The End Of The Hols!

Well it is now the end of the school holidays which means I'm back to work next week. I feel we have all had a great holiday. Craig was home for 3 weeks and had loads of time with Kian. We had a week away in a caravan which was a lovely break. Totally relaxing. Kian loved watching the children in the park, it was sad that he couldn't join in the way he would have been able to if he didn't have his difficulties. But the bonus was that Kian was very interested in the children and what was going on, and he got enjoyment out of watching them. A young girl brought her mam to the park to show her Kian, as she said he was just so cute. That was really nice. Sometimes I wonder if children do realise when there is a child that is a little more vulnerable? It was nice though!

For the last 4 days, Kian has been pulling himself to stand against the sofa. How proud we are! Kian puts himself in the crawling position but does not crawl. I really hope he does, as I can see how many other aspects of his development it will help. But seeing him pull himself up is great. The way Kian gets around is that, he will roll, then sit up, either turn around or get on knees, then lie down and roll in a different direction. This works for Kian and it is lovely to see he has the motivation to get to a particular place.

Kian loves bubbles. He will sign "more" if you put them away and he just gets very excited by them. A week ago he made a "per" sound when we were saying "pop", to pop the bubbles. This was new and he has not done it in the last few days but hopefully this is something new that will develop. I feel we could do with some more input with speech and communication, but Kian begins his special nursery on the 8th Sep, I have heard good things from there and hopefully this will bring a development to all Kian's needs.

We have taken Kian to a tumbletots class for almost 2 years. The class he is in is from 6 months to walking. Well Kian has been in this class for 2 years, where the other children have came and then moved to the next class. Tumbletots has been great. They have soft play activites and alot to encourage children. You begin and end the class in a circle with a sing song. We have just decided that it is the time to not go to this class anymore. Over the time, it has been hard, with it being a mainstream group, to see new parents and babies come in and their babies to do so much more than Kian. But you have to decide whether you want to stop something because of how you feel, when you know your child gets something out of it. We have overcome this feeling so many times. You dread someone asking Kian's age. But we have felt the time has come to leave. Kian will do nursery (mainstream) all day monday, and special nursery 9.30-11.30 tues, wed, and thursday. I don't work a friday so I have decided to keep this day free and then do what we please. Whether we stay in our pjs till lunch time, or whether I take him to a local soft play. I feel it will be nicer to not be committed once Kian's new schooling begins. I must say the staff at tumbletots are absaloutely fantastic. They have encouraged Kian and ourselves, and have been very caring and supportive towards us. Their support and kind words have been a great help when we have felt down. I will really miss taking Kian there. Recently I went to a workshop ran by OT's. Tumbletots was on the list of things to try with young children. I think it has been a great help to our family and would recommend it to anyone.

I have read of another whs family beginning potty training with their daughter. I am really impressed with how it is going for them and also their attitude to it. We have thought of when Kian settles into nursery to think alot more on this and hopefully get some advice and guidance from the nursery. In the meantime we are going to buy a potty and have it around the home, and maybe just give Kian a try now and then. This may seem strange with Kian not being mobile, but I think there is more to it than that. The understanding of it all will be a big factor but we can all but try!

In term time we take Kian to a school for parents class which is based at a fantastic school. This school is funded privately. The school I think is geared towards children with cerebal palsy. The group we go to, is a few hours one day per week. It is based on conductive education, which is fascinating. I could not have too much of an opinion of it right now but it seems quite a clear, gentle and direct method of working towards things. The staff here are fantastic. I have been given some great advice for Kian from one of the staff in particular who I am so pleased to have known. She has had a great relationship with Kian and has seemed at times one step ahead of other people involved with us. We will continue with this group and hopefully it will continue to be a benefit.

Over the next few months we have paediatrician, dietician, and ent appointments. We will continue with his physio and ot therapy at home, Kian will begin his new nursery where his speech therapy will be based. Physio and OT will also work into the nursery. Kian seems to have been quite healthy for awhile. I think the grommets have helped this. I do dread the next poorly time, but it will come eventually. We are really happy with how things are going, Kian is making progress, though it is extremely slow, we are very very proud of him working so hard. And we are thankful to all the people that support us, family, friends and professionals!