Sam - take 2

Here's a quick update on Samantha -- All her blood work came back looking good.  There is no sign of Celiac disease (Thank G-d!) or any kind of nutrient deficiency.  So my thought that something could be not causing her to feel well from the inside is not the case.

Her sleep started getting better, but then we just had a rough patch for a few nights, so who knows?  Maybe she is just going to be one of those horrible sleepers her whole life.  I know that Jeff and I each have had many nights where we wake-up and can't go back to sleep.  Overall, I think we are spoiled by Ian and how amazing and deep of a sleeper he is and always has been.

Now for the good stuff - we are seeing a big improvement with the Occupational Therapy.  This has proven to be the way to go.  Sam does have some sensory issues (nothing major), but her behavior is not appropriate to whatever it is ticking her off.  She blows up way too quickly and goes from 1 to 60 in a second.  The therapist, Tasha, is doing some heavy, intense exercises with her and Sam is loving it.  We continue to work with her at home and do the same type stuff - just translatable to what we have in the house.  For example, take the cushions off the couch and let her jump off into the couch cushions.  Create an obstacle course for her to run through.  Lots of jumping up and down.  Major squishing under a stack of pillows.  Creating a mountain of pillows with a blanket over it and have her climb over it. Crawl through a tunnel. Repeat, repeat, repeat.  It lets her get her excess energy out and get that sensory stimulation she craves in a good, positive way.  That way when she starts to freak out over something small (like all of a sudden her shoe or clothes she is wearing is bothering her), she no longer blows up over it and gets herself in a temper tantrum frenzy. 

The best part of this is, Sam LOVES going to her OT appointments.  For her it is like one big play session.  And, Tasha has observed (quite accurately) that Sam has this need to be in control and all her moves are extremely calculated.  So Tasha is also working on addressing this.

Looking back, I was doing the exact wrong thing.  I wanted Sam to be calm and quiet when we were in the house. I thought that if we could keep it as peaceful as possible, Sam wouldn't get all crazy.  This is the exact opposite of what we should've been doing.

Based on Tasha's recommendation, we also created a space for Sam to have down time. It's a princess tent -  a quiet place for her to go where it is calm, cozy (think pillows, blankets).  Tasha said that Sam should start to seek this place out when she feels herself getting upset. 

We are scheduled to do 6 sessions of OT.  We've had 3 already and I am already seeing some progress.

I think we are definitely moving in the right direction.