Day in the Life of Boogs

Yesterday Jocelyn and I had a super busy/active day, so I thought I'd share what a typical day looks like for us.

 

Unless of course we have appointments

- which we so often do -

or, if she is in a tremendous amount of pain like she is today :|

 

After we wake up {which is typically 4am, but I've been making her stay in bed until AT LEAST 6am} we eat breakfast, take a bath and then get dressed for the day.

{She loves the music and bubbles - we use colored or scented bubbles for that good 'ol sensory stuff - and apparently they are a tasty treat! haha Thank you again Donna Powers for the toy!! She was mesmerized by it yesterday!}

We start the morning off with something fun and physical like swinging!!

{Definitely a fav of hers}

{And THIS, is why I do all that I do!}

We spend time doing preschool stuff such as ...

{Sorting colors & working on some fine motor}

{Matching shapes and colors -- she LOVES the Mickey Mouse shapes as you can see!}

{Name recognition and writing}

{Working out in the stander while making choices from laminated cards &/or iPad to read or sing, pick desired songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider or Wheels on the Bus, etc}

{Practicing walking in the walker with the reward of window painting at the end}

{Using food to talk about colors -- Boogs had to taste them all hahaha The egg was hard boiled btw :P}

And of course we have downtime where we simply play with each other and toys ...



After nap time we try to do several fun, physical activities like ride the train around the house, swimming or since it was so nice yesterday, we got to go for a trike ride!

 

Boogs also gets story time in when daddy comes home so mama can cook supper and pick up a bit ...

 

The evenings end with general playtime, snuggles, cartoons and whatever else we find that's fun to fill the night with.

 

Does Jocelyn understand all the activities we do (ie the matching, colors, shapes, etc)?

 

I don't know.

 

It is very difficult for Jocelyn and she is often not able to tell or show me. But what I do know, is that if we don't practice, if we don't try, if I don't expose her to as much as I can ... then one thing is for certain ... she NEVER will!

 

Some days I get discouraged because I'd love for when I ask Boogs "show me the blue one" or "touch the square" that she would be able to do it without hesitation.

 

Maybe some day!

 

I also know, and sometimes have to continually remind myself, that when you have the combination of vision, motor and verbal issues -- it makes everything a thousand times more difficult.

 

My reward yesterday for all the hard work we did? Jocelyn looked at me right in the eyes for minutes on in. She has a problem with prolonged eye contact, and she kept looking right into my eyes, smiling and "talking" to me. I can't ever remember having that kind of intense moment visually with her and it was by far an experience I won't be forgetting! Eye contact can be very powerful and its something every mother loves and craves, but many never notice because their baby already "looks" at them.

 

That gift was better than any possession I could have on this Earth!

 

Today hasn't been such a great day. Boogs has been in a tremendous amount of pain and I can't figure out where it hurts, why it hurts or how to make her better as heat, a warm bath, massage, meds -- NOTHING -- is relieving her pain.

 

Its absolutely heart-breaking some days!!!

 

So even though today's been tough and relatively unproductive -- ITS OKAY!!!

 

I use to have a problem when we had down days, when I felt like one of us was being lazy, etc ... but I've learned that these "down days" are just as healthy ... just as necessary. When any other kid doesn't feel good, is tired or hurts; they get to do whatever they want throughout the day and my daughter deserves the same whether she can tell me that or not.

 

Hopefully tomorrow will be a great, new day -- and besides, Wednesday is swim night so it has to be good!!! :)