2012 has started off really well for us! Apart from a bout of bronchitis, 2 x throat infections, gastro episodes x2 (I kid you not!), we had a lovely holiday over December. It seemed that Tayden waited just until mom was off before getting ill! Believe it or not I didn’t mind in the least, it was nice to be able to be with him when he wasn’t feeling well rather than having to drop him at granny and then come to work and worry about him!
We spent the holiday at home, just chilling and doing our thing in between the little illnesses, with Tayden having a ball at home with our dogs, a spray bottle, cars, trains and shell filled with water – enough to keep him busy for hours! Our German Shepherd Maya has always had a soft spot for him and is very protective but has now realized she has a readymade playmate in him! The two of them spend hours together, just romping around the garden, playing ball, chasing each other and generally getting up to mischief. Our Lab Humphrey has injured his back so his job was just to lie in the shade and have treats brought to him and get plenty of TLC from Tay! Needless to say, no complaining on his part! We spent a lot of time with family and more especially my sister Raleen (or Lol-leen as Tay calls her!) who has a pool, much to Tayden’s delight. Tay has come such a long way in even being happy to get into the water and allow his face to get wet, happily sitting on the top step splashing away and being twirled and thrown in the air to land with a big splash – and the bigger the better! Small steps but major achievement for us!
…Talking about small steps, nothing can be more major in our bathtime routine than that AT LAST after almost 3 ½ years of issues, we have a way of washing Tayden’s hair. Armed with a squirt bottle that can wet the entire bathroom without even trying, he keeps his attention focused on that while I get the job of the hair washing done in record time. Yes, there is still screaming but at least the neighbours don’t feel they need to call the Child Protection Unit anymore – now they just think we are mean to him!
The focus for the year is definitely on his speech and his OT challenges. But how can I not share his clever way of communicating things with us – for example the running water on his Beautiful People DVD…To show me the running water he tells me “wa” (water) and then runs on the spot! LOL! And when granny asks what colour ice lolly he wants, he points at the fridge and tells her “lolly”. The fridge is white and she asks him a white one and he then nods and give her a look as if to say, “Didn’t I JUST say that????”…so a white ice lolly it is! His inventiveness is great in getting the point across but he does need to start talking! He will go for a speech assessment in early February and then from there will go for sessions as prescribed by the Speech therapist and OT.
Preschool for Tayden is a bit of challenge as some are not keen to take him due to the peg – can you believe I am already looking for 2013/4? We met with a wonderful pre-school last week and are holding thumbs that they will see he is just a normal little boy, full of mischief and fun and not let the peg cloud their judgement. Granted, it is a scary thing to see at first but doesn’t impact on his ability to do things or participate in the programme so hold thumbs with us!
Tayden continues to eat well, with favourites at the moment being green jelly (sigh…I am now buying it in bullk!), niknaks, ice lollies, droewors (I kid you not!), pumpkin, dry bread and veggies. He is also very keen on ice cream cones but only from McDonalds and once it starts oozing down the cone, it becomes a no-go zone. Not that good if he just sits and smiles at the cone and it only gets a lick every 2-3 minutes! Needless to say mom and dad are finishing off a lot of ice creams! After losing quite a bit due to being ill, he is once again eating like a champion and consuming about 250ml a day in liquid. This is still not enough as yet and we give him minimum of 400ml water a night while he sleeps.
I am looking at getting Tayden into a play group for the latter part of 2012, with the first 6 months being a focus on the speech and OT. Tayden has come along in leaps and bounds over the last month or so and this past weekend even climbed up the slide himself. For other parents, I am sure it sounds rather boring but for us, it is a big step, something that a couple of months ago he wouldn’t even consider! Just a note here – if anyone knows of a SMALL playgroup (10 kids max) in the PE area that might be willing to take Tayden on, please drop me a mail.
Here’s to a wonderful 2012, we can’t wait to see how our little man progresses!
God bless & thanks for reading! Here are some pics below!
We spent the holiday at home, just chilling and doing our thing in between the little illnesses, with Tayden having a ball at home with our dogs, a spray bottle, cars, trains and shell filled with water – enough to keep him busy for hours! Our German Shepherd Maya has always had a soft spot for him and is very protective but has now realized she has a readymade playmate in him! The two of them spend hours together, just romping around the garden, playing ball, chasing each other and generally getting up to mischief. Our Lab Humphrey has injured his back so his job was just to lie in the shade and have treats brought to him and get plenty of TLC from Tay! Needless to say, no complaining on his part! We spent a lot of time with family and more especially my sister Raleen (or Lol-leen as Tay calls her!) who has a pool, much to Tayden’s delight. Tay has come such a long way in even being happy to get into the water and allow his face to get wet, happily sitting on the top step splashing away and being twirled and thrown in the air to land with a big splash – and the bigger the better! Small steps but major achievement for us!
…Talking about small steps, nothing can be more major in our bathtime routine than that AT LAST after almost 3 ½ years of issues, we have a way of washing Tayden’s hair. Armed with a squirt bottle that can wet the entire bathroom without even trying, he keeps his attention focused on that while I get the job of the hair washing done in record time. Yes, there is still screaming but at least the neighbours don’t feel they need to call the Child Protection Unit anymore – now they just think we are mean to him!
The focus for the year is definitely on his speech and his OT challenges. But how can I not share his clever way of communicating things with us – for example the running water on his Beautiful People DVD…To show me the running water he tells me “wa” (water) and then runs on the spot! LOL! And when granny asks what colour ice lolly he wants, he points at the fridge and tells her “lolly”. The fridge is white and she asks him a white one and he then nods and give her a look as if to say, “Didn’t I JUST say that????”…so a white ice lolly it is! His inventiveness is great in getting the point across but he does need to start talking! He will go for a speech assessment in early February and then from there will go for sessions as prescribed by the Speech therapist and OT.
Preschool for Tayden is a bit of challenge as some are not keen to take him due to the peg – can you believe I am already looking for 2013/4? We met with a wonderful pre-school last week and are holding thumbs that they will see he is just a normal little boy, full of mischief and fun and not let the peg cloud their judgement. Granted, it is a scary thing to see at first but doesn’t impact on his ability to do things or participate in the programme so hold thumbs with us!
Tayden continues to eat well, with favourites at the moment being green jelly (sigh…I am now buying it in bullk!), niknaks, ice lollies, droewors (I kid you not!), pumpkin, dry bread and veggies. He is also very keen on ice cream cones but only from McDonalds and once it starts oozing down the cone, it becomes a no-go zone. Not that good if he just sits and smiles at the cone and it only gets a lick every 2-3 minutes! Needless to say mom and dad are finishing off a lot of ice creams! After losing quite a bit due to being ill, he is once again eating like a champion and consuming about 250ml a day in liquid. This is still not enough as yet and we give him minimum of 400ml water a night while he sleeps.
I am looking at getting Tayden into a play group for the latter part of 2012, with the first 6 months being a focus on the speech and OT. Tayden has come along in leaps and bounds over the last month or so and this past weekend even climbed up the slide himself. For other parents, I am sure it sounds rather boring but for us, it is a big step, something that a couple of months ago he wouldn’t even consider! Just a note here – if anyone knows of a SMALL playgroup (10 kids max) in the PE area that might be willing to take Tayden on, please drop me a mail.
Here’s to a wonderful 2012, we can’t wait to see how our little man progresses!
God bless & thanks for reading! Here are some pics below!