Daisy Scout Day Camp

Emma and I spent the day at Camp Tanlgefoot for Daisy Scout Day Camp yesterday. It was a great day. All of the girls there were kindergarten or first graders. We broke into groups and spent an hour at each station before coming back together as a group to cook our supper over an open fire. We started our day in the craft house. Emma had a rough time getting going, but once she did...she did a good job. She made a picture frame, door hanger, sun picture, and bracelet. Next we were off to the the meadow for games. Emma enjoyed playing with the huge ball the best. While in the meadow we played a go fish matching game in the grass, bean bag toss, and learned to use the hula hoops like jump ropes. After a tour of Camp Tanglefoot we crossed the road and headed to the lake. The lake was Emma's favorite station. She absolutely loved being out on the pontoon boat. She especially liked it going fast! When we would go slow she was saying "go, go" because she wanted to go faster. After an hour on the lake we went back to the campsite to make an edible snack. We make a camp fire that we could eat. After our snack we all learned how to tie a knot in a rope. The girls in our group also got to help build the real fire so that we could cook our hot dogs and marshmallows. It was such a fun day - Emma enjoyed it so much. I was very pleased with how helpful, courteous, and nice Emma was to all of her new friends. She shared and took turns very well. She did get distracted by other groups that were close by and felt the need to go join in their fun. Definitely something she needs to learn is to stay where she needs to be and not to run off when she sees other stuff going on around her. Girl Scouts is going to be a great extra-curricular activity for Emma to be able to participate in. Emma will definitely be doing more events with the Girl Scouts in the future!!!

Computer Time

We have been so busy...not a very good excuse I know...we haven't gotten Emma much time on the computer lately. When she does we will usually set her up with the Starfall.com website. She has done it enough that she is able to click around herself. She remembers the letters to pick on that will get her to the activities she likes the most ~ like the baseball song! She was playing the other night and I wasn't really paying much attention to what she was doing, but when I did stop to see what she was up to I was really pleased with what I saw. She had found a page that you had to drag and drop the correct shape/letter in the correct spot. She had it figured out and was doing it really well. She is doing so great...can't wait for her to get back to school so that she can continue to practice the skills that she knows and also to learn all the new things waiting for in first grade!!

Occupational Therapy

We had a referral appointment to talk to an occupational therapist this past week. Emma is going to start going to therapy every week. She has some sensory issues with touch and sounds that they will try to help us with as well as work with her on developing the skills she needs. Some of the skills she will be working on will be buttons, writing, cutting with scissors, and sitting to work for longer periods of time. She can continue to have the therapy as long as she shows progress towards her goals every 12 weeks. To start helping her with the sensory issues we are going start "brushing" with her. To start we are going to do it when she show signs of wanting it and as part of our bedtime routine. It is just a soft bristle brush that we use on her arms, hands, legs, and feet. She does seem to really like it. She gets such a calm look on her face when we use the brush on her. We are also going to get a CD with special music to play in her room at night to try to help her get a good nights sleep. Going to sleep isn't hard for Emma, but she never sleeps and entire night. At this point...I will try about anything to help her sleep!!!

More Practice...

I have been working more with Emma so that she is getting used to choosing the right answer for what we are asking her since she is not consistently giving verbal answers. Here she chose her name right away and then did choose the right word for dad one her second attempt. We just did a quick run through this morning after she used her device to tell me what she wanted to put on when we were getting dressed. We were in the living room with Nolan near by and cartoons on t.v. ~ so she didn't do so bad with all of the outside distractions we had going on. The words I have programed so far are mom, dad, Emma, Nolan, Kelsey, Gizmo, red, blue, green, purple, black, and yellow. I am going to be programming these words next to start working on...cat, dog, bird, fish, ball, and car. I am choosing words that we can match to a picture as well as trying to choose words that she shows interest in hoping that this will help her want to continue to do them.

Great Eye Exam...

Emma had a great eye exam today ~ no problems. She is growing up so much!! She sat so nice and did everything that they wanted her to do...other than the drops!! Of course she had to spread the love...and gave lots and lots of hugs ~ even to the old guy in line behind us when we were checking out. Wouldn't the world be a great place if everybody could be as thoughtful and caring to each other as Emma is to everybody she meets!!

Dynavox Practice

We are working on a good routine with the Dynavox at home. It has been kind of hard to get used to using since we are so used to how she communicates that we can usually figure out what she is wanting. I have been working on getting more stuff programmed to make it more individualized for Emma. It was exciting because I used the snack page and asked her what she wanted for snack. She picked "popcorn". She has never actually asked for popcorn before. When she finished her bowl I showed her how to ask for more by using the "more" and "popcorn" buttons. She continued to use the "more" "popcorn" until it was all gone. I must say that it was the middle of the day and I normally would not have popped popcorn at that time...so I wonder how many times has she wanted something and has not been able to tell us?? We have also tried using it with her sight words and puzzles. I give the word "red" and she can choose the color red on the device. For a puzzle we count the number of bugs on the puzzle piece and she could choose the number on the device. She needs help, but hopefully is learning the process. I really think this is going to be one of Emma's best assets at school. I'm so excited because there is going to be so many more possibilities and different ways to use this device!

Fourth of July Fun

What a great day we had on Kids Day in Charles City for the Fourth of July. There were so many fun things to do. We went to the parade and then played the games in the park. Emma got to sit in the fire truck and dance with Sparky the Fire Dog. She went in the cage with the baby goats, but wouldn't pet them. She kept calling the puppies...they were little and cute like a puppy so who could blame her! Then it was off to miniature golf. We had fun, but lost interest half way through. After all that we went out on the boat with my sister. Emma thought it was fun when the boat went fast and really liked trying to fish for the first time. As usual the fireworks were a little bothersome for Emma. She did watch a few after a while, but spent most of the time on the floor of the van hiding. I'm beginning to wonder if she is ever going to get used to the big booms that go along with fireworks.

T-Ball Season Ends...

Emma had fun playing T-ball in Floyd. She definitely made good progress from the first game to the last. She went from not wanting to stay on the field the first game...it didn't take her long to figure out that it was more fun to bat...to going out and playing to field most of the innings. She would find a friend, go stand by them and copy what they were doing. She mastered the get ready stance. I also noticed that she was very verbal during the games. She was telling the kids to "run, run" and "hit it". If anybody got bumped or fell, Emma was the there to brush them off and give a hug if they needed it. She didn't make it around the bases on her own, but she did run from home to first on her own and she was so excited to get there!! Emma might not have been as ready as she could have been to play t-ball this year and I know she did not have all the skills or patience as the other kids, but Emma was out there having fun with kids her own age. I am a firm believer that Emma is going to be better because she is doing stuff like this.

****NOW ONTO DAISY SCOUT CAMP****