SOCIAL PLAY: APRIL 25th

Today, we got into Sammie's world and encouraged him to engage in social play:

We played face to face when we:

• When playing with his truck, his puzzle, and his crayons, Daddy played face to face. Sammie still showed a tendency to play with his back to him or beside him, but he did continue to encourage it.  

We encouraged eye contact when we:

•  Played at the park. Mommy made sure that Sammie looked in her eyes before talking to him about crossing the street and "stopping". 
•  Mommy also used a song to encourage eye when changing his diaper. 
•  Daddy encouraged eye contact when using the pictures and encouraging Sammie to choose his drink option. 

We played "the same way" by:

• Playing with the crayons- Sammie wanted to stack them instead of colouring with them. We played along with him. 
• Mommy played the same way at the park, by following Sammie's lead on which activities to engage in.  
•  Mommy also did a short "copy me" session in the parlour. She spun when Sammie spun, ran when Sammie ran, and fell when Sammie fell. When he noticed what she was doing, he took her hand and wanted her to run with him and spin with him. 

We considered how to "make sense" of Sammie's world when he:

• Stacked the crayons together. Sometimes he stacked crayons on top of the pile, and sometimes on the bottom. He accepted us adding to the stack, but preferred when we handed him the crayon and let him do it himself. He was not overly interested in using the crayons to colour this morning, despite knowing that that is their purpose. 

Our reflections lead us to consider:

• Sammie doesn't need to play things the way they are necessarily intended to be played with. He likes to discover different uses for things, and makes them interesting to himself. He also displays an affinity for things to be either a) in order, or b) connected. He likes to observe how items work together. 

SOCIAL PLAY: TEMPLATE

Today, we got into Sammie's world and encouraged him to engage in social play:

We played face to face when we:

•  
•  
•  

We encouraged eye contact when we:

•  
•  
•  

We played "the same way" by:

•  
•  
•  

We considered how to "make sense" of Sammie's world when he:

•  

Our reflections lead us to consider:

•  

Sammie Update: Responsive Teaching Session 1

Today we had our first "Responsive Teaching" session with Bev, our Early Intervention Counsellor.

Our session, as usual, began with an update on Sammie's progress. This was a particularly interesting session as it had been several months since Bev had last seen Sammie and the progress he has made during this time has been notable, particularly in areas of social interaction with adults and his peer group.  Recently, Sammie has begun using 'touch' to connect with children around him and has begun to show an interest in playing 'with' others as opposed to alone. Sammie has developed a preference for specific people (particularly girls either a little bit younger or a little bit older than he is), and has begun exploring his personality in many different ways.

In terms of new skills, Sammie has recently developed a mild interest in arts and crafts, particularly colouring with markers. He is getting better at working with crayons as well.  He is still very "gross motor" focused, but seems to enjoy quiet activities and play a lot more than he did in the past. His interests have evolved beyond just 'trains', and now include puzzles, other toys like cars/trucks, and even his two dolls (Iggle Piggle and Upsydaisy).  He has started sitting still for longer periods of time, including during most of his meals, and is able to focus his attention long enough to watch an entire IMAX movie (Rocky Mountain Express).

The first section of Responsive Teaching is always focused on "social play" which "refers to the children's ability to play with their parents and other adults across many situations".  It is characterized by a "give and take in which children contribute as much to the play activity as their adult partners." In our discussions and assessments, we determined that Sammie's current level of social play sits about about a "moderate" (4 or 5 out of 10).  Ideally, we would like to see him operating at a 6 or above.  As such, Bev outlined certain goals and strategies for us to focus on to help improve our social play together.

(The following is taken from the Responsive Teaching Manual handouts)

Facts to remember about social play: 

1. Social play with parents is critical for promoting children's developmental growth. 
2. Cognitive learning is a two-person process, in which the impact parents have is related to how much they respond to their child.
3. Cognitive learning occurs whenever children are active and alert. 
4. By themselves, children can only learn information they discover accidentally.

The most important strategy that promotes social play involves "getting into the child's world". This involves three components: 

1. Establish a mutual physical relationship with your child (using eye contact and by interacting on the same level)
2. Interact by playing or communicating like your child by mimicking behaviours.
3. Consciously strive to understand the world as your child does. 

As each child is different, very specific strategies were outlined to help Sammie develop his social play skills. These involve:

1. Playing face to face as often as possible.
2. Establishing and encouraging eye contact.
3. Consider how to "make sense" of his world by observing and reflecting on his behaviours, all the while remembering that- as Sammie develops- the way the world looks while change on an ongoing basis. 
4. Playing the "same way" by offering more opportunities for play together, tuning into his interests an encouraging turn-taking and variations in his games. 

Daily Log: December 11

Sammie's Daily Log

Daily Summary:

Overall, today was a good day.

Sammie was in a slightly tempermental mood.

Mom and Dad were in a good, but tired moods.

The weather was cold.

Daily Notes: Busy but great day!

Sleep

• Wake Up Time: 830am
• Nap Time: 1245pm-230pm
• 'Bed' Time: 930pm
• Notes: Sammie's first "normal" nap in a long time. He seemed very relieved. 

Food

• Breakfast: eggos
• Snack: crackers and water
• Lunch: 2 yogurts, refused English muffin with PBJ, refused apple sauce 
• Snack: banana, ritz bites, apple juice
• Dinner: Kraft Dinner
• Snack: Happy Meal fries (refused burger)
• New foods introduced: Attempted English Muffin
• Notes: 

Key Activities for the day:

• Social Time: AM Playdate with Tanika, Annabelle, Tara and Tobin. (And moms). It was mostly good, though Tobin's sour mood and screaming was very upsetting to Sammie.  He played very nicely with Annabelle after the older kids left, but was obviously tired and needed sleep. (Frequent, short crying episodes)
• Mom/Dad Time: PM: CPP Holiday train. Absolute awesomeness in every single way. 
• Mamelie Time: N/A
• Quiet Time: After naps- quietly snuggled with Mom, watching Thomas. Played with finger painting and with beading. 
• Outdoor Time: Holiday train (very very cold- we were out for about an hour)
• TV Time: About an hour
• Interactive IPAD/Computer Time: None
• Gross Motor Time: Mostly self-stimulatory, around the house. 
• Notes: 

Milestones:

• Favourite Sound of the Day:  Tongue-blowing raspberries
• Favourite Activity of the Day: Holiday train
• New words or sounds observed: Seems to be saying "Hi" when we say hi, and 'yeah'/yup more often. 
• New activities or play observed: VERY actively enjoying playing with Tinkie Winkie and Oopsy Daisy. He likes pretending that they are riding the trains. When he puts them down, they are almost always holding hands. 
• New gestures or signs observed:  When Erie asked him "Sam Waves?" when saying goodbye, he clearly waved to her while making eye contact. He also clearly greeted Trin/Tanika when they came over and smiled warmly to both of them (he doesn't know them well so this is notable).
• New behaviours observed: 
• Sammie was very upset by Tobin's crying and screaming today. At one point, he seemed to be genuinely frightened and it took until naptime before I noticed him return to normal. Sammie is not often exposed to screaming/yelling, so this was very far out of his element. He did seem concerned about Tobin's crying at one point, but did not stay in the room because Tobin was uphappy that he was there. 
• Sammie was exceptionally cooperative while doing the craft projects today. He painted both with a brush and even with his fingers.  He did a little bit of beading but had been doing quiet activities for 30 minutes by this point and got bored. Tomorrow we will do more beading and painting, but spread out throughout the day.  We will also introduce foam shapes. 
• New friends or social activities observed: Sammie *really* enjoyed Trin and Tanika's company.  He even held Trin's hand at one point (knowing she wasn't me, since he reached for my hand as well and tried to guide us to his bedroom). Annabelle is clearly Sammie's favourite and he relaxes when she is around. 
• Notes: Holiday train was awesome. His eyes were big like saucers and he was enthralled by it.  Sadly it was very cold, but he wiggled and danced around to keep himself warm :) 

Daily Log: December 10

Sammie's Daily Log

Daily Summary:

Overall, today was an exhausting day.

Sammie was in an overall very good mood.

Mom and Dad were in exhausted moods- down time is necessary in the near future to prevent burn out.

The weather was cold and wet.

Daily Notes: 

Sleep

• Wake Up Time: 9am
• Nap Time: ...5pm until 615pm(*sigh*)
• 'Bed' Time: 1030pm
• Notes: Naptime delayed by a late playdate...again. This needs to stop in a big way. 

Food

• Breakfast: Eggos
• Snack: crackers
• Lunch: PBJ
• Snack: yogurt and banana
• Dinner: Happy Meal (car problems led to dinner being on the road.
• Snack: Cereal and milk before bed
• New foods introduced: n/a
• Notes: 

Key Activities for the day:

• Social Time: Visit with Beth/Annabelle/Erie (no T&T)
• Mom/Dad Time: Evening time at the pool after the tire got fixed
• Mamelie Time: N/A
• Quiet Time: Very little- he was wired after a late playdate and refused to sleep/calm down. 
• Outdoor Time: None
• TV Time: +1.5 hours
• Interactive IPAD/Computer Time: None
• Gross Motor Time: Around the house and pool time from 815-9pm
• Notes: 

Milestones:

• Favourite Sound of the Day:  Blowing bubbles in the pool
• Favourite Activity of the Day: Swimming and out costco outing. 
• New words or sounds observed: N/A
• New activities or play observed: Plays very nicely with Annabelle- even allowed her to share his trains, though more reluctantly.  Spent a lot of time carrying around Spike and T/O dolls. 
• New gestures or signs observed: Nothing new. 
• New behaviours observed: 
• Has been matching the other vehicles on the blocks and has also been more actively matching the animals on the fridge. 
• Sat nicely beside Annabelle in the grocery cart. They played with each other's hair and even held hands at one point. She is his best friend. 
• Greeted Erie with a big smile and gave her a hug. 
• Sammie is showing signs of wanting to do things more on his own (ie: showering and having his hair washed standing up).  
• New friends or social activities observed:
• Sammie is getting very close to Annabelle and enjoys her company a great deal. 
• Notes: N/A

Daily Log: Dec 7-8-9

Sammie's Daily Log

Weekend Summary: An extremely busy weekend led to little time for blogging, so we will combine everything into one big post. This may wind up being the reality for most weekends leading up to Christmas simply because of over programming. 

Overall, this was a very good weekend.

Sammie was in a wonderful mood, but noticeably off his routine.

Mom and Dad were in good moods, but very tired and already feeling the stress of the holiday season.

The weather was very very cold and windy. It was definitely not a play-outside weekend for us.

Weekend Notes: A very busy weekend, both with errands and social engagements. Sammie did very well adapting to his routine, but he definitely was off in terms of both eating and sleeping habits, and we did not get to do any specific work with him regarding his communication or speech.  

Sleep

• Wake Up Time: 9 am on Friday, 10 am on Saturday, 8 am on Sunday.
• Nap Time:  Depended on the day. Friday was very late- 45 minutes at 5pm, Saturday was much of the same. Sunday, 3pm until about 5pm.  
• 'Bed' Time: Past 10 all nights except Sunday night. 
• Notes: During the holiday season, it is imperative that we make Sammie's routine a clear priority with our friends and family.  He is often treated as if his needs are secondary to the group or as if he should just "adapt".  Mom and Dad will need to be more assertive and more definitive in asking people to leave our home during nap time, and/or not come until after he's awake. 

Food

• Breakfast: Two eggos is pretty standard in the am.
• Snack: AM snacks were often had downstairs with Mamelie while Mom and Dad tended to errands.
• Lunch: Standard lunch items
• Snack:  Standard snack items
• Dinner:  Standard dinner items
• Snack: Standard snack items
• New foods introduced: Cinnamon Eggos seemed to go over well. 
• Notes: None- food was not accurately tracked over the weekend. 

Key Activities for the day:

• Social Time: 
• Friday: Alicia and Zack were over all day on Saturday. Sammie and Zack played quite nicely together- they seem to have a found a bit of a groove with each other. 
• Saturday: Sammie had a visit with Gramma and Auntie Cristan in the late afternoon (he was much more engaged with them than he usually is), and Antoine/Heidi and Nico in the evening.  Morning was spent with Mamelie. 
• More visiting with A/H/N on Sunday while taking pictures. Sammie was rather cooperative- as far as toddlers go. Late afternoon was spent with Mamelie while mom and dad did errands. Swimming time in the PM.
• Mom/Dad Time: 
• Less one on one than usual.  Dad had some good quality time on Sunday am and swimming was a family activity as per usual. 
• Mamelie Time: Lots of time this weekend. 
• Quiet Time: Less than usual- he was not often alone and may need a little downtime. 
• Outdoor Time: None- it was very cold this weekend. 
• TV Time: More than usual- Mamelie freely allows TV/Movies on downstairs when Sammie is down there so it is always on the background. This is not the standard that we are hoping to maintain for him on weekends as we find it overstimulates him. 
• Interactive IPAD/Computer Time: More than usual- see above. 
• Gross Motor Time: Aside from swimming on Sunday evening, Sammie was left to fend for himself as far as gross motor stimulation goes.  Lots of indoor running, climbing and jumping around which seemed to keep him happy. 
• Notes: n/a

Milestones:

• Favourite Sounds: No specific sounds noticed but lots of raspberries and tongue play  
• Favourite Activity: Lots of running around, and swimming is always a hit.  
• New words or sounds observed: "Yup" has been used a few times, in an appropriate context. Not sure if it is an actual response yet, but it has been noted. 
• New activities or play observed: He has been playing a LOT more with him dolls (Tinkie Winkie and Oopsy Daisy)- he takes them whereever he goes and like to make them ride trains, hide in cars, etc.
• New gestures or signs observed:  He did a "come" sign to his basketball when it ran away. Lots of "no" gestures, in appropriate places. Occasional head nod for yes. 
• New behaviours observed: 
• He is definitely more social and engaged with his family members- this was also noted by gramma. He actively played in front of her, showed her many of his "tricks" and stayed in the room with us almost the entire time they were here. (This is very rare).  He even gave some hugs, though not as openly. 
• New friends or social activities observed:
• Sammie is starting to actively greet people that he is excited to see at the doorway.  This included Zack- when Sammie saw him he looked right at him and gave him a great big smile hello!
• Notes: Not a bad weekend, but more one on one time with parents and some extra quiet time would probably have benefited Sammie. Getting him back on his routine is a must as he is much more receptive to learning and repeating behaviour when he is well rested. 

Daily Log: Back Into The Groove

So as you can see, I've taken a week off of logging.  I wasn't intending on taking a week, but it just happened.  In truth, I think my brain needed a bit of a break from over-thinking and over-observing, and I was finding myself spending more time thinking about what to log than I was really getting in tune with my son.  But also, with a variety of issues happening in my pregnancy, I needed to reallocate some energy to focusing on "me".

Sammie and I had a couple of "off days" this week.  I haven't had the energy to devote to him, and I haven't been able to give him the gross motor/play stimulation that he's used to because of my reduced mobility.  But we've also had some really great moments, and it has been overall a very good week.

Sleep:
This has been an area of struggle this week. Getting Sammie to wake up at his normal time has been challenging. He woke up throughout the night on several occasions and this led to long mornings spent sleeping in. This, in turn threw off his nap schedule and led to later nights.  We're starting to get him back to the point that he was at and are hoping to see an improvement over the next few days.

Food:
No major changes here.  We've started introducing more milk using cereal (both the 'hot' baby kind and regular cereal).  Sammie is doing really well with feeding himself and prefers to do it now.  However, he is still a ridiculously messy eater so accuracy and learning how to take smaller bites will be a priority.

Social Time: We've been pretty good at getting friends to visit us this week so Sammie has had a chance to get some social time in. However, finding opportunities for him to play with him peers more often will be important in the next coming weeks.

Mom/Dad: Our evenings have been spent as a family, either at home or out doing some Christmas shopping/errands/ swimming, etc.  Sammie obviously thrives when we are all three of us together. Making family time a priority has had a very positive influence on his receptive skills and his gesturing.

Mamelie: Sammie spent a lot of the weekend with Mamelie while Mom and Dad built the new baby's nursery.  You can hear his laughter all the way upstairs, and he thrives spending this one on one with her.  The lack of internet connection has forced all of us to think outside the box in how we engage with him, but he did miss his "app time". :)

Quiet: Sammie has been making sure that he gets his quiet time every day. He is very interested in his puzzles lately and may be ready for the next steps.

Outdoor: A particularly cold week has kept us mostly home bound.  When we run errands, Sammie gets a few minutes of fresh air, but this is insufficient for him.  We will be taking advantage of some warmer days to get more outdoor time.

TV/Ipad: A little more TV than ideal this week, while Mom took some time to rest. We had no internet connection from Friday to Tuesday, so this limited computer opportunities for everyone.

Gross Motor: A great deal of Sammie's gross motor has been self-stimulatory. He has made up for mom's inability to do certain things by running, jumping and climbing around the house. He shows a lot of variety in these activities and takes great joy in them- however, getting him out of the house more often is obviously in need.

Milestones: A few things to note:

• Sammie has been engaging differently with his dog Spike and his Upsy-Daisy doll. He appears to be beginning to understand symbolic play in a more advanced way. 
• Sammie has been enjoying turning various objects into trains- these have no patterns, and any object can take part in the play. 
• Sammie's train play has evolved- he is now very engaged in stacking objects on the trains and seeing how much he can balance while still being able to make things move. 
• Sammie is exploring new ways of using the "block puzzle"- instead of only finding the two train pieces, he is now exploring with matching the other objects.  He recently matched the motorcycle and seemed very proud when we praised him for it. 
• His verbalizing continues to take on more and more words, and he has been exploring different facial expressions more and more.  He has started mimicking some of the expressions that we are making and is taking a renewed interest in our faces. 
• He has gotten increasingly adept at doing the Bingo actions (though he claps his hands instead of jumping), even after taking a long break from seeing the video. 
• Many friends and family members are commenting on how much more involved he is with them, and how he seems to want to play with them more often than he used to. 

Today we will go back to our traditional log method so we can have more up to date information.