A relaxing day.

Hmm.. I'm gonna have to think of better titles here.

But that's what it was.  Mark was happy for the most part.  He took a nap.  :-0  I know - he rarely takes naps.  But apparently he needed one.

He got a little confused when I had him do the number 28 with 2 separate magnets but seemed to catch on.  He did good at reading.  And he identified the story characters by pointing when he was asked.

He got annoyed when I had him do word identification and spelling though.  Spelling has two difficulties for him.  The first he was almost over by the end of today.  He was having problems understanding the idea of spelling the word, even though he's done it on computer programs.  He especially didn't like that he had to put the letters in place in order.  But by the last two words he was doing it smoothly.  (And I've got to print more magnet letters - we ran out of a couple!)  The second problem is the magnet letters.  But it's a problem I'm not going to fix.  The magnet letters are 1/2" by 3/4" printed on magnetic paper.  So his fine motor pinching grip is getting a workout.  And he doesn't like it.  I predict that within a week or two he'll have it mastered though.

Puzzles weren't bad.  He needed a little prompting but did well otherwise.

Making patterns gave him difficulty though.  He kept expecting me to HOH prompt.  And when I wouldn't he would reach for the wrong piece.  From the way his eyes were moving it was deliberate.  So I would take the wrong piece and verbally redirect him.  Breaking him of HOH assistance is going to be a challenge apparently but it's going to happen.

But generally a good day.  Right now he's happily swinging in his room, grinning at me when I come in.....and telling me "quiet" every chance he gets.  <BG>

Just another day.

Mark woke up congested and feverish again.  So we missed his last day at school.  Hopefully he will get to see everyone and say good bye on Monday.  And even better, hopefully everyone will keep in touch through here and he can see them now and again later.

Despite the yucky waking, the morning was good.  He picked the date out of a field of three with no problem.  I think I'm going to pull out the other magnet numbers soon and have him "spell" the numbers.  Right now 11, 12, 13 are on the magnet as such.  But with the other magnets he would have to pair the numbers to make the numbers higher than 9. 

And he got me good.  I asked him about the weather using the puzzle pieces again.  Well he pointed to the cloudy one which shows the sun and clouds.  Fortunately I kept my mouth shut until I looked outside.  Yep, it was bright and sunny but there were clouds as well.  I think I'll need to make a separate cloudy icon.  And even better, make sure he understands that it's ok to make more than one choice.  Such as sunny and cloudy, snowy and cloudy, etc.

He got his putty out today (blue) and put it away by himself when he was done.  And he didn't have too big a fuss over having to read with me.

But the afternoon pretty much got blown because he developed a headache while we were at the grocery store getting his medicine.  Ah well.  We'll try more tomorrow.  And I'll make sure to only do short brief trips for the next week or so until the headaches have abated.

But right now he's hunting tickles and kisses.  So I'm going to go play.

Sick Again........

Oh the frustration.  For me.  And I think for Mark as well.  But he's sick again.  Fever, congestion, coughing, and sneezing.  Ah well.  Hopefully the frequency of illnesses will decrease when he isn't in school everyday.  He's had years when he's gotten sick frequently but this year has topped them all.  Hopefully, like the migraines, something in his hormone surges is at the base of this.  If so, then as things settle out he won't get sick as frequently.

But it's been a good day for him, with medicines.  So he was able to point out the correct number for today's date.  And he's been enjoying both strengths of theraputty.  Interestingly enough, he has been picking the blue putty today rather than the green.  His fingers must need the workout.  He makes the most fun designs with the strings of putty.  And then he'll press it all out and start over again.  And he laughed at me when I pulled out an old set of puzzles.  They were toddler puzzles and he had them done in under a minute.  And then he pointed to rainy when I asked him what today's weather was.  (One of the puzzles was weather.) 

Earlier today he was bouncy and runny.  I was on the receiving end of many hug collisions as he ran around.  And a few attempted pigback rides when I was close to something he could climb on.  Good fun and big grins all around!

But now he's settled and seems to be getting a headache.  So going to do lights out with him and see if some calm time won't handle the headache before it explodes. 

Adventure Number ????

Ok, for all of you out there that I don't get to keep in touch with on a regular basis......I'm going to try keeping this blog.  I'm hoping that you can use it to keep up with what is going on in Mark and I's lives.  Well, mainly Mark's life.

Mark and I are starting off on adventure number ????.  I don't know what number because our life is always full of adventures.  But as of Monday, we are starting off on a big one for us.  As of Monday, we are going to try homeschooling.  Mark has had multiple medical issues since the start of this school year.  In order to give his body time to deal with these issues, without major drugs, we are going to homeschool for the rest of this school year and the summer.  Will it continue after that?  I don't know.  That depends on how things go.  Right now the focus is continuing his education in an environment that isn't triggering medical issues.

So, keep us in mind please.  Please share wisdom and ideas when you have them.  And hopefully, I will be able to keep this up better than I keep up with diaries.