So today the small girl was feeling under the weather. It was pretty obvious, even though she was happy to see us, because there was nothing she wanted to play. Every game and every toy was rejected, adamantly. The careworkers tried to come to our rescue with a pile of toys and books, but they were all thrown forcefully. We cut our visit short, since we didn't want to stress her more by requiring her to entertain visitors.
 |
| Mom trying to soothe the crabby girl |
 |
| Classic shot of a crabby kid! |
So after that visit, we went to see our boy, and he immediately got fussy when he was handed off to us. Understandably, we didn't have high hopes for this visit, either, but we got a little surprise. One of the careworkers heard him fussing, and brought out his favorite toy, which is full of buttons with noises, whistles and lights. He started pushing buttons, which he apparently found comforting, and while he pushed noisy buttons nonstop, Daddy put the ipod near him so he could hear it. That didn't impress him, but when I started showing him pictures on the camera, he got interested, and looked at all the pictures intently, (while pushing his noisy buttons.) After that, he went exploring around the room, and let me hover over him. When one of the careworkers came out and started talking to him and trying to engage him, he got mad, threw a fit, and never would get up and start exploring again. We figured that was a good time to say goodbye.
 |
| There's comfort in a familiar toy. |
 |
| A precious boy |
When we went to see our big girl, they directed us outside, where she was sitting with a careworker, and several other children. Everyone was bundled up, and they were all just sitting on the bench or in the strollers. Not much activity, but it was nice to see the kids outside. We took her away from the group, and played with her. We started on the slide, and it took a few tries before she seemed comfortable. Then Daddy sat with her on the balance beam, and thumped her legs up and down. She liked that. Then we went for a walk around the property, until we got too close to the back alley and some dogs with puppies came running at us, barking ferociously. David stayed calm and slowly meandered away, in an unthreatening manner. After that he put her up on his shoulders and carried her about. She didn't know what to do with her hands at first, and I tried to show her how to hold onto his head, but she wouldn't. Then as he walked, she pulled off his hat and threw it on the ground. He said, "No!" sternly, put his hat back on, and after that she held on to his head for balance, and left his hat on.
We feel like we're getting familiar with her, and how her mind works. We've noticed that she's very resistant to switch activities, but since she's very compliant, we didn't know why. We've realized that she thinks our time is over, and we're taking her back. She was okay walking away from the building, but she didn't want to walk toward it, so we just walked very slowly, so she'd realize the visit wasn't over yet.
 |
| Sitting on the balance beam |
 |
| First time riding on Daddy's shoulders! |
Praying Ashleigh feels better!Sounds like the careworkers are all trying to make it easier each day for you!Leeza looks like she'll be spending alot more time up on Daddy's shoulders!!
ReplyDelete