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Oh my goodness, 2 posts in 3 days!! Amazing! How am I finding the time? I've been given yet another ebay suspension. I'm such a naughty girl! What did I do this time? I used a template with the dreaded wording "I don't take Paypal from Australian bidders". It was 1 of 450 listings & obviously done in error but they gave me 3 days off. Thanks ebay, I needed it. Of course our bank account didn't need it, but at least they didn't end all my listings this time so sales have still been good & I have caught up on my packaging.
We have sold our truck. We did a private trade with a chap from Orange, he was interested in buying the truck & had a dual cab Holden Rodeo to sell so we swapped (plus some cash). We're happy with the vehicle & even happier with our healthier bank account! We'll be paying some overdue bills & buying timber to build the veranda, timber for our kitchen, the ridge capping to complete the roof, amongst other things. Happy days!
Today we had Finn's 1st assessment day with the Child & Adolescent Development Unit (CADU) at Katoomba hospital. I was quite nervous as I was expecting them to ask lots of questions but mainly just play with him & observe him then turn around & tell us there's nothing wrong with him. I've just heard & read too many stories of this happening. We were there for about 3.5 hours. He was observed & talked to by an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, a psychologist & a lovely girl Rose who is doing her master's & "on loan" to the hospital, she was amazing with him, did lots of activities testing his IQ, drawing, plying, imaginative play, etc.
It looks like they are not going to give him a diagnosis as I suspected, although they still need to see him in a group setting with other kids. This is when they will see him in a different light as in a room full of engaging, interested adults he is in his element. He had a ball! I was not that happy with the outcome of today, I felt dismissed with a lot of things I raised, for example I said that I was somewhat concerned with some areas of his learning. Lyn asked what in particular & the 1st thing that came to mind was his counting. He still struggles to count to 10 at age 4. it's coming together slowly but I feel that he's not really getting it as well as he should be. I was told that that's not of any concern, it's within the "normal" range & nothing to raise any concern. I wasn't asked any more questions about his learning, the subject was changed. I could have gone on! After 3 hours it's hard to continue being pushy & assertive, even for your child. I am sure this won't be the last assessment we'll go through & I'm sure I'll get better at describing the situation but today I found it difficult to be heard. We told them that we'll be going home to a meltdown & we were told that that's to be expected, even "normal" kids would have a meltdown after a morning like his. Dismissed again.
The best thing that came out of today is that the psychologist, Lyn, feels that it's very important to get him into a preschool, as do we. He's been on the waiting list to get into the Children's Cottage here in Katoomba, for about 18 months now & we've been told that he might not even get in this year. It's an amazing centre, very small & intimate with a high level of care. It's very popular so people enrol their kids at birth. Once kids are in very few leave until they start school. Lyn agreed that this was the only suitable place in our area for him & she's going to try & pull some strings to get him in asap! They will follow programs to support him in learning to interact & feel safe with other kids. I'm not yet excited as it would be too good to be true to get him in, good for him & good for our finances. I don't dare get excited just yet! We've been paying $150 a week for private childcare for over 6 months now, I have to do it to get my work done but it's hard to cover the cost. And I believe that if Finn gets a place then Ivy goes to the top of the waiting list in her age group as a sibling. It would be so, so good for all of us! Fingers very firmly crossed at this stage!
The photos below were taken about a month ago with the basic frame complete & the ceiling joists going on. Kim powered through this stage! We had a great time with it, probably the best stage of the building so far, Kim really enjoyed it & I went over every late afternoon to have a beer with him & just admire his work & let the kids have some outside time. The weather was very kind to us & we had almost no rain & mild days. If only it was always like this!
We have sold our truck. We did a private trade with a chap from Orange, he was interested in buying the truck & had a dual cab Holden Rodeo to sell so we swapped (plus some cash). We're happy with the vehicle & even happier with our healthier bank account! We'll be paying some overdue bills & buying timber to build the veranda, timber for our kitchen, the ridge capping to complete the roof, amongst other things. Happy days!
Today we had Finn's 1st assessment day with the Child & Adolescent Development Unit (CADU) at Katoomba hospital. I was quite nervous as I was expecting them to ask lots of questions but mainly just play with him & observe him then turn around & tell us there's nothing wrong with him. I've just heard & read too many stories of this happening. We were there for about 3.5 hours. He was observed & talked to by an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, a psychologist & a lovely girl Rose who is doing her master's & "on loan" to the hospital, she was amazing with him, did lots of activities testing his IQ, drawing, plying, imaginative play, etc.
It looks like they are not going to give him a diagnosis as I suspected, although they still need to see him in a group setting with other kids. This is when they will see him in a different light as in a room full of engaging, interested adults he is in his element. He had a ball! I was not that happy with the outcome of today, I felt dismissed with a lot of things I raised, for example I said that I was somewhat concerned with some areas of his learning. Lyn asked what in particular & the 1st thing that came to mind was his counting. He still struggles to count to 10 at age 4. it's coming together slowly but I feel that he's not really getting it as well as he should be. I was told that that's not of any concern, it's within the "normal" range & nothing to raise any concern. I wasn't asked any more questions about his learning, the subject was changed. I could have gone on! After 3 hours it's hard to continue being pushy & assertive, even for your child. I am sure this won't be the last assessment we'll go through & I'm sure I'll get better at describing the situation but today I found it difficult to be heard. We told them that we'll be going home to a meltdown & we were told that that's to be expected, even "normal" kids would have a meltdown after a morning like his. Dismissed again.
The best thing that came out of today is that the psychologist, Lyn, feels that it's very important to get him into a preschool, as do we. He's been on the waiting list to get into the Children's Cottage here in Katoomba, for about 18 months now & we've been told that he might not even get in this year. It's an amazing centre, very small & intimate with a high level of care. It's very popular so people enrol their kids at birth. Once kids are in very few leave until they start school. Lyn agreed that this was the only suitable place in our area for him & she's going to try & pull some strings to get him in asap! They will follow programs to support him in learning to interact & feel safe with other kids. I'm not yet excited as it would be too good to be true to get him in, good for him & good for our finances. I don't dare get excited just yet! We've been paying $150 a week for private childcare for over 6 months now, I have to do it to get my work done but it's hard to cover the cost. And I believe that if Finn gets a place then Ivy goes to the top of the waiting list in her age group as a sibling. It would be so, so good for all of us! Fingers very firmly crossed at this stage!
The photos below were taken about a month ago with the basic frame complete & the ceiling joists going on. Kim powered through this stage! We had a great time with it, probably the best stage of the building so far, Kim really enjoyed it & I went over every late afternoon to have a beer with him & just admire his work & let the kids have some outside time. The weather was very kind to us & we had almost no rain & mild days. If only it was always like this!
Above is the hallway running from the kitchen/dining room through to the living room. We designed it nice & wide (6 feet) to avoid having any cramped narrow spaces in the house. The large opening on the right is the entrance to my work room, it is wide at the moment as it will be a double cavity sliding door with opaque paneled glass so the northern sun with come through into the hallway without us having to look at mountains of clothing!
had a bit of rain this day, pooling on the chipboard flooring. it's shaping up pretty well to the weather but at this stage we were looking forward to the roof.
my work room
looking down the hallway from the other end
the back of the house, the 2 bedroom windows
the man at work
so neat! I am very impressed with how it's all looking!
This is Kim trying to get the last joists up before dark. He actually ended up being about 3 short!
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