Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

Yup, it has happened. We got our first sticking snowfall of the season. Yuck. Though I suppose we were due for it being that it is the middle of November and all. Jasmine of course is THRILLED to see it. Right now it is not much more than a dusting, you can still see the tops of the grass and all, but it is a sign of things to come.

And now for the catch up on everyone...

Shane is feeling much better now and off the inhaler. He's put weight back on too, which is a good thing. A not so good thing (for mommy at least!) is that he is figuring out how to do the army crawl. He's not able to go too far yet, but just far enough to start getting into trouble. Won't be too much longer and he'll be off chasing his sisters!

Athena was officially diagnosed as being "sensory defensive" last week. That is a form of SPD where she is more sensitive to outside stimulus, in her case mostly touch. For those of you that didn't read my earlier post, the therapist explained it is like that feeling you get when you are sitting in a dark room watching a scary movie and someone comes up behind you and taps you on the shoulder and you jump out of your skin. Except for her it is like that all the time, making her very anxious about places, people, and activities that she doesn't know. To be fair, George doesn't agree with this diagnosis. He personally thinks that she just likes her personal space and is a little stubborn and strong-willed. So I guess we'll see how things go. For the next two weeks we are using Wilbarger protocol of brushing and joint compressions. This means brushing her with a surgical brush several times a day. The idea is that this stimulates the nerves to cause the body to produce more endorphins to help relax her and cause her to feel less threatened by her situation.

Outside of her diagnosis she is definitely becoming a little girl. She is starting to talk more, loves dress up, and thinks that the slide at Jasmine's playground is the greatest thing since mac and cheese.

Jasmine is still enjoying school, though they will be off next week for Thanksgiving. She has learned to write her name now and has been bringing home some cute projects.

George and I have been busy with the usual work and parenting things, not too much exciting going on around that end. Christmas is coming up, so we are considering how to decorate the apartment for the holidays, as well as what should go on the shopping lists. George really wants a train to put around the Christmas tree, so if anyone knows a good place to find one of those, let me know. The only hobby shop around here locally closed down last year, and we haven't had a chance to check out good old Wally World for one yet.

And as always, here are some pictures for you to enjoy:

No Fun Being Sick!

So, everyone this week managed to come down with a cold. Not much fun for anyone involved. But here is an update on everything else that has been going on.

Shane got the cold the worst of us, and had a little bit of chest congestion. So he earned himself a trip to the doctor office and an inhaler to take home. Thankfully the medication worked and he is on the mend now.

Athena got the cold too, but it just wiped her out for a couple of days and made her very whiny! Thankfully we have one bit of good news - she passed her speech evaluation! She is testing as having her skills emerging at an 18-21 month level, which is good enough to not need additional therapy. She'll have a re-evaluation after the first of the year. Swim therapy keeps getting pushed back, but hopefully we will get to start that in a next couple of weeks.

Jasmine had to miss a day of school this week because of her cold, but other than that she is doing well. They had great fun making spider hats for Halloween, and she has been wearing it around the house telling everyone she is "spider Jasmine."

Work has been keeping me busy, and add in the extra appointments and there goes the free time! For my "fun" work, don't forget to check out the congo! You can find it here: http://hyenacart.com/TheWholeSHEBang/ and we will be having a special stocking this month for the congo's birthday!

With everyone being ill, I haven't gotten any good new pictures. But here is Jasmine in her hat and mittens - yes, it has gotten cold enough to have to wear those now!