Spring Flowers

Every month Josiah has been going to "craft night" which is a program that the library ran throughout the winter.  They listen to stories and then do some kind of craft which corresponds (usually to the season).  Today Josiah came home with these adorable flowers.  I love how they brighten up the table, and the cats won't even nibble on them!!  This was a very clever project - they are made out of painted egg cartons, tissue paper and pipe cleaners.  He is very proud of them!

Spelling

Asher has suddenly learned all of his letters numbers and is interested in spelling.  I was getting worried that he wasn't picking them up.  When I looked at Josiah's notes he was recognizing letters by 10 months so I was trying to work with Asher more.  He still wasn't learning them very well so I thought maybe he wasn't ready.  Then as soon as I dropped it, he got interested and started learning them very quickly and is now spelling some simple words.  He is very proud of himself!!  The videos in order are him spelling Asher, Josiah, truck and stop.

Wrestling

The last couple of days Josiah and Asher have been wrestling.  Someone usually gets hurt, but while it lasts it is great.  They are about the same strength right now, although Asher is much more aggressive.  Josiah likes to play the victim, but you can tell he really enjoys the contact.

bloated cow's udder

Although everyone who sees Josiah's new ball chair thinks it looks like an obscene cow's udder, he loves it!

He even sat through an entire supper on top of it, on top of a chair.

Today we had to cancel SS and church because there is so much sleet/snow.  We were going to go up to the cabin today/tomorrow since tomorrow there is no school.  The plows haven't even been by yet so we don't know when we'll be able to get up there.  I guess it's a family day today since no PCAs have cars that could drive in this!

Sleeping buddy

Usually Asher doesn't like the cats in his room when he is trying to go to sleep  About 9 o'clock I walked past Asher's room and found Ole sound asleep next to a sleeping boy.  It was pretty sweet.

Therapeutic Listening

We've started a therapeutic listening program with Josiah (http://www.vitalsounds.com/).  At first he wouldn't tolerate the headphones because they are way too big and just fall off.  Len figured out to put a headband around his head and now he loves his "music medicine."  We have to wake him up 20 minutes earlier so we have enough time to get in a half-hour in the morning.  He gets another half-hour in the evening and really looks forward to it.  I'm so relieved as I thought it would be difficult to get him to do this program.  He's very calm while the headphones are on.  Other than that one hour of calmness, we haven't noticed any other changes.  He is still really impulsive and physical.  We can't figure out what to do with his meds either as we now have two "experiments" going on.

He is pretty darn cute with the earphones on.  He mostly swings during his sessions and looks at his favorite "lutheran prayerbooks!!"

Good Little Kitty

I caught this very sweet moment on video this morning.  Asher is so good with the kitties and they are so good with him - especially Ole.  If you listen closely at the end, you can hear Asher say "such a good little kitty."  I love that he's able to have this relationship with them.