My best friend

Hi, I want to introduce you 

my best friend, "El Tucán". 

He is colorful, funny and noisy.  

I share with him the best moments of my life.  

The little Picasso

I am so excited that Tommy seems to be an artist like mommy ; ). He enjoys scrabbling so much that he gets excited as soon as he sees the blank page and the crayons. We are spending 10 to 15 minutes daily for scrabbling to strength his fine motor skills. I have read that it is better that toddlers color on big piece of papers because they don't know they should color inside the edges of the paper. But Tommy colors in regular size paper and he flips the page when it is getting filled in. My husband makes fun of me because I am so amazed of "Tommy's art". He just sees insignificant scrabbles. But I see more than that! I see how Tommy's fine motor skills are improving. He is drawing straight lines and kind of circles. I also found graphics in his scrabbles which make everything more interesting for me as an artist. See the scrabble below, you will find the A and the Z letters link together (Look at the left of his scrabble).

“I used to draw like Raphael, but it has taken me

a whole lifetime to learn to draw like a child”

~Pablo Picasso

It takes me a few seconds to paint like Picasso.

~ Tommy

The art of blowing

How fun it is blowing bubbles or a whistle! This is a very fun activity for young toddlers. But for kids with hypotonia (decrease muscle tone) it is something that they cannot take for granted. When Tommy was 12 months old we introduced single straws and Tommy discovered how to blow through the straw.  I followed Tommy's lead and blowing bubbles through the straws became part of our fun oral motor therapy. This was also the beginning of Tommy enjoying blowing hundreds of bubbles and the melodic sounds of a whistle as any other toddler.

Tommy blowing bubbles through the straw

Tommy blows bubbles in the park (18 month)

Tommy blowing bubbles (22 month)

Blowing bubbles or whistles encourage breathing coordination and movements with the mouth and tongue muscles, allowing children to practice eye-hand coordination. To deep the blower and bring it close the mouth encourage bilateral hand coordination, which it's important for writing skills. While children blow the bubbles, they track the bubbles very fast allowing them to exercise their eye muscles. Blowing bubbles also assess language skills and promotes language development, according to MommySpeechTherapy.com

We have used different straws, bubbles blowers and whistles that I have chosen according to the difficulty of blowing each one. The best places to find them are the dollar stores and the party supply stores. You can also search online to find new innovative straws, bubble makers and whistles. We don't allow Tommy to hold them becasue the ones I have gotten are manufactured for older kids, which means they have small parts that can cause choking hazard. But for his birthday, we got a nice set of bubble blowers  that he will be allowed to deep and blow. I am looking for a flute or a trumpet as other gift for his birthday. 

Tommy blows his straw whistle

Tommy blows his wind star whistle

How proud we are of him! He is doing all kind of things. The fact he is not walking yet doesn't stop him to learn and doesn't discourage us to keep boosting his brain. Therefore, the next step in our art of blowing is from deep and blow to blowing bigger bubbles. After all, it is a fun activity. 

NOTE: Always chose bubbles blowers and whistles with round shape for the mouth area. Other shapes may promote tongue protrusion. 

Tommy washes his hands

Tommy learned to use the hand sanitizer when he was about 18 months. But teaching to watch his hands would be challenging because he cannot reach the sink. Last weekend, Tommy climbed my steep stool while he was exploring around. I realized if he could climbed my step stool, he could wash his hands and he would be able to improve his balance and his gross motor skills at the same time. Therefore, he is learning to watch his hands. After, we help him to watch his hands, he likes to dry his hands with paper towel. He truly enjoys it!

"The sky is the limit"

Tommy washes his hand for the first time

Taking this picture wasn't easy. I was so afraid 

he could fall.  I could not concentrate to take the photos 

of the process of him climbing; even although, my 

husband was watching him. I just took the beginning and the end.

Massages increase muscle awareness

During my pregnancy, I knew about the massage therapy to improve muscle tone. It was one of my first questions when I had the meeting with my EIP coordinator. She recommended to talk the physical therapist who will be able to provide the guidence for baby massages.

The study Children with Down syndrome improved in motor functioning and muscle tone following massage therapy describes massage therapy as "a passive treatment that requires little, if any, physical demands on the individual receiving the therapy."

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Massage therapy techniques can decrease swelling and impaired joint mobility, ease muscle spams and muscle tension, and increase circulation to promote healing. Massage also can reduce pain and improve muscle tone. Specialists at Mayo Clinic recognize that many complementary and alternative medicine treatments such as massage can promote physical, mental and spiritual wellness."

During our Physical Therapist's first visit we talked about massages for Tommy. She explained to me several techniques. She also said that the best and simple way to give massages in in firm circle motions. A year later, his PT suggested  to give massages with a vibrating hand massager because he could get more awarness and sensory input in his muscle. 

We gives massages to Tommy in the morning and before he goes to bed. We gives massages on all his body from head to toes. We have two vibrating massager, one is for me and the other one is for him. While I am giving massages around his body, Tommy plays with his purple massager. When is time to massage his hands we practice opposites (On and Off) by turning on and off the massager, therefore he has to isolate his index finger.  I also use this time for language development because I talk about the body parts.  I explain to him that we can blink our eyes, we can smell with our nose, we can smile with our mouth and we can hear with our ears.  I do facial expressions and he tries to copy me. In this way, it is easier for the child to understand the difference of each part of the face.  I also sing "head, Shoulders, Knee and Toes" and he like this song. He has fun with this silly games.

According to the book "Bright from the star" by Jill Stamm, PH. D., 'To a baby, touch is a physical requirement that she needs to both receive and to use every single day. "as critical a nutrient as a vitamin", says Bruce Perry, M. D., PH.D., a child psychiatrist who is leading expert on brain development and childhood trauma... Touch tells the brain, "you are wanted organism!" This stimulates the development of both physical and emotional systems.' Therefore, massage therapy provides the benefits of skin-to-skin contact. This book has a good guidance of how to give baby massages.

I am not good giving massages, but I try to do my best. I am thinking to take some classes to improve my massage techniques.