Theo's First Week of E-Learning Preschool

On Wednesday, August 26th, Theo had his first day of Preschool! The night before school his teacher sent out a schedule for the week. 

Every day we have seven activities to do:

-Tablework (15 minutes)

-Cow Corral (20 minutes)

-Cows in the Pasture (20 minutes)

-Story Time (20 minutes)

-Centers (20 minutes)

-Special Activity (15 minutes)

-Sticker Chart (5 minutes)

Once a week "Cow Corral" and "Story Time" take place in a live Zoom meeting. These Zooms are lead by Theo's teacher and attended by the class nurse, the class aid, some of the class therapist, and all of the students (and their parents).

The other activities are done at your own pace through an app called Seesaw. You simply do the activity, take a picture or video, and upload it so your teachers can see that you finished that activity. Pretty simple.

We started our school year with a live "Story Time." It was fun to see all of Theo's classmates and his teacher!

[All ready for class]

"Tablework" was playing with Play-Doh. Theo was not into it.

"Cows in the Pasture" is just 20 minutes of activity. Theo stood in his stander.

For the "Special Activity," Theo had to make a picture of himself using items from around the house. We used buttons for eyes and a beaded necklace for his mouth. Theo does not like to hold markers or color, but we tried.

For "Centers," we had to send in a picture of Theo showing how old he is.

["I'm three!"]

Thursday, August 27th, went pretty much the same, except we didn't have any live Zoom classes.

["Cows in the Pasture"]

["Centers"]

["Tablework"]

["Story Time"]

On Friday, August 28th, Theo had PT from 8:30 to 9:30 AM at our house with Ms. Becca. She helped him with his "Tablework" (puzzles).

[Puzzle box]

["Story Time"]

[Yes, Theo, I'm watching too]

[For "Cows in the Pasture" we did some yoga]

Our final activity of the week was "Special Activity." We recorded a few phrases on his button, and Theo played them for his teacher.

So yeah, the first week went fine. I don't have a problem following instructions. We can definitely do this. I'm just worried about getting overwhelmed. Not only do we have 2 hours of preschool work every day, we also have four to five private therapy sessions a week, and all of the school therapist that want to meet with us weekly (or more). Here's a breakdown:

Private Therapy Sessions:

PT - twice a week (60 minutes each)

OT - once a week (60 minutes)

Feeding/Speech - once a week (60 minutes)

Dietitian - twice a month (60 minutes)

Additional School Sessions:

Speech - three times a week (15 minutes each)

PT- once a week (30 minutes)

OT - once a week (30 minutes)

Vision - three times a week (30 minutes each)

Social Worker - once a week (30 minutes)

Nurse - once a week (30 minutes)

Preschool:

2 hours a day

How many hours are in a week?! 

Deep breath

[Isn't he so cute?!]

We got a compression vest for Theo. It's like a "hug" and it's supposed to help Theo gain better trunk control.

This kid likes to lay on his iPad and listen to his music.

I bought a few more things for Theo's Star Wars themed room! Aren't they awesome?!

Just some funny Star Wars and COVID humor:

The Lakers made it out of the first round after a rough start. I'm sure we will be okay!

School Prep for Theo

After I got home from Florida, we spent a lot of time preparing Theo for in class preschool. I had a lot of Zoom meetings with his Principal, teacher, nurse, and therapists. 

I bought Theo a mask, so we could work on wearing it at home before he went to school. But because of his "mouth issues" and the fact that he has a G-tube, the school said he could get a medical exemption. YAY! However, the school still wanted him to wear something, so I got him a few face shields. He actually was fine wearing them!

[He would only wear the mask for a few seconds at a time]

[We tried a hat with a face shield and just a plain face shield]

On Friday, August 14th, I was stepping onto my treadmill and I felt a pop in my lower back.  For the next three days I was in PAIN! I had a really hard time lifting Theo and an even harder time bending over to change his diaper. Luckily, there is a chiropractor just a few minutes down the road that is highly recommended by the local Moms FB group. I gave him a call and I was able to get in on Monday. He examined me, took a few x-rays, and then showed me where my pinched nerve was. He was able to stretch me out and realign my back. It felt SOOOO GOOD! 

On August 18th, the Lakers post season started! This is our year!

On Wednesday, August 19th, Theo and I headed to his new school so we could drop off his school supplies and meet his teacher, nurse, and Principal.

[School supplies and Theo's awesome backpack!]

The day after dropping off all of Theo's school supplies, they announced that ALL classes would be remote (e-learning) for the first quarter. I was super bummed, but we gotta do what's going to keep the kids and all the teachers safe. Theo will be starting e-learning on August 26th. Oh boy!

I've been running almost everyday since I found out that Tommy Rivs was diagnosed with cancer. Please continue to send up good thoughts and prayers for him and his family. And please donate if you can.

Theo still has no desire to eat. He knows what food is and he is choosing not to eat. It sucks and it makes life very difficult.

[Reading with dad!]

[This is 100% true!]

We've been working on having Theo sit on a stool and put pressure through his legs. He tolerates sitting pretty well and he'll usually sit on the stool until my back starts to hurt and I have to move him. I'm so proud of Theo for continuing to try new things! He is getting stronger and stronger by the day!

[It helps if there's a video on to entertain him]

[Theo loves his ball]

[But he loves his robot even more]

[He's so stinking cute!]

[GO PACK GO!]

I ran up to Costco to pick up a few things and I just HAD to get this salmon with butter pesto for date night!

Yes, it was delicious! 

Funny memes that help me cope with 2020:

[And when can we re-start life and get back to Phase 4 of the MCU?!]

Josh has been working crazy long hours. He's been up to midnight almost every night for the last two weeks working on reports. This guy just doesn't know how to slow down. We love him!

Josh has been complaining about his eyes hurting, so I suggested that he get some glasses. Doesn't he look cute?!