2nd ABA session - Jenna

Nikko's progress report from school today:
OT - Nikko was so happy to be back at school and we were happy to see him! Lots of vocalizations during therapy. Doing body awareness & movement activities, then at table did a small block design activity.
Speech - Nikko was so happy to be back! Said Bus, Car, Truck, Ball, Bye & tried to say Open!

I knew it, that Nikko would be happy to be back in school where there's lots to see and do, and his peers are. Last week he was so uncharacteristically listless that it pained me to see him not be stimulated by anything. He is acting much like his healthier self lately. Nikko had downed two pancakes for breakfast this morning and when he came back from school he ate two pieces of pizza. There was down time in the afternoon. He only wanted to watch the Mighty Machines DVDs, which are very boring to me. The Real Trains for Kids DVDs were more entertaining. I had Ronin down for a nap when Jenna arrived just a little after 4:30p. We headed downstairs and Nikko was curious about her but still stood very close to my side. Jenna has a lot of experience in special education because she teaches pre-K and K special ed up in Gurnee (district 50?) and she's worked with Maria and her family for 7 years. Jenna also had a very friendly demeanor and she quickly warmed up to Nikko. She even picked him up to bounce on the foof chairs. He scrambled away from her at first, but rounded the chair with a smile. I gave them a few minutes to get to know each other, then I scooped up Audrey and headed upstairs. Nikko immediately started crying and protesting, but Jenna took the exercise ball and started to engage him with it. I listened for his crying, and it took maybe 10-15 minutes for the protesting to subside. I could hear Jenna talking and praising Nikko, and later she told me that he would cry and protest, but still engage in the activity through his whining. Jenna recorded some of their activities, saying that he was very good at some of them and not as great as others, but did well overall. When they came upstairs after playing with clay I took Nikko to the sink to wash his hands and he was in a good mood. Jenna seemed to enjoy Nikko very much. I am glad that the session went well. We get tomorrow off, and then Nikko will have therapy with Maria on Thursday. I really hope that she works well with Nikko.

Since Nikko didn't take a nap all day, he was understandably very tired after dinner. Denis helped to keep him awake while I gave Audrey a bath. I think with Nikko being exhausted by day's end, he has a better chance of sleeping through the night. For the past few days I haven't had to go in and sleep on the floor. KNOCK ON WOOD! It's been Ronin who has early jailbreaks, but he goes back to his bed generally after the first reprimand.