Making Time and Framing Worksheets

Well, last week was a killer as i was back to work on full days all week (no more half day friday!), so really little RDI activity happened. This weekend, Aaron and i sat down with the framing worksheets and started to work out the type of activities we wanted to do on the next round of videos. some old, and some new. The framing worksheets are helpful in terms of laying out an activity, but we are hoping they will become obsolete soon as we intuitively learn how to do these things. Zone of proximity has been a huge thing with henry lately, and i find that more often then not i am holding his hand during things we do together, just to keep his attention focused. i also read some interesting things on the listserve about "stopping the action", and i think i might try to incorporate that a bit more too, especially when he loses attention to what i'm saying. Otherwise, i'm also trying to do less talking, which aaron says is my big problem. though, i think my biggest problem is finding more time and energy to do things. The pregnancy is just making me awful tired lately and this new schedule has been miserable. something will have to give at some point i guess, which will probably be my sanity. we are really looking forward to starting on Henry's goals soon...if you could give us one or two to get started with, i think it would really help us get focused on using activities more effectively.

Two Weeks Vacation and RDI

Well, I've been feeling like a complete slacker for not writing on our blog, especially after i said i would during vacation. Tonight we just got home from two weeks of lots of traveling, seeing family, time at the beach and pool, and ending with Aaron and I having a weekend away to ourselves, sans kiddies, which was nice :) Although we didn't do many formal RDI activities with Henry while we were gone, we did try to stay mindful of several things following our home visit and it was also a great chance to educate the rest of the family on the meaning of an "RDI lifestyle". For example, some days we would pick a certain objective for the day, like: "We won't ask any questions to Henry today" or "Today our goal is to only use basic sentences with Henry." We even did a few giver/putter activities and lots of joint walking. For this, we were rewarded with a few great comments from Henry, like "It's windy" while we were walking on the beach...but overall it was a bit stressful for the poor kid, since we didn't have a set schedule and were traveling and sleeping in multiple places. We had a few meltdowns, no surprise. Anyway, now we will be returning to work and the old routine and recommitting ourselves to our RDI parent objectives. Bring on the framing worksheets! I promise to write more.

Video Review #2

Mom and Henry's Plant Project Part I




Mom and Henry's Plant Project Part II




Obstacle Course




Rowing the Boat w/ Mom




Dad and Henry's Morning (Productive Uncertainty)




Dad and Henry Walk

an amazing moment

just wanted to write a quick note on here to document a truly amazing moment. I've been on a business trip for the last three days and of course missing the kids tremendously. I usually call the kids at night before their bedtime. Tonight, Aaron put Henry on the phone and told him it was Mommy. Usually, Aaron will prompt Henry to say something like "Hi Mommy" or "I love you". Henry got on the phone and after a few seconds said "Mommy, I miss you." Of course, i figured Aaron had told him to say that, until Aaron immediately grabbed the phone back and said.."Holy....., you're not gonna believe this, but i didn't tell him to say that!" wow...well, you can imagine the tears after that. What an amazing thing! Henry seems to be surprising us every day with how he's changing and learning.

Productive Uncertainty

I gave my first real attempt at using productive uncertainty with Henry this morning. Missy suggested I write down Henry's morning activities on little pieces of paper and have Henry pick them out of a hat so that we do them out of order. I wasn't sure this would work because our mornings are filled with uncertainty and Henry seems to handle it pretty well. Sometimes we get dressed in his room, other days downstairs... breakfast can be rushed if the kids slept late, I may forget to have him brush his teeth... lots of uncertainty... or so I thought. So I said what the hay, I'll give it a try. I had Henry pull an activity from the hat and he pulled "get dressed". He didn't like this very much and I was kinda suprised. He did relent after a few "no!s" and got dressed. I was going to have him pick another activity but he said "have breakfast" and I didn't want to push it so I gave him breakfast.

While waiting for the bus we sat on the tailgate of my truck like we do every morning but this morning we practiced "coordination" by swinging our legs and then keeping our legs outstreatched for a second or two, then back to swinging. He did pretty well and seemed to enjoy it.

I also want to note that a lot of people who are around Henry regularly have been noticing big changes. It's nice to hear.

Searching for Opportunities

Haven't had a chance to write in a while...i think we were somewhat burnt out after preparing all those videos. However, we have been trying to incorporate a lot of the changes and suggestions you gave in the feedback. We all headed out to Aaron's parents' place this past weekend for a visit. They haven't seen Henry since Christmas and were really surprised at his progress. We had a lot of opportunities to do the walking activities on our way to and from the park near their house. Henry did well with both his dad and me on those, and seemed to be having fun trying to take funny steps or jump over a crack together.

Henry's referencing during our planned "activities" has been great - as you saw in the video. However, I've been trying to incorporate referencing into more of our day-to-day - like, instead of asking him to pick up his clothes or turn the light off, I will simply say his name to get his attention and then glance at the item he needs to act on. He is doing this pretty well too. The one thing we are not seeing though is "general referencing" us for information when we do not initiate, e.g. when he is doing something on his own and gets perplexed about something, he will either lose interest in the item or maybe present it to us, but he is not referencing with eye contact for information until we say his name. (i hope you're able to understand what i mean) Is this something that we will see develop over time?

Henry's spontaneous commentary is increasing little by little. I'm going to try to write down everything spontaneous he says this week just for my own little "happy" list - and so i know i'm not crazy because when i try to remember specific instances i always seem to forget (must be pregnancy brain!) Tonight, Henry came over to me after dinner and looked at me and said questioningly "build a mountain?" so we went in and all built a mountain together, Henry, Rosie, and me. Rosie loved it because we threw the bean bags on her and it was kinda cool making it a group activity, even if it was just for fun and games. I really hope to see their relationship grow over time and as we make strides with RDI.

Video Review #1

Here it is... the moment of truth!

Building a Mountain w/ Mom


Dinner w/ Mom


Laundry w/ Mom


A Bunch of Stuff w/ Dad