Rice Sensory Box

I have been trying to do this for a long time but didn't have the time or money, til now. I bought the rice awhile ago and finally got the bucket. It is a 25 quart plastic bin from Walmart. It cost me $7. I bought a 25 lb bag of rice for around $11. I don't remember where I got it. I put around 20 lbs of rice in the bucket as well as a toy dinosaur, a small ball, some bottle tops and a spoon. I will add a few more small things when I can get to the dollar store. I am also going to make some with beans, sand and pebbles. I'm trying to think of something gooey or swishy to use too but can't think of anything that's not extremely messy. Any ideas?

Sensory boxes are great for all kids but blind and other special needs kids find them particularly cool. The different types of materials are good sensory input. Putting toys in the box allows something for them to find and to practice burying and digging up things.

Elena loves it. She likes to scoop with the big spoon and bury her hands in the rice. She likes to put her feet in it too and feel it with her toes. I'm excited to see how she reacts to the other sensory boxes, once I get them done.

Experiencing different textures is very important. Often, blind children do not like textures. I don't know why. We had Elena touch many different textures since she was about 2 months old so she never really experienced texture aversion. Although she didn't always like her hands being gooey.

So whether you have a sensory box or not, have your child feel anything and everything; the brick on the outside of your house, the bark of a tree, the smooth wall of the living room, the cool metal of the stove, the shaggy bathmat, the ridges of your car tires, the bumpy asphalt driveway/road, etc. There are so many things to find and feel.

No mess painting

In December, I had a brilliant idea (well i thought it was brilliant) of how to let Elena finger paint without getting the mess all over.

She uses a booster seat with attachable tray for eating. I took plastic wrap and duck taped it to the tray. Then I duck taped plain computer paper on top of the plastic. When painting, I took her shirt off and put her hair up in a ponytail. I put her in the chair and attached the tray. It keeps her contained and the paint is washable so if it gets on her skin it comes right off. I put a little blob of paint on the paper, give her and brush and let her go at it.

She tends to stay in the middle so she ends up tearing the paper. That's fine for me cause she just enjoys the painting. When she is done, I un-tape, wrap it all up and throw it away. Super easy and mess free.

I used Crayola Washable Kid's Paint. A 10 pack costs me $5 or $10.

My apologies

Hey everyone. It's been awhile. Here I am again apologizing for my lack of writing. Seems to becoming a bit of a habit. :( Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that we're still here and doing good. I'll write another entry later giving more details about Elena progress in the last few months.

These past few months have been chaotic for my family (family meaning Elena and I). I have had some medical issues that were unexpected (aren't they always?) and that added to a very full semester of school and, of course, parenting stuff has made the end of 2012 something I'll never forget. (Not sure yet if that's good or bad.) I am doing good now, btw.

Anyway, I should have some updates soon. I start school on Monday and am hoping to have something posted before then. Thank you all for sticking around and I hope you have a great new year. :)

Just a few pictures

Twitter

Since I haven't had the time to sit down and write a formal entry for the blog (I'm really sorry about that), I thought I'd start a Twitter account. I'll be posting quick updates on Elena, Braille and any tips I come up with. It's quicker to type up a couple sentences than write a whole entry.

@ABlindAngel

My life has been more insane lately than I ever thought possible. I am trying my best to keep things under control but that doesn't leave time to write. I promise I will answer your questions. I haven't forgotten. Please forgive me and keep reading.

School, Birthday, and Potty Training

This has been an eventful week. Monday I started a new semester. Tuesday Elena started her second year of preschool. Thursday Elena turned four! And today we started the "nothing but underwear all weekend" potty training technique. I don't know if it has a real name but thats what I'm calling it. I'm sure everyone knows what that is but just in case it's when you put your kid in only underwear or sometimes nothing at all for the whole weekend. They don't like peeing on themselves so they learn fast.

SCHOOL
Elena is going to the same preschool as last year but different teachers. Her new teacher has been teaching for something around 20 years. She seems knowledgeable but more strict than her last teacher. I wonder how that will go over with the kids. Structure is important but you've got to be flexible when working with preschoolers and their parents. I took Elena to school 3 minutes late and the teacher have me the evil eye. Interesting since the day before SHE was 10 minutes late. Anyway, we'll see how this year goes.

BIRTHDAY
Yesterday was Elena's fourth birthday. It amazes me that it's been that long already. Since we had done her party a couple weeks ago, we just did a little thing at home yesterday. She had her favorite food for dinner, speghettioos, and M&MS for desert. Her grandparents (my side) and her dad called and sang Happy Birthday to her.

Her big party with her friends was great. I made a delicious chocolate cake surrounded by KitKats and topped with M&Ms. We had a piñata and a craft table. I played some fun kid songs in the background. Of course we had yummy food too. All the kids seemed to have fun. They liked playing musical cushions and even blind-folded musical cushions. I'm glad she had a good time and got to play with some friends.

POTTY TRAINING
So far, potty training has been basically nonexistent. It's not that we haven't or aren't trying but she has no interest in it. I have FINALLY gotten her to tell me when she needs to go but unfortunately she doesn't tell me until she's going or just gone in her diaper. I considered doing the "naked baby" also know as "only underwear" method but 95% of my apartment is carpet and I didn't want to have to clean all that or have the carpers messed up. Plus she doesn't seem to care if she has a wet diaper.

Then the other day she spilled water all down her dress and flipped out. She cried, stomped her feet, and tried to pull the dress off. With a reaction like that I thought maybe I should just bite the bullet and do it so we went to the store and bought her some big girl underwear.

Today was the first day she wore them. I waited until after school so she only wore them for a few hours today. She didn't have any accidents but she also didn't go in toilet. I was surprised she didn't go to the bathroom at all. I put her in a Pull Up for bedtime. She seemed to like them though. She likes being a big girl. We'll see tomorrow how the rest of the potty training goes. Her preschool teacher said she would have no problem changing Elena if/when she starts wearing underwear, even if that means changing her clothes because of accidents. Wish me luck!

Just a few pictures

No time for an update but thought I'd post a few recent pictures.