Thursday, March 26, 2009

A Better Playgroup Day

I went to bed way too late last night so that made getting around today much harder. Chinny came over around 9 and I had to get Nikko and Audrey ready to go to playgroup. Nikko was Velcro Man again, really whining and clinging to my leg while I tried to get our stuff together. I was frustrated, but tried to keep calm since there was no point in getting mad. I had a headache that unfortunately didn't go away all day. Playgroup was a full house and Nikko happily got involved with the toys, the fake vegetables, a big plastic play cube, and he even took some time to explore a green box that held maracas, clappers and jingly bells. Nikko picked up each one and examined it. One clapper was in the shape of a ship captain; another was orange and green and he flapped it back and forth. We sat at the table and tried to do a flower petal on paper plate craft, but he wasn't that interested in it. He tried to infiltrate the snack bin but met resistance. He also played at the bean table again but for a shorter period of time. Audrey was awake the entire time and I held her on my lap. She fell asleep in the car because her naptime was grossly overdue by the end of playgroup. Shelly was in the parking lot when we exited and I found out that she was sick with a sore throat and fever. Of course I wasn't going to insist that we have OT later in the afternoon with those kind of symptoms. I didn't want to boys to get sick. That meant we would just have DT at noon with Bo. We got home and I gave a quick lunch to Nikko while Ronin and Audrey ate with Chinny. Bo came and we used the corner by our couch for our therapy session. Audrey ended up next to me because she's still getting used to Chinny and Audrey wouldn't eat when I left the room. (sigh) It was a relatively good session given that he's only met Bo once. Nikko did try to leave the corner a few times but he didn't struggle too hard. At least he still engaged in whatever toys Bo brought out, unlike with Gloria, Nikko would resist and wriggle and refuse to participate in any game she put in front of him. Nikko played with some cars and a car carrier, he did some farm animal puzzle, a book, a peg game, and then Bo brought out some bubbles. Nikko took the wand and opened his mouth as if he could blow bubbles, but he can't. I suppose it was a mimic. Most of his play seemed rather purposeful, but he turned into Noodleman a few times. Bo is a really nice DT. She tends to refer back to her own son when comparing Nikko's development. At first she thought that Nikko was just a sensory kid, but after today she saw that he had autistic symptoms, one being the repetitious circling he demonstrated with a Thomas train and tracks, as well as with a toy car where he continually opened and closed the car doors. I think initially she was not a supporter of the autism diagnosis under 3 years old, but now she probably is in Nikko.

After therapy I tried to feed Nikko again, but it pretty much rolled into the kids' naptime. Things got quiet after that, but Nikko didn't sleep at the same time as Ronin and Audrey. He fell asleep around 5:30 and I woke him up an hour later. Denis came home an hour after that while the kids were having dinner, and then we all ran around downstairs until it was time for Audrey's bath. I've got to stop sleeping at 2:30am so that I can be more functional during the day. Seriously.

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