Thursday, Colin had another OT appointment. The OT attempted to have him sit at a table and cut/clip things on paper. When that was a shit show, she asked how often he sits at the table, and about structure at home. Which, to be honest, we don’t have much of. He doesn’t really have a set bedtime, he sleeps in our bed, and we were eating in the living room because my husband uses our dining room table as a desk.
The OT advised that we start eating at the table. I am in awe by how much of a difference that made in his eating. The other day, he ate NINE chicken nuggets. It was nuts. He was SO excited sitting at the table eating as a family. Joel is making a desk, and it should hopefully be done by tonight. He’s been working on it all weekend, and he starts school back tomorrow, so I’m hoping he finishes tonight and gives me back my table. In the meantime we’ve all been eating at a child-size paw patrol table, which would probably be quite amusing to an outsider.
The OT also had him try on a body sock and he LOVED it. She figured that he’d enjoy having it tight over his head because he was head butting. It was a big hit, and they’re not super expensive. I made the mistake of googling, however, and while at first I got what I was looking for, and the more I scrolled on the hunt for a better price, the dirtier the search results got. Apparently “body sock” can mean many different X-rated things.
I haven’t bought a body sock, yet, but I have spent the last couple of days working on making a weighted blanket for Colin. I found a DIY idea online, and I tweaked it a bit. I bought a down alternative blanket on Amazon for $16, then glass beads (1.5oz per container) from Michael’s for $4.99 ea (I needed 3, so $14.97), then some sewing supplies (scissors, needles, thread). That’s it. About $36 for a 5 lb weighted blanket. It’s soooo comfy because one side is microfiber and the other is fleece. The blanket is 50×60 and this size generally runs over $100. I cut a small opening into each column of the blanket, removed the stuffing, replaced it with beads, and then hand-sewed it back up. It was a bit time consuming, but it was actually pretty relaxing. Except now Colin won’t touch it 😦
The hardest part about the blanket was weighing out the beads for each column. First I miscalculated how many beads each column should have. Then I placed the food scale on my carpet, which fudged the weights, and I didn’t figure out that it was wrong until about 10 bags in when my back started hurting so I put the scale on the table and it read that my bags weren’t actually 2oz, they were 5. So, I had to go through and redistribute. Then I got to the last of it, and still had a lot left, so I went through again and added some. Then I had to go through and take away some because I miscalculated again. It was a disaster, don’t be like me. Learn to math BEFORE you weigh your beads. The rest was really simple, just took some time.
I’m really hoping I have some luck with Colin taking a liking to this blanket, but I’m not holding my breath. He throws it every time I put it on him, and I am pretty sure I’ll cry.
Journey to a Diagnosis 