Sunday, August 30, 2009

Lots of updates

It's been awhile since I posted anything so forgive me if I leave anything out.

The boys had an amazing time at the cottage with my parents. Alex swam two or three times every day and would have lived in the pool if a) we let him and b) it was warmer. He also got to go on lots of long walks with his grandfather, who is delighted to finally have someone in the family who is interested in nature walks too. We were told he crashed out just about every night and woke up ready to go the next day. Nathan enjoyed himself, too, discovering a whole new bunch of foods that he enjoys (such as bananas, more on that later) and a new bunch of people to appreciate his charm. Nathan is much more cautious in the pool than Alex, but greatly enjoyed wading in the lake. Now for the banana story. We have tried for a long time to get him to eat bananas but he always refused. But apparently he's more than happy to eat them if you leave it in the peel. He makes happy monkey sounds and eats away. It's quite cute to see.

The boys have found a new passion in their lives. The television show The Wiggles. It's the only one they both enjoy watching. (Alex has been wanting to watch Mythbusters and nature shows on Discovery, Nathan still likes Elmo and Sesame and neither likes the others' programs.) But they are both loving the Wiggles, dancing and singing along with the music. We've even invested in a few DVDs and they are getting well used. We're actually going to try and take the boys to see them in person when they come to Ottawa in the fall. It just seems like too much of an opportunity to pass up. It's so rare that we get opportunities at the same time that they're actually interested in something. So cross your fingers for us. I'll let you all know what happens at the show.

Alex's therapy team is changing. We're losing his lead therapist to another position. We wish her well but we're going to miss her. She's been a favourite of Alex's to work with and he often asks for her by name. She is that rare combination of balanced enthusiasm and professionalism and she is probably responsible for a lot of the progress Alex has made since beginning his program, coaxing him to try new things. He'll be beginning kindergarten in a few weeks and I'm a little nervous to see how things are going to go.

Nathan's therapy team is also changing. Since he'll be starting preschool two mornings a week, we had to shift some of his sessions to the afternoon which means we get someone new. Again, we'll miss the previous therapist. She's been very pleasant to work with. But I'm excited about him starting preschool. I think he's really going to love it and it's going to be great for him to interact with other children his own age.

I think that just about covers everything for now.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Vacation Days

Alex is officially off to the cottage with his grandparents for a week. This is the third year he's gone and he always has a great time. It looks like he'll get some good weather, too. My guess is that he'll spend most of his time in the pool and on the playground.

This means that Nathan gets some quality two-on-one time with his parents. This morning, we were able to go out to the park. It was nice and almost relaxing. The slides were all very wet from last night's rain but that didn't stop Nathan from enjoying himself. At first, I tried to stop him from going through the puddle but then I realized I was spoiling his fun. A little water and dirt wasn't going to hurt him. So I relaxed and he had a fantastic time, even though water was occasionally dripping from his shorts.

He's definitely more adventurous than the other kids his age. We must have hit the right time for two-year olds at the park. Usually it's mostly older kids but this time we had about five different children, all around two years old. Nathan was very social, saying hi to the other children when I prompted him and even being surprisingly patient about waiting in line. But he was the only child to climb the big ladder by himself and certainly the most fearless when it came to going down the big slides.

I have to say that I'm really encouraged by how well he was interacting with the other children. One of the things I love about our neighbourhood is how multi-cultural it is and this morning was definitely a multicultural experience. We heard Arabic, Chinese and Russian (I'm guessing a little, so apologies if I've gotten it wrong). Nathan seemed quite intrigued by all the different languages.

He decided when he'd had enough and told me "All done." I asked him if he wanted to go home and he repeated "Go home. All done." Then he took off down the path to go home. But he did stop and wave good-bye to everyone when I prompted him.

All in all, a good first day of vacation.