Astronaut Training

Bizarrely, tonight was the night I was going to write about Charlotte's new physical therapy program, which is called "Astronaut Training."  It seems kind of weird to write a blog post about astronaut training that has nothing to do with astronauts or Sally Ride, who passed away today.  But, here I go anyway.

It's been weird posting about Charlotte's PT & OT needs.  I'm not sure how much to say, or how much even merits saying.  Right before she turned 3, we noticed (and her grandmother noticed, I better make sure I mention that) that she spent a lot of time walking on her toes.  Like, a LOT of time.  Way more than half.  Almost constantly, actually.  Matt & I dismissed it, thinking she'd probably grow out of it, but her grandmother elicited a promise to have us ask the pediatrician about it at her 3 yr physical.  So Matt did, and the doctor agreed that it was an awful lot of toe-walking, and observed her for a bit.  Then, after testing her range of motion, diagnosed tight heel cords and excessive toe-walking, and referred her to a local physical therapy program.

We got her into physical therapy, with a really great therapist, Arlene, at the tail end of 2010 and beginning of 2011.  Between weather and car troubles, Charlotte got 8 appointments spread out over 4+ months.  After some initial rockiness while we sounded out Arlene and she figured us out, it was a really great fit, and we learned a lot about what was going on with Charlotte.  Namely, some sensory processing issues of the vestibular variety, with attendant physical issues of low tone, poor core strength, and tight heel cords.

Aside - I have a hard time writing about all of this.  Not because I'm ashamed that my kid isn't perfect, or that I fear that I did something wrong and that's why this stuff is going on.  Nothing like that.  More like, I hate to make a fuss, make it seem like this stuff is more important than it is.  Or a bigger deal, I guess, since I do consider it important.  I don't want to be like, OMG, my kid and her therapy, my kid has a disorder, blah blah - nothing like that.  But it is part of Charlotte, and actually, a big part of Charlotte, and we can see how this kind of thing, left unadressed, could snowball as time goes on and in her later school career.

Kids who are hyposensitive to vestibular stimulation, like Charlotte, crave vestibular input.  Spinning, twirling, moving fast, hanging upside down, jumping up and down are all things she loves to do, and these are things that satisfy her craving.  Problems sitting still, issues going down stairs, and easy motion sickness are also signs of vestibular integration disorders.  Kids with vestibular processing issues might also have low muscle town, poor sitting posture (W-sitting) and walk on their toes.  Poor hand-eye coordination & trouble crossing midline visually are additional signs, though I am less sure how that is related.  I do know that it's another thing on the checklist we can tick off, though.

None of these things really bother Charlotte in everyday life as a 3 or 4 year old.  But it was actually really good to have this "diagnosis" (it's not actually a medical ICD-10 diagnosis, this is relevant later) going into her school career.  It's something to talk to with the PT & OT folks in Charlotte's elementary school, as well as her preschool teacher.  It's easy to see how some of Charlotte's behaviors, while fine at home, might be trickier to assimilate in the classroom.  Spinning around in circles in your living room because you need input is fine - doing the same during, say, story time is less acceptable.  Problems sitting still in the proper posture becomes a little disruptive.  And difficulty using scissors and pencils is really not convenient when you are learning to, say, write & cut paper.

Charlotte had those 8 appointments last year, but that was all our insurance would cover.  Since "vestibular integration disorder" is not an accepted medical diagnosis, the only thing that we could bill for was "tight heel cords", and only 8 appointments a year was deemed acceptable.  I learned a lot from Arlene in those 8 visits, and we made some goals to work towards until we could be covered again.  Last year, the big concern was working on Charlotte's muscle tone and core strength, since that would help her feel more secure in her balance, and maybe offset some of the toe-walking & spinning.  A year later, at Charlotte's 4 yr old physical, we had the doctor observe Charlotte's toe-walking again, and got another referral to get back into the PT program.  Amazingly, a space with Arlene opened up, and, a little over a year after her last appointment, Charlotte got back into a PT schedule with Arlene.  Arlene was really pleased with the work that we had done, both at home and at school (where Charlotte had started a PT evaluation process, and had a few 20 minute sessions before the end of the school year), and decided to get down to the nitty-gritty of vestibular integration therapy.

This brings us to the titular Astronaut Training.  It's a vestibular/auditory/visual series of exercises developed by an OT.  They gave it a theme of "astronaut training" to get the kids interested in the exercises.  They are described using space words, and with a space theme, and even the background music on the accompanying CD is kind of "space-y" sounding.  This is the program Charlotte & I are doing for the two weeks while Arlene is on vacation, and we are missing our PT appointments.  So far, it seems to be good stuff, and Charlotte really loves doing it, which is the important part.  Part of it involves laying on a spinning board (checked out from the PT department) with her eyes closed while I spin her - this is pretty much her favorite thing in the world.

All in all, I'm happy this is something we're working on.  Learning why Charlotte does what she does, and learning that some of her more disruptive behaviors are actually related to something going on with her physically, not just a sign of stubbornness, was enlightening.  And having this fore-knowledge made some of her preschool transition issues a little easier.  It also made our decision to keep her in another year of preschool, instead of fighting to get her into kindergarten this year, a no-brainer.  For a kid who still has trouble sitting still and holding a pencil, it makes sense to do another year of preschool - and almost more importantly, physical therapy - rather than fighting with the school district to let Charlotte start kindergarten 3 weeks before she turns 5.

Here's some links to both Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and the specific vestibular stuff:

* Astronaut Training
* The Vestibular System and SPD
* really good article by an Australian SPD organization on vestibular processing
* Vestibular Dysfunction
* What is Vestibular Disorder?
* wikipedia definition of Sensory Processing Disorder

I'll post more about the occupational therapy side of things, the fine-motor stuff we've been working on, and some of my favorite resources.  It's kind of funny, funny weird, that this would come up with Charlotte.  Back in 1998, when I worked in a day care, one of my kids, I'll call him Sam, had some major sensory processing struggles.  The teacher recongized it for what it was, not a stubbornness or behavior issue, but a processing one.  Her son had similar issues when he was a toddler, so she had a feeling there was more to Sam's behavior than just acting out.  Because of her, I learned about what was then called Sensory Integrative Disorder, SID, and I was intensely interested.  I did some research, and even wrote papers for one of my child development classes.  This interest never went away, and stood me in good stead when I related to some other kids in my life who definitely had some processing issues.  So by the time Charlotte came along, and I watched her spinning and running in circles for ten minutes at a time at the end of the day, I was able to say to myself, "You know what?  This behavior looks really familiar."  It was good to start the conversation with at least some knowledge of what Arlene was talking about.  To have her say, "I think what we're dealing with here goes beyond heel cords," and to have me say back, "I've been wondering if there's some sensory processing stuff going on," was just a good way to begin all this.

So here we are.  Almost five years old, and deeply involved in astronaut training.




(edited to correct a PT/OT slip-up!)

QOTD: Ambitious

C:  I think I could be a brilliant artist when I grow up.

Mama:  I think that's a great idea.

C:  Because you always like my art.

Mama:  I really do.

C:  And my art could be in a picture museum and I could be the richest girl in the world.

Mama:  What does that mean, richest girl in the world?

C:  It means everyone knows I am brilliant.

Visit to Nana's

Daddy said, "She is NOT Dr. Doolittle."

Today Charlotte:

1. got her first ever bee sting.

2.  's pet snail Ben died.

3.  got scratched by the cat.

She's doing okay with the death of Ben.  She goes between crying about it, to pragmatically discussing the life cycle, to asking when she can get a new snail.  And then cries because he's dead and she doesn't want anything to die.  Like, can we get a new snail tonight?  Or do we have to wait until tomorrow?  Typical four year old stuff.

So grown up.

QOTD: That word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

c: Wanna hear a joke?

Me: Not really. I want you to eat.

C: What did one cannibal say to the other cannibal?

Me: Wait, WHAT?

C: What did one cannibal say to the other cannibal?

Me: What do you think a cannibal is?

C: You know, that thing, a ball a pirate shoots out of a cannon.  A canni-ball.

Me: Okay, fine.  What?

C: Well, the first cannibal says, one cannibal says, "Hey, who's that lady?" and the other cannibal says, "That's not a lady, that's my lunch!"

Me:  uh....

C: Isn't that funny?

****
I have NO idea where she learned that joke.

At CVS today, Charlotte scratched my leg so hard she drew blood.  I don't know if it was a fingernail or a toenail; she was wearing flip-flops and thrashing around on the floor.  Charlotte wasn't having a temper tantrum, or being malicious, she just cannot stand in line like a normal human being.  Why stand quietly when you can flop around on the floor?  This is why she rides in the cart 85% of the time.

QOTD: The Director

Charlotte, in a tone of indignation, "Daddy, you're improvising!"

(playing a tightly scripted scene where Charlotte is Captain Hook and Matt is the Tick Tock Croc)

Fashionista. Or color blind. Either/Or/Both.

Charlotte, watching me finish up a knitted purple sweater.  "What are those squares for?  Are those tiny blankets?"

"No, those are pockets."

Charlotte, perturbed, "But they're purple.  They'll blend right in."

"This sweater is purple, honey.  And the pockets are purple.  What color do you think the pockets should be?"

"Orange.  Orange would be right."

Too bad I don't have any orange yarn.  Too bad, indeed.

Spring Break, Day 1

This week is spring break week for Charlotte's school.  She doesn't have school, but I do have to work, so we're striving for a balance of fun things, social things, and Mama getting shit done.  Today was actually a pretty good start, all things considered.

* Charlotte woke up EARLY, before 6 am, to play with her new Lalaloopsies.

* She got to play some PBS kids games (Peep, Electric Company, Cat in the Hat), watch an episode of Powerpuff Girls.

* We walked to the playground at school & played some on the little kid playground. She got to play on the equipment and do all the things she's not allowed to do.  Chuck rocks down the slide, go down headfirst, kick dirt into giant dust clouds, swing on her belly on the swings, twist the swings into knots.  We also acted out the Three Little Pigs.  Charlotte was all the pigs, and I was the Big Bad Wolf.

* I took the old pictures off of Charlotte's camera so that she could take new pictures.  She took some really hilarious videos.  They are like tiny micro-plays.  In some of them, the camera is both a tool and a character.  "Hey, are we friends?"  "No, we aren't friends!"  "Fine!"  "Fine! I'm going to turn you off now!"

* We listened to the first few chapters of Charlotte's Web on audiobook.  I've read her the first few chapters a couple times, but she isn't always that interested in me reading books without pictures.  She was impatiently waiting for her name-twin when I was reading it to her.  We're listening on cassette, which means she can't listen to it in her room on her own; we listened together during dinner.  I wasn't sure she was listening, but she really seemed to like it, and asked for more when side 1 was done. 




* Charlotte almost fell asleep during dinner.  First time in a loooong time.

* Charlotte, up for 14 hours straight, had one of the most epic meltdowns ever at bedtime tonight. Of course it was over something ridiculous - which pajamas to wear.  I told my brother, and Matt agreed, that it was in the top 10 most epic temper tantrums she's had in her whole life so far.  I stayed very calm - I have lost it worse at less provocation, but really, we had such a good day, and she was so clearly overtired and not herself that it didn't bother me as much as it would have on another day.  And I even giggled a few times, which I tried to cover, because, god, how furious would that make her?  And really, of course it would and it should! Can you imagine trying to express the most extreme serious emotion you have in your four-and-a-half year old body and have your mom just giggle at you?  I didn't want to hurt her feelings, even as she was doing her best to scream the loudest she ever has in her life.

* Charlotte was asleep in less than 7 minutes tonight.

the quotable miss charlotte emily - cribbed from facebook

* "Hi-ho-the-dairy-o the duck's wife takes the chick! Hi-ho-the-dairy-o the duckling takes the chick's friend."

* Charlotte told me, "I woke up crazy today."

* Charlotte just used the word "whatnot" correctly. "Oh, Saturday. A family day. A *big* family day. A day to visit with your friends and whatnot."

* Me, foolishly trying to bargain: "I'm pretty sure even pirates brush their teeth."

Charlotte, indignant: "They do not! Pirates do not brush their teeth! Baby pirates do not brush their teeth! Big pirates do not brush their teeth! All people who live in the wild do not brush their teeth. Hmph."

Bonus parent quote:

* Shit parents say: "That's it. You are in time out for kicking the toilet."

representational artwork!

I can't take a picture of it right now because it's too bright out, but Charlotte just used her window crayons to draw a picture on the window.  It's a picture of herself, splashing in the rain.  It has a figure (her), blue vertical lines (rain) and some blue irregular circles (puddles).  There are also a lot of blue dots that she says are "reminder dots."  Not really sure what that means.

2012, so far.

so grown-up.

Went out for tacos tonight, after the parents had a really stressful work day.  Charlotte amazed us with her Big Kid behavior.  She waited at the bar for a table, sat at her seat and amused herself with her tote bag of stuff.  Charlotte ordered a cheese quesadilla, which came with rice & black beans.  We told her that she didn't have to eat the beans, but it would be nice if she tried them.  She tried them, ate some, ate some rice, and even used her fork and knife properly!  I don't think we've ever given her a knife to use (except to cut a banana), and she did a great job pushing rice onto her fork with the knife.  We were kind of blown away.  She also drank her water from a glass and managed to not sit there fishing ice cubes out with her fingers.  Seriously, we were so impressed.  Kind of had us sitting there, jaws open, while she sat and ate like a civilized little human being.  Wacky.

Chasing.

One of the most rewarding and scary things about parenting for me is how similar Charlotte and I are, and how different.  There are so many things that she says and does that remind me of me.  Lately, at four and a half, she has begun developing a temper, lashing out physically when she never has before.  She stomps her feet, throws things, and kicks out when she's mad, which more and more happens as she's tired or hungry, and completely unable to self-regulate.  This is something I know about myself, and seeing it in her makes me half-smile in recognition.  There's another side to her, a cheerful, open, friendly side with an especial interest in older kids that I just don't recognize.  She will go up to any kid that catches her eye, even a seven or eight year old, and try to strike up a conversation or join in their game.  Was that me as a kid, and I just forgot?  Has my shyness as an adult shut off those memories?  Or was I just never like that, more reserved?  The adult me just doesn't recognize that side of her, and sometimes it just leaves me at a loss.

Charlotte's preschool is a public one, part of the elementary school here in town.  I love that she's in the same building she'll be in for kindergarten, that she's meeting the "specials" teachers and the principal, and that she knows where the gym and library are already.  By the time I'm leaving her at school all day with a lunch packed and putting her on the bus, she'll already know the lay of the land, and the names of her classmates. 

There is a smaller scale playground, fenced in, that is off the three-classroom wing that makes up the preschool and kindergarten classes.  The preschoolers play out there before pick up, and sometimes the kindergarteners play too, an extra recess when they need to shake their sillies out, or when the weather is too good to be believed.

Today was one of those days, and I have to tell you, any time you see a kindergartener and think how cute and tiny and little they are, just unleash a pack of them on a bunch of preschoolers, and you'll be amazed at their transformation into raucous giants.  Here is another of the places where my own memories of four years old fail me.  I can't remember how I felt when I was four and a half and faced with a flock of six year olds, seemingly all blond, tall boys who yell.  But I know how I feel as a mom when I watch that swarm descend on the pre-schoolers' recess.  It makes me tense, stand on the balls of my feet.  My jaw clenches a little.  For the most part, unless they have a sibling in the preschool, the kindergarteners have no interest in the "little kids."  There is this group of boys, however, that has picked up on Charlotte's desperate interest in the big kids, and they have decided, for whatever murky six year old reason, to encourage her.

What they do, as a pack, is run up to Charlotte and scream, "Oh no! She's going to get us!" and then run off.  Then she tears off after them.  Back and forth across the playground, over the equipment, around the baby slide, well out of the way of the swings.  The teachers seem to be okay with it, but it makes me nervous.  Because, while Charlotte doesn't get it, I can read their faces.  They aren't playing *with* her.  They are using her desperation to be one of the big kids for their own devices.  It shouldn't bother me.  There's no reason for it to bother me.  There's no real mockery or mean dialogue going on, not that I can hear, just a lot of "Nah-nah-nah-nah-na-na, you can't catch me!" sing-song, and "Oh no! She's getting close!"  But when Charlotte is chasing them, she has no sense of self preservation, and no interest in listening to me at all.  I'm calling at her that it's time to go, and she doesn't care, and why should she?  Chasing is more fun than getting caught, less scary then getting caught.  If they were chasing her, I would put a stop to it instantly, and I know the teachers would too.  It's pretty sinister to have five kindergarten boys chasing a preschooler, even one who is four and a half and the size of a kindergartener herself. 

The other part of this is that she's saying things to me, while I'm trying to get Charlotte to stop chasing the boys and come home.  Some of the things she said today is "I have to defend the preschool kids," and "I have to defeat the big boys."  She's saying that she has to protect the other kids from them.  I know that she's just playing a game, but I'm worried she's going to get to rough.  She's a bruiser.  She's inherited my Swedish peasant physique.  It's kind of hilarious that she has declared herself the preschool's champion.  I just don't want her to take it too seriously.

I have enough experience with kids and playground dynamics to know that this is "all good."  No one is doing anything out of line, the teachers have an eye on things, and this is all normal healthy kid stuff.  It's just surprising to me that even how I know it's cool, and I can see that it's cool, I can't help but feel on edge.  I feel the same way when Charlotte approaches older kids on a public playground.  I want to intercede and steer her away.  I don't want her feelings to get hurt, or for her to get made fun of even if she doesn't realize it.  Because of her size I am usually pretty confident that she's not gonna get picked on physically, but watching her try the monkey bars (covered with kindergarten boys, who, to give them credit, never once stepped on her hands or anyone else's) it occurs to me that she quite possibly could try something far beyond her skill level and get hurt by accident.  Though, given Charlotte's personality (and my own as a child) that's just as likely under her own inspiration as from following anyone else.

It's the same parenting quandary all over again.  As a parent, your job is to protect your child - but from what, exactly?  And how far?  Today I settled for watching from afar as Charlotte tore up and down the playground, purple coat & pigtails flapping from exertion, and occasionally tried to get her attention so we could leave.  I have to promise myself that if the same thing happens tomorrow, I'll just take her coat, take a breath, and just let her chase.

Water Bees

Charlotte decided that "Water Bees" is a more appropriate name for brine shrimp than "Sea Monkeys."  Sometimes she remembers that she calls them water bees, sometimes she calls them sea monkeys.  We started them in the beginning of January, and they have done quite well.  We had a large initial batch; they are supposed to keep reproducing themselves after you hatch the packet of eggs.  It seems to be working - though we just had a massive die-off as the first bunch, hatched from eggs, all, ahem, "aged out of the system."  However, we can see some tiny ones growing, which is exciting.  The circle of life!  It moves us all!

When we had, say, 20 big sea monkeys swimming around, Charlotte didn't really bother naming them.  Sometimes she'd say, "That one is Long Taila, and that one is Big Taila," but it wasn't a big deal.  Now that there are two big ones left, one medium one, and a few tiny ones, she is constantly telling me their names.  Here are their names, in order of size (and presumably age):

Bigga
Fatta
Plubber
Smalla
Smallera
Charlotte

There's a wocket in my pocket.

For those of you not in the know, March 2nd is considered "Dr. Seuss Day", since it is the anniversary of Theodore Geisel's birth.  Charlotte eagerly embraced Seuss week at school, and it looks like her teacher is extending it into this week.  She did Seuss stuff at school, Seuss stuff at home, and is loving sharing little facts with me.

"Did you know that Dr. Seuss lived in Springfield?  And Springfield is really close?"

"It is his birthday, that is why it is Dr. Seuss Day.  But he is dead.  How can it be his birthday when he is dead?"

"When will he be alive again?  Can we give Dr. Seuss some medicine and he won't be dead?"

"Did you know there is a wocket in my pocket?"

I printed out a page of Dr. Seuss finger puppets (free from Michael's) and Charlotte colored them (all one color, she was too excited to color carefully) and I cut them out and taped them.  She noticed that two of the finger puppets were Sam-I-am and "the guy who does not like green eggs and ham."  Charlotte got the book Green Eggs and Ham off her bookshelf and acted it out with the puppets, roping in her daddy to be the other guy while she was Sam-I-am.  I almost wish I taped it, except that I know it would have interrupted the flow.  It was adorable to witness, though.

Last week, while I was still recovering from the cold from Hell, I couldn't really read stories to Charlotte at rest time.  It would send me into horrible coughing fits.  So I asked her to read to me instead.  She picked Hop On Pop, and was able to "read" the whole thing to me, with occasional prompts. 

QOTD: Charlotte, Cat Scientist

C:  Mom!  I made a discovery about [our cat] Virgil!

M:  Oh?  What kind of discovery?

C:  Look, his tooth sticks out of his mouth. You can see it.  Actually, two.  I think he's a vampire.

State of the Four Year Old

Just a bulleted list of the stuff that is going on right now, in Charlotte-ville.

* Charlotte still loves school, and is seeming to be doing a better job in general of following instructions & schedules.

* We've pretty much decided not to push her into Kindergarten in the fall, and instead red-shirt her.  Her birthday is September 24th, and the cut-off is September 1st in this district.  This deserves its own post some day.

* Matt really decided to get on the ball and prod the school in the PT area.  Charlotte is still doing a ton of toe-walking, and while the rest of her gross motor stuff seems to be working out (fine motor, too), it's still worth another detailed evaluation at school.  Her teacher is totally on-board and was going to bring it up in a meeting yesterday.  So we'll see where that goes.


* TV-wise, Charlotte is still very into naturalist animal shows, both live-action and animated.  She's way into the Wild Kratts, the animated series, and its predecessor, Zoboomafoo.  She also just watched an episode of Dirty Jobs with me that was about an animal ranch, a whole hour long, and usually adult shows just do not hold her interest.


* Charlotte is dipping her toe back into representional art.  They have been talking at school about healthy foods, staying healthy, getting excersize and getting sleep.  So she drew two pictures last week; one about being sick and throwing up on the side of her bed, and one about the sorts of things she sleeps with.  (Tiggy, special blankie.)



* Had a late but awesome Christmas and visit with our friends in CT and went to the Wadsworth Atheneum for their free Second Saturday.  They had crafts set up for the kids, and Charlotte made an awesome "barn owl" mask, complete with eyelashes, mustache & beard.

* Right now Charlotte's main interests are Lalaloopsies toys and fairies and Playmobil people.  She's way into creating these elaborate landscapes and storylines.  They all really center around one tree house that she has carefully set up.

The whole set up. Note the Nutcracker out front. He's there to indicate that is is Christmas, apparently.

This is Scarlet Riding Hood's bedroom. She has the Playmobil boombox for music, and a jewelry box for a bed. Charlotte sets her alarm for her every night.

Two shelves. Storage area. Books on one shelf, paint tube, bug in a jar, and bug catching net on the other.

 

 

* Back in January, Charlotte got to meet her newest cousin, my brother & sister-in-law's baby daughter, R.  Charlotte was surprisingly into it, and did a pretty good (well, okay-ish) job of being gentle and protective of the baby.  At least as well as the dog did, anyway.

* While we were in Central New York meeting the new baby, Charlotte also got to go to her first zoo with Daddy, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.  They had a really great time together, and I'm glad that they got to do something so special just the two of them.

* Valentines Day was awesome, as far as she was concerned.  She helped me make cards that we sent out to family, and we made a heart-shaped icebox cake for dessert on Valentines Day.  We also had heart-shaped homemade pizzas.

QOTD: Super Sappy Edition

Charlotte:  We love each other!

Me:  Yes, we do.

Charlotte:  Even, even when we, when we are happy.

Me:  Yup.

Charlotte:  Let's be best friends forever and ever and ever and ever!