What Can You Do With Stale Froot Loops? Part 2

Yesterday we finally found time for experimenting with the leftover crushed Froot Loops. The children loved it. They told me what to make with the glue and then chose the color they wanted to work with and spooned the crushed Froot Loops onto the glue pattern. I shook the extra back into the bowl and voila: pretty vibrant shapes and letters that the children loved and were proud of. We can definitely do this again several more times. Next time I'd like to do simple pictures like flowers or a house. The time after that I'll try something more abstract with lots and lots of glue. The time after that maybe I'll risk the mess and just hand them the glue bottle to use themselves. It really was great fun.

First OT Session

We had our first occupational therapy session yesterday. It went so well. Michael was able to fully participate in all of the activities which helped a lot. After watching her brother do something first Ava didn't want to be left out so she'd try too. Our OT's plan was to alternate sensory activities with fun motor activities. The idea was that the motor activities would be a fun break between the sensory activities which might be stressful for her.

First they bounced on an exercise ball mostly as a warm up and to develop rapport. Then they dug around in a container of rice and then a container of pasta for hidden objects. The pasta was no problem. Ava liked the rice until she realized it left a white powdery residue on her hands, but she stuck with it. Both of those were relatively easy because they were dry.

Then they got a ride on a kind of padded dolly as a motor activity break. The next activity was playing with moon sand. This is some kind of synthetic sand that feels moist and sticks together. Ava started playing with it using spoons and containers and resisted touching it with her hands, but gradually as she watched me play, and her brother play, and the OT play, she got bolder. Towards the end she was using her hands pretty well, but was bothered by any residue left on her hands and by the sand that ended up scattered on the floor. She kept moving her tray to a new spot to try to find a clean spot to play in.

The last activity we tried was shaving cream. To be honest, both children were a little hesitant to get in there with their hands, but Michael tried it first. As the texture became more familiar he moved from a fingertip, to multiple fingertips, to his whole hand. Ava took a lot longer and was a lot more agitated, but we eventually managed the same progression with her as well. She needed a cloth nearby and frequently cleaned her hands off.

We would spread a thin layer of shaving cream all over the tray and then draw shapes in it. I would make a flower on Ava's tray and then say, "No, no, please don't erase my flower!" Of course, that made her just want to wipe it away, but in order to do so she had to stick her entire hand in there to rub it out.

All in all the session went beautifully. The children had a blast and will definitely be looking forward to the next visit from the OT. Ava's tolerance for new sensory experiences was definitely stretched, but not pushed too far. I'll have to put shaving cream on our shopping list this week.

The Weekly Review: Week 23

Due to illness and fatigue (mine) I am going to do an abbreviated version of the Weekly Review.

It has been an eventful, but good week. Michael started preschool. We got Ava's OT evaluation results. We had two additional guests in the house for four days (dog-sitting). We finished up the kittens' week long run of antibiotics. All of those things went better than expected and I would be pretty happy about it if I weren't fighting a nasty cold.

Next week should be wonderful. We have relatives coming in from New Orleans for the week. My cousin (Ava's godfather) will be staying with us while my mom's sisters will be staying five minutes away with my parents. One of my mom's sisters is my godmother while the other is Ava's godmother. I am very much looking forward to their annual visit. I am also going to enjoy watching the children getting to know some more of the people who are so important to me.

Have a good weekend everyone.