not get a piece to work she did not get frustrated but just grabbed another one! yay! Tracy also did counting today using the Brain Flakes instead. She asked Ashley to put 1 yellow piece on the index card with #1. These are same index cards #1-5 we have used with dots and putting jelly beans on it. So with each number tracy asked her to put the correct number and a different color each time! She did it correctly!!!
She did a great job washing and cutting up strawberries! Then she sat at the table waiting so patiently for the Mexican Casserole to finish cooking!
Tuesday
In session with Tracy, Ashley said "that, ball, sp (for spin), mus (for music), yet, this one, whee, and nack (for snack)". She was not very vocal today but she had fun playing with brain flakes, balls, puzzles, music, books, and her new Umizoomi counting book! Tracy even tried to prep her for our painting class by drawing some snowmen with her on paper! :)
After lunch, she came over to me with her Ipad and selected Chicken Little to watch. She then looked at me and said "che-che little"!!!
Painting With A Twist in Cedar Park created a "Special Families Class" today for special needs kids and all family members! They made great accommodations for our kiddos including shortened class time & smaller canvas! Ashley did soooo great and I am so glad she got opportunity to try! It was our first mother & daughter PWAT painting!
She seemed to really enjoy it and wanted to use green/blue/black/white for background color! She even outlined the 3 circles for snowman!!! She was losing interest after 3 circles and snowflakes in sky so we did hand over hand for finishing off details for snowman. Papa came to paint with Noah! Noah liked it but had a mind of his own for his first painting! Haha! While we were waiting for background to dry, we went in other room to eat a snack because painting is hard work! Noah immediately saw the Star Wars painting so Papa held it up for him to put his face in!
When I was making dinner Ashley was patiently sitting at the table! Oscar came to stand by the back door so I thought I would try and see if Ashley could let him out. I asked her "Can you open the door and let Oscar outside?" and she got up and did it watching Oscar walk out!!!! Then when Oscar was ready to come back in I asked her again and she got up to open it for him!!!! Wow!!!!
Wednesday
Papa came over this morning to join us for special needs field trip to Austin Aquarium! Both kids loved it and Noah is very curious. Ashley actually went to the other side. She also noticed the display with stingrays and 2 Nemo fish! Ashley went from room to room but still loves the stingrays. My dad got us stingray food so we got to feed them for the first time ever! It was a weird feeling having them suction off hand and Ashley preferred to just drop it on their nose so then they couldn't get it. My friend got some pictures when we were feeding them! In the car she said "water" wanting her sippy cup!
After we went to Chic-fil-a and then to local park to get some more exercise with sunshine. Ashley and I tried making a gingerbread house but apparently I did not get an easy one already assembled. It is suppose to sit at least 1 hour to dry before you start decorating. However, Ashley did not want to wait and only wanted to add icing to roof so I just let her start adding candy. Thankfully I got one picture before it all fell apart. Oh well! We still enjoyed eating some of it!
She brought her Ipad over to me today and requested potty all by herself!!!!!
Noah and Ashley made their own pizzas tonight and seemed to really enjoy making & eating it. While adding cheese, Ashley said "cheese" and "puh" for pizza! Bonus is that they hardly made any mess either! Ashley also listened really well to let Oscar outside to potty and to let him back in!!! We also did some running around stairs for fun and Ashley said "ruh" 2 times!
We have created an interesting problem...Noah randomly started singing "happy birthday Jesus" from when we celebrated last week. Ashely immediately paused, looked at me and walked to her Ipad. She selected a sentence her therapist programed. It said "my birthday is July 1st." She was waiting for the cake sitting at the table and sadly it led to a meltdown. So we need to make sure no one says happy birthday around her right now.
Thursday
This morning we got to go to Catch Air with Austin Special Needs and try this place for the first time. It was great because maximum of 50 kids, no music or super flashing lights! Haley came to help me with Ashley since I was told this place a little to large to keep track of both kids. Haley was a huge blessing and Ashley loved holding her hand to take her everywhere! It is a great place and we will definitely return during special needs family times!
This was fake kiddie pool and Ashley loved it. It seemed like a waterbed and you could see all the fake fish below moving around! She would probably love this as her bed!
Ashley kept trying to climb up and Haley was so patient with her. Ashley got a little higher each time but never made it to the top. I know she will get it next time! :)
After we got home, she brought her Ipad up to me and selected Potty!!!!!! At lunch she said "want" for her juice! She also let opened to door to let Oscar outside again!!
Our New Year's Eve was filled with Papa Murphy's pizza and watching a Netflix Care Bears countdown! We all still went to bed on time with no regrets!
Friday
Today was a pretty rough day with LOTS of meltdowns so not much to report. She did go into the potty by herself in the morning! We did go try Lunar Golf indoor mini golf with other special needs families. Ashley was not too into that so it did not last long.
She did want me to get out her Bubble Guppies toys so I started singing the theme song. She started singing after "bubba bubba bubba"!
Saturday
This morning we went to JumpStreet and had a great time! We had to work on Ashley's patience by waiting in line. It didn't get any better with each time.
In session with me, she said "water, want, ball, uice (for juice), tuh (tink)" and we just enjoyed being in their together today. Yesterday was so rough that I just wanted to love on Ashley. Later in the day she came up to me with her Bubble Guppies book, looked at me and clearly said "bubble guppies"! :) We went to chic-fil-a for dinner with a few other families but the playground was crowded and loud so she wanted to wander the restaurant scavenging for food!
Last night I asked if Ashley would open back door to let Oscar outside to potty. She listened so well and opened to door waiting for him to go out!!!
If you have read this far and are interested in Christmas week, then here is blog for Christmas week
For the 2 weeks Ashley started lining up random toys. Normally she keeps things grouped together but I took a picture the first day because it was so different. After that she would add more each day so I thought it was fun to see her additions and changes. The Bubble Guppy toys, Nemo fish, & Olaf were always included! :)
We had a great year and are soooo thankful for Austin Special Needs! It is a wonderful community of families and we have a lot of fun together! Here is the ASN 2015 Video Yearbook so that we can see some of the fun events over this past year that Ashley got to enjoy! Huge thanks to all the organizers who volunteer their time!
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