First the good news, Elspeth is parasite free. We were successful in killing off all of her wee intestinal parasites. Now she is free to begin growing. I keep telling her that getting bigger feet is a priority so that we can go skating together when her sister is at school. It is not working yet but I am keeping my fingers crossed. We had Katrine out on bobskates when she was two and now, as you know, we spend a lot of the winter outside at our local skate trail. It would make me sad if we had to forgo that this winter so I hope for larger feet. I know it’s crazy with all of the time that we are already spending at the rink each week but it’s relaxing and fun.
Yesterday was Elspeth’s initial intake assessment by York Region’s Early Intervention services. The outcome is what we had hoped for – she is being picked up which means that she will get a proper developmental assessment as well as any necessary services. For us as parents, it will provide us with a professional(s) who will give us direction. I mean, I never thought of using Mr Potatoe-Head to teach body parts. Simple, yes. Effectively, I’ll let you know.
The assessment was actually a lot of fun for Elspeth. She basically got to play with toys for an hour. Of course she gravitated towards the play kitchen and served the assessor and myself “food” but she also tried ever task she was presented with. Why is that surprising? Well, she found chalk in her explorations of the room, picked it up, brought it over and used it without complaining about getting her hands dirty!!!!!  That only took three weeks of hard work but it was obviously worth it. She also independently stacked blocks the first time she was asked. She made a tower 4 blocks high and didn’t smash it after the first two blocks. I have been working on that skill since we got home. The results basically said that she has significant delays in the area of speech (not surprising and the referral to Speech & Language is already in), was average in social skills and has emerging skills in the areas of problem solving and fine motor skills. The only finding that we sort of disagree with is the one that said she has average gross motor skills. Yes, she can push a scooter slowly and climb into a stroller but she has no stamina, no real strength, and has exceptionally weak stomach muscles. Oh well, the next assessment should show which one of us is right in this area.
To make yesterday even better, when we were at Katrine’s skating Elspeth actually willingly played with the playdough!! She touched it, squished it and rolled it AND she again did not complain about dirty hands. Could we be making some real progress? I must say that I think so.
Katrine? Well, she is now skating in the Novice or Starskate level at our club. To those of us use to existing in the real, non-figure skating world that simply means that she is now eligible to do skating exams as well as a short, simple program or solo during a competition. Now, whether or not she gets a solo will depend on if she can learn to move across the whole ice. It is interesting to watch her working on what she needs to do for her first skating exam called the Dutch Waltz. This waltz is suppose to be skated on the whole ice surface. Here she is, wee 7 year old girl trying to cover the whole ice. If she skates it on half the ice, she looks pretty good but the whole ice and she starts to get wobbly. She has only been back at it for two weeks so it is completely okay but also really cute.
She is also continuing with dance classes. She is working on learning a new dance called the Highland Reel. The steps are not so hard but the pattern that it is danced in is because it is a dance that involves four dancers dancing in a figure 8 pattern. Plus, each dancer can begin in one of 4 spots. So, this one dance is sort of like four different dances rolled into one. If a dancer doesn’t know where to stop it can spell disaster for the other three girls(or boys but usually girls). This is not a problem with the older dancers because we will just dance on top of you if you end up in our spot but it can bring even the best young dancers to tears. She is excited about it which is great.
Tomorrow is the first of the birthday celebrations for Elspeth’s second. No big party but a series of smaller ones instead. Tomlinson birthday-Thanksgiving is tomorrow complete with one of Glenn’s delicious turkeys and a “birthday” pumpkin pie. Then on Monday, he is cooking a second turkey for the Attwood birthday-Thanksgiving where she will get a nice gluteny cake made by her Auntie Heather. Elspeth is getting much more comfortable with family so this weekend should actually be fun. I can’t wait to see how she reacts to blowing out candles, being sung to and given small piles of gifts. Will she get overwhelmed or dive right in? We may have missed her first birthday but we are going to have that much extra fun celebrating her second!
Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating!
