Kristi the new OT

Sadie finally has a new occupational therapist (OT).  We spent a long time looking for someone to replace Miss Tami, who we really liked.  And finally we found Miss Kristi, who is amazing... but it wasn't easy!!

Kristi is friends with Kim, Sadie's speech and feeding therapist.  And Kim kept talking and talking about Kristi until finally we got in touch.  At first scheduling was tough.  The only time Kristi could come was when I had to teach my online class.  But, Chelsea would be here during that time, so it wasn't a huge deal.  It was more important that we get Kristi in and get Sadie started!

We waited almost a full month for Kristi's schedule to open up during that time.  The first week, I was able to join them for therapy, I know that the first time requires a lot of asking questions from the therapist and lots of getting to know each other, so I wanted to make sure I was there for that.

But the next day, I got a text saying that she had had a severe allergic reaction to our cat!!!  I was devastated!  We had waited so long to finally get time with Kristi and we really liked her when we met her and I didn't want to lose her (or have to find someone new)!!  So, we worked it out that we'd meet her at the clinic at about that same time.  Luckily, the clinic is less than 15 minutes away.

Since then, I have been nothing but impressed.  She works a lot on Sadie's hands.  The last 3 weeks they've done some kind of art project.  I never have thought to do art with Sadie, but watching what Kristi does has made me think we could do more of that kind of stuff at home.

She uses a Bingo dauber with her.  If you don't know what that is, it's like a fat paint marker that just makes circles.  You just stamp it down on your Bingo card when the number is called.  It's easy for Sadie to hold (it's amazing how much better she's gotten at holding it in just a few weeks!) and they color together (Kristi's hand over Sadie's) by making dots, lots and lots of dots.

Like this.

They also practiced writing Sadie's name with a vibrating pen!

Today, they did something really fun!  Together they made a Jack O Lantern by ripping up orange construction paper and glueing it on a circle.  Then Kristi glued down the eyes, nose, mouth, and stem and Sadie colored them with the dauber (with Kristi's help, of course).

Check it out.

Doing art projects in OT inspires me to maybe do more of this kind of stuff with Sadie at home.  I might have to see if I can get a Bingo dauber and print out some coloring pages.  Anybody have any fun ideas?