The bond with my children continues to develop. We have settled into a good routine which involves 'meet and greet' before morning tea. The children will all get some individual attention - the babies love their cuddles, the older ones get a thrill out of being hung upside down! Unfortunately I have somewhat 'created monsters' - they cry a hell of a lot more now when they know that I respond to it! However I am quick to identify the real from the crocodile tears. And all they want is attention. At times I feel like a human jungle gym with 4 or 5 children hanging off me.
After morning tea we will do some learning - alphabet, counting or reading. Initially I hold their attention for a maximum of 2 minutes but as the weeks go by they sit and listen for half an hour or so. After this we do some exercise as they have energy to burn! We will play soccer, or dance and sing, or play with balloons. Even when we are playing, the children are learning patience, sharing and discipline. By this stage I feel I must have a masters degree in patience myself! A few times I have had to put myself into 'time out' for a few moments!
During lunch I will help the younger children to learn how to use their spoons as they all have one each now. After lunch the children will go down and I will often use this time to spend with River. I have been trying him on a bottle to see if this prevents his aspirating but his muscles are too weak. However the first time he tried it he took about 5 mls in half an hour, which progressed to about 40 mls in half an hour. He still needed to be topped up with the syringe so I taught the Mumma's how to do it slowly so he didnt aspirate or vomit. I worry that this won't be continued as it is so time consuming. I had felt when I first assessed River that he had visual and hearing issues, yet he now appears to respond to my voice and it seems to calm him. This is a great reward!
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