OT, PT, OMG!

Okay, last time I went 10 months without giving an Aubrey update. I'm trying to be more on top of things! So now it has only been five months. Improvement! Anyway, Aubrey is quite a girl. She's smart and funny and sassy and sweet and volatile and stubborn and so much more! Here are some details about her:

• One day, when we told her to clean up her art desk, she responded, "I was made for art! I wasn't made for cleaning up!"
• Even though she's pretty much past that stage of pronouncing words wrong, she does have a few things she says funny:
• "Prentzels" for "pretzels"
• "Wrangular Park" for "Wrangler Park"
• "Warmart" for "Walmart"
• For awhile there, she had a rough time falling asleep at night. She always asked for extra pillows, so we gave her as many as she wanted. And we found her in many strange setups...

• She is always singing. Sometimes they're real songs, and sometimes they're made-up songs. But when she's in the bath or shower, when she's playing, when she's using the bathroom or washing her hands, when she's doing art, etc., she's singing. She has such a sweet little voice. I love it.
• At preschool, when they had a "Muffins with Mom" Mother's Day celebration, Ms. Shelley read an "about Mom" sheet on which each kid answered questions about their moms. For the question, "What makes your mom happy?", a lot of kids said things like, "when I give her hugs" or "when I help her." But Aubrey said, "when I leave her alone so she can rest." And these got read out loud for everyone. Proud parenting moment right there! *head slap*
• At the end of the year preschool celebration, the kids did a performance of some songs they'd practiced. Aubrey knew all the words and actions, but she refused to participate. She just looked uncomfortable on the stage. And she was the only kid not wearing a hat, a bandana, and the shirt she made. But hey, she went up there! So that's a big improvement.

• She loves eating at Dos Amigos, which she says has the best rice. I seriously think she could eat an endless amount of it. She used to love the rice we made at home, but now she's always sad when we make it because it's not Dos Amigos rice.
• She loves writing on Post-it notes and placing them on people. She usually copies words from books in her room, like "Dr. Seuss" or something. Sometimes she writes sight words/phrases she knows.
• For awhile there she was really into the planets, so she asked Daniel to print off a coloring page for each planet as well as the sun. Then she asked him what color each planet was, and she colored them accordingly (mostly). Finally, she hung them up in the kitchen, starting with the sun and placing them in order from there. It was so cool and cute!

• This girl loves her baby sister. She can't get enough of her! When she gets sad, she goes to Clara. It makes her feel better to snuggle and kiss her. If Clara is around, Aubrey is all over her. She is constantly kissing her and grabbing her hands or rubbing her face on Clara's head. It's very cute and sweet the way she feels about her baby sister. I hope it lasts!
• She got a new haircut! And she looks so cute. It's already grown some because it was cut at the end of June, but it's still cute! It suits her.

• She started full-day kindergarten! At the beginning of the school year, they did a two-day evaluation of all the kids to place them in equal, balanced classes. When I dropped her off I got to meet the teachers, and she got the one I wanted! She got nervous about me leaving on that first day, and as she was refusing to get off my lap and join the other kids in circle time, Mrs. Rushing not only noticed but also came over to invite her to join. And it actually worked! She's just very sweet and good at reaching Aubrey. Makaela, Aubrey's best friend from preschool, is also in her class! We were really hoping that would happen when we found out she'd be going to the same school. And even better is that Aubrey has made other friends we've heard her talk about often. So other than a few days of trouble getting her to go to school willingly (one time even having Grandma physically carry her in kicking and fighting) and trips to the Regulation Room (or the "fun room," as Aubrey calls it), it's been great.

• She's a reading champ! She reads the Level 2 Step into Reading books with basically no help, and she can do the Level 3 books pretty well. And I've heard her read regular picture books to Carter as well, and it's so sweet! She also sends texts to my parents and reads their responses herself.
• Her school did a Fun Run to earn money for STEM, and she was really excited about it. She found some change in our house and asked if she could pledge it, haha. She also insisted on wearing a dress that day. Oy. They did an obstacle course, and I got some good videos. In the first one, you can see her wave to her teacher (in pink). I also got a photo of her with Makaela.

• When Nana signed Aubrey up for adventure camp, we had to get a bigger backpack that she could take with her. The Sofia the First backpack she used for preschool was toddler-sized. And since she was going to be starting kindergarten in the Fall anyway, we decided to get the one she would use for school just a bit early. She was adamant about getting a rainbow backpack, and I got her a couple of options with the plan to return whichever backpack she didn't choose. She chose a rainbow striped one from Target, and she was SO excited about it. It was super adorable. She didn't want to wait until camp to use it, so she started bringing it to preschool. The first day she did, she was one of the last (or perhaps the very last) kid to arrive, so all of her friends were inside the classroom already. And backpacks get hung in the hallway outside of the class beforehand, so she couldn't show anyone her new backpack. But apparently her excitement was such that she just couldn't handle it, so she devised a diabolical plan. Well, there were two plans. The first plan failed. She and her friend Morgan told Ms. Kathleen they needed to use the bathroom, with the intention of sneaking out to see the backpack. But Ms. Kathleen stands at the door to the class and waits for kids to go to the bathroom, which is right outside the class but is in the opposite direction of the backpacks. So that was a bust. Plan B was the truly diabolical one. Aubrey convinced her friend to start breaking toys with her. The thought was that they would take the broken toys to Ms. Shelley, who would have to fix them. And while she was thus distracted, they would sneak out into the hall to see the backpack. In the end, Ms. Shelley didn't even bother trying to fix the toys, so it was another bust. And then Aubrey had to use the money from her piggy bank to buy toys to replace what she broke. And Daniel and I were simultaneously horrified and impressed. 
• On the completely opposite side of the Aubrey behavior spectrum, she put a band-aid on our kitchen floor after I dropped one of the big, glass refrigerator shelves on it and gouged a hole out. I was upset about it, so she put the band-aid on it to cover it up. She said, "There! Now no one will see it!" Heart melted.

• Just after her fifth birthday, we took Aubrey to be evaluated by Kaiser's behavioral health department. She was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder, which is a neurological condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to sensory information. A therapist said he thought she had ADHD as well, but basically everyone else disagrees. And a lot of the ADHD signs she exhibits are also signs of the type of SPD she has. Basically, she's sensory seeking, which means... well, I'll just copy and paste this description: "Individuals with this pattern actively seek or crave sensory stimulation and seem to have an almost insatiable desire for sensory input. They tend to be constantly moving, crashing, bumping, and/or jumping. They may 'need' to touch everything and be overly affectionate, not understanding what is 'their space' vs. 'other’s space.' A key factor with Sensory Craving is that when the individual receives more input it does not regulate him/her; in fact, those with true craving disorders become disorganized with additional stimulation." So yeah, this explains a lot of what we've been seeing over the last couple of years. So she's now going to weekly Occupational Therapy, where she's working on self-regulation techniques, motor skills, and vestibular and proprioceptive processing. Aubrey has trouble with her vestibular sense, which (again, copying and pasting) "provides us with information about where our body is in space. It is responsible for informing us whether our body is stationary or moving, how fast it is moving, and in what direction... The vestibular system involves vestibular organs and receptors, located in the non-auditory region of the inner ear. It includes two components: the semicircular canal, which detects rotational movements, and the otolith organs (utricle and saccule), which detects linear changes... Vestibular dysfunction not only affects us physically, but also psychologically. It can be responsible for high emotional reactions from stressful experiences and can develop into anxiety or insecurity in an environment." The vestibular system is closely connected to the limbic system, which (again, quoting here) "is the part of the brain involved in our behavioural and emotional responses, especially when it comes to behaviours we need for survival: feeding, reproduction and caring for our young, and fight or flight responses." Aubrey also has trouble with her proprioceptive sense. To quote another source, "The proprioceptive system is located in our muscles and joints. It provides us with a sense of body awareness and detects/controls force and pressure. The proprioceptive system also has an important regulatory role in sensory processing as proprioceptive input can assist in controlling responses to sensory stimuli... Proprioceptive input can be alerting for those who need increased sensory stimulation to facilitate attention and learning." So that's it in a nutshell. It's kind of a lot.

• All of this stuff has caused some physical side effects, such as Aubrey walking on her toes. As this awesome blog explains, "Sometime children toe-walk because they like the pressure it puts on their ankle, which is more proprioceptive feedback. Or, it can also be the result of a vestibular system that isn’t processing properly..." So with Aubrey walking on her toes since forever, she has caused some issues with her legs, which has caused issues with her balance, coordination, flexibility, etc. So long story short, she's also doing physical therapy. She goes for an hour on Tuesday night (for OT) and Thursday night (for PT) after dinner. And now we're waiting for the arrival of orthotic inserts that prevent her from walking on her toes. Again, it's a lot. Thankfully, Aubrey takes both OT and PT seriously, which is very good.

• She read a book with Daniel that involved characters communicating through Morse Code. The book had the code in the back, so Daniel taught her how to write messages that way. Then they spent a couple of weeks leaving each other Morse Code messages. Daniel would write one to her after she was in bed and leave it on the kitchen table for her. In the morning, she would read and respond. It was so cute.
• For her birthday present, my parents signed her up for an art class with a mountain theme. She loved it and wants to do it again! On their first day they created the following mountain scene:

Here she is working...

And here is her finished product!

• Speaking of Aubrey's art (which really needs a whole blog post of its own), she made a lovely drawing at the end of preschool that made me laugh out loud when I first saw it. When I asked what it was, she said, "I traced my scissors and colored it rainbow!"

• She got a cute purple purse from a friend on her birthday, and she loves taking it places. She always packs snacks, a toy or two, and an extra pair of underwear. ("Just in case I go poop in my underwear!" Incidentally, she doesn't still poop her pants. But hey, always be prepared!) I think it's hilarious.
• We started attending a new church building a few months ago, and we noticed a purple and white van parked outside one of the homes across the street from the church. Then every week she would eagerly look forward to seeing the van on our way to church. Unfortunately, the van recently disappeared, and Aubrey was really disappointed, haha. She also has a weird Jeep obsession. She always points out Jeeps as we're driving. I think her preoccupation with them began because she could actually read the word "Jeep." 
• She plays so cutely by herself, and a lot of what she says makes no sense. She also loves recording videos on my phone. For example: