2011
Happy New Year Ruben.
After two weeks off ruben was more than ready to return back to nursery and was very excited about it. He had a great Christmas and enjoyed the heavy snow that we had been getting in between. Rubven did have a week where he was very ill with the flu but thankfully managed to get through the festive season fit and well enough to enjoy it.
Januaury 2011 Annual Review
lit was time for an IEP meeting for Ruben however the meeting had been moved forward and changed to an annual review. I was so excited to heat that the teacher was attending from the resource base School which is where we are wanting Ruben to attend. I gathered we would be discussing the transistion from nusrery to school. However when we arrived at the meeting it became more clearer that the reason the teacher from the resource base school was there was to ensure that the paperwork was being completed for the placement at the school as she was aware that we wanted Ruben to attend this school due to previous meetings and was concerned in the delay. I automatically thought that because I had stated when we had the statement first implemented that this would just happen but I was very wrong. The meeting in itself was not at all structured and all the professionals that had been supporting Ruben had no upto date paper work and it was very unprofessional. I got very anxious and after the meeting emailed the assesment officer to air my concerns and to also ask for timescales and procedures on how this process should be carried out and whom by. I had so many different ideas on whom was responsible for ensuring that the paperwork was completed that I am still unsure however after alot of emails and phonecalls I am now happy to know that the statement is now sitting with the head Teacher whom will be going through the statement to see if Rubens needs can be met by his school so we await anxiously..
February Overall development
Rubens speech and language skills continue to expand and his vocabulary is huge for his age. Ruben is able to converse very well and make requests for simple things and is also using his manners beautifully. Rubens mobilty is progressing he continues to have mobilty support once a fortnight whom works on location and awareness and echo location. Ruben can use his cane very well in open spaces but still prefers to hold onto our hand unless on level ground with alot of veral prompts Ruben is happy to follow using his cane. Rubens behaviour is still very unpredictable and at the moment we are trying to get some boundries with Ruben, which in itself have been very tiring and trying times. Ruben is aware of who he can play and will want his own way or no way! It is very difficult when things do not go to plan for Ruben as he is not able to accept change and will be very aggressive at times more so to Myself and Rob. We have always give in most the time and give in to Ruben however I beleive that he is at the age to start try and get some kind of control and boundries as at times I feel anxious about taking Ruben places just incase he shows behaviours as he is so strong and can be very hard to manage. Both rob and I are working together and are again rewarding and praising the good behaviours but ignoring the bad behaviours and taking away rewards if Ruben is misbehaving. This has been a very difficult time but I feel if we dont do something now we will get to a stage where we will be unable to manage. As they say the troublesome 3,s and that is certainly where we are at the mo!
March 2011
We finally recieved the statement with the named resource base school of our choice! so relieved now We were so anxious that we may not be able to get Ruben a placement, but we can now rest assured our little boy is soon to start school. Ruben will start attending sessions after the easter braek in April for the odd few hrs and I will be taking him as part of his transission plan. I am hoping that Suzi Ruben,s mobilty worker will also do some work with Ruben prior to him starting September so he can get familiar with his surroundings and mapping skills in place. Ruben will satrt SDeptember and attend for two and half days week untill aftre half term in October and then he will be full time, bless him. He is very excited and I feel that he is ready to take the next step in terms of his devlopment. Ruben is such a little sponge at the moment and is always looking for new experiences and wants to be on the go until bed time!
April 2011 Easter party
Ruben attended a party at held by his nursery to celerbrate Easter. I had help form my Brother Wayne to make Ruben an Easter bonnet and I was very impressed and so was Ruben. He like the little edible eggs that we put on top of the hat! He was quite cooperative at first wearing it but soon got fed up with it but hey we came 3rd! Ruben was delighted and won himself an easter egg! Ruben enjoyed the Disco also and had alot of peolpe comment on how big he had grown . Which I have to agree he is quite tall for his age. Following this party we returned home and relaxed in the garden catching few rays.
Yippee!! Ruben finally uses the toilet for the first timer for a number 2 !! Allo the family were present including Daddy, Nanny&Grandad Graham, Uncle Darren&Wayne and Cousin Bradley, Brother Theo and myself. And he used the downstairs toilet in the out house and all the family were relaxing in the garden enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having and eating off the BBQ. When all they heard was me cheering Ruben and clapping snd so all the rest joined in so you can imagine how proud Ruben was of himself! However nothing since then... Few times he has used the toilet but not full on lol.. Just a matter of time now I think and hopefully no more nappies. Think now the weather is dry and sunny it is the best time to really give it a push so watch this space...
May 2011- Toileting
Ruben is now out of nappies throughout the day!! yippee. He just simply woke up and decided that he was a big boy just like his brother Theo and did not want to wear nappies anymore. Ruben continues to wear them to bed however we have had a chat and Ruben has agreed that when he goes into his big boy,s bed he will no longer wear them so bring on the bed lol
June 2011
Ruben is now officially a big boy! Has give up on nappies full stop :) . Ruben loves his new bed and is doing absolutely fantastic so far no accidents, bless him am so proud. itted a bell on the end of Rubens bed so that if he needed help throughout the night using the toilet he could just ring it!! and thats what he did ring it for most the night with all different excuses apart from wanting to use the tolilet! However the novelty has wore off and now he seems to be taking himself to the bathroom and use the toilet independently .
In terms of behaviour Ruben seems to be going through a very naughty stage. He has been pinching , biting and using threats to get attention. I believe that this is due to the fact that there has been alot of staff changes at nursery and he is testing the boundries and may also be lacking attention or interaction however it has been a very difficult few weeks. I have decided that the way to deal with this is to completely ignore and not interact with him, I will talk and explain that this is not kind and i do not wish to talk to him. I usually send him to his room and he does not like the fact that he can not even listen to his music ot stories, but that is the only way forward at the moment.. I have also expressed my concerns to staff at nursery whom are aware and have identified that he is taking a step backwards in terms of this kind of behavior and have agreed to work consistent and ensure that familarity is maintained as much as possible .
Ruben has been attending the resource base school as part of the transission process, he has seemed to settle really well and appears to enjoy and want to go. The teachers are all really welcoming and the children are too, I feel that this is the right move for Ruben and the right desision and I believe that he is so ready to move on and learn and experience more which may be some of his frustrations also. However after four visits, the last visit he got very excited about being in the garden and when he was told that he had to finish and leave the activity he was doing he did not react very well to this and decided to bite the support teacher which was very embarrasing and not a very good last visit at all, he left very upset as i did too. Both Rob and I went to the induction the following evening which I was not at all looking forward to at all but it went well and I was reasurred that it was common and not a problem and that they will deal with this as and when. I felt better once i had spoken to the VI teacher and so now it is wait till september where Ruben will attend two and half days a week with myself unitill they feel he is settled. I think this will be difficult for Ruben as he is so used of being in nursery each day and will also be hard for us trying to find ways to stimulate and keep him occupied! However in October we have been guaranteed full time so this will be a relief all round.
I think Ruben has alot to learn as most children do when they are having to work within boundries and it will be difficult but i really believe once he has learnt this skill he will thrive within this environment..I hope :)
August 2011 - Horse Riding!
I decided to take Ruben to the local horse riding stables to pet the horses, however when we got there Ruben was very keen to get on one of the ponies. We met a lady called Sally whom owned a beautiful pony named Roddy and she kindly let Ruben have a trot around on him. Well Ruben really enjoyed himself and was very confident that I decdied to enquire about lessons. The Laqdy whom Manages the stables is named Kath and she was very happy to give Ruben a lesson whcih was planned for the weekend. When we arrived Ruben was so excited and could not wait to get on the pony! I was standing trying to hold on to him but Ruben did not want me near him, he just wanted to be alone and refused anyone nearer him. Kath had a girl whom started to walk around next to the pony to make sure Ruben was safwe but Ruben was aware of this and soon told her to go away. However Kath was quite happy to let Ruben ride alone as she explained to me that he had very good balance and was confident. I was so shocked once Ruben got half way through his first lesson as he asked to go faster! and that they did.. the faster the pony trotted the more Ruben enjoyed himself and he just looked like he had done this before. I booked him for a further lesson and again he was fantastic he really is a natuarl and because he enjoyed himself so much Kath decided to take him out on the roads. I was a bit nervous but under no circumstamces did Ruben want me by him, he just loved being outr and feeling the pony going up and down on the different surfaces and again was very confident and happy throughout. I think that Ruben is a natural and we have found a beautiful pony that is very relaxed with Ruben. I hope that Ruben continues to enjoy this as I feel it is a great hobby for him and brilliant for his balance, confidence and overalll wellbeing.. until next time :)
Overall Ruben has had to start wearing pull ups as he was having to many accidents throughout the night. However usue the toilet independently throughout the day. However has had few acidents but this is purely down to him being lazy or to busy to bother with the toilet! Ruben continues to go to Merrishaw but has only 8 days left and that will be the end of his first Nursery sadly. I try talking to Ruben about after our holiday which is in 8 days time there will be no more Merrishaw and that he will be going to his new big school! He is refusing to go to school and will ask if I will come along with him. I think that he is very unsure and does not really understand that he will no longer be going to Merrishaw. I think that he will really miss all the staff and friends he has made but am sure in time that he will thrive once he has settled into nursery school and will also make lot,s of new friends there. I am also very anxious as most Mothers are but I need to be very positive and reasuring as I know that once Ruben understands that this is it he will enjoy, I hope!!
September - Ruben Graduates from Merrishaw & Jets off to Sunny Greece!
After weeks of talking to ruben and trying to make him understand that soon there will be no Merrishaw that it will be closed and all his friends will also be moving as he will himself.. The final day came August 24th, and to be fair the nursery was winding down for weeks in terms of staff leaving, children leaving,and basically the whole place just started to look and feel empty so all the sadness and emotions that I felt as a Mother had come to the end.. Ruben was happy that he spent his last day with Dawn & Sharon and it was lovely how the staff gathered all the work that Ruben had done, Photo,s and journal since he had been there. He also was given a certificate of Graduation which was a really nice touch. Ruben did not appear to be sad on his last day but again for him I believe that he also felt the changes happening around him and he had been constantly reminded that he would be starting his new big boys school when he returns off his holiday. Ruben was so fortunate to have had spent his early years in Merrishaw with such a lovely team who supported him so well and all worked hard to make it such a great experience for ruben. I feel very sad that all the experience and expertise has gone to waste, the nursery was outstanding as always quoted on their ofstead reports. I know that Ruben will still see some of his support workers so this is good to know and hopefully he will be able to remember Merrishaw for all the good times he has had..
Holiday-
Ruben was so excited and all was going well untill the engine started on the aeroplane..Ruben sat with his hands over his ears for over 2 hours. He was not at all playing up but just appeared to be very scared. And as much as i tried talking to him he was just very quiet and still. We actually was scheduled to fly with Monarch airways but we ended up with a company called skywings! and i have to say the whole experience for me was not too good the noise was herandous the aeroplane was so old looking and the staff were all misserable. But ruben finally took his hands off his ears and was ok but had an accident, thankfully i took spare clothing!!
We arrived into greece and all was good, and after unpacking our clothes we headed straight for the pool and Ruben was very happy, he was happier when we caught up with our friends Jess, Ross, Gabriella & Thea whom we had met last time we were in greece and stayed in touch with. The weather was very hot and for the first week it was very challenging with Ruben as he was just not settling to well and just constantly asking to go back to costa brava! which was his last holiday experience and it all seemed to be focused around him wanting to find lifts! I also think he was struggling with the heat and tring to adjust to the new surroundings. He was being so naughty at times and very rude to peolpe, for example Bradley his cousin was verbally attacked every time Bradley tried to talk with replying "Go away, go back to Nanny,s it is not your holiday Lol we all found this quite funny after few days.. Thankfully Ruben calmed down by the end of the week and we started to have lot,s of fun. We hired a car and went round most of the island stopping off in Lagana,s , Argassi, zante town, Babana beach, ship wreck and many more beautiful places. Ruben really enjoyed the whole experince of this trip. We also went on a speed boat trip which was fabulous where Ruben was able to be the captain of the boat alongside captain spiros whom was fantastic with all the children, we stopped off @ turtle island and headed off to vasillikos where Ruben really loved the beach and calm warm waters of the sea.. we also went to the water park, which again Ruben was happy throughout but was not up for venturing onto the big slides maybe next year! Good holiday but need to look for more entertainment on our next years holiday...
September -Ruben starts School
Once the holiday was over it was time to get Ruben ready for his new school. Ruben,s VI teacher had produced a book which was really nice where it was both tactile and audio. It had all the teachers talking on it that would be working with Ruben and the children that would be sharing a taxi with. This was Rubens first experience of using a pen friend which is an excellent piece of equipment where you can record things on labels and stick them where you want and when you touch the label,s with the pen friend it will play the recordings. I did try and do some of Ruben,s Cd,s as this would be beneficail to him but he was not having any of it , but I think that in time I will get one for Ruben as this will be really useful for alot of things around the house.
Ruben, s firts day was on the Tuesday and this was where I would be with him. And although Ruben was fine he did not want to let go off me and the more the Teachers tried the more upset he got. The teacher finally took control and I kept out the way for a bit but it was so hard as all I could hear was Ruben crying, it did go quieter and this is when they called me in and I felt sad but also felt that this is how it is for most. After talking with the teachers they felt that perhaps Ruben was not ready to come alone as he was so attached to me, but I explained that I felt that this would really confuse Ruben as he is so excited about coming in a Taxi and that also it would be just a repeat of today as If Ruben knows I am there he will just want me , where as If he is on his own he will have to trust and take to someone ! They agreed to give it a go so long as I felt comfortable with this which I thought was the best way forward, and he proved me right thankfully! He loved the taxi and could not wait to get in it, I was so worried and anxious that I had to call the school just to find out how it went and if he was ok, which I was told he was fine. This was such a relief as I was so anxious and it was quite emotional sending him off at such a young age in the taxi, but Ruben was so excietd and not bothered in the slightest. I had arranged to pick him up as Ruben will only do half days on Wednesday,s so I left at 11 to collect him and he was very happy to see me and the feedback was very positive.
Ruben is into his third week and seems to be settling in really well. He has had his moments but nothing that no other child does not do.. He loves the taxi and is quite positive about school. So all good signs that he actually looks forward to going to school. The only one concern for me right now is that Ruben is not drinking much at all as they only give water and milk and Ruben will not drink any of these, hot milk maybe but even this he has gone off, so trying to talk about the importance of drinking water and making up alll kinds of stories to encourage him. The teachers seem to be happy with him and I think once Ruben understands the boundries and build,s up trust and relationships with all the staff he will hopefully do well and enjoy it as well as progress and he is most certainly ready for it. Ruben is doing 2 and half days which is nice as it is gradually settling him in but the plan is that all going well he will go 4 half days after October half term. It is nice spending time alone with Ruben but can be very difficult as he wants to be out constantly,we have had a few temper tantrums but i am hoping to try and turn things around in terms of him getting his own way and understandindg what "no" means !
October -Ruben attends school full time..
Ruben is now attending school four and hlaf days a week. Ruben contiunes to enjoy going to school and seems settled and comfortable in himself. However the teachers within the school are slighty worried as Ruben does not appear to be cooperating with them as well as which they had hoped. They also feel that Ruben is not wanting to mix much with his peers. I really feel that this is just Ruben testing the boundries and trying to make sense of his new surroundings and environment. I feel that this however much exciting it has been for Ruben it has also been a major transistion for him to have to deal with at such a young age. I really believe that once he feels settled and starts to bulid up solid relationships with trust he will soon work with them and things will work out in the end..I hope :
November - Wow, Ruben is 4 years old today.
Ruben was very excited about turning four. I asked if he would like to have a party, but he was not interested at all just wanted to go to severn valley railway again on the steam trains. He insisted that he would like all his family including Mom & Dad, Nan & Grandad Graham and his big brother Theo. I asked Ruben what food he would like to eat on his birthday and he asked if he could go to Thania spice which is the local Indian restuarant! this turned out to be a great night, Ruben enjoyed himself and ate well and enjoyed having friends and family join him in celerbarting his fourth Birthday..Happy Birthday son xx
Christmas 2012
Ruben is very excited and feels the festive season is upon him.. He played part in his Chritmas panto and dressed up as oone of Santa,s little helpers. We decided to be quiet at the show as i did not want to disturb Ruben and he was sat singing along with the rest of the children, however I felt so sad at one point as he could hear all the children saying hello to their parents in the audience and I heard him aqsking his teachers where is my mommy and daddy. As much as i wanted to sit and watch and not disturb I just could not help myself from shouting out to him, letting him know we were there! It did disturb him but not much he just wanted me to sit with him and was happy to carry on.. Overall it was a lovely concert and Ruben co operated well, was very proud of himself as he had made mince pies..
Christmas Eve-
Took Ruben to see Father Christmas today and he was quite excited, he asked Father Christmas for Driver Dan the story train, he had a little feel of his beard and recieved his present which was a teddy that sang told a christmas story which was arranged prior to the visit so all went very well. Later on Ruben was so excited and wanted to get prepared for the big day..So he got some carrots out of the fridge for the reindeers and asked me to pour some Baileys into a glass for Father Christmas ! I asked him why Bailey,s he replied as it was Nanny Graham,s favourite drink..Bless him, he also went into the garden and spreaded out the reindeer dust on the grass, which he had prepared in school.( which was oats mixed with glitter) this is so the reindeers knew where to land! Ruben is so more aware now and it is alot more exciting..
Chritmas Day-
Ruben woke up very excited asking if Father Christmas had been? Theo took Ruben down stairs to show him the sacks of toys that Father Christmas had left for Him and Ruben. Ruben was extremeley excited and wripped off his paper as fats as he could! Ruben was very happy that he had gor Driver dan story train, an aeroplane,spaceship,car,fire engine,shpooing trolley and and till..many clothing itmes and CD,s. Overall very happy. Ruben enjoyed having Nanny & Grandad Graham come for Dinner and had a very happy Christmad Day..
New Years Eve- Theo,s 10th Birthday
Theo decided that he also wanted to celerbrate his birthday at Thania spice. Which ended up being a great evening with 20 guests turning up! Ruben behaved extremeley well throughout, that Nan & Grandad Graham decided that Ruben should stay with them while the rest of us went around ro Grandad Ruperts to bring in the new year.. Happy New Year!!