Well...

We were off to such a nice start last week.  I made plans, the kids had fun, we seemed to be getting back on track.  Sigh.

The official plans are put on hold again as we focus on numbers like 102-105, watching Nadia's temperature go up and down.  Thankfully she just has a virus, and she doesn't seem to be sharing.  We've been doing as many fun things as we can while she tries to get better.  It's amazing how much counting you can do when you have no energy!

So, hopefully next week we'll get back into the curriculum again.  But I'm so thankful that I'm not bound to that right now.  We are learning and growing together.  We're able to read lots and talk about things and count and learn colors and, well, just learn as we live and try to get better!

Forgive the rambling of this post.  I'm rather sleep deprived.  I used to get up with her all the time in the night just a year or so ago, but now it's so much harder.  Why is that?

We'll keep plugging along.  Any advice for how to get started again well after so many interruptions?  I can use any great ideas that you have to offer!

Tot School--Our Return, I Think

[This was written the end of August, but thought I'd post it now anyway.  I didn't take the time to go find any pictures, though, sorry.  I have some updated things to post soon, but this is what we were up to in St. Petersburg just before we headed back to the good ol' US of A.]

Well, believe it or not, we've actually been doing our "Tot School" activities for several weeks now.  I however haven't had much computer time, and the blogs were the first thing to slide.  Face to face time with my little man and his little sister have been much more important.

And on a rather random note, it's been too hot to turn on our computers!  Crazy, huh?  So when I did have some time without the kiddos (I love that that's plural), I didn't want to turn on the laptop.  You wouldn't believe how much hotter it makes the room, not to mention my lap.

All that to say, here's what we've been up to the last few weeks:

We've been sitting still and reading lots and lots during the heat wave--no central air meant hanging out in one room and not moving around a whole lot.  Isaiah has to take a medication that prevents him from sweating, so we have to be extra careful when it gets this hot.  My husband made us a Redneck Air Conditioner to help us survive, and no we didn't make up the name.  You can see videos about it on YouTube, though ours had a distinctly Russian flair because Thomas had to "rig" a good bit of it.  It made the one room at least bearable to stay in.  Thank you, Honey!

So what did we read?  Lots and lots, but a few favorites were Moonpowder; Dr. Seuss' ABC's and Old Hat, New Hat.  Isaiah also continues to love "reading" his Russian Bible and flipping through his magazines.

We keep working on developing those fine motor skills.  My mom brought him a peg board when she came over.  I had been wanting one for quite a while, but I couldn't find one here.  We use it for all kinds of things!  We sort, work on colors, strengthen hands by pulling apart, develop fine motor skills by stacking, the list goes on and on.  But I can't neglect Isaiah's favorite activity:  moving them from their bag to a box or bucket and then back again.

Mom also brought over a puzzle that we had purchased in the States to use at OT, but it didn't make it back with us in January.  Isaiah actually likes this puzzle,  it seems, something of a small miracle.

He takes out all the pieces very well and hands them to me.  Then we put in all but one piece together.  The last piece he does by himself.  This seems to cut way down on frustration and gives him a definite opportunity for success!  As he gets better at this, then I'll have him do 2 pieces on his own.  The 6 pieces all at once was just overwhelming to him, I think.  Mama had to do some learning in order to cut down on frustration for both of us!

We also discovered a great website with flashcards for all kinds of words.  Kindersay.com is a free site that has words in different categories for learning all kinds of things.  If you register with them, you can also upload family pictures to have in an album.  I haven't had time to do that yet, but I definitely plan on it.  Isaiah loves looking at pictures, so this site is a hit!  If you want to visit it, it seems to work best for us in Safari, so you might want to try that browser if you are having problems.

Isaiah has always enjoyed looking at the pictures on my iPhone.  He loves being able to scroll through the pictures himself.  Well, we were given an iPad, and we are so excited about the educational possibilities that we see with this piece of technology!  We had tried downloading some games on the iPhone for Isaiah, but the screen is just too small for him and his developing fine motor skills.  Also, all the programs have way to many options to start with, and he would get frustrated with the overload of choices.

My husband has been able to develop a few flashcards for Isaiah on the iPad to review colors and shapes.  Isaiah LOVES it!  Thomas is hoping to develop some applications for Isaiah and other kids with special needs because, as I mentioned, the apps that we've found are a little overwhelming for our little man.  If you have any suggestions, feel free to let us know!  Leave a comment or shoot me an email!

While my mom was here, I had a great talk with her about how Isaiah learns best.  I'm composing a post about it in my head, but we'll see when it actually makes it to the computer. :)

So for now, we're getting a new routine for our family that involves feedings and diaper changes and continues with the old stuff, too.  Of course, it will all change as we head back to the States on August 30.  Then we'll add in physical, occupational and perhaps speech therapy for about 4 months.  Never a dull moment around here!

Busy!

So, we've been doing our "school" activities, but in a much more playful way lately.  I just have no time to post about them.  We'll get back to it eventually, I suppose.  Right now we have 3 extra people in our apartment, which means we have 3 little people in our apartment--lots of fun!

Thomas and our guests will be gone for 11 days, which might give me more time for posting things.  Then they'll all be back for 3 days before our guests leave.  Four days after that we head for the States.  So maybe in the 11 days that it's just me and the kids, I'll post about some of the ideas and activities that we've had for Isaiah.  I've discovered that things have to be very different for him than what I was trying to do.  The switch has resulted in a much happier little man and, therefore, a happier mama.  So we'll see what the next few weeks holds.  And maybe I'll even blog about it. :)

But until then, here's a cute picture of Isaiah in action with some pegs that Gran brought him:

These have been great for all kinds of games that we play together, and about which I have started a post.  Eventually it will get published.

Where We've Been

In case you don't read our other blog and you missed the big news, we do have a good reason for not posting lately:

Isaiah's been learning how to be a fantastic big brother.

Tot School

Isaiah is 51 months old

Thanks to Daddy, Isaiah still got some Tot School learning in this week.  I am basically on bed rest, not to lift or move Isaiah and supposed to lay around as much as possible.

Isaiah's daddy searched YouTube for some great number, letter or color videos.  He did a great job finding short clips that Isaiah really enjoyed watching.  He did a great job repeating the numbers or letters or colors!

And one really fun thing--he was sitting on the couch one day playing with his toys, when I heard him randomly and completely unprompted say, One, Two, Three, Four in the cutest little singing voice!

No pictures from official learning times, but here's a couple of Isaiah with his fabulous substitute teacher:

Gotta love the perks of lovin' in the middle of the day!

I'm guessing that we won't be posting about Tot School for a couple of weeks as I continue on my bed rest and as, Lord willing, Nadia will be with us soon!  But don't forget to check out the other Tot School posts linked up at 1+1+1=1.

Tot School--Special Guest

Isaiah is 51 months old

Isaiah has been a big help in the kitchen this week as we celebrated Daddy's birthday and enjoyed having a very special guest from the States!

Isaiah decided that whenever I'm mixing something up in bowls, he has to have the same things, too.  This is great as it increases his hand strength and actually does some pre-writing work without having to "force" him to color. :)

He helped me make Daddy's birthday breakfast pancakes, and did a great job, of course!

He was the teacher this week, as he taught my pastor several words in Russian while we enjoyed his time with us.

Another great part of Pastor being with us was watching Isaiah form another attachment.  Isaiah loves it when we have people over.  For a while it seemed like he didn't remember people from one visit to another, but now he will ask about the people who have been here long after they're gone.  He remembers their names (or the names that he's given them) and follows them around or goes and looks for them while they're here.  When they leave he is really sad, which of course I don't like for him to be sad, but I'm really excited for the mental development that this implies!

I have been told to limit my activities for the next few weeks as Nadia's arrival draws near, so Tot School will probably continue to be fairly low key, focusing on life skills and physical therapy more than school room type activities.

What are some ways that you try to incorporate learning into daily activities that don't "look like" school?

Check out the other Tot School posts at 1+1+1=1.

Tot School--Keeping Busy!

Isaiah is 50 months old

This past week (actually almost 3 weeks ago now!) Isaiah and I did our best to keep busy and pass the time until Daddy got home!

We enjoyed some great weather in the beginning of the week, which meant lots of fun time outside!  This was definitely a good idea, according to Isaiah.

Monday we had friends over!  I got a taste of what it will be like to care for a littler person with my Little Man, which means that my hands were way too busy to get any pictures of how sweet Isaiah was with our little friend.  He also enjoyed playing with her big sister--thanks, Lydia!

Tuesday we had some math lessons. :)  Yes, we talked about the wonderful exchange rate that enables us to buy an ice cream cone for $0.35!

Actually we had an amazingly fun breakthrough in communication this week while shopping at IKEA!  Isaiah often shows interest in something for about, oh 30 seconds, and then moves on to the next thing.  Well, this time he saw something that he liked, and he told me so...several times!  I was so excited, so I have to share it with you, too.

He would wear the hat for a long time, give it to me, then ask for it again a few minutes later.  He has never done this before.  He communicated with words very clearly exactly what he wanted!  Celebration!

Wednesday we went and visited some newer friends, which thrilled Isaiah--time outside traveling and playing with other little people!  What could be better!

Thursday was cold and rainy, which altered our plans, but gave us some much needed rest and time to prepare for the best day of the week....

Daddy coming home!

So while "school" might have looked different this week, we actually had so much progress in Isaiah's verbal skills and communication that I could not be more thrilled.

Check out the other kids and their fun at 1+1+1=1.

Tot School

Isaiah is 50 months old

Last week Isaiah was my big helper!  I actually had energy, and we were able to get some much-needed cleaning done together.  He would lead me around the house saying, This way, Mommy!  Beep! Beep! and make sure that I got to the right places.

We enjoyed a family day before Daddy left on a 9-day trip.  Thankfully the rain held off and we were able to take a nice walk and enjoy a special lunch out together.  Since Daddy left, Isaiah has enjoyed looking at these pictures from that day and telling all the things that Daddy is "wearing" in the pictures.

sorry, honey, but Isaiah thinks they're great, so I just had to share!

We also had a special treat of a package from the States thanks to my husband's cousin, Linda and her sweet children!  Thank you so much!  Isaiah lunged for the box as I began to open it in front of him with the cry of Toys!  He looked through all the books as he told me, I read.  I read it, Mommy.

And his favorite activity last week was definitely play doh!  He's enjoyed this before, but he's never dug through his toy box and brought me the container to me to open for him to play with!  It was a learning moment for me because at first I put him off because I knew it meant I would have to vacuum when he got done, and I just didn't want to vacuum.  But then he got so disappointed, though not fussy about it, and I thought, you know what, I can vacuum; I need to celebrate the fact that Isaiah communicated to me what he wanted to play with.  

He doesn't play with it in the conventional manner, mind you, but rather just tearing it apart and moving it from one container to another; but he loves it!

This was also a perfect activity for him to do while standing up.  I'm so thankful that my arm is strong enough again at last to get him in his big braces!

We've enjoyed some exceptionally beautiful weather lately, which means LONG walks outside!  Not many pics, but tons of fun and sunshine!

This week we're keeping busy to distract us from Daddy's absence, though it's really only somewhat effective.  We're so ready for him to come home!

Enjoy checking out the other Tot Schools at 1+1+1=1.

Tot School--Catching Up

Isaiah is 50 months

Well, my blogging has been rather sporadic as of late due to the fact that we've been enjoying some amazing weather and some extra time with friends since we can all get around the city a little easier with our little ones now.  Public transportation is not easy with lots of snow and strollers or wheelchairs (in our case) and moms with broken arms.

Hooray for spring at last!

But, my lack of posting doesn't mean a lack of learning!  Isaiah has been making some great progress in some areas of life skills, things that he can do for himself.  My pictures (though few) represent the past couple of weeks--better late than never!

enjoying some time with Slava--they actually play together really well!

Dressing Himself:

Pants work well as a scarf, too, right?

Isaiah has actually made some great improvements in taking off and putting on his shirt by himself.  We help him with his balance, and he does just about everything with his shirt on his own.  He still requires some verbal and physical cues, but he's doing great!  Another fun part of this is that he will tell me what he wants to wear:
What shirt would you like today, Isaiah?

Truck! (or) McQueen!

He has also started undressing himself when we come in from our walks.  He'll take off his gloves (which we really don't need very often any more now!) and his hat on his own.  Oh, and he has to wear his truck hat, too when we go out.

Communicating Needs:

Isaiah has made a jump lately in his communication skills!  Naturally, it's hard to take pictures of him talking, so you'll have to take my word for it.  Whenever I try to take a video, he of course clams up!

We've been told that children with spina bifida often communicate in a manner that's called "cocktail chatter".  This simply means, I think, that they understand certain responses to certain questions, but they don't always completely understand what is going on in such a way that they can volunteer information or creatively participate in a more "advanced" conversation.  They can be good at "small talk", but perhaps don't always understand beyond that point.  As Isaiah's communication improves, we sometimes see signs of this, but most often we are pleased with his comprehension of what is going on around him. His responses to our questions are improving, and we just keep consistently working with him on conversation skills.

So, all that to say, here are some of Isaiah's new phrases (usually ending with Mommy or Daddy):

I'm ready!

I wait, Mommy.
I read. (as he turns the pages to his book, magazine, or most often requested Bible)

In response to "did you" questions he will answer, I did.

He will also try to sing along with us by repeating words.  I LOVE THIS!

And he still says Honey, all the time, which is absolutely adorable, especially since he says it with the cutest little southern accent!

His Russian vocabulary is increasing a little bit, too, as we are able to spend more time with our Russian friends.

He's also seeming to communicate physical needs a little bit, as I wrote about here.  And the other day he even seemed to know when he was pooping on his own (other than his normal pooping time).  This may seem strange, but I've never been so thankful to clean up a mess as I was that day when he was trying to tell me that something was wrong!

Walking:

Isaiah had several weeks without using his walker due to my not being able to put him in his big braces. :(  Thankfully, this is changing!  He had several long walking sessions.  At first he seemed to forget a little bit, but the skills are quickly returning, along with his communication of where he wants to go or not go and when he wants to move or not move!

and yes!  he's balancing on his own here while using both hands to play with his little frog that then had to ride permanently on the walker

Counting:

Isaiah now consistently counts to 3, and he has on several occasions gone to 4!  M&M's are a great incentive!

So we've been busy, even if it doesn't look that way.  I get my cast off Saturday, and we're looking forward to some more activities to do together!  I love hanging out with my Little Man!

Check out the other Tot School fun at 1+1+1=1.

Tot School--Takin' It One Day At A Time

Isaiah is 49 months old

Well, Mama is still somewhat incapacitated, so we didn't do many structured activities.  And in all honesty, after talking with a wonderful and wise friend this week, I have to tell you that aside from the carry over from the different therapies, our Tot School is not nearly as structured as it might appear on the blog.  Usually I start an activity with Isaiah, and then just let him do his thing.  This week, he had a blast (which made our time so much more fun)!

I got out our treasured construction paper, and we tore it up!  Literally.  After a few minutes, Isaiah got more into the ripping.  And I just asked him to repeat the color names to continue getting him familiar with them.  He identified green and blue on his own!

So we had the big pile you see on the table, and then we got out the glue.  Isaiah LOVES glue.  

We have large white sheets of paper, and I just let him have the bottle of glue and do whatever he wanted.  Then we stuck the different pieces of colored paper all over the big white paper, banging on them as hard as we could.  I'd show you the end result, but it's a surprise for someone back home.  :)

I've been wanting to work on hand coordination in more interesting ways.  We finally finished up some syrup that was sent to us, and I thought the bottle would be great for pouring.  I've had a hard time finding the right-sized container for this.  The bottle was still a little big, but Isaiah had fun!

The boy is slightly obsessed with syrup and pancakes, so he got excited when he saw the bottle.  We called the water inside syrup, which seemed to increase his interest.  Or syrpup as Isaiah calls it.

I had a hard time getting a good shot of him pouring.  Here I was helping him get the motion a few times.

Then we added a funnel.  He liked trying to get it in the bottle opening and watching the syrup go back inside.

It didn't take him long to figure out that the funnel was the middle step.  He kept trying to pick up drops of syrup to put in the funnel then the bottle.

And then splashing ensued, naturally.

He asked for a spoon!  I love that he thought of what he wanted to play with on his own and was able to tell me!  Guess who ran to the kitchen!

He told me he was making pancakes. :)  Smart Little Man!

Here's to having fun with it!  Mama learned a lot this week, but that's for another post...my left hand is tired after such a long post.

Check out the fun at 1+1+1=1.

Tot School--Anything Goes!

Isaiah is 49 months old

This week did not go at all as planned, and I really mean that in the strongest sense possible!  And this post will be short because, well, for one thing, typing with one hand is not my best skill.  Monday, I had a fall on the ice and broke my arm, so Tot School was not so easy to accomplish.

Thankfully, I have an amazing husband whose schedule was a bit more flexible this week, and he has been doing pretty much everything that requires 2 hands, like cathing, doing enemas, giving most of the meds and lifting.  When I can type a bit faster, he's getting a huge post on my personal blog!

Thanks to Daddy, Isaiah has had some more number focus this week.  I even got to join the fun with counting M&M's!  Isaiah made it all the way to 4 one time so far this week!  He is very consistent with 1, 2!

We did a lot of reading from our small personal library.  Isaiah seemed more interested in our Eric Kinkaid's Nursery Rhymes book that some good friends of ours gave him.  

We also looked at all our family picture books over and over and over again.  Isaiah was able to tell me just about everyone's names in our extended family!  I think he has some nicknames that I don't quite understand for some of them, and sometimes his aunts and uncles were called by the names of their children, but he did the best he's ever done!

A friend and her little girl came over to play one day, and she taught Isaiah how to act out The Three Little Pigs with lots and lots of laughter.

Isaiah and I played "catch" one afternoon (when the throbbing in my arm lessened).  He actually seemed to try to aim the ball for me, which I don't remember him doing before.

And he continued to progress verbally.  Some of my favorites lately:

I'm coming!  Yes ma'am!

I pause it.  (any time we need to stop music or a movie)

I drop it.  (whenever something falls)

I'm funny!

and my current favorite:

Thank you, Honey!

Check out the other Tot Schools at 1+1+1=1!

Oh, and any suggestions for keeping things running smoothly with a little person while mama isn't quite up to par would be great!  I had started a schedule for us, which has been helpful, but Isaiah isn't exactly able to keep that going on his own like an older child could.  I'm sure I'm not the first and will not be the last to be in a situation like this, so share the knowledge, parents!  I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Tot School--Back in Russia!

Isaiah is 47 months old

We are getting back into the swing of things in many areas as we have returned to Russia! While in the States official Tot School took a bit of a back seat while we were able to get Isaiah some intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy.

So now I'm trying to get us into a schedule that will help me stay accountable and productive as Isaiah grows and learns each day! My desire is to continue the work that we began in therapy as well as incorporate much of what we had been doing in Tot School before we had our 5-month stint in the States.

Here's a little bit of what we did this week:

We actually made it to the park with his new wheels! Something I'm hoping to do more of when it gets just a tad bit warmer, like above 0 F.

Working on hand strengthening for writing, we used puzzles, lacing beads, legos and play-doh. Isaiah's hand coordination is developing slowly but nicely. Thanks to some lacing beads that look like cars, he actually seemed to enjoy this activity that he often resisted in occupational therapy!

We worked on drawing horizontal and vertical lines and circles. Just opening the markers is a skill to develop hand strength. These were fairly new and not all of them have been used yet, so they were a little tricky.

A puzzle with trucks helped keep his attention.

We used legos to work on color recognition/identification and hand strengthening. First I held out 2 different colored legos, asking him to take a specific color. If he went for the wrong color, I prompted him to try again. He got 2 out of 4 correct. He does really well with green and blue, and red is finally starting to come into the picture! Then he worked on stacking them, harder than you think when you have to match up those little pegs. With a little assistance on alignment, he did a great job.

Isaiah seems to have ups and downs with self-feeding, which can give Mama some ups and downs, too! This week he was doing much better with the spoon, a definite up for both of us!

Next week we'll start with working on specific letter-themed activities again to help give us focus and to develop some of the skills Isaiah began working on in speech therapy. But this week we did general activities like watching LeapFrog's Letter Factory. I got so excited as Isaiah actually began repeating the sounds with the characters! He's never done that before.

He's getting much better at repeating letters as we practice his alphabet. He also will count 1, 2 on his own, and then I help him up to 10.

On Tuesday we had a special treat. It's been bitterly cold here, so rather than meeting a friend in a favorite park or something, we took the free bus out to IKEA! We had a great time catching up with Oksana and Slava! There are always tons of toys to play with at IKEA, which also provided time for me to visit with my friend!

Every day we review Isaiah's children's catechism. He has the first two questions down cold! With a little prompting he is getting the third one really well, too. After breakfast we read the Bible together, and we are working on teaching Isaiah how to pray. I love hearing him talk to God!

And our big news is how well Isaiah is doing in our "PE program". Thanks to the diligent work of his therapist and the man who made his new braces and the man who ordered his equipment, Isaiah is making strides in walking! I just had to post a video of this. His walker is about 14 pounds, more than half his weight (finally 23 pounds!). He is finally getting the hang of turning it on his own, which involves lifting it a little bit. Little Man is STRONG!

Be sure to check out the other Tot Schools at 1+1+1=1! It's good to be back!

Tot School--Flexibility!

Isaiah is 44 months old

Well, official Tot School sort of got put on hold for a couple months. This break wasn't intentional, but we're trying to make the most of it. Those of you with children with special needs are probably very familiar with times like this! These days have been so full with moving into a new house, doctor appointment after doctor appointment, surgery and therapy. Things are finally starting to slow down, but in the midst of all that business a lot of learning has been taking place!

Isaiah after his tendon release surgery. He almost had to learn how to sit again as his legs were in different positions.

While we're still working on "school" stuff, there has been a focus on more physical development. Isaiah had surgery the end of August for a tendon release in order to prepare his legs to be able to bear weight. We go to his wonderful physical therapist two times a week to work on gross motor skills such as strengthening his arms to lift his body with a walker and to push himself in a wheelchair. His occupational therapist has been working with him on fine motor skills such as drawing and putting in puzzle pieces and dressing himself.

Here he had a break between physical therapy and occupational therapy. Please forgive the poor quality, I had to copy this from Twitter.

His beloved OT, Miss K working on lines and circles.

During his therapy sessions we also work on colors and identifying objects and following directions and problem solving. He's become quite proficient in choosing the correct color when asked, but he won't say the colors without a lot of prompting. His self-feeding has improved a lot, and he's finally drinking with a straw! (thanks, JanJan!)

He's been working on perfecting his straw technique by sharing smoothies with Grandma!

So at home, I've been trying to follow the therapists' lead, and I'm in the process of developing my Tot School plans based on the activities that they do with him in therapy. They have loaned us a stander with a tray, and we have been working on different fine motor skills at home, while learning shapes and colors and drawing. We're working on sorting, too, but he hasn't quite caught on yet, but he's getting better!

Coloring with Mimi and JanJan while working those legs in the stander.

Isaiah actually drew TWO CIRCLES all by himself the other day and TWO STRAIGHT LINES! That might not sound like much, but both those events were tremendous victories!

So, as things slow down, Lord willing, for us, I hope to be faithful again with Tot School. We do have some traveling coming up to visit some friends in CA, and several appointments again this week, but I do hope to get at least 2 days of official Tot School in each week (between appointments!). I've missed reading everyone's posts, as I've been too busy to even stalk all my favorite blogs! Hope everyone is doing well!

Be sure to check out the other Tot School posts linked at 1+1+1=1.