{...a breezy life} at briemarisa.com

I am watching the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo finale right now. I can't help myself. I love this crap.

Tonight I spent the evening with the oldest/bestest (Randi), her family, and some of my closest girlfriends to celebrate breaking the Yom Kippur fast. It was just what my soul needed- a big plate of salmon on a bagel and cream cheese and time with some of the people I love best in the world. Pete, very kindly, took over PJ duties so I could relax, chat, eat, and laugh. While PJ gleefully jumped in Randi's kids bounce house,we chatted about parenthood, exercise, Honey Boo Boo, weird rich people, and old people urinating near playgrounds. It hit the spot.

On Monday, we took a trip to Linvilla Orchards to go apple picking. My parents and Marla came along with Pete and I, and we had a blast filling our basket with granny smiths and golden delicious apples. They tasted amazing right off the tree! PJ loved pulling apples off the trees, but instead of putting them in the basket, he would spike them, football-style, and laugh his head off. Weird kid. After we picked apples, PJ enjoyed the huge playground on the grounds, and spent nearly an hour climbing the cute wooden boats, trains, trucks and tractors. Since school is back in session, most of the other kids on the playground were pre-school age and younger, so it was the perfect crowd for PJ. We finished it off with lunch at the original Iron Hill Brewery. PJ was asleep before we were out of the parking lot, and slept for two more hours when we got home. Win.

Last Wednesday, we had the Individual Family Service Plan meeting for PJ's Early Intervention services. They are held every 6 months to go over the goals of therapy, write new ones, and adjust services if needed. This meeting marked PJ's 1 year anniversary with Early Intervention. We made the decision to discontinue physical therapy- he was only getting one hour a month and with his old physical therapist leaving in July, it didn't seem like a brand-new therapist could get much done in three more sessions between now and November when he ages out. After our difficulties with his Developmental Integration therapy, we added an extra day per week to really help with the skills he will need for school- eye contact, attending to tasks and task completion, turn taking, etc. He will continue with occupational therapy and speech once a week. In addition to his speech therapy from CHOP, that adds up to five days a week of therapy. It's not really how I want to spend our time before I send him off to school, but for now, therapy is fun and I know that stepping up our game a bit will help prepare him for school. Thankfully, we still have plenty of time for playgrounds, play dates, and fun before stupid school gets to steal him for two and a half hours a day. :-P

So things continue to go along as usual for my little family- lots of hard work mixed with lots of fun! I worry that we are pushing PJ too hard, and that all of his therapy is just too much. Still, it's hard to argue with the amount of progress he's made, and for now, therapy is fun. We would rather do this work now while he is still having a good time, rather then later when we might have to force him. All Pete and I can do is trust our instincts and keep on doing like we do. And loving that Boy.

That last part is easy. ;-)