Balloon fun!

Oh to be 3 and so happy about something as simple as a balloon!

Morgan, Morgan, Morgan....

Today I had a meeting with the kids teacher, Lisa. She has been doing little screenings with all the kids and then meeting with the parents to discuss. Today was my day- the OT in me was excited and the mom in me was nervous.

All is well. Addison talks a lot, Eli gets distracted by others during table time-no surprises.

Then we get to Morgan. Lisa starts by telling me this is the most she had heard Morgan talk since school started (they were in the room with me and it was just me, the teacher and them) I am certain I looked like a bus had just hit me when she said it. I am aware of Morgan's "slow to warm tendencies" (this is what they say instead of shy now). I talk to the other teacher in the classroom, Kristy, who is the special ed teacher about Morgan every week. I ask if she is talking what she thinks etc. Kristy continues to tell me she is pretty quiet but she has had some conversations with her and she is doing OK. When I am in the room with Morgan for the first 45 minutes she talks...to me and her siblings. The minute any amount of pressure is put on her to talk to others she clams up and says nothing. Could this be any more opposite of me?

Lisa goes on to say she has not seen Morgan play with any other child. She will play next to them, but not with them. She says this as I watch Morgan playing house with Addison and Eli. I know their her siblings but it has to count for something right?

Then the icing on the cake, all of my kids need to work on their fine motor skills. GASP...the OT mom is shattered now:( My redemption, this screening was done in November. She stated they all used a fist grasp on their pencils, I KNOW they use a static tripod and Addison has an emerging dynamic tripod gosh darn it! She used a pencil, what 3 year old uses a pencil? Give the kid crayon!

Enough OT talk, back to Morgan. If a parent were to tell me this is what the teacher said about their child I would think, "that kid has mild Autism." Morgan does not have Autism and I don't think this what the teacher was saying but it was ALL I could think about. I have treated tons of kids on the spectrum and although I am her mom I think I could admit if she did. I think Morgan has social anxiety. She gives me hugs and kisses, plays cooperatively with her siblings, speaks in full sentences, is developing motor skills at a normal pace, reads body language really well, and has no sensory processing problems. Put her in a classroom with a bunch of kids and she is the girl the teacher described to me.

They have their 3 year old screenings on February 2nd. I was excited, now I am terrified.

Morgan, Morgan, Morgan-you were the child that made this easy, now you are making it very difficult!

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS GIRL!?!?!?

Triple the laughs

Tonight as the kids were getting ready for bed, they were running around shirtless giggling about their belly buttons. They were poking one anothers belly buttons and pushing out their little bellies with glee. I wanted to join in the fun. So I lifted my shirt to expose my belly. The fun stopped.

Addison, "Mom your belly button is gone!" she said in a puzzled and concerned tone.

My belly button ruined the fun:(


The other night I was asking the kids what they did at school. They recently read the book"The Mitten" and have been pretending to be the animals that go in the mitten.

Me "Did you play the mitten game today?"

Morgan "Yes"

Me "What animal were you?"

Morgan in a serious tone "I was the rabbit. I don't like being the rabbit."

Me "Why?" (expecting her to say I wanted to the the fox or the hedgehog or something)

Morgan "I want to be Morgan."

Me "Well you are still Morgan but you can pretend to be other things too for fun."

Morgan "Mom I am Morgan, I am a person, I am not an animal!"

That's my concrete thinker!