Adam's Camp Race Report

Speech in the pumpkin patch with BIG pumpkins!

Last week was James' first week of camp. I went back and forth on my decision to send him to camp. Was it too early? Was he ready? Would it be too much for him? But in the end I decided that if it was open to 2 year olds then they had to be ready for kids who might fall asleep or meltdown after an hour. I certainly could not possibly have the only kid in that boat.

On Sunday we got to meet the therapists, other kids and parents. James seemed to be doing okay once he started playing, but he was definitely a bit unsure of what was going on and why he was surrounded by strangers. Monday James and I arrived ready to go. First we had circle time with his group and played music. The look on James' face was priceless. Like 'seriously? I get to play all these instruments?' It got even better when James had music first. He had a blast playing guitar and the chimes. Then he went to speech and the parents were quickly kicked out. 

Music therapy...sometimes we just need to sit in a drum

I continued to spy on James through the windows. The speech therapist was great! She was really pushing him to use vocalizations rather than just signs. He fought it hard for awhile, but by the end of the week was using the vocalizations pretty regularly. That was really exciting to see. After speech was snack and then PT and OT. Poor guy was so exhausted by this point he could barely stand up. I began to wonder if this whole thing would be a waste and he'd be a mess for the last 2 sessions all week. Camp ended with more circle time and the parents got to come back to hear all about what the kids did that day. 

Swinging to OT

I tried to give James lunch before we left, but he was clearly too tired. So home we went for a long nap. Tuesday morning arrived and I loaded James up on some protein filled eggs before we left with the hope that it would help fuel him. He was still pretty tired though and had a bit of a rough time at OT and PT which were first. But then it was like he rebounded and got used to the work. For the rest of the week, he was definitely still exhausted and napped like a champ, but he was able to get through 3 hours of therapy relatively easily. 

We weren't allowed to watch for most of the sessions so I don't know exactly what they did, but it was intense. They definitely pushed James as much as they could before he would just refuse and meltdown. On Wednesday morning I was sitting in the kitchen making James eggs for breakfast and he was playing with his memory cards. I showed him the lion which is one of his favorites, but this time not only did he sign it he said "li"! I was so excited! He's never made a "l" sound.

Happy Halloween

By the end of the week James was still exhausted by the end of the day, but he was still playing and working hard for the entire 3 hours. His group got along so well and really worked well together. It was so fun to watch him interact with the other kids. Everyone had told me to expect "big progress". But what did that really mean? How much progress could a 2 year old make? Well by the end of the week James was saying words (jump, hi, stop, more, help and ball). And by Sunday his new favorite word emerged...happy. He says this non-stop now. And not just an approximation it is a full on "haaappeee"! His balance has also improved significantly. James had preferred to run rather than master walking which has led to no shortage of bumps and bruises. He definitely still runs but fewer wobbles and falls. He is also following direction better. I say better because he was so terrible at following directions before that just about anything is an improvement. He knows what you want, but he'll just look at you and smirk before darting the other way. We still have a long ways to go on this one, but at least we're making progress!

All in all Adam's Camp was an amazing experience for James! He did amazing and seemed to have a blast. We can't wait to go back! I have no doubt we'll be back many more times!

Week October 27 - November 2

Miles Running: 36.0
Hours Hiking and Running: 7