Catching up....

Megan has been having sleeping issues again for the past few weeks.  It all started when we went to a family party and the house we walked into was so saturated with fragrance (candles burning, air freshener, perfume) that Megan started having a reaction with 1-2 minutes of entering the house.  We got her outside in less than 5 minutes but the "damage" had been done and she had the worst night she has had since starting the new diet.

It took her 4 days to get past the exposure issue and then two days later she was walked through a store's perfume section and she didn't sleep that night.  Since then she has slept off/on for the next week and then has been up every night for the past 7 nights in a row.  She has been handling the sleep deprivation pretty well until this morning.  She was back to her old behavior: nothing making her happy, throwing everything she could get her hands on, non-stop, biting her brother if he got anywhere near her, just miserable.  Thankfully she was able to nap today and she was much better this afternoon.

Because of the sleep issues she hasn't been that interested in her talker and I haven't pressed the issue until this week.  I decided to close down the options on the screen and simplify working with it again to get her using it again.  We worked with it for just one afternoon and she was back on track.  She is back to talking more now too.  In fact she is saying "mine" or rather "MINE" quite regularly now.  It started three days ago when she and Sam were playing at the water table.  They have several scoops and cups to play with and her favorites are the measuring cups.  There are plenty for both of the kids - in fact there are 2 of each cup but she still doesn't want Sam to play with them so when she sees he has one she wants it.  He is generally compliant because there are 8 of them so he just grabs another one and lets her have the one that she wants.  Well for some reason, maybe because he was tired of giving up the one he had, she asked (yelled/grunted/reached out to grab it) for the cup he was holding and he wouldn't let go of it and she then said, very plainly and LOUDLY "MINE!".  He dropped it.  I happened to be recording them at that moment so I caught it.  She has continued to say it since that time and most of the time it has been related to wanting the measuring cups.

Yesterday we got a new pool for the summer.  Previously we have had little ones and this year I decided to get one that is big enough for everyone to get in together, but shallow enough for Megan to be able to sit down.  She loves being in it so much.  She will stand up and play and play and play - dumping water on her head, throwing water at people, splashing and telling Sam "mine" when he tries to take one of the measuring cups we put in the pool.

She loves all of our new outdoor toys as much as Sam.  She loves playing in the house and climbing the slide and of course the jeep.  She loves to just sit in it and play the music.  We got her a transition swing - one that you sit in and that still buckles but that can change to be used without a buckle when she is ready.  It is nice to be able to get her in it without scratching her legs like the current one can do.

She was doing well with her ABA therapy - she had 3 "get to know you" sessions and was supposed to start the real work 2 weeks ago but her therapist came down with the flu.  She really likes Michelle and responds well to her so I am looking forward to seeing how things go when we can get started.

Megan and Sam are playing together so well lately (except for this morning).  They are not just playing beside each other, but with each other.  They are playing chase, pushing each other on toys, making each other laugh and playing with toys together.

We are seeing that she is comprehending and able to communicate new things lately.  She was hurt the other day and I asked her to show me where it hurt and she picked up her foot and gave it to me.  I didn't see anything but Sam said "sissy dropped the block on her toes mommy".  She has done this before, showed me what hurt, but I wasn't sure it was correct, clearly it was.  I have gone into her room during nap to change her and asked her if she was dirty and gotten a "yay" or "nah" and each time she gave the correct response.  She is doing really well with following directions too.