Field Trip

Yesterday was our outing for therapy. We met at a local apple ranch that has a train, orchard, pumpkin patch and animals to feed. Our first stop was, of course, the coffee bar before we headed outside. The first animals we saw were the horses, which are fun, Mr N wants to stick his hands up their nostrils....

Next we headed to the feeding area and got the kids some corn feed for the chickens. We could have spent all day feeding the chickens. The kids thought they were great, until Mr N got his thumb pecked, then he realized they make tasty food and time to move to better animals. He quite enjoyed feeding the goats (I think they are a tad icky, thankfully Katy helped him feed them). There were two calves that were absolutely precious, baby cows are my favorite. We just pet them, we didn't feed them. After feeding the first group of animals we headed to the duck and goose pond, all fun and games until a goose decided Mr N looked tasty and nibbled on his head. I'm telling you the kid is so cute even the animals want to eat him up.

The train ride really made the kids happy, Mr N sat perfectly still in his seat just taking it all in as we circled the ranch and went through a couple of tunnels. I was, in fact, a wee bit worried that he would not enjoy it and we'd have to stop the train and disembark, but my little man loved it.

The kids loved the trip to the apple ranch so much, we plan to go back when the grandparents come to visit next week. I can't wait for them to experience the joy with the kids.

Once we left the apple ranch the kiddos were ready for lunch so we stopped for a healthy meal at Taco Bell. Yes, my friends, that is sarcasm. Neither of the kids were super interested in eating, but we tried. They overheard Katy and I talk about going to the park after lunch and would have preferred to skip the lunch part all together.

At the park the kids ran around, E mostly stuck with Katy, while Mr N was super attached to Mommy. There were quite a few other kids there, so that effected his willingness to play uninhibited.

After therapy time was done we stopped at the store for some milk before we headed home for the day. By this time Mr N was ready for his nap, I put him in the ergo and E in the "car cart" and hit the dairy aisle. Mr N dozed off while we were shopping and was asleep within moments of being put back in the car.

So why the outings? Why the doing normal, mundane things for therapy? Remember all the posts about sensory input about Mr N getting easily overwhelmed? These outings are great for gently getting Mr N more exposed to new things. While I can, and do, take the kids on outings by myself, having the therapist there to help Mr N get out of the car, or to encourage him to hold her hand are very beneficial in helping Mr N step a little outside his comfort zone. Yesterday we made four stops, that is four times into the car-seat and four times out of the car-seat, that is major progress over the last six months. I don't think Daddy and I would have attempted that even just a few months ago.

More on Mr N's speech, I know I talk about it constantly, but it's become sort of an obsession, just trying to look for progress. Today I had ran upstairs for something, when I came back down he said "hi, what are you doin?" wow, that is five words strung together. Thursday he voxed Susie and said "hi, I wuv you, hi Susie". I'm so amazed and proud of his progress. He also voxed Susie some gibberish along with "what are doin?" this morning. Thankfully she's pretty tolerant of undecipherable messages from my kiddos.

Today we have a play date in the park with our friends, so I'm excited for the kids just to get out and interact  with other kiddos.