Weekly Summary: Nov 16-26

Weekly Summary Nov 16-26: 

Overall Weekly Summary:

This will be a long weekly summary (10 days) because it is the first one we are doing for Bev, Sammie's EIC. 

The past 10 days have been remarkably eye opening for us and for Sammie. Through logging his behaviours, we are able to more clearly identify not only certain patterns emerging, but also to better recognize milestones as they occur and pinpoint the circumstances and learnings that are associated with each. 

The major areas of growth this week were in terms of Sammie's social interactions and engagement. However, he also made some significant ground in terms of his communication (expressive and receptive). 

Overall, this was a very productive week. 

Generally, Sammie was in a particularly receptive mood, proving himself to be very open to learning. 

Generally, Mom and Dad were in a good moods, but a little tired with a lot to do.

Weekly Sleep Summary:

We've made some significant strides with Sammie's sleep patterns. While he has been an excellent sleeper since about 18 months old, we noticed that his naps were unusually long and that his bedtime was quite late for a toddler of his age (10pm or later).  We decided to actively work on getting Sammie to bed at an earlier time (aiming for 830pm, with 9pm being more of a norm.)  Sammie has consistently woken up between 7am and 745am almost every day, and has been taking more reasonable naps (45 minutes to 1.5 hours) since.

Average Night Sleep: Approx: 10.5 hours
Average Nap: Approx: 1.5 hours

Weekly Food Summary:

Sammie still eats quite well, but is a very finicky eater. We've been actively trying to encourage him to try new foods or to re-try foods that he used to like. This has been met with moderate success, and we've managed to re-integrate raspberries, graham crackers, tuna (in macaroni and cheese only) into his diet.  We've also increased Sammie's water intake and decreased his juice intake as he was beginning to favour only drinking juice. 

Key Activities for the Week:

Social Activities: Sammie was given many opportunities to interact with his peers on almost a daily basis.  He is showing significantly more interest in the children around him, and is engaging more often in parallel play. 

Mom/Dad: Spending more time with Mom and Dad doing "Sammie focused" activities has been a priority this week. At least a few hours are dedicated to this per day. Note: Sammie hits the most milestones during days were the focus is either mostly or entirely on him. 

Mamelie Time: Sammie has not gotten as much one-on-one time with Mamelie in the last two weeks. This is probably not a huge problem as we are preparing to transition her out of the home. However, he does miss her when she is not around and often gestures to the stairs or shakes the gate to see if she is home. Mom has started integrating more "Mamelie based" play upstairs (ie: showing and playing with Sam's favourite apps on the computer, etc.)

Quiet Time:  Is still very important to Sammie and we need to make sure that he gets some down time, especially after very busy days. He will often self-impose this quiet time, and chooses to play trains, read books, or snuggle when he needs it. 

Outdoor Time: Sammie is not a fan of being cooped up all the time. We've made a concerted effort to get him outside every day, even if only for a short walk or two. He loves playing in the snow, and was very interested in the sledding day he had with dad. This should become a weekly activity, weather permitting. 

TV Time: We have reduced Sammie's TV intake from several hours a day to less than 2 hours (generally less than 1 hour). This gives us more time to spend actively engaging him and also encourages him to find other things to do with his time. 

Interactive Ipad/Computer Time: We are noticing that Sammie is particularly prone to learning using technology. He very much likes to control the activities by either pointing to the touch screen or pushing the keyboard buttons.  His favourite game is now "Peekaboo" (Sesame Street app, though he also loves playing Peekaboo in person) and he has learned to follow along with all the actions for BINGO. (Clap hands, Slap knees, Pat Belly, Tap Head...we're still working on "jumping" but he does throw his arms up when he is supposed to jump).  Ipad time is capped to 30 minutes per day. Non-interactive ipad time (ie: watching "The Steam Engine that Could") is counted under TV time.

Other Notes:  Sammie has significantly decreased the amount of random running and spinning that he does at home. He also appears to have given up on chewing his shirts and sweaters, and has significantly reduced "diaper diving". 

Key Milestones for the Week:

• Has started doing "turn taking" play, especially with blocks. When he gets bored, he often gets up to leave but will return if we call his name and tell him it's his turn. He has gotten much better at waiting for his turn with his friends- still a little impatient with strangers. 
• Starting to show an active interest in dressing himself. He's learned to put on boots, is more active in choosing his clothes and in putting them on. He has also engaged in more "helpful" behaviour in choosing to put away clothes into the bag at the pool, opening/closing doors, etc.. 
• Sammie has started actively greeting certain people, especially when he hasn't seen them in a long time.  When his daddy returned from Texas, Sammie ran up to him and hugged his legs. He has also given big hugs and kisses to Mamelie when he hasn't seen her for a few days. He almost always runs to the door to see who is there now. 
• Sammie is more actively using gestures to communicate now. He clearly shakes his head for no and occasionally nods it for yes. He "asked mom to dance" by playing the song machine and taking both her hands before starting to spin.  He has started mimicking some gestures (ie: clapping, sticking out tongue, blowing bubbles, shaking the music shakers when asked to, etc.) He also appears to be picking up on the sign for "Water" (when mommy will do this, with or without verbal prompting, he will often go to the fridge) and "Wait". 
• Sammie has started following our "finger points".  He has done this now on several occasions, and has not needed verbal prompting to do it. It is important that he be focused on you and not overly engrossed in an activity for this to work. 
• Sammie is taking great pride in his milestones, and responds extremely positively to praise. 
• He has starting doing significantly more babbling- usually spending most of the day "talking" to himself or to those around him. He is also laughing out loud much more than he previously has. 
• Several of Sammie's adult friends have noticed that he is making much more eye contact (ie: almost all of the time) with them, following their directions more often, and smiling/engaging with them, etc.).
• Has started picking up on our social cues (ie: knows when we are angry, happy, sad, etc. and reacts accordingly). Runs to hug one of the parents when he is "trouble")
• Sammie receptive skills seem to be exponentially increasing, and he is following almost all "simple" commands now.  (Ie: "Hands", "Wait", "Stop", "Come", "Sit", etc.) 
• Words observed: Up, "Buh" (for boots), "Mom" (for Mom) and "Mah" (possibly for Thomas?), Repeated the sound "Da" several times while climbing up and sitting on Daddy's lap.  He is also mimicking/repeating several sounds and is "singing" again. 

Key Areas to Work On Next Week:

• Continue working on integrating gestures and encouraging spontaneous use of the ones he has (clapping, etc.)
• New signs for the week: Continue with "Water", "Food" and "Wait", but also integrate "train", "book". Continue encouraging "nods" and "shakes"
• Ensuring more outdoor play on days that are weather friendly.
• Encourage more taking turns play, and involve more of his friends in these activities. 
• Encourage more arts and crafts (Zita picked up several supplies from Michael's including bead lacing, painting, pipe cleaners, etc.)
• Continue with daily gross motor goal of 1.5-2 hours/day
• Continue observing for oral stimulation behaviours. Shirt chewing appears to have been replaced with playing with his tongue, and licking things (specially people- he does not mouth or tongue objects very often, if ever), he has also started finger sucking for the first time since he was a baby. 

Other notes:

• Completed the ASQ-SE with Zita, Jason and Carole-Anne on the 17th of November and received an initial score of 60 pts. 
• The three caregivers were in almost complete agreement on all points except a handful that were toss ups between "X" and "V" (with Zita favouring "V" answers and Jason/Carole-Anne favouring "X" answers.) 
• Upon consulting with other secondary caregivers (baby sitters, aunts/uncles, etc) and after observing carefully for these behaviours over the past two weeks, the consensus agreement has been that there are no "X" answers at this time and these have all been changed to "V"s. (*Possible exception would be question #20)
• The revised ASQ-SE score as of November 26th was 40 pts with a potential for up to 50 pts. (re: questions #6, #20)
• At this time, none of the questions asked on the ASQ-SE were areas of "concern". Sammie, for the most part, interacts extremely well with those he is close to, is generally friendly with strangers, and is generally receptive to the social cues around him. 
• He is, however, a child who likes to integrate on his own terms, and on his own time. This has always been his personality and we believe that it is important to respect who he is as an individual. 
• We strongly believe that any perceived social delays are the consequence of either his discerning personality or of his challenges in receptive and expressive communication. When these factors are neutralized, Sammie is (according to everyone who knows him) a completely well adjusted and socially engaged toddler. 
• It should be noted, that neither parent (Jason or Zita) agreed with the Speech Language Therapists initial concerns regarding Sammie's social interaction at the Language Assessment Playground activity.  

Key Appointments:

• Bev: November 27th at 11am