Oh the weather outside is frightful...

...but the view is so delightful! And since we've no place to go (good thing, too, since we don't have a snow blower), let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It started snowing Tuesday night. It hasn't stopped yet.

Yes--nearly 18 inches.


13 inches on the deck railing. How it stays up there so well without being blown off I don't know. And the wind is really blowing, at least now and then.

I LOVE the chair. It looks like it's holding a giant styrofoam cube.

Last night was interesting. Around 8:30 the power went out. Luckily I'm married to Dan, and within seconds he had a lantern and three kerosene lamps burning. I was trying to put PJ down at the time (Abby was already out) but she refused, so when we got downstairs Dan gave her one of those glow sticks you sometimes see kids using while trick-or-treating. She enjoyed running around with that until she finally zonked out and I put her to bed, at which point I started wondering just how cold the house would get without the heat running. We have two down comforters, and wouldn't you know they're both apparently still boxed up in the garage somewhere. *sigh* But snow is a bit insulating, as an igloo-building Eskimo will tell you, and it stayed surprisingly comfortable until the power was restored somewhere around 3am. 

My other concern was the food in the fridge, of which there's not a lot at the moment, so I knew it would all warm up pretty quickly. So we shoved all the important stuff together and surrounded it with gallon-sized Ziploc bags filled with--what else?!--snow.

By way of comparison, here are some photos we took last night before filling the Ziploc bags:

Only 9 inches last night around 9:30PM. 

I have no idea when it's supposed to stop, but I hope it's soon, if only so that we don't go completely out of our minds from being cooped up inside. We're the kind of family that goes *somewhere* every single day. Three days of the house...who knows what might happen!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch with our friends Christina and EJ Smith, and their kids Chloe and Colin. It was HOT, believe it or not, and we didn't stay all that long because the kids were all looking so flushed--and this was, like, 4 in the afternoon! We did end up buying Abby her first pumpkin, and a little one for PJ, and the girls had fun in the hay maze and checking out the animals. After we were done we went to the Smith's place for dinner and ended up staying until nine o'clock! We had a really great time, and the girls were zonked before we were halfway home. The perfect end to the evening. :)

Contrary to how it looks, Abby was not crying. Trying to get that child to smile for a picture these days is impossible.

The reluctant ballerina...in pictures

Though she doesn't look reluctant, that's for sure!

The Reluctant Ballerina

(Very cute pictures to come--just don't have the time before bed, sorry.)

Today was Abby's first ballet class. She has been so excited about starting, and when we got to the rec center she literally ran right out of her shoes on the way to the front door. The teacher is sweet, energetic without being too crazy, which is an important balance for Abby. The class had eight other girls, so it was a good size--not too overwhelming.

They started by learning how to "sit like a ballerina". While the teacher was going down the line of them, adjusting their legs and arms, Abby sat awaiting her turn with her legs splayed and let out a huge fart, then said all chipper-like, "Excuse me!" Much muffled laugher from the gallery of parents.

After they learned how to sit properly, they stood and went against the wall. Miss Marilyn had them go up on their tip-toes, and she used Abby as an example of how high they should go--those who know her well know that Abby has been walking on her toes nearly as long as she's been walking, so it was no surprise to me that she was used as the model. Unfortunately, this is when things began to fall apart.

Miss Marilyn had them walk on their tip-toes across the room. Totally not a challenge for Abby, yet she stayed against the wall as everyone else took off, looking like she didn't get the instructions. Eventually Miss Marilyn coaxed her into action, and they went across and then came back going backwards. When they got back to the first wall Miss Marilyn told them to do it again, and for some reason Abby came running over to me and just burst into tears.

We went out in the hall to talk. I asked if she was scared; she said yes. I talked about how nice Miss Marilyn was, and how encouraging and not-scary. I asked if she was confused about what to do; she said yes. We talked about watching the teacher and other students for clues, and how she could just say, "I'm confused, can you help me?" But she said she was too shy. My poor baby.

She calmed down and said she wanted to go back, so we went back in and they were lining back up on their "marks"-- little red tape spots on the floor. She went back to her spot and they began to do toe-pointing, and then a little move where they put their foot against their knee. After doing each of those a few times, the teacher had them alternate--point toe, foot to knee, point toe, foot to knee--with some music in the background. This was when things fell apart again. Abby got off pace with the teacher and the other students, and she burst yet again into tears. Back into the hall we went to talk some more about how this was just for fun, and it wasn't a big deal if she got off pace a little bit, and how everyone is just learning and sometimes it takes a while to get the hang of things. 

There were only a few minutes left, and I promised her a treat when we got home if she finished the class. We went back in and I stayed with her in the corner. They did a little cheer of sorts with pom-poms, and she did most of it. Then Miss Marilyn paired them off--I was Abby's partner--to make "London Bridge is Falling Down" type bridges. Then she had one pair of students go under one of the bridges like a train, and then had the bridge students attach themselves to the back of the train. They all went under another bridge, and then those girls attached to the back, and on and on until they got to us. Abby refused to get on, but then we did it again with music and this time when it came to us I held on to Abby's shoulder so I'd be the caboose and attached her to the back of the other girls.

That was the last bit, and then Miss Marilyn handed out Hello Kitty stickers, which made Abby so happy you'd never know she'd been crying for half the class. 

So...not the rosy experience I'd been hoping for, but at least the teacher is sweet and understanding. And I think a lot of it had to do with a number of factors unrelated to the class:

1. Yesterday was the dentist, and that was very new. Abby doesn't do new very often, and when she does, it's a big deal. Having two new experiences one right after the other may have been a bit too much for her.

2. She's in this nap transition where she needs a nap every 3 days or so. Tomorrow is nap day. But since she was up at 5:15 this morning, she really needed a nap today. But ballet is at 2:30, and she never would have been awake in time.

3. Abby has her mother's slow processing. In new situations it seems to take my brain, like, five times longer to decode information--and it ain't that fast in familiar situations, either. Having a line of parents armed with cell phones and video cameras staring at her, as well as a teacher (who is a large woman with a LOT of eye makeup and big hair), was most certainly stressful and distracting, and trying to follow along with new steps with all those eyes on her did not help the situation.

So, because of all those things, I'm actually encouraged. You may remember that the first day of swim class required major bribery to get her to participate at all. Well, by the end of the month she was dying to go to class and did everything she was asked. The swim teacher commented to me multiple times about how impressed she was with Abby's progress. And I think the same will happen here. We'll work this week on the little sitting pose, and the toe-pointing, and the foot-to-knee thing, and walking on tip-toes, and next week it'll all be old hat. I'll make sure she's had a nap the day before, and while I can't stop her from getting up early, I'll make sure she at least gets to bed at a decent hour the night before. We'll play some follow the leader so she gets some practice at picking up cues from what someone is doing, rather than what they're saying. And we'll talk a bunch about the class in case there are any other hidden anxieties that haven't come out yet. 

I don't think there are, though. I think this is just our Abby. And that's okay.

Say "ahhh"

Abby had her first dental cleaning today. I have been pretty nervous about it, but WOW did she blow me away with her cooperation and composure. And I have to say, the hygeinist and the dentist were absolutely fantastic. This is the second pediatric dentist I've been to, and these folks blew the others out of the water.

I didn't know what Abby's reaction would be when I told her we were going, so I didn't say anything about it until last night. Then, after lunch, we played dentist for a bit so we could talk about what would happen. I put her in the recliner and poked her teeth a bit, "scraped" them with the end of her toothbrush, brushed her teeth while making that really annoying whining sound dentists' toothbrushes always make, and introduced her to floss. (Yes, shame on me, I've never flossed her teeth. But seeing as it's only been in the last few months that she's allowed me to brush her teeth regularly without serious meltdowns, flossing has always seemed as an absolute impossibility. Turns out she's pretty okay with it--then again, you could drive a Beetle through the gaps between her baby teeth.) Of course, I let her play dentist too. Ever let a three-year-old brush and floss your teeth? Interesting.

When we got to the office, I was thrilled to see we were the only patients there. The receptionist greeted Abby by name. The hygeinist commented on Abby's ballet shoes (purchased this morning for her first ballet class tomorrow, and she refused to take them off before we left) and told Abby about her daughter that takes ballet classes, too, which impressed Abby. She let Abby pick a new toothbrush first, then gave her a goody bag of toothpaste and floss. I sort of freaked when we went back to the room for the exam; they don't have chairs, they have beds, and I knew Abby would not be cool with lying down. But Jill (the hygeinist) told her she could lie down and watch the movie playing on the ceiling (Finding Nemo, which scares the pants of Abby, unfortunately) or just sit on the bed, and said I could sit there too. So what's what we did.

Jill let Abby touch every tool before putting it near her mouth, and also tapped each one on her hand and then cheek. She only had to scrape in a couple places, and said there were no cavities (thank you, God!!). The cleaning went quick and the tooth "brush" (which was actually a little rubber cup and not a brush at all) hardly made any noise, which is good since Abby is definitely sensitive to noise. When she was done Dr. Jon came and did his thing, and even though he used the same tools and did the same sorts of thing Jill had done, he still went through the routine of letting Abby touch each one first and then tap them on her hand. I was really impressed by that. He said her teeth looked great, minus the obvious splaying of her upper teeth on the right side where she cheats her paci when talking around it. He showed me the trophies they make for kids when they stop sucking their thumbs or give up pacis--they actually make an impression of them and put them on a little trophy with the kid's name on it!

We were in and out in half an hour and Abby was completely unfazed by the whole thing. I was so stunned and relieved I very nearly cried.

We started actively trying to phase out the paci a couple days ago by establishing 2 "paci zones" where she is allowed to use her paci whenever she wants to: her bed and the kitchen table. Neither one is uncomfortable, but neither one allows her to continue to interact with toys or TV or, in most cases, other people. There have been a few instances of, "But I want to watch TV, too!" and "Well, you need to decide which one you want to do more: watch TV or use your paci." With an exaggerated sigh, she'll usually slap it back on the table and stomp back to the sofa (or wherever) but once she did stay over in the kitchen, though she went and sat in the corner for some reason. My goal is to have her off of it during the day by the end of the year. She always loses it eventually during the night, so I don't mind if she continues to use it to go to sleep, since it won't stay in there long once she's out. After doing all the evaluation paperwork for PJ, I realized that I think Abby also has some sensory issues, though I think she's the opposite of PJ--rather than being and under-responder, Abby is an over-responder, and has some anxiety with it, too. Soothing habits like paci-sucking and sticking her hand down my shirt are going to take a LONG time to break completely, because a kid with those kinds of issues just needs them longer. And that's okay. She won't be 10 and still doing them, so who cares how long it takes.

Tomorrow we start ballet, and again I'm nervous. How is she going to be taking instruction from a stranger without me moving in to encourage her to follow directions or make her do whatever it is she needs to do? How will she react to me having to sit against the wall and not be right there with her? I think taking that parent-and-tot swim class first was an excellent move, because she got to see what it's like to have a teacher give instruction and then the students move without question to do whatever it is she's telling them to do. I'm going to take her over to the rec center early so she has a little time to check out the room before other people get there (hopefully), and I'll talk to her a bunch during the morning about what classes are like. I really hope she enjoys herself; she's been wanting to take a dance class for so long, I would really hate for her to have a bad first day and totally burst that bubble. I just hope I won't have to bribe her again with a muffin to get her to cooperate!

Out of the mouths of two cutie pies

Abby: "Hey Dan! Come get me out of my chair please!"

Dan: "Did you just call me Dan?"

Abby: "Yes."

Dan: "Why?"

Abby: "Because that's your name."

Well, duh. (She did this to Alison this morning, too, with the same justification.)

And, drumroll....

PJ just spoke her first sentence!

"Mommy, a cracker (or, more accurately, a 'cackuh') please!"

Therapy, Part 2--Food School

PJ did awesome at therapy! 

FIrst we started in the gym. Miss Heather, the speech therapist we'll be working with, said we'd start that way every week, and that she'd create a little obstacle course of sorts of PJ based on the activities in there she likes to do most. Looks like the trampoline, slide, swing, and crawl tunnel will be the main components--PJ had a blast on them all.

After that we went to the kitchen for "food school." Heather said their approach is very routine based, that we'd do the same sets of steps during food school every week to help PJ build trust in her and feel secure there. We started by blowing bubbles--another PJ fave--then played with some soap suds on the table. After cleaning the suds with wet washcloths (NOT a favorite) we set the table with plates and napkins and began the actual "work" of playing with food. :)

We started with food textures we already know she likes. Not the actual foods she's familiar with--no Cheerios or goldfish crackers--but potato straws and snap pea crisps and another similar food that I didn't get the name of--I think it had an apple-cinnamon flavor to it. We didn't just eat the food, though. Heather said that just putting the food in their mouth doesn't mean they're really processing what it is, but that by playing with it and interacting with it longer, it helps them to build a better relationship with the food. A lot of kids like PJ have very negative connotations of most foods, either because of the way they physically make them feel (like poor PJ choking on everything) or because of their strong sensory aversion to it (she said she's had kids completely freak out just by *seeing* applesauce--forget getting it anywhere near their mouths!). By getting them to play with "safe" foods, it helps segue into them playing with foods that worry them or stress them out. So we put the potato straws on our heads and "sneezed" them into metal bowls (you get a nice bell-like sound when they go in), squished the snap pea crisps with our fingers, ran the apple-cinnamon things up our arms like trains, and, of course, ate them. :) When we ate them, Heather and I did lots of exaggerated movements with out tongues to model for PJ what you're supposed to do. She doesn't get how to move food to her molars with her tongue, so we'd take a bite and then, with our mouths wide open, move it from our front teeth to our molars with big, slow tongue moves, and then do big, slow, up-and-down chewing. 

After the crunchy, "meltable" foods (foods that dissolve in your mouth eventually), we moved on to American cheese slices and dried apricot. We stuck the cheese to our cheeks (well, Heather and I did, PJ just wanted to eat it) and pushed the apricot pieces around the table like boats. These are foods PJ isn't crazy about--I was really surprised to see her eat the cheese--but they're not terrible to her. After that was squishier stuff: pieces of peach from a fruit cup, which we called fishies, and a puddle of applesauce--their pond to "swim" in. Heather showed PJ how to "fish" with a potato straw "pole" by pushing them around with it. This gave PJ a safe way to interact with food she normally wouldn't touch. She was able to push the peaches around the applesauce without getting her fingers dirty, and eventually she even ate the applesauce-covered potato straw. 

PJ did alright up until this point. But then Heather put a couple pieces of some puffy square cereal out--normally the kind of thing PJ would go for--and she got upset and stood up in the high chair. We weren't sure why. She'd been in a chair a much longer time than normal, and with her (supposedly) weak core that can get uncomfortable. Heather said it might have just been too many new things--sure it was the kind of texture and food she normally likes, but it was also the eighth food she'd seen in less than 45 minutes, and it might have just been too much. Either way, we took her out of the seat and let her sit on my lap for a few minutes. 

I had a feeling we were over at that point--once she's out of a chair, it's hard to get her back in again. But then Heather brought out a lollypop, and despite never having seen one--much less eaten one--before, it enticed PJ back into the high chair. Heather also gave her a cup of juice, and PJ immediately dipped the lollypop into it and started to "paint" the juice on the table. In the end she didn't try either one, but the interaction was good!

From there we cleaned everything up, and then had a much-deserved nursing session. We discussed our next moves here at home--today I'm going to start easing into the new nursing routine--and about the therapy in general. Heather is really amazing--she even gave me her cell phone for "feeding emergencies." :) She was really impressed with PJ's attention and interaction, so I'm praying PJ keeps it up, though she did warn me it can be a very "two steps forward, one step back" process at times, and not to get discouraged if she does great one week and then is completely uncooperative the next. Given the age PJ is, there's bound to be some resistance rooted in her burgeoning independence, and what can you do besides just roll with it? But given our first session was so positive, I'm hoping PJ continues to form a positive opinion of the whole thing and gets more and more into it. Who knows, maybe we'll be done closer to the 6 month mark!