The past Saturday morning I had to attend to a work-related discussion & unfortunately Juergen was not feeling too well, hence Dylan did not have the physical activities that would exhaust him, so he napped late & couldn't wake in time for RDI. The session didn't go too well initially but thankfully the last segment, he got the hang of taking on his role to monitor us and putting coins into angpows. At the moment, if I slow down too much (eg. intentionally take longer to open the angpow), he may disconnect & zip off. Great activity to work on his objective & am sure he'll develop greater resilience soon. I noted Gen's advice for us to do more sender-receiver with Dylan so that we can gradually move away from having to rely on physical activities to regulate him.
In the evening, he took on his role well to take toy coins from me to keep. Nice!
Sunday we had our weekly swim & it rained after a short while of his getting in the pool, we had to wait it out. At an earlier point he had tried to run off & I brought him to sit with us for 2 minutes -I'm quite glad now he's able to sit out the time I impose. In fact, as we were then told the club rule doesn't allow us to be in the pool once the siren sounds, I'm glad he doesn't put up a fight but waited it out, wrapped in a huge towel. This is a far cry from the past when it would have been impossible to expect him to sit out for the rain to stop.
We were later able to get him to engage and take /pass a ball with Daddy, with scaffolding from me (hence not filmed). Other than the usual jumping in the pool together, I also upped the challenge & tried out walking with him to different parts of the pool prior to jumping in together & he willingly participated. It's really quite nice to see even as his feet were at the edge of the pool, that he would walk off with mommy, trusting that we will have fun together!
After the 2 1/2 hr long swimming outing (with relaxing time at the jaccuzi & sitting out the rain), he had a 3 hr nap & he woke really happy. That evening, after dinner, he took on his role to take pieces of his toy train set from Daddy to keep in the box before we went for our walk.
The last 2 nights we also had a good time - shooting some hoops at the basketball court. While initially he kept trying to run off to the playground, with some playful obstructions from me, he started to enjoy just hanging out at the court (often running around & enjoying the breeze) & even tried shooting at the hoop by placing the ball above his head (though it goes straight down), as well as passing the basketball to Daddy. He feels more comfortable to walk over & pass it into Dad's hands rather than throwing to him. And when I use a lighter ball to toss on the ground toward him, he actually managed to catch it successfully without help a couple of times. Cool!
He also enjoyed very much sitting on Dad's shoulders & tossing the ball towards the hoop, & also watching Dad/I toss.
Anyway, I'm really glad that Juergen joins us much more than before (even when he's quite tired) & I can really see Dylan enjoying his company.
On Monday, he managed without too much effort to walk from the MRT station to AAS (about 15 mins), even managing his trolley bag quite well but the return journey was more tricky as he got tired & I had to use his favourite olive cracker to lure him. Also, when we reached Tiong Bahru station & out of the gantry, he stopped mid-track (not unusual but I just wait a little ahead) and suddenly decided to abandon his bag & ran away from me. As it's rather crowded & he got out of my sight, I dashed in toward the station control from another gate, but I couldn't see him & as I dashed back out, I saw that he was running back towards where I was when he zipped off. Thank God! Also, to me, this is a good sign he realised Mommy's missing.
In school, Dylan still has wee accidents and I'm looking forward to his increased awareness & progressing in this area, which I'm confident will come.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Initiative
Yesterday was a pretty good day. I fetched Dylan from school & went home to work in the afternoon. During the evening walk, Dylan was again mostly able to monitor my actions, as I vary my speed of walking. At one point, when he plonked himself outside a school to touch the the bumpy texture, after perhaps a minute of my standing in a short distance & he didn't move toward me, I made a "Oops" sound, he looked up for a moment but didn't come toward me, so I said "let's go" and started moving further away from him, & he got up & followed me. Yeah!
Today is even better, we spent a long time in Botanic Gardens, feeding fish & walking/running. He did pretty nicely mostly, but initially got me so upset by eating fish food & also sticking his hand into the fish pond even as I told him not to touch the water & to only throw the fish food in. His standing/running too near the edge of swan lake later also got me nervous. But as I sat to ask myself why I should be so upset over his nibbling some fishfood & touching the water, whether what he did is really such a big deal, I relaxed and started to enjoy the walk. Also I realised part of my annoyance came from my disappointment that my friend & her kid who agreed to meet up couldn't join us. There were various points I was walking really fast (in agitation) & he ran to keep pace with me without resistance, and as I slowed down, I can see his monitoring increasing.
We also had a good relaxed time at the cafe where he enjoyed the pasta (without the gravy) & dipping excessive amounts of ketchup with his chicken nuggets & fries.
Before we reached home, he fell asleep. He had a peaceful nap, and a couple of times he opened his eyes when I was at the bed & he just closed his eyes again. Once he got up & went into my room quietly to look for me & settled back to sleep when I carried him back to his bed. This is different from the crying that was previously common.
The best situation was when we were about to go out (to my parents' place for my Dad's 72nd birthday dinner) & I helped him put on his new shoes. I then put on 1 of my sports shoes but as the other one was behind him & I couldn't reach it, I suggested for him to stand up so I could get it. But without prompting, he looked at the shoe I had on & turned around & reached out for the matching shoe next to him, and gave it to me! I was elated by his increased observation and monitoring & most of all his initiative to take action! I thanked & hugged & praised him & he looked really pleased! What a great moment!
My siblings also comment on Dylan's increased regulation & sociability, smiling at his uncles & aunts & hugging some of his cousins - he's particularly keen to hug 2 of them, a 6-year-old girl & a 9 year old boy.
However, on the MRT train, particularly for one that's crowded & a long ride (16 stations to Pasir Ris), he still has not so appropriate behaviours, in that he doesn't sit still, moving around & sometimes accidentally hit the person sitting next to us with a suddenly flung out arm, being noisy & tapping surfaces loudly etc. Thankfully, he enjoys the ride now, unlike in the past when he could cry most of the journey or run around wildly & refusing to settle down. Now, I'm able to calm him by letting him do some beading sitting on my lap, and when the train is less crowded & we each have a seat, to let him do a puzzle. I also brought a book but it didn't keep him engaged.
Anyway, it would be great to see more of the type of initiative he showed today passing me my shoe.
Today is even better, we spent a long time in Botanic Gardens, feeding fish & walking/running. He did pretty nicely mostly, but initially got me so upset by eating fish food & also sticking his hand into the fish pond even as I told him not to touch the water & to only throw the fish food in. His standing/running too near the edge of swan lake later also got me nervous. But as I sat to ask myself why I should be so upset over his nibbling some fishfood & touching the water, whether what he did is really such a big deal, I relaxed and started to enjoy the walk. Also I realised part of my annoyance came from my disappointment that my friend & her kid who agreed to meet up couldn't join us. There were various points I was walking really fast (in agitation) & he ran to keep pace with me without resistance, and as I slowed down, I can see his monitoring increasing.
We also had a good relaxed time at the cafe where he enjoyed the pasta (without the gravy) & dipping excessive amounts of ketchup with his chicken nuggets & fries.
Before we reached home, he fell asleep. He had a peaceful nap, and a couple of times he opened his eyes when I was at the bed & he just closed his eyes again. Once he got up & went into my room quietly to look for me & settled back to sleep when I carried him back to his bed. This is different from the crying that was previously common.
The best situation was when we were about to go out (to my parents' place for my Dad's 72nd birthday dinner) & I helped him put on his new shoes. I then put on 1 of my sports shoes but as the other one was behind him & I couldn't reach it, I suggested for him to stand up so I could get it. But without prompting, he looked at the shoe I had on & turned around & reached out for the matching shoe next to him, and gave it to me! I was elated by his increased observation and monitoring & most of all his initiative to take action! I thanked & hugged & praised him & he looked really pleased! What a great moment!
My siblings also comment on Dylan's increased regulation & sociability, smiling at his uncles & aunts & hugging some of his cousins - he's particularly keen to hug 2 of them, a 6-year-old girl & a 9 year old boy.
However, on the MRT train, particularly for one that's crowded & a long ride (16 stations to Pasir Ris), he still has not so appropriate behaviours, in that he doesn't sit still, moving around & sometimes accidentally hit the person sitting next to us with a suddenly flung out arm, being noisy & tapping surfaces loudly etc. Thankfully, he enjoys the ride now, unlike in the past when he could cry most of the journey or run around wildly & refusing to settle down. Now, I'm able to calm him by letting him do some beading sitting on my lap, and when the train is less crowded & we each have a seat, to let him do a puzzle. I also brought a book but it didn't keep him engaged.
Anyway, it would be great to see more of the type of initiative he showed today passing me my shoe.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
New Progress
Monday 7 Jan was Dylan's first day back at AAS & he was excited in seeing his teacher Ethan and the toys as well as work activities there. This semester he's attending morning class and generally most kids are older than the afternoon toddlers (avg age maybe 5-6 years vs the 3 year olds), and there are also more transitions between the 2 blocks & activities are cut into shorter blocks of time. Last year, he'll complete 1 1/2 hours in Block B (individual 1-on-1 time), then move on to Block A where he'll have snack time, pretend play/ activity (in the same room), followed by music & movement. Good thing he seems ok with the more frequent transitions, though he makes frequent stopovers for the toys, esp the bead structure. Also, for circle time, he still tends to stand up after only a short while, though he does sometimes attend, watching the teacher's action for the songs/ looking at the book & taking the foam number out to stick at another part.
After his first day in school, as I was on my last day of leave, I brought Dylan for a session of Jin Shin Jyutsu (JSJ) in the afternoon. Mel had asked me when we are next bringing Dylan for JSJ as both of us really find the daily home practice (which we were taught at the first session) really helping increase his regulation (also ability to fall asleep more easily) & awareness.
At the OT session on Monday, Sheralyn the OT also noted that Dylan seems more regulated and aware. In fact at one point when Sheralyn let him climb into the "stormcloud" (stretchy cloth hung up high), and let him bouce, counting "1, 2, 3", I heard him count "1, 2, 3" as well. But when Ethan & I went to see if he would continue counting, he went silent.
At home when playing & I was counting the pieces of puzzles we keep, to be sure we have all, I was counting to "16", and he said "senteen, ayteen". I was very pleased as he hasn't done this for a long time. In 2006, when he was taught by Ms Sherall in Genesis, he really enjoyed counting to 20.
Yesterday was Dylan's second day back attending AAS - Aunty Mel brought him there & back by MRT train & bus & whilst he was active, he was not unruly and can wait & generally agreeable to walk with aunty. For the 10 min walk from school to the MRT station, he does run out of steam & wish to be carried, but with some favourite olive crackers, he can go on. With me, other than using crackers as bait, I also make carrying him into a game, eg. when he really wants to be carried, I may say I will carry him after 50 steps & he would be OK with it. And as I carry him, I may say I'll carry him for 20/ 50 steps based on how tired he seems. Again when the no. of steps are over, he doesn't cling on tight as he used to but is agreeable to get on his feet to walk on. This is quite a pleasure!
Last night was a really nice walk. I initially started with a fast-paced walk down the stairs just to get out of vicinity of our unit, eg. I may walk quickly 8 steps, suddenly stop, then walk the last 2 steps very slowly. He'll overshoot & quickly discover it and makes a repair. Nice! Then I tried out not holding his hands at all when walking stairs. Initially he kept trying to hold my hand & when it's really out of reach, he holds on to my clothing. But at some point, he released his grasp but still monitors me. But before long, he gets excited & walks very quickly, regardless of me lagging behind eg. I may have walked only 2 steps & he's already done with 10 & wanting to continue. But as I stopped & sat down & made an audible sigh, I was really pleasantly surprised when after several seconds, he came back up the stairs to me & I was over the moon! New progress! I quickly wowed & kissed & said "great"!
It wasn't consistent though, when the run off happened again, I waited but soon he had descended several flights of stairs & as it was close to a lift-landing floor, I was worried he'll run into the lift on his own, so decided to go after him. When I got him, I held his hand and said I didn't like it that he ran off so far away.
Downstairs, he was really monitoring me very well walking too, till we came closer to his favourite mushroom stools at the void deck of a neighbouring block when he just ran up the stairs to the stools & climbed on one of the stools. I stood a distance away & intentionally looked sulky. While he didn't come running toward me, I thought I saw him look in my direction, and stopped for a while. I then walked over to lead him away, telling him that I didn't like that he ran off from mommy. He was OK and went with me. It was generally a pleasure this outing.
There was a point when we crossed the road, & one of his sandals loosened and fell off in the middle of the road & before we reached the other side, he tried kicking off the other sandal and I had to stop him but he had succeeded when we got across. I then noted the sandal in the middle of the road. Quite clearly, he goes based on sensory perception - that the sandals should both be on or both off, & he doesn't know the appropriate action to take. Anyway, we waited quite a while before there was no traffic & crossed the road with him barefooted, picked up the other shoe & put both on at the other side. Another inappropriate behaviour was at the playground when he saw a piece of chewed up red gum/ chewy sweet & was very quick to reach out for it wanting to take and stuff into his mouth. I managed to stop him plucking off the floor but not in time to stop him stuffing his sticky sweet fingers into his mouth. Once during our recent holiday in Vietnam, I was also horrified by him pulling a piece of chewed up gum from the ashtray of the trashbin and stuffing into his mouth & at that point I had my hands full with Juergen's laptop & some groceries. Anyway, I really look forward to him understanding the meaning of "dirty, don't touch!". Please advise if there are good strategies!
After his first day in school, as I was on my last day of leave, I brought Dylan for a session of Jin Shin Jyutsu (JSJ) in the afternoon. Mel had asked me when we are next bringing Dylan for JSJ as both of us really find the daily home practice (which we were taught at the first session) really helping increase his regulation (also ability to fall asleep more easily) & awareness.
At the OT session on Monday, Sheralyn the OT also noted that Dylan seems more regulated and aware. In fact at one point when Sheralyn let him climb into the "stormcloud" (stretchy cloth hung up high), and let him bouce, counting "1, 2, 3", I heard him count "1, 2, 3" as well. But when Ethan & I went to see if he would continue counting, he went silent.
At home when playing & I was counting the pieces of puzzles we keep, to be sure we have all, I was counting to "16", and he said "senteen, ayteen". I was very pleased as he hasn't done this for a long time. In 2006, when he was taught by Ms Sherall in Genesis, he really enjoyed counting to 20.
Yesterday was Dylan's second day back attending AAS - Aunty Mel brought him there & back by MRT train & bus & whilst he was active, he was not unruly and can wait & generally agreeable to walk with aunty. For the 10 min walk from school to the MRT station, he does run out of steam & wish to be carried, but with some favourite olive crackers, he can go on. With me, other than using crackers as bait, I also make carrying him into a game, eg. when he really wants to be carried, I may say I will carry him after 50 steps & he would be OK with it. And as I carry him, I may say I'll carry him for 20/ 50 steps based on how tired he seems. Again when the no. of steps are over, he doesn't cling on tight as he used to but is agreeable to get on his feet to walk on. This is quite a pleasure!
Last night was a really nice walk. I initially started with a fast-paced walk down the stairs just to get out of vicinity of our unit, eg. I may walk quickly 8 steps, suddenly stop, then walk the last 2 steps very slowly. He'll overshoot & quickly discover it and makes a repair. Nice! Then I tried out not holding his hands at all when walking stairs. Initially he kept trying to hold my hand & when it's really out of reach, he holds on to my clothing. But at some point, he released his grasp but still monitors me. But before long, he gets excited & walks very quickly, regardless of me lagging behind eg. I may have walked only 2 steps & he's already done with 10 & wanting to continue. But as I stopped & sat down & made an audible sigh, I was really pleasantly surprised when after several seconds, he came back up the stairs to me & I was over the moon! New progress! I quickly wowed & kissed & said "great"!
It wasn't consistent though, when the run off happened again, I waited but soon he had descended several flights of stairs & as it was close to a lift-landing floor, I was worried he'll run into the lift on his own, so decided to go after him. When I got him, I held his hand and said I didn't like it that he ran off so far away.
Downstairs, he was really monitoring me very well walking too, till we came closer to his favourite mushroom stools at the void deck of a neighbouring block when he just ran up the stairs to the stools & climbed on one of the stools. I stood a distance away & intentionally looked sulky. While he didn't come running toward me, I thought I saw him look in my direction, and stopped for a while. I then walked over to lead him away, telling him that I didn't like that he ran off from mommy. He was OK and went with me. It was generally a pleasure this outing.
There was a point when we crossed the road, & one of his sandals loosened and fell off in the middle of the road & before we reached the other side, he tried kicking off the other sandal and I had to stop him but he had succeeded when we got across. I then noted the sandal in the middle of the road. Quite clearly, he goes based on sensory perception - that the sandals should both be on or both off, & he doesn't know the appropriate action to take. Anyway, we waited quite a while before there was no traffic & crossed the road with him barefooted, picked up the other shoe & put both on at the other side. Another inappropriate behaviour was at the playground when he saw a piece of chewed up red gum/ chewy sweet & was very quick to reach out for it wanting to take and stuff into his mouth. I managed to stop him plucking off the floor but not in time to stop him stuffing his sticky sweet fingers into his mouth. Once during our recent holiday in Vietnam, I was also horrified by him pulling a piece of chewed up gum from the ashtray of the trashbin and stuffing into his mouth & at that point I had my hands full with Juergen's laptop & some groceries. Anyway, I really look forward to him understanding the meaning of "dirty, don't touch!". Please advise if there are good strategies!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Vietnam Holiday 20-30 Dec 2007
This vacation was planned by Juergen, with the primary purpose of attending his Vietnamese colleague's wedding on Christmas day in Ho Chi Minh city. We're there 11days 10 nights and need to move 5 times(!), so I was prepared for the worst as Dylan usually doesn't settle to sleep well on the first night in a new place. Usually he's all excited and go exploring every nook & crany and jump a lot. So when the first night, notwithstanding walking quite a lot, he couldn't sleep till 1am (midnite local time), I wasn't surprised. But by 4.30am (3.30 Vietnam time) he was already awake & ready to go out - he tried & actually managed to open the room door but thankfully, he came to hold me by my hands to go out with him, rather than just run off as previously had done.
Anyway, thankfully, the subsequent nights he slept well, even as we moved every 2-3 nights.
During the vacation, I continued him on his Samonas auditory therapy, as well as RDI objectives. For Samonas, Dylan listens to the nocturne CD for 10 mins twice a day. He enjoys the music. But as the same CD has been listened to for rather long, already 5-6 weeks, he sometimes try to remove the headphones before the time is up. Thankfully, after I had to send the headphone for repair & chided him for throwing it on the floor, even when he removes it, he's gentler now. Anyway, I decided to use the random play mode & saw renewed interest. I notice during change of music, he sits up & appear to actively listen for a while before going back to playing his puzzle or eating.
As mentioned before, Dylan had a crying spree & exhibited much insecurity (often before falling asleep & right after waking up) for quite a while prior to starting his nocturne CD, but this insecurity can be traced to Daddy's being away for > a week on business trip, followed by my business trip for 3 days (7-9 Nov 07). We perceived he had some feelings of being abandoned and acted like he didn't want our attention when we just returned. Thankfully, he's over that and has gained confidence and sense of security since before we went on a holiday on 20 Dec and even more so during the 11 day vacation as he surprised us in his ability to settle to sleep easily (except the very first nite) despite our various moves to different places. He was also mostly happy, except a 2 day period during day 2 & 3 when he cried during dinner times.
His ability to focus and stay on task increased in duration. He is now able to complete various types of 24 piece puzzles (large floor puzzle as well as smaller ones from a puzzle story book), often in 3-4 minutes but he will remove a few pieces and put them back to relive the joy/ thrill of his success! Apart from Samonas & RDI (relationship development intervention), we're also doing jin shin jyutsu (or JSJ, a gentle yet very supportive healing touch /energy work) for him.
Overall, without being able to pinpoint whether it's due to the Samonas music (nocturne CD), RDI or JSJ, his confidence and regulation and level of awareness has increased quite considerably.
On 7 Jan, 08, during OT with Sheralyn, and she was counting the no. of times he's bouncing on the stormcloud, he also counted "1, 2, 3" very clearly. Another time, when I was counting the no. of pieces of puzzles we were keeping to make sure we have all, as I counted 15, 16, he said "senteen, ayteen". I was really pleased in his interest to participate and verbalise. I really hope that he would develop his keenness to communicate, esp using verbal communication.
He's also keener & more able to monitor my actions and adjust his to coordinate, & there would be occasions I need not run after him but he realise he's disconnected & come back to me. Sometimes he'll even try to keep up when I move fast & slow or back & forth. But not all then time or when there's highly distracting objects like water fountain/ waterfall when we walk etc.
While Dylan is beginning to be more interested in others, eg. smiling at & hugging his cousins & neighbours, he has quite a bit of inappropriate touching, eg. just touching strangers' hair / clothes in the bus, or tapping/drumming on neighbours tummy as he enters the lift / just sticking his hand out to touch as people come our way. Hope that he would develop a better appreciation & respect others' personal space.
Anyway, thankfully, the subsequent nights he slept well, even as we moved every 2-3 nights.
During the vacation, I continued him on his Samonas auditory therapy, as well as RDI objectives. For Samonas, Dylan listens to the nocturne CD for 10 mins twice a day. He enjoys the music. But as the same CD has been listened to for rather long, already 5-6 weeks, he sometimes try to remove the headphones before the time is up. Thankfully, after I had to send the headphone for repair & chided him for throwing it on the floor, even when he removes it, he's gentler now. Anyway, I decided to use the random play mode & saw renewed interest. I notice during change of music, he sits up & appear to actively listen for a while before going back to playing his puzzle or eating.
As mentioned before, Dylan had a crying spree & exhibited much insecurity (often before falling asleep & right after waking up) for quite a while prior to starting his nocturne CD, but this insecurity can be traced to Daddy's being away for > a week on business trip, followed by my business trip for 3 days (7-9 Nov 07). We perceived he had some feelings of being abandoned and acted like he didn't want our attention when we just returned. Thankfully, he's over that and has gained confidence and sense of security since before we went on a holiday on 20 Dec and even more so during the 11 day vacation as he surprised us in his ability to settle to sleep easily (except the very first nite) despite our various moves to different places. He was also mostly happy, except a 2 day period during day 2 & 3 when he cried during dinner times.
His ability to focus and stay on task increased in duration. He is now able to complete various types of 24 piece puzzles (large floor puzzle as well as smaller ones from a puzzle story book), often in 3-4 minutes but he will remove a few pieces and put them back to relive the joy/ thrill of his success! Apart from Samonas & RDI (relationship development intervention), we're also doing jin shin jyutsu (or JSJ, a gentle yet very supportive healing touch /energy work) for him.
Overall, without being able to pinpoint whether it's due to the Samonas music (nocturne CD), RDI or JSJ, his confidence and regulation and level of awareness has increased quite considerably.
On 7 Jan, 08, during OT with Sheralyn, and she was counting the no. of times he's bouncing on the stormcloud, he also counted "1, 2, 3" very clearly. Another time, when I was counting the no. of pieces of puzzles we were keeping to make sure we have all, as I counted 15, 16, he said "senteen, ayteen". I was really pleased in his interest to participate and verbalise. I really hope that he would develop his keenness to communicate, esp using verbal communication.
He's also keener & more able to monitor my actions and adjust his to coordinate, & there would be occasions I need not run after him but he realise he's disconnected & come back to me. Sometimes he'll even try to keep up when I move fast & slow or back & forth. But not all then time or when there's highly distracting objects like water fountain/ waterfall when we walk etc.
While Dylan is beginning to be more interested in others, eg. smiling at & hugging his cousins & neighbours, he has quite a bit of inappropriate touching, eg. just touching strangers' hair / clothes in the bus, or tapping/drumming on neighbours tummy as he enters the lift / just sticking his hand out to touch as people come our way. Hope that he would develop a better appreciation & respect others' personal space.
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