Nate's Journey: Nate makes a friend!

Below is the latest update from Nate's daycare. It's really pleasing to see him learning some social skills, watching other kids and trying new things, and even making a friend (I've just called her XXXX here for privacy reasons). We really couldn't be happier with his care there. They obviously adore him too! :-)

It's really lovely to get such an update as last month wasn't the best for him health-wise - we had an ENT appointment to discuss his hearing results, which basically show that both ears have worsened, with the right ear being significant. This is the ear he already wears an aid in, so we will have a follow-up soon to get his hearing aid adjusted in strength. Unfortunately it looks like his hearing will get progressively worse over time, and if it does then he will require a cochlear implant on that side. I asked how long away that might be and was told 'months' - but who really knows. But because he won't require it on both sides, it won't get funded here in NZ. The really sucky part is that he won't be able to hear on that side without it (and the left is already impacted), so we will have to find FIFTY THOUSAND NZD for him to have this done. Yep. You read that right, our health system at its finest. We don't even want to think about how we fund that beyond his therapy costs!

On the up news, he said 'are' at the end of Twinkle Twinkle, and 'lie down', 'Grandad', 'on', 'motorbike', 'up', 'down', 'Lola', amongst others, with one of his therapists Justine. Here is a shot of him bossing her around - he makes her 'lie down' in the hallway and they sign/sing the alphabet together :-). He gets so excited when he knows she is coming, signs J for Justine and waits at the window for her!

Unfortunately these are often one off words, it's like he can say them when he isn't trying but can't when he is - apraxia I think. While his speech is severely delayed and impacted, it's at least progress. He is also really enjoying his music therapy and we are hopeful that this turn-taking and rhythmic nature might in turn aid his speech. He has a half hour session once a week and gets to play a whole bunch of instruments and play with his therapist Jen, something he also really loves.

Nate is also proving to be an awesome big brother - he is super gentle with Lola, gives her kisses (which consists of his forehead touching her!), loves to watch her nappy changes, helps with her bath (runs to get me a nappy for her), and brings her blankets and her dummy! He really is so loving, we are amazed at how accepting he is of her taking our time and his space. Super cute :-)

Watching cartoons!

Early morning wake-up snuggles (Lola 10weeks old)

Anyway back to the latest update from Bear Park....

September 2016

Nate this has been the most amazing month for you in the Tui room! You have been so keen on exploring more and more of the Tui environment and have even begun developing some friendships with the other Tui kids. One very good friend of yours in particular is XXXX. You and XXXX have this lovely relationship where you can play silly games, make each other laugh, look after each other and explore all of the toys and fun things to do together.

One day this month I noticed how you had spent a lot of time on the mat, exploring the coloured wooden blocks. These provide an awesome opportunity for you to discover about numeracy, balance and construction theories, but also a lovely opportunity to work alongside others. You made the most of all of these concepts but I could see that one of your favourite things to do with the blocks was to stack them on top of each other and build a tower. But this was only where the fun began. The best part of stacking the blocks for you seems to be to then knock the tower down!

You repetitively worked with XXXX to make a collaborative tower, balancing one block on top of the other until it was tall enough to have a good falling effect. Then you would get so excited, knowing what was coming, half the time the anticipation would build so much that you would start laughing before the destruction had even begun!

I was interested to see you next explore the blocks as you began picking up the smaller rectangular pieces and slotting them into the gaps of the larger blocks. This was a great discovery into spatial awareness and challenged you to explore the blocks in a new way. You were concentrating so hard on the task at hand, focusing on getting the blocks into the corresponding gaps and spaces that you went silent, head down as you worked away. When you managed to get the block where you wanted it, you had an empowered smile on your face, obviously feeling proud of what you had achieved. While you were concentrating so hard on this task, you were also refining your fine motor skills as you manipulated the blocks to go where you wanted them to.

Eventually you wanted to move back to your tower building/demolition and you saw that Frank who was nearby you was creating his own tower. You watched as he built it up to be taller and taller, then you approached the tower, arms outstretched and bowled the tower down! You thought this was the perfect reaction for the tower's destruction and laughed as you saw them all tumble down to the ground, but Frank didn't find it as entertaining. He looked at his crumbled tower and asked you to stop. Frank very quickly got over it though and started working to build his tower back up. You sat and watched and as it got tall enough to knock down, you slowly approached it, ready to knock it over again, but Frank knew what was coming and this time asked you to stop. You looked at him, hesitated, and I put my hand out to signal stop and you did exactly that. You hovered next to the tower, but knew enough to now not knock the building down.

Now that Frank was comfortable that you weren't going to knock down his construction, he kept working and you sat next to him watching, sometimes approaching closer but each time Frank asked you to stop you knew that it was not quite your time to set into demo mode. This was a fantastic opportunity to discover about social cues and develop an understanding of your friend's feelings. You showed an understanding of both verbal and visual cues and connected the word 'stop' to Frank's aim at communicating to you to not touch his construction. I was very proud of this respectful social interaction that you displayed and explored alongside Frank. What a wonderful opportunity to discover more about the space around you and how to share it with others.

After you had watched Frank for another few minutes you decided it was time to re-visit your own construction and sat back alongside XXXX where you worked together again to build.

Another day this month you continued to build on your friendship with XXXX as you and she explored clapping games and peek-a-boo together. As you can see by the photos you were having the most amazing time and thought it was all quite hilarious! You would hold on to XXXX's hands, sometimes covering her eyes, and sometimes covering your eyes. At first you kept on insisting on playing peek-a-boo but after a while XXXX wanted to play something else. This was when she introduced you to a clapping game. You very quickly picked up on this cue and followed along, having lots of laughs and giggles with this new game.

I am very excited to see how your friendship with XXXX will continue to blossom and to see what other relationships you will develop. We will keep working together to incorporate sign and makaton alongside verbal prompts and cues, allowing for these friendships and positive social interactions to keep flourishing!

Here is just a little picture I couldn't help but put in too, of you helping to get the trolley from the kitchen and wheel it into the dining room for lunch time! You thought this was such an entertaining, fun job. When you had pushed the trolley to its final destination, you wanted more! You tried to keep pushing it around the room finding it all quite hilarious! Your next job was to put the name tags around the table with the bowls, cups and forks. You were such an amazing helper, and it is brilliant to see that you gain such a sense of enjoyment through participating in all the roles within the Tui room too!

Here are some of the latest PlayBall action shots from daycare too...