It has been an interesting week! We are doing well. The weather has cooled a bit, which has been perfect for our activities. On Friday I took the kids to a Little Farmers program to pet some baby goats and milk the mothers. It went really well...at first. The kids were really happy to be there. Arley was very excited, and asked if he could come every week. He loved the baby goats. But, soon a few other families started arriving, and they brought with them little kids. There were about 8 children under five, and within 15 minutes Arley had had enough and was done. I tried to pressure him to stay so he could milk the mother goats, but he was far too stressed and begged to go back to the car. Carmie and I stayed for the milking, but poor Arley missed out. He has been asking if I can set up private sessions just for us, so I am going to look into it. He doesn't do well in crowds, especially with little kids. But boy were those goats cute!
We had an easy weekend at home. It was a public holiday on Monday, so Jeffrey was home from work. Arley's new mentor Zac came over. The session was an hour long, and the deal was that Arley had to do 40 minutes of what Zac wanted and then they could end with 20 minutes of Xbox. For 40 minutes Arley was grumpy and grouchy and needed two breaks...then as soon as it was Xbox time, Arley was happy and energetic and really connected with Zac. Arley's OT today told me she thinks that's a success, so I'm going with it. Toni the OT was over this morning and she and Arley finished the sensory garden they have been making. Arley was really engaged and it was a great project. And now he has to care for the garden, so it is ongoing. Afterwards Toni worked with Carmie on her interoceptive awareness and describing feelings. Half an hour after Carmie was finished with Toni, her new support worker Abby came over for two hours. They get along well and I could hear Carmie having a good time.
On Tuesday Arley had one of his best days ever. He had his private Taekwon Do lesson and did great, and even was able to learn some new techniques. Then the kids had horse riding in the afternoon and he groomed two horses and rode a different horse to his usual. He loved it. It was easily his best equine therapy session since he's been at the new place. He was so calm all day. And Carmie - she had a great session too. She is riding an ex-race horse who has a very big trot, so she's getting used to steering and trotting him. Matt the behaviour specialist came over on Wednesday and had a session with Arley, and met Carmie for a chat, because they are going to start working together too. I have a lot of faith in Matt, and I think it's great that the kids have a male therapist too.
I've been going to the gym, sleeping well and keeping busy too. School holidays are over, so we are hoping to get out a little more now. Fingers crossed!
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