PT Assessment

This morning Nikko had a physical therapist Lindsay come to assess him. It wasn't a requirement for preschool, but it will be useful to see if we can get PT for Nikko because his muscle tone is considered low. It's weird to picture that because Nikko looks so sturdy, almost stocky, and seems to have a lot of power. But his core muscles are weak, as evidenced in his inability to push a button upon request. We started in the living room. Lindsay had brought some kind of rubber steps and he quickly mastered them. She asked a lot of questions about his physical abilities. We also went downstairs to try running and climbing on the foof chairs. Overall, Lindsay said that we could help Nikko by working on his core, climbing is big, and doing exercised like the wheelbarrow are helpful. Encouraging jumping, and doing activities that incorporate balls will be good for his future. Ronin has shown me that he can kick a ball, but Nikko cannot. Lindsay noticed that playing with balls is more likely an emerging skill. So is walking up and down stairs unaided. She indicated that we might not meet the requirements for PT because she doesn't really see a 30% delay. She pegs his ball skills at 25 months (he's currently 33 months).

We didn't do much in the afternoon, but we did take the family out to a Costco/Jewel run just to get out of the house. We spent some time in the basement before dinner. Nikko was very tired at the end of the day because he didn't have a nap. I don't know why he is missing his naps for the past few days. Hopefully he'll get back to that. Tomorrow we have speech and swim class at night. I also think his appetite is increasing again because he's eating 5-7 nuggets during meals, although he's not finishing his mashed potatoes unless he's manually fed. Denis got purple grapes and Nikko seemed to enjoy them (he wouldn't eat green grapes; perhaps he thinks all grapes are purple?).