A little piece of heaven

I know it’s been a long time… and to all those die hard fans that still stick around, sorry! I’ll try harder to write more often.

The kids were pretty sick for a while there. Nathan went down with pretty bad pneumonia, ear infections, etc. He recovered pretty quickly from it and is back to his happy self.

He is doing quite well. He is getting stronger with his Medek exercises and developing more strength in his abs and back, which were his weakest points. Since his Dynavox is still not back, we have been focusing on improving his eye gaze with partner assisted scanning for times like this when we are sans-device. We are getting ready for another IEP next week and some changes to his education starting in January. More about that later.

Izzy and Gryffin are doing well. Izzy has been cutting new teeth and under the weather for a while, which has made her more needy than ever, so we are just trying to hang in there until she gets past this. Gryffin is growing so much so fast, is now awake most of the day, sleeps through the night, is grabbing things, engaging people, tracking, and doing amazingly well. He is such a joy.

Overall things are good. Nothing new and exciting to report. I think this year has been pretty chilled, the focus has been quite different. I’m planning on jumping back on the saddle early next hear with Nathan’s stuff as I’ve become a slacker! There is so much I want to do with him, particularly around the communication issue.

I’ll post some pics soon. Thanks for stopping by!

When Nathan was smaller I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to help him develop. Now he is in a stable routine and I spend less time researching therapies etc.

Instead, I spend all my spare time trying to figure out how to be a better mother to Isabelle. She is such a bright, curious, intense, exuberant little girl. Parenting her requires a lot of skill! She spends a lot of time looking for and testing limits, is very volatile, incredibly sensitive and observant, and always looking for something new to learn.

An invaluable tool has been Janet Lansbury’s blog. I absolutely love her views and opinions, and have learned so much from her. She is Isabelle’s teacher for her Friday morning RIE class, and has given me great advice for handling her.

Her latest post about acknowledging our kids goes right alongside my “I notice” post from yesterday. I think the concept is one and the same, but Janet says it so much better:

The key to your child’s heart .

Look for more parenting resources here, I am learning a lot!!

I have been listening to the Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting series by Noel Janis-Norton, and really enjoying it.

The first step towards calmer easier happier parenting, according to Noel, is called “Descriptive Praise”. She explains in the first CD that if we notice and praise our kids about all the things they are doing well, we are reinforcing positive behaviors. The praise feels so good that our kids will do more positive things to earn more positive praise. She claims this can really transform situations.

It’s pretty simple. She mentions that it’s not about using words like “amazing” or “wonderful”. Instead, you simply say things like, “I notice you are playing happily by yourself.” Or, “You listened when I asked you to put your toys away.” Or, “You were very good to your brother during your game”. She explains that simply noticing the behaviors and letting the child know will help considerably, without constantly using big words or saying thank you (or they lose their power).

I’ve been doing this with Izzy and Nathan and they both really love it. I can see it in their eyes, how the praise fills them with joy and self esteem.

I wanted to share this as I think it is so positive to use with all our kids, both typical and special needs.