Two weeks ago we had an OT assessment with Mel at the Hospital. It was purely to see where she's at.. Here's the report...

"Isla has been attending Occupational Therapy since November 2006. Her presenting problem related to mirroring of her hand movements. She has attended regular appointments on a monthly basis in which she has been provided activities to decrease the presence of mirroring her hand movements.

A review assessment was conducted today to determine her level of function for her fine motor skills.

Results of Assessment
The assessment conducted was related to her motor skill development. Isla was assessed using the following assessment tools:

* Parent Questionnaire
* Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (2nd Ed)
* Non-standard observations.

Assessment Results
Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (2nd Edition)
The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-II is comprised of six sub-tests that measure interrelated motor abilities that develop early in life. The assessment measures both gross and fine motor skills, however for the purpose of this assessment, only the fine motor component was utilised. Isla achieved the following results:

Component Standard Score Age equiv.
Grasping 9 34 months
Visual Motor Integration 9 34 months

* Grasping
Isla swapped hands throughout the assessment, Her mother reported that she predominately uses her left hand for feeding and ball skills, however swaps for fine motor activities. She held her pencil with a quadripod grasp (Placed her middle finger on the pencil as opposed to resting it underneath)

* Visual Motor Integration
Isla was able to build a tower of 10 blocks. She also attempted to imitate building structures such as a bridge and a wall, however demonstrated difficulty with copying the structures exacrtly. She was able to copy a vertical and horizontal stroke and a circle, however was unable to copy a cross. She has not yet learnt to grasp scissors with one hand and was unable to snip the edge of the paper. She was able to thread beads onto a string and laced a piece of string onto a lacing card.

Recommendations
1. It is recommended that Isla continue to attend Occupational Therapy to monitor her scissor skills development and hand preference".

So there you have it, Isla is only "delayed" by 2 months with fine motor now which is unreal! We're trying to work out which hand she'll write with. She's always been prone to using her left hand for feeding, throwing etc, and kicks with her left foot too, but has more control and uses an almost proper finger grip when drawing with her right. We need to build her stamina with the one hand, so in effect, stop her from switching hands half way through drawing. We stick a sticker on the hand she uses first and tell her this is her drawing hand, and constantly make sure we keep on her about this.

By the way, the monkey is 12kgs now :)

I thought I should make a record and constantly update when Isla says something cute/funny..I originally started this post at the end of 2007.
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On the way to Poppy's house:

Isla: "Mummy, where are we going?"
Me: "We're going to see Poppy"
Isla: "Mummy, is Poppy awake?"
Me: "Yes, Poppy's awake"
Isla: "Oh, this is going to be great!! I so excited!"
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Sitting in the car at Austinmer Beach watching the waves:
Isla: "Oh my God! These waves are incredible! They the biggest waves I ever seen!"
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Sitting at the Dr's waiting room, Isla was playing with one of those wall-mounted toys with the steering wheel/wavy mirror etc. It was Sea themed...
Isla: (at the top of her lungs) "These are Mummy's crabs"
Me: "No sweetheart, they're not Mummy's, they're toy crabs"
Isla: "No Mummy, YOUR crabs"
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While attempting to sit in the fridge:
Me: "Isla, the fridge isn't for sitting, hop out please"
Isla: "Mum, stop telling me everything"
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Watching her bath fill up:
"Oh Mummy, this bath is marvellous"
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Crying in bed:
Me: "What's the matter sweetheart?"
Isla: "I scared"
Me: "What are you scared of?"
Isla: "Owls"
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Ian: "Isla, it's nearly bed time, you can play for 5 minutes then it's time for bed"
Isla: "Daaaad, that's not a good idea!"
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Isla: "I can't sleep in my room anymore, I too scared"
Me: "What are you scared of?"
Isla: "Oh you know, snakes, owls, that sort of stuff"
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Me: "Isla, what do you think we should call baby sister?"
Isla: "Arina, you know, like Ballerina"

The little girl at the end of this clip walks just like my Isla does.

I can't believe my little lady is 3 and obviously she doesn't believe it either, because she insists that she's 7.

She has been so excited about having a party for the last week, every morning she'd wake up and ask, "Is it my party today?". Each time we went out she'd tell whoever we'd speak to that she was having a party!

We all had a lovely day, although it was SO incredibly hot and muggy! I think almost all of my photo's from the day everyone has rosy cheeks and beads of sweat on their brow!

I think Isla was happy with her party, she'd given Ian and I strict requirements for the day, ie, "pink balloons and streamers and deca-ations (as she calls them) and cakes with lots of sprinkles on top".

I couldn't be arsed making a pretty cake like the merry-go-round I made last year, so this year it was lots of cupcakes, with sprinkles as per Isla's instructions! Some were plain, others had little decorative butterflies :)


Isla received so many presents, she was spoiled rotten! Her favourite gifts for the day were the ladybug outfit from Nanny & Poppy, playdough from Poppy Troy and the Dora parifanalia from Lyn & Rod and Allison & Brad.

She finished the day by going to Steve & Marie's place for a swim to cool off with Ian, while I went to the Speedway with my Father-In-Law Kevin and my Dad, where Ian's cousin Robbie came 2nd in the $50,000 race!

Happy New Year! Here's hoping 2008 is a cracker...


We welcomed in the New Year with Allison & Brad and their friends, at their place.

Had a lovely night, Isla lasted until midnight but crashed soon after!