Guatemala Love

Twenty churches in the city of Austin have come together and adopted a village in Guatemala. 

Together we have built a water well, complete with pipes to carry it all over the village, a feeding center, (and the means to feed the whole village twice a week) greenhouses, houses, and we are currently adding a nice big addition onto the existing school.  

Ryan and the big girls spent last week there, along with about 10 other pastors, checking on all our newfound friends.  

Thought you might enjoy a peek at Pueblo Modelo.

This is my Reagan on the left, along with one of the pastors.

Reagan, teaching some ladies how to knit so they can earn their own income.

This is Ryley and our precious Ellie, a baby I met and fell in love with on my first trip.

Look at these precious faces!

Birdie Boot Camp - Session Two: Water Play

Lily has always LOVED playing with water in any way, shape, or form.  I'm pretty sure not many words are needed for you to grasp the fun you're about to see.  

"Hey Mom - check me out scooping up these colored ice cubes!"

"Hey - these ice cubes are pretty yummy."

"I can use that cool red cup, too?"

"Sink water is so tasty!"

"Good to the last drop."

"Forget the cup.  I'm going straight to the source!"

"I'm a pretty silly kid, aren't I?"

"OK.  That's it.  No more fooling around.  Off with the shirt.  I'm going in!"

"Now what exactly is this?"

"I hereby proclaim every day is water day!"

Birdie Boot Camp - Guidelines & Session One

If you've been following along in our little "learning to play" saga, you know that this weekend marked the official start of Birdie Boot Camp.

Just so we're all on the same page, I wanted to share a couple of decisions Ryan and I have made in the last couple of days.

First, Birdie Boot Camp will take place on Saturdays.  And that's it.  During the week, Lily's been in school all day and no one really feels like doing much of anything around here in the evenings.  Besides, between getting everyone fed, showered, ready for bed, and then getting organized for the next day, there's not much time for anything else.

Secondly, what we will be working on during the week, along with Birdie Boot Camp, is some "life skills".  We're going to start with having Lily bring her plate and cup to the sink after mealtimes, as well as put her napkin in the trash can. I think if we begin with a few small things, I'll see quicker progress.  Once that has become fairly routine, then we'll add another skill to the mix.

And lastly, we will still be using the iPad, just on a more limited basis.  That lovely little device gives all of us moments of respite throughout the day.  

And now, without further ado, I give you Session One - Painting with Yogurt.  You might notice in the first picture that we started off using some Q-tips to spread the "paint" around.  Those were quickly set aside in favor of using fingers.

Here's Lily checking in with Dad to make sure he's watching her work so hard.

It didn't take the Bird too long to discover this was some pretty tasty "paint".

And since every artist must sign their work, Lily personalized hers with a lick.

The finished product.

Next up on the agenda:  a nice, long walk on Town Lake.  This is one of our whole family's favorite Saturday activities so Lily was more than happy to participate in this portion of Boot Camp. 

Next up, we just fooled around with dominoes, little spinning tops, and some one inch colored cubes left over from my teaching days.

All in all, I would say that it was a good start for us.  Lily was sometimes happy to participate and sometimes took part very grudgingly.  It helped that we were sitting there painting and stacking alongside her.

She did wonderfully well at bringing her plate and cup to the sink and throwing away her napkin.  Of course, there was much cheering and hoopla when she did so I'm kind of surprised that she didn't attempt to throw away every single piece of trash she could find.

Don't you think she looks pretty doggone proud of herself? 

It may be a long road, this learning to play, but with a smile like that, it's worth every minute!

Be sure to check in tomorrow because we did one more activity that was the clear favorite and I've got some pictures you don't want to miss!

A Little Friday Fun

Hey!

It's Friday!

So let's not talk about anything the least bit serious today.  OK?  OK!

But before we get started, I do need to get something off my chest.  I don't feel like I can go to the fun stuff if I don't make a confession first so here goes:

Hi.  My name is Lana and I am a boot camp drop-out.

It was supposed to be a three week camp and I made the first two weeks.

I hope you don't think less of me.

I'm not going to try and make a bunch of excuses.  Actually, I'd like to but they all sound kind of lame now that I think about it.

Let me just say this - Ryan and the big girls have been in Guatemala all week so it's just been me and the Bird at the house.  I needed all my energy focused on being the solo parent and getting up at 4:50 AM was not going to help in the energy department.

OK.  Now that I've got that off my chest, let me show you a couple things I pinned this week:

Here's a great list of fun "tools" to extend play-doh time.

From Sixty Second Parent

We are working on getting Lily to blow.  She "blows" in, like when drinking through a straw but doesn't blow out, like making milk bubbles with said straw.  So we're working on it.  Thought this might be a fun way to see herself blowing, minus the cute little dragon part because she could care less about that.

From Blog.Kangarooboo.com

As part of Birdie Boot Camp, which starts this weekend (and hopefully I'll be more committed to this one!), we'll definitely be doing some painting with yogurt.  A snack and a craft in one?  A winner for sure!  Until she starts to eat regular paints, thinking they are yogurt paint... but we won't think about that.  I even have all natural food coloring that I spent a small fortune on so she won't be consuming funky dyes.

From Tot Treasures

These magnetic paper dolls featuring your child as the doll look like so much fun but so much work for me.  And not knowing if the Bird will like it, it's time I'm not willing to spend.  But maybe you'd like to do it for your kiddo.  Or maybe you'd like to make it for mine.... Wouldn't that be fun??

From ikat bag

And speaking of Pinterest, I have to pick on Jim, from Just a Lil Blog.  He is now officially on Pinterest and I thought you might like to see his first comments.  Sorry Jim, but I just can't resist.  And I think you'll be a good sport.... I  hope.

Jim W
okay, i don't understand pinning. But i want the recipe and there's no recipe here. WHY PINTEREST? WHY???????

Jim W
oh my god. . . i just figured that part out. GO PINTEREST!!

Lana Rush
HAHA! You're very dramatic, sir.

Last but not least, for those of you engaged in the IEP process, thought you might appreciate and get some information from Dennise Goldberg's article for Friendship Circle entitled, "Top Ten Most Ridiculous Things Heard At An IEP Meeting". 

Now get out there and have a great weekend everyone!

You're Going to Play and You're Going to Like It!

Do you ever feel like your kid is pulling the wool over your eyes?  Like they're actually trying to keep you in the dark?

I feel that way every now and then but today, it was officially confirmed.

Lily has been playing me like a fiddle.

And I have been a willing participant.

I spent an hour and a half at the Bird's school on Wednesday and let me tell you, it was quite educational.

For me.

I know.  I know.  Kids usually tend to do more for teachers than for mom or dad.  Or do more when they're at school as opposed to being at home.

Having taught school myself, I was always surprised when a parent would tell me their child couldn't do something that I knew good and well they could because they were doing it at school.

Like tying shoes, for example.  I mean, honestly.  It's much easier for ol' mom to tie the shoes than to do it yourself, right??  So why let ol' mom know you've been tying your own shoes for months when she's so good at doing it herself and it's just one less thing on your kiddie to-do list?

Any-who, back to the observation.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting that much because I wasn't watching Lily Bird on the camera.  I was just hanging out in the room with her, right where she could see me.  Most of the time, this doesn't work all that well because I'm a total distraction for her.

Now I think that maybe it didn't work because she was afraid I was going to discover all she was perfectly capable of doing and start expecting her to do it at home.

First of all, I walked in the room and I immediately noticed was how quiet it was.  Just about the time I was thinking Lily must not be in the room (thus the quiet), I saw her move out from behind the therapist.

So of course, I'm thinking the quiet won't last long.

Well.

I want you to know that my child sat on that rug and together with her therapist, quietly built the tallest tower of large Lego blocks I've ever seen her do in her entire life.

Oh.

And while she's building, the therapist occasionally asks Lily what color Lego she'd like next.  To which Lily responds appropriately by selecting a color word on her Touch, then choosing the selected color of Lego from the pile.

Whaaaa?

Then, totally relaxed like, she lays on her tummy, tumps a puzzle upside down and proceeds to put it back together while identifying the shapes on her Touch.

Huh??

Then she indicates on her Touch that she is ready to transition from the floor play to some fine motor work at the table. With absolutely no trouble moving to the next activity, she sits at the table and proceeds to complete not one, but two lacing cards.

At this point, I am simply flabbergasted.  I mean, I'm wondering who this kid is and what they've done with the Bird.

I feel bad for thinking it but this behavior is just so.... foreign to me.

Lily then takes her Touch and asks to use the potty.

They walk to the bathroom, Lily does some verbal imitation while on the toilet, and gets a piece of chocolate as a reward.

For the verbalizing, not for going to the potty.  Because she never actually used it.

I felt a little less like a dunce at this point because I really think she knows good and well that she gets chocolate as a reward for verbalization, which usually takes place while she's on the potty since she's a captive audience and I totally think she asked to use the potty so she could have a piece of chocolate.

Had she just asked for chocolate outright, the answer would've been no.

I personally think she was doing a little ABA of her own.

The reason I know this?  Because I think the best ABA therapist in our home is the Bird.  I know when she's doing it and I still fall into her evil little clutches.

After the bathroom break, Lily washes her hands, which she loves to do, gets a paper towel and here's where I had to be picked up off the floor..... she walks to the trash can and throws the paper towel away.

Oh. My. Stinking. Gosh.

Lord help me, I am a fool.

Because here's what I learned at the school:  As five years have now passed, I am guilty of doing the one thing I don't want anyone else to do with my daughter.  I have lowered my expectations of what she is capable of doing.  I have made assumptions about what she can and can't do.  Sometimes, I don't even expect her to try something so I don't even present the opportunity.  I spend more time trying to make life easier for my child than giving her a chance to prove herself.

And that has got to change.

Effective immediately.

So listen here, baby girl:  I'll go easy on you on school day evenings since you've been working hard at school all day.

But Saturdays and Sundays?  It's Birdie Boot Camp, baby.

I'm scouring Pinterest, not because I want to (definitely not!) but because I am a woman on a mission.

We're going to play.

And we're going to like it.

But most importantly,  I know you can do this.

It's on.

Electronics vs. Traditional Play: What the Mom Thinks

Since this is turning out to be somewhat of a "loose series" of posts, I hope you're all caught up with me.  But just in case, here's Post #1 and Post #2 if you need them.

If you read yesterday's comments, Karen from Solodialogue pretty much stole my thunder (!) and summed up how I feel on this issue.  But since I'm rarely at a loss for words, I'm fairly certain I can add a couple of things to her point.

Our speech therapist is of the opinion that ABA has removed the joy of simple play for Lily.  While she is totally aware that the Bird has motor planning issues that impair her ability to play, she still thinks that ABA has turned play into a series of tasks for Lily to just get through so that she can then engage in "real" play - aka, electronics.

But here's the problem - this opinion makes the assumption that Lily would know what to do when presented with some objects of simple play.  That she would understand what to do with the toy and would understand that playing with that particular toy is fun.

In other words, Lily has to learn that play is fun.  And in order to learn that play is fun, she must be taught.

Take music for example:  Most kids do not think learning the piano is fun, especially in the beginning. Much of what they are learning initially is just stuff you have to get through to get to the fun.  Scales. Hand position.  Foot position.  Memorization of key locations.  You've got to play a lot of Chopsticks before you can master Beethoven.

Or sports:  I'm going to assume that most high school football players don't think that two-a-days and strength and conditioning work is all that much fun.  But I bet that playing on Friday nights in front of a huge cheering crowd is pretty fun.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Some things, even some of the things we most enjoy, are things that we had to learn we liked.  We had to learn it was fun.

Lily is the same as any other kiddo in that regard.

But where she differs is that much of play doesn't come naturally to her so it's a little more difficult for her to understand the fun.  And takes a little more teaching time.  In other words, she needs more Chopsticks time before Carnegie Hall or more strength and conditioning before the Friday night game.

But she'll get there.

Eventually.

It's hard to teach what just comes naturally to many children.

When my big girls were Lily's age, I could hand them each a big chunk of play-doh, a rolling pin, and some cookie cutters and they would go to town for hours.  I never really sat down and demonstrated what to do.  They were making clay cookies, decorating them with fake sprinkles and running a bakery, all without my "teaching" them a thing.

Not so with Lily.

I have to sit at the table with her.  I have to show her how to pound the dough.  How to roll snakes.  How to use the rolling pin or the little wiggly rollers that make designs in the clay.  How to make shapes with the cookie cutters.  I have to show her how she can "hide" little plastic bugs in the dough and then "find" them.  I have to demonstrate how to put the dough in the extruder thing and squeeze it out like spaghetti.  And I have to be very careful of how much "hand over hand" work I do with her because... let's just say she's not always open to my help.  And of course, play-doh will be sampled at least ten times.  Even though she knows it doesn't taste good, she still keeps checking!

And sometimes, it takes me longer to get out all the supplies than the actual playtime lasts.

So we'll keep trying.

And we'll still limit iPad time, especially as a reward for play.   Instead, after a good play session,  I'm turning on the TV to play a couple of youtube videos that I choose and Lily can't fast forward, rewind or search since it's on the big TV and I have the remote.  It's still electronic but at least I'm in charge.  She can dance around, hop up and down, and stim all she wants for a little while, then we move on to something else.

Bottom line?  Lily needs to learn that play is fun.  And the only way she's going to learn that is by being taught how to play and then practicing that play.  By engaging in some simple, traditional play and then getting a brief "brain break" as a reward for that practice.

And no matter the reason why Lily can't seem to understand the simple joy of play, whether it's the fault of ABA, DTT, inferior motor planning, or something altogether different, the fact remains that she needs to learn how to play.

And on that fact, "the therapist" and "the mom" agree.

So we work.

To play.

And maybe, just maybe, one day this baby girl will approach me with a decorated clay cookie and ask if I want to buy it from her bakery.