Friday, July 19, 2013

Last Day of CHAMP Camp

The last day of CHAMP Camp has come and gone. The parent session about sensory processing by Britt Collins, author of Sensory Parenting was absolutely fabulous.  I may just have to purchase her book.

The kiddo continued working on his functional words, also saying "me" and "you" and "uh oh" during his individual session.  He also said "cookie" and "candy" with prompting. :)

Then it was graduation time!  They started with a slide show, and I snapped a photo of all the pics of the kiddo.


The theme of this year's CHAMP Camp was super heroes, so each of the kiddos got a cape with badges for things that they worked on/accomplished during the week.  Ms. Katie shared the kiddo's badges: One for saying "me", one for saying "uh oh" spontaneously, one for working so hard in individual sessions, and one for working so hard on the phrase "I want ____".



Then, the kiddo got a medal for completing CHAMP Camp, which he is extremely proud of and didn't want me to take off. :)


Kiddo and I with Ms. Katie and the creator/director of CHAMP camp, Jodi Kumar

It was, in case you couldn't tell, a fabulous, though exhausting week.  We are excited to be reunited with daddy and little brother who we missed greatly, and heading back home, to put into practice some of the things we learned in camp.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

CHAMP Camp Day 3

Camp Day 3 started a little interesting, as the kiddo was very quiet this morning and didn't want to eat much breakfast.  I figured it was because he was so exhausted from such intensive therapy.  But lo and behold, walking to the metro he got sick all over himself, and then instantly seemed to perk up and was happy again.  Luckily I had an extra shirt for the kiddo in my bag, so we were able to clean ourselves up and get to the Speech and Hearing Center for camp pretty quickly.



He was awesome during camp.  Ms. Katie said it was the best day yet.  He continued working on his functional words, saying you and me for turn-taking, saying uh oh (a big deal as it's a vowel change which he doesn't do very well, he tends to repeat the sounds in words, such as mama rather than mommy and baba rather than bubble).  I was able to snap a photo of the kiddo in small group, having a snack with his friends and their clinicians.  He also got to go on an egg hunt and each egg contained inside of it one of the words he is working on.  He definitely had fun with that, as well as playing with some water toys and play-dough with Ms. Katie and Ms. Jodi.



The parent session was awesome today.  A few of the things I learned/realized I need to be doing more with the kiddo:

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

CHAMP Camp Day 2

We arrived at GWU about half an hour early so we explored some of the campus before camp.


Then it was time for camp!  Ms. Katie said he had a blast during group therapy playing parachute.  Group therapy time is when we have our parent's education classes, so I miss all the fun, but I'm having my own fun talking with other parents and learning some things that will help the kiddo.

In his individual sessions he continued working on a list of 10 functional words we thought he should be working on, as well as learning to say "me" and "you" for turn-taking fun with Ms. Katie.  He also is learning to say "uh oh", which is so cute to hear him say. :)

Ms. Jodi popped in for a little while to help with one of his individual sessions.
After camp we stopped for lunch and had some pizza and then headed back to the metro.  Within moments he was fast asleep.


Since it is so stinkin' hot here, we decided to check out our hotel's pool.  The kiddo had a blast!


After our pool adventures, when I was digging through my bag, telling him I have to find the hotel key, he immediately replied "Key!"  Never heard the "k" sound come from his mouth before, so that was definitely awesome. :)

Tomorrow is Champ Camp day 3!  Can't believe camp is halfway over already...

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

CHAMP Camp Day 1

First day of camp!  First day of camp!



The kiddo was a little grumpy when we first got to camp, but before long he warmed up to everything going on and was a grand participant.  I didn't have as many opportunities to observe the kiddo as I will later, as we had several wonderful parent sessions, learning all about apraxia and therapy techniques by the awesome Jodi Kumar.  Plus, I spent a lot of time just talking with other parents who are going through similar journeys and it was wonderful to connect with parents who share the same struggles, and to talk with parents whose kids are much further along in their journeys and see how much progress their kiddos have made.

The kiddo's schedule
The kiddo worked with Ms. Katie on saying functional words (water, drink, eat, want, I, you, me, more, please, bubbles, mommy, daddy, baby, all done, etc) as well as putting the words into phrases:
  • "I want ____"
  •  "_____ please"
  • "more _____" 


Playing a speech game with Ms. Katie on the Ipad.

Ms. Katie and the camp obviously tired him out, as he fell asleep eating his lunch.  I had to carry the poor guy to the metro he was so exhausted.


Stay tuned for day 2 of CHAMP Camp!

Monday, July 15, 2013

CHAMP Camp Eval

Nervous.  Excited.  I felt like a kid again, on the first day of school, excited about speech camp, unsure of what to expect, uncertain if I'd make it to the right place on time without getting lost.  The kiddo was oblivious to all the day's adventures, but I had high hopes for all that we would learn at camp this week.

Kiddo loved riding the metro to George Washington University in DC--what 3 year old boy doesn't love trains?!  The walk to Camp was HOT (about 4 blocks from the metro), and finally we arrived at CHAMP Camp.  Whoo hoo!


I sat in a cubicle observation room and listened to kiddo express every sound and word he was capable of, and even more for a full hour and a half.  They were wonderful at making it fun, but also getting the info they needed for his assessment.  I still don't have the results yet, they said they need to score them, but I am hoping that this eval will be THE eval that tells us if he does have apraxia. 

Below is the ah-maz-ing Jodi Kumar, the creator of CHAMP Camp herself (in white with long dark hair), Katie, our graduate clinician who will be working with the kiddo during the week (in white and black) and Courtney, another graduate clinician.  

Puzzles, trains, and blowing bubbles, oh my!
Stay tuned for details about our first day of camp tomorrow!

Friday, July 5, 2013

Bath Time Victories

The kiddo used to not a big fan of water due to some sensory processing issues.  He'd cower when it rained, and scream when I wet and rinsed his hair with a washcloth.  But now, he lets me wash and rinse his hair without a complaint.  If some water gets into his eyes he'll point to it and I get the towel and wipe his eyes.  Easy peasy.  Yesterday at bath time he even put the washcloth on top of his own head, water dripping down the sides of his face, and he just grinned.

Bath buddies!
But, and here's the amazing thing, yesterday the kiddo said two amazing things while he was in the bath.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Progress Report

We've returned from two weeks of visiting family and friends from where we used to live, and the kiddo had a blast with his cousins and his friends we were able to catch up with.  We went to playgrounds, the farm, the air and space museum, and had plenty of opportunities to relax and hang out with family.

The kiddo playing with his cousin/bestie. :)

I think the kiddo blossomed into more of a little boy while there: he was very cautious and quiet before the trip.  With all of his male older cousins to wrestle with, and his bestie, his cousin who is only 3 months younger than him, he had lots of boys to play with and learn from.  He now loves wrestling with Daddy (before it was just pillow fights with lots of giggles. The giggles are still there, along with screams of delight).  He now climbs on things he wouldn't even attempt before (he climbs up onto our bed now, onto our couch from the side arm, and is much more confident at the playground.)  He throws so much better and harder too.  It's fun to see him much more active.