31 for 21, Day 4 - 2012

More about the summer.

Every year we go to California to visit family/friends.  We even took Maya as early as six months old. The first time was in a car.  That was brutal.  Since then we have flown.  Every year keeps getting better.  Maya's always been a good traveler.  She does well on the airplane, thanks to my ipad, and she doesn't mind change in scenery or routine, too much.

Maya loves her cousins dearly.  I think part of that is that they pay so much attention to her and are willing to do pretty much anything to make her smile.  Our family friends adore her and luckily their dogs don't mind Maya too much.  Of course Maya loves doggies, but I noticed lately she thinks those dogs are horses.  The last two years instead of signing dog, like she did previous, she signs horse.  I think that is hilarious.

So this year we took a little road trip with the family.  We went to Angel Island for a day.  The weather was perfect, and we had a chance to do some hiking on the island.  For Maya the best part was hands down the ferry ride to the island.  She loved the wind blowing in her face.  The entire time she had a smile from ear to ear.  It was such a joy to see.

We went the next day up to the Russian River.  It was no surprise that Maya wanted to get into the water.  It was a little cold but she enjoyed playing in the water.  We spent a while there and even had a little lunch on the beach.  During that time we spent most of the time with Maya's cousin.  It seemed she was Maya's new best friend.  In my husband's culture they always refer to their cousins as brother or sister,  never do they really use a word that means cousin.  This is different then the way I was brought up, but it feels right for Maya and her cousin.  They really are like sisters. 

I'm grateful for that lesson.

Maya and Maya.

Sisters.

A little help from her sister.

On the ferry to Angel Island.

Oh the wind!  She loved it!

Russian River.

Deep thought on the river.

A hug from her uncle.

Quality time with her aunt.

Family.

31 for 21: day 2, 2012

I have a lot of catching up to do.  I have a ton to fill you in on Ms. Maya.  My intentions were good this summer, I was going to post about all the fun stuff we did.   In the end even Maya's birthday did not get posted.   No excuses now that it's October.    So here goes...

In July, one day we went to the children's museum with some friends.  I asked Maya's respite to come along to help.  Maya adores her and they are almost like big and little sisters.  We haven't been to the museum in a long time.  That one especially is huge and most of the activites are better when the child can play on their own.  I can't remember how old Maya was when we went last, I just remember all the other kids were having a ball and Maya was mildly interested.  I don't think she was even walking then, which makes a huge difference.

Anyway, Maya was so excited to be there this time.  As soon as we entered she took off towards the huge structure that is all about climbing.  It's like a huge maze up in the air.  I should preface this by saying that Maya has struggled for a long time with climbing jungle gyms.  In past posts I've written about this.  I've chalked it up to sensory issues, but basically she doesn't like walking up ramps that have holes in them.  She sees through the ground and I think it confuses her.  Well this structure is all about holes and seeing to the ground.

Every time this girl does something, it surprises me, but not in a shocking way.  It's almost like I expect her to surprise me.  So when she does something like forget that she was afraid of walking up ramps, I think it's just the way it's supposed to be.  She walked up, crawled and climbed (with the help of her respite), not once, but twice up that structure.

We spent over 4 hours at the museum and at the end Maya was crying because she didn't want to leave.  It was crazy, because she NEVER cries for a thing like that.  In fact usually if there is too much going on, she turns to me and says "bye" which is her signal that she wants to leave.  This time she was having so much fun playing with all the different activities she didn't want to go home.

Last time we didn't venture into the art room, and this time we spend at least 30 mins there.  She was just so content painting the rocket ship (see photos below).  Give that girl a brush and a big rocket ship and I guess it's all good!

It was so wonderful to see her engaged in all that was around.  She even played with the her friends that came to the muesum with us.  They arranged flowers in this one section for a little while.  Once they moved on, she continued playing on her own for a long while. At least a long while in "Maya" terms.

I kept thinking to myself that I felt bad that she had missed a therapy that morning.  Then I realized that this whole experience was way more therapeutic than any 50 min therapy.  Sometimes you just have to play hooky and enjoy life!  It was good to be reminded of that.

Maya crawling through a tunnel on the high structure.

Walking on the structure with her respite.

Painting the rocket purple.

Rocket ship painter.

Aarranging flowers on the table.

Moving flowers from the garden to the table.

Planting the garden again.

Hand and eye coordination needed to garden here. 

 

31 for 21: Day 16, end of summer.

The end of summer is coming.

After a few more weeks, no more shorts or sandals.

I will miss seeing your little toes.

You often don't stand still long enough for me to document your feet, 

but today was a good day.

"Maya, Where have you been?"

This summer has been so busy.  The summer before Maya was three was just a sign of hot months passing in the desert.  Now that Maya is in preschool, summer is our time to travel and kick back a little.  We've certainly taken advantage of this time away from school schedules.  So far we have taken four trips out of state.   It's been awesome on many levels but it's been also quite exhausting.  Traveling with a three year old is always an adventure.  We are lucky that Maya does very well on the plane and usually doesn't have any major issues with new environments.  Thank goodness for ipads and ipods because they really help us get through those long hauls.

A few firsts happened this summer, first Maya was able to spend some time with her Great-Aunt and Uncle from her Dada's side.  They were visiting from India so it was a special occasion. She also went to the beach for the first time and got to splash around a bit in the water.  She just loved the waves! We visited two new children's museum's, one Cali and Texas. Finally we were able to visit a wonderful park called Morgan's Wonderland, in San Antonio.  This park was designed to provide a fun environment for ALL abilities of children to play and experience.  Maya's favorite activity there was the water table and sensory building.  We also had a chance to ride a train around the park and play on the playground. It is truly a special place for all children.

Here are a some highlights of the milestones Maya is accomplishing lately:

Maya new word is help.  This is huge!  One night when I was on the computer she came to me and grabbed my shirt and said, "hhhheellp".  The p was mostly silent but I could hear exactly what she said.  She had a little game in her hand and wanted me to open the box for her.  It was so amazing to hear this word used in an appropriate manner.    Since then she's been using it often, when she needs help and just for saying it.  I'm thinking the H sound is a new and interesting sound for her since sometimes she repeats it over and over almost as if she is astonished by the sound itself.

Another big change that I see in Maya is that she is starting to use two and three words (ASL) together.  We have been working on this for the last three months very intensely.  For a long time now we have always used "please" after we ask for something but in the last three months I started to add the word "want".  So I sign to her "what you want?" or "you want barney?".  It has taken a little time for her to learn the word "want". I do think it is an abstract concept, not so much an object or an action.  The other curious thing is that she signs it backwards.  "Want" is signed almost like you are grabbing something face up moving towards you...she signs it the other way, fingers facing her.  It's hard to explain but I wonder if it is because she is mirroring the action.  I'm not complaining at all about how she signs it, because the fact that she is using this word at all makes me so happy.  Today I asked her, "which you want? fruit or waffle?"  She signed, "want fruit please".  Yes!!!   Just the other day she signed, "want ice cream please".  You know she got it.  =)

While all this is going on, I see that Maya is also starting to vocalize more.  She isn't really saying clear words yet, but she is trying to mimic the sound.  It seems to always be the sound at the end of the word, like "eeee" for please or "aaaak" for quack.   I hear her sometimes trying to sing along with barney songs.  Many times I have found her reading books, not in silence anymore, not just using her ASL signs, but now using her voice.  She makes expressions when she is reading the pages and tries to say the words.

I really have to hand it to Barney for changing Maya's life.   There are  four shows that Maya really responds to, Signing time, Barney, Hi-5 and The fresh beat band, but Barney has really brought a lot of personality out of her.  I've noticed that she has more patience in listening to the storyline now than before.  She even laughs at some of the jokes now.  The happiness in her eyes when she sees barney is just priceless. Thank goodness for Barney.

I have to say that all these accomplishments mean so much more than they usually do because some days I do feel a bit discouraged.  For a while there it almost felt like we had hit a wall.   My theory has been that she is on the verge of a breakthrough and she is just frustrated.  But the other part of me wonders if some of this has to do with the new discovering that she has sensory issues.  The hardest part is that these behaviors in my mind have pushed others away from her and enable her from interacting in public settings.  I often feel like she doesn't quite understand how to relate to other children.  Then there is the environment that I can't control.   Whether it's too much going on around her or certain sounds that she can't stand, it sets her off and there is no going back.  My poor girl becomes someone else and I feel so helpless in knowing how to calm her down.  I feel so perplexed because I wonder how this little person that does so well with her therapist can fall apart when she interacts with her peers.

I do see hope coming our way though, this week I'm taking Maya to an evaluation with an occupational therapist who has done a lot of work in this area. My hope is that once Maya is evaluated we can begin the journey in dealing with these behaviors.  I'm so looking forward to learning all about sensory processing.

Here are some photos from our summer adventures...

Maya's first time on the moving walkway in the airport.  She loved it!

Just chilling in Cali with our friend and doggies.

Maya reading the alphabet at the San Jose Children's Museum.

Maya and her cousin watching Barney in Cali.

At the playground with her cousins.  So much fun!

Doesn't she look so big?!

Maya's first time at the beach, Newport Beach Cali.

She loved the waves!

Looking cool on the beach.

Playing and dancing on the playground.

Our first time at Morgan's Wonderland.

The water station was one of Maya's favorite activities.

Train ride with Grandma.