A sign of things to come?
This week has been another busy week for Liam and his brothers. Playing outside is the one thing they love to do. Luckily they have several kids to play with in our neighborhood, so there is always something going on. Liam has continued to have his moments of anxiety and fits. The anxiety is the one thing we see repeating itself over and over. The fits have not been as bad lately.
Liam has continued to do very well at Middleburg Early Intervention Center. His teachers there know how to deal with him and it shows. Liam had a surprise Tuesday when his teacher from Olmsted Falls showed up for an observation day. Her presence really threw him for a loop. When she tried to talk to him, his current teacher and Olmsted Falls teacher easily noticed the confusion, and anxiety start building in Liam. Liam’s teacher from Olmsted Falls was not supposed to be there. Again, Liam’s routine was disturbed and his teachers could easily see it affecting him. His teacher from Olmsted Falls went on to something else to help Liam settle down. Jill and I were both thrilled that his teacher from OF took the time to visit Middleburg and observe what they do. We think that her taking the time to visit was a great step for her, Liam, and other future students.
Wednesday I began to notice something that really bothered me, and Jill when I told her what I observed. While we were talking with neighbors, I could see all the kids playing a few houses away. I could often hear Liam doing his “grunt” he does when he gets upset and angry. Occasionally I would see him run away slightly crying and upset. I began to pay closer attention and noticed several of the other kids getting in Liam’s face and yelling loudly and in an angry tone. This would cause Liam to react as I mentioned above with the grunt and crying. What was happening was the kids somehow found out they can get a reaction out of Liam by getting in his face and screaming angrily. This became funny to them all. Of course as a parent it is not funny. I actually became quite angry and wanted to holler at all the kids for what they were doing. As I was about to go intervene, Liam came running back to Jill upset after one of the older kids screamed in his face. I was seething. The kids just think it’s funny, but they don’t exactly know what they are doing. Jill and I talked to Seamus about what was going on and asked him to tell other kids to not do that. If they persist, he is to come and tell Jill and I. Seamus is going to be a fine big brother. I have a feeling in the future he may get into a few fights sticking up for his brother as they get older. It’s a sad thing to think, but I believe that is reality of it all.
Thursday Liam had another great day at school. He got to wear his bathing suit to play in a sprinkler at the school. Liam had a ball and was quite excited afterward. Liam may have had too much fun at school. When it came time to go to his Adaptive Aquatics class, he had a fit and did not want to go. The whole way to the facility Liam was screaming and angry because he did not want to go. Once Jill got him in the facility he began to settle down and was just a little anxious. Jill left the pool area to help him focus in class. Jill returned towards the end of class as she has the past few weeks and got to see Liam swimming diagonal across the pool to his teacher! Jill said it was amazing to see his teacher at the end of the pool and Liam swimming to her. She could not believe what she was seeing as Liam would swim under water, come up for air, swim more, and repeat. This swimming program has really done wonders for Liam. In our backyard, the pool collapsed after a heavy storm earlier in the week. I need to get more sand and build the base up again. Jill and I wavered about doing it as this would be the 3rd time we’ve had to fill the pool, all 2,300+ gallons. Liam loves the pool and based on how he does at his Adaptive Aquatics class, the cost of the water will be well worth it.
This weekend we have Seamus’ 6th birthday. It is going to be another busy weekend getting ready for the party. On his actual birthday the 13th, we took him and his buddy Eli to Dave & Buster’s for dinner and then to play games. With the meals Jill and I got the kids had $24 worth of tokens to play. They each had a ball. There so many games they were not big enough to play yet, but seeing them having as much fun as they had was great. One game malfunctioned on the boys so the staff at D&B gave them credits a CIA shoot em up game. They eventually got tired of it and Jill and I ended up playing it. It was quite addicting! If you like video games, go to Dave & Buster’s. They have quite few cool games!
Liam has continued to do very well at Middleburg Early Intervention Center. His teachers there know how to deal with him and it shows. Liam had a surprise Tuesday when his teacher from Olmsted Falls showed up for an observation day. Her presence really threw him for a loop. When she tried to talk to him, his current teacher and Olmsted Falls teacher easily noticed the confusion, and anxiety start building in Liam. Liam’s teacher from Olmsted Falls was not supposed to be there. Again, Liam’s routine was disturbed and his teachers could easily see it affecting him. His teacher from Olmsted Falls went on to something else to help Liam settle down. Jill and I were both thrilled that his teacher from OF took the time to visit Middleburg and observe what they do. We think that her taking the time to visit was a great step for her, Liam, and other future students.
Wednesday I began to notice something that really bothered me, and Jill when I told her what I observed. While we were talking with neighbors, I could see all the kids playing a few houses away. I could often hear Liam doing his “grunt” he does when he gets upset and angry. Occasionally I would see him run away slightly crying and upset. I began to pay closer attention and noticed several of the other kids getting in Liam’s face and yelling loudly and in an angry tone. This would cause Liam to react as I mentioned above with the grunt and crying. What was happening was the kids somehow found out they can get a reaction out of Liam by getting in his face and screaming angrily. This became funny to them all. Of course as a parent it is not funny. I actually became quite angry and wanted to holler at all the kids for what they were doing. As I was about to go intervene, Liam came running back to Jill upset after one of the older kids screamed in his face. I was seething. The kids just think it’s funny, but they don’t exactly know what they are doing. Jill and I talked to Seamus about what was going on and asked him to tell other kids to not do that. If they persist, he is to come and tell Jill and I. Seamus is going to be a fine big brother. I have a feeling in the future he may get into a few fights sticking up for his brother as they get older. It’s a sad thing to think, but I believe that is reality of it all.
Thursday Liam had another great day at school. He got to wear his bathing suit to play in a sprinkler at the school. Liam had a ball and was quite excited afterward. Liam may have had too much fun at school. When it came time to go to his Adaptive Aquatics class, he had a fit and did not want to go. The whole way to the facility Liam was screaming and angry because he did not want to go. Once Jill got him in the facility he began to settle down and was just a little anxious. Jill left the pool area to help him focus in class. Jill returned towards the end of class as she has the past few weeks and got to see Liam swimming diagonal across the pool to his teacher! Jill said it was amazing to see his teacher at the end of the pool and Liam swimming to her. She could not believe what she was seeing as Liam would swim under water, come up for air, swim more, and repeat. This swimming program has really done wonders for Liam. In our backyard, the pool collapsed after a heavy storm earlier in the week. I need to get more sand and build the base up again. Jill and I wavered about doing it as this would be the 3rd time we’ve had to fill the pool, all 2,300+ gallons. Liam loves the pool and based on how he does at his Adaptive Aquatics class, the cost of the water will be well worth it.
This weekend we have Seamus’ 6th birthday. It is going to be another busy weekend getting ready for the party. On his actual birthday the 13th, we took him and his buddy Eli to Dave & Buster’s for dinner and then to play games. With the meals Jill and I got the kids had $24 worth of tokens to play. They each had a ball. There so many games they were not big enough to play yet, but seeing them having as much fun as they had was great. One game malfunctioned on the boys so the staff at D&B gave them credits a CIA shoot em up game. They eventually got tired of it and Jill and I ended up playing it. It was quite addicting! If you like video games, go to Dave & Buster’s. They have quite few cool games!
posted by Jim McIlwee at
11:37 AM
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