Sensory Diet

9:56a - I checked on Nikko around 10:30 last night, I think. He didn't have a fever and was sleeping soundly. At 1:30a I heard him babbling to himself. I worried that he would get into Ronin's bed, or toggle the doorknob, but he stayed put. I went to bed and heard him chatter a bit more, hoping he wouldn't wake Ronin up. My alarm rang at 6:45a, and I heard Nikko chattering again. I don't know how long he had been awake, but it worries me that he woke up so early after waking up in the middle of the night. Somehow, I have to encourage this kid to take a nap after lunch! This morning he was very "talkative" during breakfast. He didn't finish his pancake, and opted to lean off the table with one leg in his chair. He was LOUD, too. He would babble and then crescendo. His eye contact was also very poor, unless I put my hands on either side of his face and made him look at me. I've concluded that he needs more physical input. This weekend I didn't do much with him at all because I felt crappy and was on the living room floor a lot, trying to catch a nap. He gets restless during the weekends because he's more active in school, and so I emailed Mrs. I to see what his sensory diet is at school. Perhaps I need to do one with him every day he's not at school. Deep down, I know I should have been doing this with him anyway, but having three kids put it by the wayside. I can see that he needs something, though, because his behavior this morning was erratic and it set red flags off in my mind like crazy. I know better. So, that's what I'm going to do. He'll get input from school 4 days a week, but Sat/Sun/Mon I'll make sure to do some deep pressure and trampoline jumping or other activities with him. I'll still try to get him active during the week, too, as usual, but the past three days have been a setback for me because I didn't have the energy or motivation to do it. But that's it, I have to keep moving forward or we'll suffer through Nikko's actions.

12:46 - lunch is over for the boys, Audrey's still working on it. Mrs. I wrote me back and said she'd show me video at the parent/teacher conference on their sensory diet. Nikko came back from school quieter. I hope I can coax him down for a nap after Ronin goes down. Nikko's class picture also came back and I am impressed. He is looking directly at the camera and smiling. He almost doesn't look like my daily Nikko. He looks really happy! Again, it must be school. There is a rotating show-and-tell box (rubbermaid blue box w/lid) and kids guess what's in the rubbermaid. Does it shake? Is it soft? Is it a food? I wonder what we should put in the box for him to bring to school. He's already carried Nemo to school so I have to think of something else.

7:01p - Nikko finally fell asleep at 2:45 until 4:30. That was a good nap for him. But he woke up with flushed cheeks and some lethargy. His temp is around 99.3, so he's probably feeling icky. He didn't touch his dinner, just drank some juice. I gave them early dinner since their naps were beyond a reasonable snack time. If they get hungry again, I'll snack them on something when Denis comes home. Right now they're in front of Nemo, which seems calming for Nikko. Last night and this afternoon Nikko was signing to watch The Wiggles. Luckily, we have Comcast On Demand but unfortunately there are only 3 episodes that I can rotate. I set the DVR for a few episodes during the day to add some variety. I think I'll delete some Thomas episodes, as I think we're moving beyond Thomas slowly. I think I'll try looking at the library online to see if they carry The Wiggles. I blame the Sprout channel for this, because they have The Wiggles in the morning. I remember Shelly the OT telling me that Nikko was probably ready for The Wiggles, and I thought they were a silly-looking group of grown men singing songs I'll never remember. After watching a few episodes, I do think they look a little silly, but they've grown on me, especially the lead singer, Greg Page, who left the group some time in 2002 (?) because he had a medical condition that basically caused vertigo all the time. That sucks! He has a really good voice, though, and he looks like Superman, so it's worth watching after all.

1:35a - Went to Meijer between 10:15 and 12:30. It took me a long time because a.) Meijer is a BIG store, lots of distractions, and b.) when I got to the grocery part, I had to read labels that pertained to Ronin due to his allergies. I got stuck on looking at some food storage containers called Lock and Lock (www.lockandlockusa.com). They looked inviting because we're on that BPA-free kick, and some containers had stickers on them saying BPA FREE, but some didn't. I'm glad I came home to look them up first. They're not shady, but unlike Rubbermaid they don't explicitly indicate which items have BPA and which don't. Some items are made of polycarbonate (which has bisphenol-A) and some are made from polypropylene, which is recycled under the number 5, which usually doesn't have BPA. It's technically misinformation as well, because while number 7 represents Plastics and Other Plastic Materials aka Probably BPA, number 5 doesn't necessarily mean We Have NO BPA. It does mean We Most Likely Don't Have BPA, But Nuke Us At Your Own Risk. I kind of like those odds, to be honest, so I think I'll go back to Meijer soon for these Lock and Lock storage containers, but only the ones made of polypropylene. Gotta love the internet. Back to Nikko, he seemed to perk up once Denis got home, and when bathtime rolled around he was bopping like his usual self. I don't hear him talking to himself right now, that's a good thing. For his show-and-tell, I'm going to put in his green alligator, the one wedged between him and his bed by the wall. I don't want to put in Nemo or Dorie because they might break. Anything else would be too heavy, but hopefully he'll recognize the alligator. I had written a note to Kathy telling her that Nikko had been acting wacky this morning, so watch out. But she wrote back that Nikko wasn't wacky at school and had a great day. Good! I guess he misses school on the weekends.