Monthly review: April 2017

Posted: - Modified: | monthly, review

A- has been working on standing independently, beaming with pride whenever she balanced for a few seconds. She’ll keep getting up and trying if you sign “more.” She loves walking with help, too, even up and down stairs. W- helped her learn how to nudge a ball around. We spent a lot of time in the backyard, where she enjoyed digging in the soil, pulling up weeds, and exploring the new raised bed that W- made. She enjoyed crawling up and down the ramps and steps in the demo class at Oaks n Acorns. Now that the weather has warmed up a little, we’ve been going to the playground, swinging on the swings and sliding down the slides.

She figured out pointing with her finger, and she has gotten pretty good at letting us know what she wants. Pointing has also helped us teach her lots of words. She understands words like “coat” and “shoes”, gestures or points to the appropriate items, and matches illustrations and objects. She says “ba” for bubbles and “na” for no. I took her to Riverdale Farm to look at the animals, since we’ve been focusing on animal sounds for language development. We finished the early literacy workshop (which was more of a one-on-one consultation, whee!) and the parent advocacy workshop (which will come in handy when A- goes to school).

It’s a lot of fun watching A- imitate our actions. She drinks quite capably from a cup or water bottle, unscrews bottle caps, and tries to floss her teeth. She’s getting the hang of our routines, although sometimes she’ll resist them and assert her own will. When A- doesn’t want me to brush her teeth, I just try to wipe her teeth and gums with a washcloth. I asked the dentist if we should restrain A- when brushing or bring her in for a fluoride varnish. The dentist didn’t seem very concerned. She might be trying to avoid making A- anxious about dental hygiene, which makes sense too, so I just need to calibrate my own level of worry. We’re giving xylitol wipes a try, anyway, and I made xylitol mints for myself as well.

I’m a little less worried about A-‘s conformer. A- removed her conformer a couple of times when we were out walking, but she seems to be developing the habit of holding on to it or handing it to me after taking it out, which is awesome.

Hard to remember that W- has only been back to work for two months. We’ve found a good rhythm for now. I’m so happy we’ve been able to arrange our lives this way. I’ve even been able to get back to doing more reading and writing in the early hours of the morning. This is nice.

Blog posts

Sketches

Time

Category Previous month % This month % Diff h/wk Diff h/wk
Personal 8.7 11.9 3.1 19.3 5.3
Discretionary – Productive 3.2 5.1 1.8 8.2 3.1
Discretionary – Play 0.8 2.3 1.5 3.8 2.5
Sleep 34.3 35.1 0.8 57.1 1.3
Business – Build 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.3
Discretionary – Social 0.6 0.8 0.2 1.4 0.3
Business – Earn 0.8 1.0 0.1 1.6 0.2
Business – Connect 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1
Discretionary – Family 0.5 0.1 -0.4 0.1 -0.7
Unpaid work – Other 50.6 43.4 -7.2 70.7 -12.0
Unpaid work – Childcare 44.3 36.2 -8.0 59.0 -13.5
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