Seasons...

I'm excited about fall in our new house. With so much greenery, our yard will look gorgeous. I was awed by spring, and now I am excited for fall. Although now we will be responsible for raking leaves from the sidewalk and all over our large yard. And then winter... we won't be able to leave our yard without shoveling. I had a preview of that when we were looking at the house in the winter. The snow blocks the gate.

Today really felt like fall already. This is a see-saw period. There are kids walking around dressed in short sleeves and shorts, winter coats, and everything in between. I am going through all the clothes and turning over the closets little by little. Almost done with Adi's... still need to do the boys'.

Adjusting from the freedom of summer to the rigidity of school was a bit tough.

It didn't help that the first day was cool and rainy and we needed jackets for the first time in a while.

(Zusha's class)

We were planning on taking one last trip on the first day of school (dismissal was at noon), but the weather was dismal. And it rained for the next few days. Not a gentle transition into the new season!

So when the first Friday of school brought sunshine and Gedalya asked me to go to the bay after I picked them up, I decided to go for it.

We couldn't give up our traveling lifestyle so easily. (As a matter of fact, Adi begged me to go on a train today. When I didn't let, she started to go up herself!  Poor deprived kiddo.) So that Friday we got on the little bus and went to the bay.
This was to be our last trip of the season, so we went big. We walked and walked and walked.
We walked from point A to point B on this map. The goal was to get to the Verrazano Bridge, and we did it! Three miles!

What we didn't take into consideration, though, was the heat. It was HOT. The previous few days fooled us into a false sense of fall. All summer long we avoided sunburns, but we got one that day! The irony...

"We made it to the bridge!"

We got home just two hours before Shabbos. And I can tell you, we were cured of the traveling itch! We're just fine not going on two trips a week.

Last week, summer made its final appearance.

The boys went swimming after school. I designated Wednesday as the last swimming day. On Thursday it was still hot, but we were going to the dentist after school, so no swimming. And as if on cue, that evening fall weather came. We took the bus home from the dentist because it was too cold to walk!

I'm still holding on to the shreds of gorgeous weather. The boys don't stop wishing for winter (I don't blame them. The first year they can have hundreds of cubic feet of personal snow!) but I tell them to enjoy what they have while they have it.

As far as I'm concerned, I have two more weeks of summer to catch up on, so it's still here. :)

Week 8 of Summer! (Just a little late.)

4th week of August...

The boys have wanted to go to a dinosaur museum forever. But the American Museum of Natural History is an hour away by train. Not something Adi would put up with. And imagine all the tantrumming opportunities in the museum!
But this Sunday, we left Adi home with Hillel and went on the biggest adventure of the summer.

Adi wasn't with us, but she wasn't forgotten! We got her an Argentinosaurus necklace. We have a joke in our family that Adi is an Argentinosaurus (both start with A.)

 Monday: Library and park.

Tuesday... the weirdest day of my life. We experienced an earthquake. An earthquake! In New York! We were all at home. I felt the house shake, but to be honest, this ancient house shakes all the time. It shakes when the freight train passes by, and it shakes when the upstairs neighbors use their washing machine. But this was different. It wasn't vibrating, it was rocking slowly. The doors of our closets swayed.

I happened to be on the phone with my mother, and she asked me if I just felt an earthquake. Hillel came up from the basement and asked why the house is shaking. I Googled, but nothing came up. Weird. I posted on Facebook, and no one was talking about it there, either. Was I hallucinating? Was my husband, my mother and I having some odd dream?
I refreshed the Google page five minutes later, and the entire first page was filled with news about the earthquake.

I wasn't sure about going out, in case of aftershocks, especially since the cell phone network was down. But we took the chance. :) We went to the park.

 Thursday was a rainy day. We didn't plan on going out, but when the rain stopped in the afternoon, we went out for a walk. Then I asked the boys if they wanted to go to the bay, and guess what the answer was?? We took the regular bus instead of the Jewish van that takes us right there. The city bus takes us about a mile away from the stores, and we get to walk over a bridge over the highway.
And the park that's near there is a great bonus. :)

Hurricane Irene was coming that weekend, and the waters were rougher than usual. Add in the high tide, and we got splashed in the face by the waves!

We stayed till sunset.

And Adi danced for us.

On Friday we did some epic shopping. Hurricane and all that, you know. Besides, we were planning on making emergency kits for a long time, and now was the chance.

We came home and I spent time taking things in from the yard. That's when we discovered a baby snail...

...and another ...and another.  Look how tiny!

Mama and baby. Cute, huh?

On Shabbos we plugged in a radio in the basement and left it on all Shabbos. We covered it with clothes to muffle the sound. There were mandatory evacuations all around us, and it was important to be up to date with any news.

In the end, all we got was a flooded kitchen. But that's a post for another time. :)

Shira

When I was in 11th grade, we got a cockatiel.
Shira lived with us for 11 years.
When I got married, Shira stayed on in my mother's house.

One time when my mother was doing renovations in her apartment, Shira got to stay with us. Zusha was 17 months then, and he was delighted!

When Shira first came to live with us, she was a scared little thing. She didn't like interacting with people much. We had other cockatiels who loved head scritches, but Shira would have none of that. Eventually she warmed up to my mother. I had a hard time believing her when she told me that Shira drops her head for my mother to rub!
She became a little puppy, understanding commands, being able to express her needs, expecting certain routines.

Just look at that beautiful bird!

My mother made different gyms, climbers and toys for Shira. All the bird things in all these photos are made by my mother!

Shira taking a nap next to photos of me and of Zusha.

Airplane bird!

Shira has been through a lot. She's had times when she would lay eggs in hidden places all over the house, and my mother had to find ways to discourage her so she shouldn't waste her body resources. She's been sick, and my mother nursed her back to health each time.

But last night, Shira died. There aren't that many people who would understand the pain of having a pet die. Because most people just have pets for entertainment purposes. Like fish that they win at carnivals. They expect them to die, sooner rather than later. I even saw a sign for a backyard carnival this spring, and they were raffling off a budgie.
But we really treated Shira the way any living thing deserves to be treated. She was allowed to fly around the house, share our food. We researched safety for cockatiels, things they aren't allowed to eat, etc. my mother kept her out of the kitchen when using the microwave. She made sure to be home to turn off the light for Shira at 9:30, her bedtime. She really listened to her needs. When you love and care for any living thing, you establish a relationship. The same can't be said for people who don't feed their pets for over a week because they can't be bothered to research which foods are allowed on Pesach.

We miss our little yellow bird and barely remember a time without her!

Shira eating, climbing and getting her neck nuzzled:

Bath bird!

How's Therapy Going?

It's been a while since I've updated on Adi's therapy. Her sessions are 30 minutes each... here's a little about each one!

Speech - 3 times a week

Here Adi is playing a game with Lois. Lois hides a little ball in one of these hollow balls and Adi has to use her skills of deduction to figure out where the ball is.

Covering her eyes...

Shaking the balls to figure out where the little ball is.

When she's made her decision, Lois opens it up! Yay! Adi got it!

Adi's speech therapy is very similar to special ed. She just learns to integrate words (saying, understanding) into everyday matters. She says so many more words for her speech therapist than she does for us! Should I be miffed that she never said "car" to me? In speech Adi is estimated to be 18-24 months level.
And I just had to add this photo from back in October...

Special Ed (Aviva) - 2 times a week

Adi has two special ed teachers. They both have different approaches, and I think Adi gains so much from each style.
Aviva teaches Adi about everyday things. Body parts, animals, flowers, feelings, routine... She does it by pairing up a little song, action or chant to an object or concept.
Adi picked up SO many things through this method. She can't say "nose," but she can press it and say, "Beep beep." She can now say "dog," but before she was able to, she'd say "Woof-woof." She can't say "stomach," but she can drum on it while singing the tune of "Yummy in my tummy."

Adi's doing puzzles with Aviva- trying to fit wooden shapes where they belong on the board. They are fitting pegs into pegboards and doing some pretend play. Adi's really doing well with the set routine in Aviva's class.

Special Ed (Mary) - 2 times a week

Adi has another special ed teacher, bringing her weekly total to four sessions. What I love about having two teachers is their different approaches. Mary is more "go with the flow" than "routine." Like this day, when she took Adi out to a toy store. Fun!

They also have conventional sessions ;) (This ones from December).

They match pictures of everyday items... sometimes they match a little toy to a picture of the same toy. Adi has to pick out an object from a lineup... like an apple, a chair, and a hat. She should give the picture that Mary asks her to give. They dress up dolls and and do role playing. Sometime Adi has some free play so Mary can see how she interacts with certain toys and games.

 

Physical Therapy - 2 times a week

In PT, Randi is working with Adi on stepping up and down curbs and ledges... stepping over thresholds and obstacles. Without holding on, even! Adi's not there yet, but practice makes perfect. I just know that I wouldn't want to be the one to have to force Adi to step on and over things for half an hour straight. Adi's getting stronger each day, even though she still falls over her own feet a lot. But I guess everything comes with practice and time. The stairs in our house have really ratty carpeting. We are planning to replace it soon, and then I guess Adi and Randi can practice going down the stairs.

Adi just came up behind me. She saw this photo on the computer and said, "Wadi. Wadi."
"You're right, Adi, that is Randi."
"Uh-huh!"

Occupational Therapy - Once a week

Jill is Adi's OT. She is the one that lent us the amazing, wonderful, awesome weighted vest. She plays a lot of sensory games with Adi. Digging in a box full of beans, playing with clay, climbing through tunnels. They do fine motor things like drawing, pegs, puzzles... We also tried out brushing therapy, but never got into a real regimen with it.
Jill comes only once a week, and she's been working with Adi less than a year.  And try as I may, I was never able to get pictures of them working together. Adi would freak when she saw me, so I had to be hidden. The only good place to take photos unseen is from the window when Adi's working at the table. Usually Jill took Adi all over the yard, they worked inside the house. It was so frustrating! But finally I did.

So that's a week in Adi's life.
One session on Sunday, three on Monday, three on Tuesday, one on Wednesday and two on Thursday. Whew! Little Miss Popular.