Now I have my usual two cups of coffee every morning while I try to shake the sleepiness and unhappiness off. I also have upped the strength of my coffee which has helped a lot. That and I am getting a bit more uninterrupted sleep.
Ah. Sleep. Yes, it's better but it's still not great. LB is at least sleeping "through the night" most nights from 11-5. Most mornings she's up at 5 and will thankfully play with her books in her room but more often than not she's up and wanting me at 5. Anytime before 5 and I take her in the guest room. After 5, I turn off the monitor sound and let her play or cry for a minute before I decide what needs to be done.
Let me just tell you that this extra bit of sleep I am getting is like seeing life in a whole new light. Just being up and happy is something I have missed so so so much. It is scary how unhappy I was while so sleep deprived. And no, not depressed unhappy, but just overall unhappy and unable to do much about it.
So, with the sleep comes new changes that I've implemented this past week. I have worked out 4 days this week doing pilates, push ups, jumping jacks, etc. I have had my herbalife shake every morning (with my two cups of coffee, of course,) I have made healthy food choices (an apple for snack time?) And have made dinner for my family almost every night. I have been trying my hardest to get out of the house with Lily each day by taking Den to work and trying to meet up with the playgroup. I've gotten down on all fours and crawled with LB, played with playdough more than I'd ever want to, turned the TV off the majority of the day and made homemade valentines.
I feel alive, refreshed, happy and healthy and it feels like sunshine after a storm.
It is just plain lovely.
Even getting up at 5am didn't drag me down (too much) this morning. And I find myself looking forward to finding some me time to do some exercises - we'll see how long that lasts. I seem to do exercises for about 3 weeks and then mother nature steps in and I'm moaning and groaning about life for a week and can't find the motivation to get back into a groove.
Other things going on?
Music class was awesome! Lily really took a liking to the teacher, Miss Susan and she sang a couple of songs. I'm looking forward to seeing her bloom in this class! I think, if the weather is nice, I'll be taking her to the All Children's playground after class next week since it's right down the road. This is a playground for (ha) all children but it is geared for special needs kids so it's a pretty neat place.
We had the CDSA (EI) come out this past week to talk about the sensory processing issues with me. It really, really helped and I am so grateful for Rachel, our case worker, and for the support we have from her and Dee, our visual therapist.
Basically, She said the same thing Sue did about Lily's sensory issues - that she is seeking ways to calm herself down and get more sensory feedback from the little quirks she does. She gave us some ideas so we can create a "sensory diet" for LB. This is really just little things to do throughout the day so Lily doesn't find it necessary to do the "excited face" or walk on her tip toes.
Some of these things include bear hugs, hanging from our hands like a trapeze, crawling, climbing, carrying a packback with materials inside, pushing a play shopping cart with real cans of food inside, etc. She also suggested a few things for sleep, some of which we were already doing - a humidifier for white noise, a heavy blanket for pressure, and a firm massage with lotion before bed (jealous!)
We've already started doing these things throughout the day but really need to be a bit more consistent about it. Lily has been doing her excited face a lot more. We remind her to "calm down" and she stops but we would like her to not have to seek sensory comfort if we can help it.
CDSA said she does not need OT which is a relief and we're happy we have some things to work on at home now.
We're meeting with a mobility specialist in a few weeks to talk about ways to help Lily walk more steady, run and jump. The sensory processing issues and her depth perception problems may be related and if so we want to figure out the best way to help her get around the best she can without all the bumps and bruises she's been getting lately!
I have more to write but LB is beckoning me with more playdoh play (good play for therapy, but getting old with me!) I have a recipe I'll post later and a look at the homemade valentines I made ;) Stay tuned! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!!
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| You are my sunshine, my only sunshine <3 |
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