Awesome therapy session...

Today was quite a full day. The kids and I started off heading to Marbridge to drop off images that I had taken for my volunteer work. Whenever I take the kids, all the residents just light up. One sweet lady followed us around saying "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" over and over. Ryenne thought it was so funny.

Then we headed up North for a visit with Kai's therapist, Marti. Kai does so well on therapy days and the couple days following therapy and then by the weekend he kinda regresses. This weekend he was shoving his hands in his mouth and drooling a lot. I spent all my holiday earnings on a sauna. I ordered it last night. My parents are matching my contribution. I can't wait for it to get here... anyhoo... back to today.

We put him in a sling type swing - almost like a cocoon. He didn't like it. He wanted out, but he listened to us and I kept my hand on his bottom so he knew that I was right there. He swung a little bit, but his sensory issues were certainly on high alert. After the swing, Marti showed us a big surprise... 250 pounds of rice in an inflatable pool in the backyard.

The rice pool was so neat because it allowed him to be on the ground, but was a full body sensory experience. He was extremely nervous at first and freaked out when we put him in (we went in with him). But as soon as we showed him the digging and that toys and buckets were there to play with, he warmed to the idea and very slowly we started moving him off Marti's lap and completely into the rice.

After the rice, the kids all came back from the neighbors and wanted to jump on Marti's trampoline. It's a big, awesome trampoline. Ryenne went on with no fears at all.  Marti's kids were having a blast. Kai looked as if he were longing to try it but just couldn't bring himself to do it. We have been trying to get him on the trampoline for a month, but he hasn't wanted to do it. He watched his sister and I could tell there was an inner dialog going on in his head. I knew he WANTED to do it.

So Marti held Cruz and all the other kids got off so that I could take Kai onto the tramp. I held him and bounced just slightly which made him grab onto me for dear life and ask to get down. So I sat down on the tramp and held him. We didn't move. He squeezed me. And then as my body's weight made the "floor" not so super bouncy, he slowly put his feet down, held onto me, and started jumping. I held his hand and he jumped and jumped. Granted it's not the full bounce of a trampoline, but this has been a month in the making. HE JUMPED AND JUMPED AND LAUGHED. This is so huge. I am tearing up just typing this. I am SO PROUD OF HIM. This has been a big fear for him and he's overcoming these obstacles so beautifully.

All three kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. I couldn't bare to wake them so I cracked the car door open in the garage, turned on the light, and came inside and ate a quiet lunch by myself.

Then they woke and Emily, Kai's speech therapist came with a sensory tub full of beans! Two sensory projects in one day... how amazing! Emily had toys in the bin that all had the P, K, and G sounds - which are his toughest sounds. He had a lot of fun and Ryenne participated without being obnoxious. I was really proud of her behavior today.

What a wonderful day for Kai. Totally amazing...