Bela’s Consultation with a Dev Pedia

I made a post here a few months ago about my concern when we transferred Bela to MSS from Toddlers Unlimited. I got a bit concern because judging from the comments made by Bela’s teacher, Bela might have some problems with her attitude and with her inability to sit still (you can read about the teacher’s anecdotal report here and my reaction to the teacher’s report here).

Because of this, I searched the n@w archives to look for recommendations for a Developmental Pedia for consultation. I admit that Bela is really hyperactive and she can really be a handful at times (that is why hubby and I bought Dansko shoes so we will be comfortable while we run after Bela). So we figured consulting an expert will not hurt.

There are just a few Developmental Pedia here in the Philippines so it is difficult to schedule a consultation. I contacted Dr. Dimalanta’s office May 2009 and I was given a schedule for July. Unfortunately, Dr. Dimalanta attended a conference during our scheduled check up so they have to reschedule Bela’s evaluation to August 29.

We waited for two hours before we were called. As soon as Bela enters the room, she greeted Dr. Dimalanta and she answered Dr. Dimalanta when she was asked for her name and age. She immediately sits down to play with the educational toys that are lined up on the table in the middle of the room. Dr. Dimalanta gave her different educational toys (like puzzles, blocks, shape shorter, etc) one at a time and gave her instructions on what to do with it. Bela patiently listened to doctor’s instructions and was able to finish everything (even faster than what Dr. Dimalanta expected).

Dr. Dimalanta also asked me to fill up questionnaires about Bela’s development and answer them as honestly as I can.

Dr. Dimalanta’s evaluation: Bela is potentially gifted as she was able to do things that a normal three year old can’t do (base on the exercises that Dr. Dimalanta asked Bela to do). Base also on the questionnaires that I answered, her development is advance compared to other three years old. But it is also evident that Bela is really hyperactive. He doesn’t want to say that we should worry about ADHD as he doesn’t diagnose patients on first visit and ADHD is usually diagnosed at age 6. Also, he mentioned that since Bela waited for more than two hours already and seeing that she was able to sit still for 45 minutes doing what he asked her to do when ADHD patients would normally throw tantrums already, he said that there i no need to worry. He just gave us recommendations on what we can do at home to modify her behavior and he even recommended Bela to attend occupational therapy twice a week.

We will be visiting an Occupational Therapy Center next week and have Bela evaluated. OT is a behavioral modification therapy which will help lessen her hyperactivity.

I am glad that we consulted Dr. Dimalanta as I can have a peace of mind now.

On brushing again

Remember my post about my problem with Bela every time we have to brush her teeth? Well I was able to find a solution that will allow us to brush her teeth without force.

Immediately after Bela saw Yaya Cris giving me her toothbrush, she immediately runs away from us. But then I told her, I will just tickle her teeth. We always tickle each other specially when we are playing just before bed time and she really loves this game. And so when she heard the word tickle, she cooperated and opened up her mouth immediately and showed me her teeth. So I was able to brush it properly.

Finally, I was able to find a way. I just hope this trick will last and she will let me tickle her teeth over and over again. Otherwise, I have to find another creative solution to avoid our daily struggle.

Curly Bela

Do you think curls would look good on Bela?

Yaya sometimes braid Bela’s hair and after removing the braid before bedtime, this is how it looks like. We’re all laughing since she really looks like a smaller and shrunk version of a teenager wearing a curl.

But I don’t think she is ready for this type of hair style even if it’s the “IN” thing right now. Maybe, when she’s old enough and she already knows how to take care of her hair.

Trauma?

Bela hates brushing her teeth now after her first visit to the dentist. We really have to force her to brush her teeth and most often than not, Howell will just decide not to force Bela and just let her sleep without brushing her teeth. Howell doesn’t like the idea of constricting Bela so we can brush her teeth by force. So he will just say to let it pass and give Bela some time to forget about her first dental visit.

Could it be that Bela was traumatized by her first visit to the dentist that’s why she really resists when we try to brush her teeth? I haven’t tried changing her toothpaste though. I'm still hoping that she just don’t like the taste of her toothpaste that’s why she is resisting. Before, we just use water to brush her teeth because that’s what her pedia recommended to us because according to her Pedia, kids tend to swallow the toothpaste. So this is really Bela’s first experience in using toothpaste

Do you have any suggestion on how we can convince her to brush her teeth?

On Getting Hurt

Today at the gym, Bela accidentally hit the door when she was able to let go from her dad and she ran so fast that she was not able to control her speed and she hit the side of the door. She now has a scratch on her cheek. I was at first mad at Howell because he was the one inside the gym with Bela. But I realized the same thing could have happened if I was the one inside. I kept on looking at Bela’s scratch on her cheek and I was really worried that it might leave a mark or something. But Howell kept on reassuring me that it’s just a scratch and in just a few days, it will disappear, and that I should stop worrying because it’s all part of growing up. And Bela didn’t even mind the scratch or she really didn’t get hurt and didn’t even cry.

Maybe I should always remember the Nido commercial, every time I see the scratch on Bela’s face.

“Mom, I’m sorry I got stinky, I got dirty. But see mom, I learned.”

Computer 101

Bela just had a crash course about computer hardware from Howell. You see, we bought a new PC yesterday and Howell opened it to connect the DVD burner that I received as a gift from my boss. Being the eager girl that she is, she jump beside Howell and tried checking the open CPU that dad is configuring. And so Bela had her first crash course on computer fundamentals from her dad. Hey it’s never too early to teach computer to Bela, since she is the daughter of two systems administrator. LOL.

See the video below. I had a blast watching Bela enjoyed her crash course.

Discoveries

Bela loves animals. He is not scared of dogs, horses, cats, even hamsters and tarsiers. She would not be scared to touch these animals and would love to play with them. But we just discovered there is one animal that she wouldn’t want to touch or even get near at. And that is the....

.: lola, what's this? :.

.: eww, a starfish :.

.: can i touch it? :.

.: never mind mom, you can have it :.

.: mom - see bela you can touch it
bela - i don't think so mom :.

....starfish. I don’t know, maybe it's the way it looks that makes it look scary for Bela. Or maybe Bela finds it weird that a star has spikes and tentacles that’s why she doesn’t want to touch it.