Happy Hopper

It made me smile this morning to see Rex so happy and full of energy.  He didn't even have time to get dressed because he was so busy having fun.

IAC 221 & 222 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 221 held on May 15, 2012:

1) Spanish dossier from June 2009 referred a male child aged 4 years and 10 months

2) French dossier from August 2009 referred a male child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status

3) Italian dossier from June 2010 referred sisters aged 6 years and 11 months &  4 years and 1 month

4) Italian dossier from February 2011 referred a brother and sister aged 3 years and 3 months and 2 years and 1 months with features in health status

5) Swedish dossier from August 2011 referred a waiting child (#1275) with a profile on the MOJ site

6) US dossier from December 2011 referred a female child aged 1 year and 11 months with features in health status

7) Italian dossier from January 2012 referred a male child aged 8 years and 7 months

8) Belgian dossier from March 2012 referred a brother and sister aged 12 years and 5 months & 4 years and 6 months

9) US dossier from March 2012 referred a waiting child (#1458) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) Italian dossier from April 2012 referred a waiting child (#1688) with a profile on the MOJ site

11) US dossier from April 2012 referred brothers aged 2 years and 3 months & 3 years and 1 month with features in health status

12) US dossier from May 2012 referred two waiting children (#1163 & #1714) with profiles on the MOJ site
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The following referrals were issued in IAC session 222 held on May 30, 2012:

1) US dossier from May 2009 referred a female child aged 2 years and 3 months

2) Spanish dossier from June 2009 referred a female child aged 2 years and 4 months

3) Spanish dossier from July 2009 referred a female child aged 1 year and 9 months with features in health status

4) Spanish dossier from July 2009 referred a male child aged 3 years and 11 months with features in health status

5) Italian dossier from August 2009 referred a male child aged 6 years and 5 months

6) Italian dossier from September 2009 referred female twins aged 6 years and 5 months

7) French dossier from February 2010 referred a male child aged 1 year and 5 months with features in health status

8) Danish dossier from January 2011 referred a male child aged 6 years and 7 months with features in health status and a family history

9) Italian dossier from April 2011 referred a waiting child (#1639) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) Italian dossier from April 2011 referred a waiting child (#1663) with a profile on the MOJ site


11) Italian dossier from September 2011 referred a brother and sister aged 7 years and 6 months and 8 years and 8 months


12) Italian dossier from September 2011 referred a female child aged 8 years and 8 months with features in health status


13) French dossier from November 2011 referred a female child aged 3 years and 1 month with features in health status


14) Italian dossier from February 2012 referred a female child aged 7 years and 10 months with features in health status


15) Italian dossier from February 2012 referred a waiting child (#1694) with a profile on the MOJ site


16) French dossier from March 2012 referred a female child aged 10 years and 8 months


17) US dossier from may 2012 referred two waiting children (#1070 & #1605) with profiles on the MOJ site


18) US dossier from may 2012 referred a waiting child (#1337) with a profile on the MOJ site


19) US dossier from may 2012 referred a waiting child (#1658) with a profile on the MOJ site

Emilia - Thirty-One Weeks Home

Saturday marked twenty-nine weeks home for Emilia.  With the reunion of families who have adopted from Bulgaria, it's been a whirlwind, crazy busy week here, so I don't have much to report for my little girl.

Stylish girls always carry matching water bottles.

Overall, Emilia is doing well. She's really healthy and sleeps through the night.  She must be in some kind of growth spurt because she wants to eat often and a lot.  She likes toast with blueberry jam and has started drinking orange juice. I am in the process of taking her off her nutritional supplement.  I make it now with soy or almond milk instead of water and only half the powder.  The calories are about the same, but financially it's more affordable.  She has not minded the change at all.  I think I will always keep a can of the supplement on hand though for those days where the quality of her intake is less than stellar.

Brave girl who played in the big pool.

Thanks to Ms. Shelley for helping.

Emilia continues to do things her way, exploring and learning what she wants and leaving the rest for me to fret about.  Maybe I should join the unschooling movement and worry less.  She's always on the move and into something.  Her latest fancy is climbing into the one and only kitchen drawer that doesn't have a child-lock, so she can reach things on the counter.  Emilia is a feisty little girl who lets you know what she wants even though she only says four words.

Emilia has been calling in a lot more cuddles lately and sometimes she even gives me a spontaneous kiss.  She can imitate sounds when she wants, but she does not want 97% of the time.  In recent days I have heard an eee for eat when I was trying to get her to ask for the next bite and a ppp for pig when we were looking at a book.  We are considering placing Emilia into preschool two days a week come fall and also enrolling her in speech therapy to see if she will participate.  Other kids and someone not a parent asking her to develop skills might be just what she needs.

Rex - Forty-Five Weeks Home

Today marks forty-five weeks home and forty-seven weeks out of the orphanage for Rex.  The last two weeks around here have been really busy with lots of summer activities, so I have not taken as much note as I should of Rex’s development.  Hence, this may be short.

Rex continues to receive 21 hours of therapy a week and is learning new things all the time.  He has mastered stomping in imitation and during the song If You’re Happy and You Know It.  He also looks at books when they are read to him.  His matching skills are improving and he is getting quite good with inset puzzles.  Rex independently and spontaneously signs eat, drink, finished, spoon, music, swing, light, go and he’s working hard on the signs for spin, jump, and sandwich.  Certain signs like cracker are still hit and miss where sometimes he walks up and signs it because he sees I have a bag of tortilla chips out and sometimes he signs it to request something entirely different from a cracker or chip.  This is not uncommon as he still lacks so much language for all of the things in his life, so he is trying to request with the words he does have.

Rex moved the rocking chair

from the window to this spot

so he could watch Youtube better.

Climbing is Rex’s big thing at the moment.  If it can be climbed or even if you think it can’t, Rex is at least going to make an attempt.  I had to take away all of his step stools because they were like a gateway drug to much more dangerous endeavors, like trying to scale the loft banister or the deck railing.  He is really keeping me on my toes.  Rex has been sensory-seeking for about a week, but I am proud to report that he is finding outlets to handle his needs.  He’s been asking to swing a lot or spin in his saucer and he goes onto the trampoline and jumps on his own when he needs it.  He did 570 consecutive jumps a few nights ago.  His strength, stamina and muscle tone are just so improved.

Kicking back in a quiet place

We took Rex to the pool last week and he did better than expected.  He dipped his feet and was very interested in watching the big boys jump in.  He laughed out loud every time his face got splashed.  He will be doing a lot of swimming at his summer camp in August and then at least weekly swims at his preschool.

 Too hot at the campground?

Rex’s tantrums have decreased greatly and it’s been over ten days since he had a real melt-down.  Now when there a little episodes, typical for toddlers, he appears to understand when we tell him to calm down and really tries.  He rarely hits himself anymore either and when he does, it’s completely half-hearted.  Rex has been sleeping through the night and waking up happy which is huge because he often used to wake up violently with screaming and auto-aggression.  I know these behaviors might resurface when his schedule changes for preschool, but for now we are happy that when he awakens, he knows where he is and he feels safe.  There have been mornings where I have walked into the room and Rex was just quietly lying on his bed wide awake, taking his time to get up.  On other mornings I only know he’s awake because I hear the bathroom fan come on as Rex plays.

He found the source of the music

at the campground dance

In food news, Rex ate grapes one day when he was very thirsty and we did not have a drink on hand, but he has refused them since.  He loved the blueberry lemon cobbler I baked and is eating a variety of sandwiches now.  I am trying out different toppings and spreads to see what will work in his lunchbox in the fall.  Rex was just crazy about the pies that his grandma made over the fire at the campground: toasted bread, pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni… what’s not to like?  We were there for three dinners over the course of a week and I think he ate seven pies.

With July approaching quickly, I am feeling very retrospective.  We adopted Rex on July 11, took him out of the orphanage on July 14 and arrived home on July 28.  I cannot believe it has been almost a year… and really what a year it’s been.  There will be a number of posts next month to commemorate the events of July 2011 and to celebrate one year of being a family.

You're Beautiful

I am sure everyone knows how the meaning of songs, books, paintings and other things changes for us as we go through life, gathering new experiences and maturing.  It recently happened to me with a song.

About a week ago, I was riding in the car and You're Beautiful by James Blunt came on the radio.  I don't think I've heard that song since 2008 when my sister and I were driving in Slovakia and she played it repeatedly off a CD.  So, I made my sister mad because, feeling oversaturated with this particular track at that time, I kept changing the words to the song.  My sister, an artist, did not at all appreciate my creativity compared to Blunt's.

Now that I've heard the song again (after the car last week I had to go to youtube and listen a few more times), it has affected me in a completely different way.  The last four years have changed my life tremendously.  I felt compelled to alter the words again because the original lyrics of having this intense moment of connection with a stranger reminded of the first time I saw Rex's face in a photo and the first time I saw him in person.  You're Beautiful turned all about Rex and my becoming a mother through his adoption, an ending different from the one in Blunt's version.  Yesterday morning, when Rex led me back to bed for some cuddles, I sang my adaptation to him.

You're Beautiful

Your life is brilliant.

Your life is brilliant.
Your love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
He smiled at me in a photo.
He was with another woman.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I did know what to do,
'Cause I want to be with you.

Yeah, he caught my eye,
As they placed him in my arms.
I could see from his face that he was
all alone
And I do know that I'll see him again,
Because we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I do know what to do,
'Cause I want be with you.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
Now it's time to face the truth,
I will always be with you.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father’s Day to my husband, Craig, who is turning out to be a daddy beyond my wildest dreams. 

A daddy who provides for us, who makes us happy, who keeps us sane.  A daddy who changes diapers, gives baths, and brushes tiny teeth.  A daddy who reads bedtime stories, teaches, guides, and sings.  A daddy who tells mama to stay in bed on a Saturday morning to finish her book and then brings her a buttered blueberry muffin to boot. A smart, kind and handsome daddy.

photo credit Sheila Johnson

A daddy who leads the way.

A daddy who shares his gadgets.

A daddy who lets you take risks under his watchful eye.

A daddy who laughs with you.

A daddy who protects you from bad dreams and the monsters under the bed.

  A daddy who sets boundaries.

photo credit Sheila Johnson

A gentle daddy.

A daddy with plenty of love to go around.

 photo credit Sheila Johnson

A daddy who nurtures and protects his children and loves them beyond measure.   A daddy who is adored and beloved in return by the little ones entrusted to him... and by his wife.

Snip Snip Snip

A few days ago, I made an 8 inch change…  8 inches of hair that is.   I got it cut for my third hair donation.  I have donated before to Locks of Love and Pantene Beautiful Lengths.  This time the braids are going to Children With Hairloss which happens to be a charity founded by my friend Yvonne’s mother.  However, I didn’t know of this connection until I started doing some research and linked Children With Hairloss back to Yvonne’s family through a few steps.  Kind of weird how that six degrees of separation thing always seems to work out.

Here’s my hair before:

Here are my braids ready to be donated:

And here’s a strange little self-portrait I took in the bathroom:

I have received many compliments on the new style, but it's going to take some getting used to for me.  I still have to pause and think about who I am seeing when I pass a mirror.  I guess it's only been 60 hours.

Hospital Check-Ups

Today we had our final appointment with the kids at the International Adoption Center. 

Rex was mostly there for a well-visit, so we got new measurements and a quick physical for preschool.  Rex now weighs 36 pounds and is 36 inches tall.  That’s in 75^th percentile for weight and in 10^th percentile for height.  He’s stretching out because at the last visit, his height placed him below the 5^th percentile. Nonetheless, he is still considered obese.  Rex's head circumference continues to be between the 40^th and 50^th percentile.  There were no issues with the physical.  The IA doctor thinks Rex is doing amazing.  She had seen him at his worst when he was first home and today saw him at his best with eye contact, high fives, signing, attachment, etc.

Emilia is now 23 pounds which means she has gained six pounds in six months.  She is about 32 inches tall, give or take a little… you know kids don’t sit still for the measurements.  But, I would say that she has at least grown two inches since December.  Of course, she still off the charts, but making her own growth curve.  In a happy surprise, Emilia’s head circumference has gone up from the 10^th to the 25^th percentile. According to the doctor, heads don’t grow much once the second year of life is completed, so it’s wonderful that Emilia’s brain was still able to make up for some lost time after her second birthday.  The physical was fine and the doctor had no concerns.  She thinks Emilia is doing quite well.

As part of Emilia’s visit, she also had a new developmental assessment.  I did not expect to see much forward motion there, but I was only partially right.  In gross motor, Emilia was at 14 months in December and she is still there now.  The consensus of the team is, however, that it’s her size holding her back in that area, not her willingness to acquire new gross motor skills.  In language, Emilia was at 13 months in December and is now at 14 months. No surprise there since she refuses to speak thus far.  Emilia’s personal-social skills continue to be scattered, but on average she has moved forward from 10 months to the equivalent of a 16 months old child which is great.  And now, for the big finale, fine motor skills.  Since December, Emilia’s fine motor skills have gone from those of an 8 months old to those of a 16 months old.  That’s 8 months of progress in 6 months and she’s not really trying or having therapy.  During the evaluation, she even did things that she rarely does at home like stack blocks, put dice into a cup, kiss a doll, and scribble dots and lines.  Methinks Bartleby is a little show-off.

The sweetest moment happened early in the visit. We’d just entered the exam room and I think the kids knew right away what was up and started crying.  So Craig placed both kids on his lap and played them some Super Simple Songs on youtube via his cell phone.  They calmed down and watched attentively.  And then, suddenly, Emilia took Rex’s hand into hers and held it.  He did not resist, but kept their hands together.  What a blessing to have a sibling that loves you!

We’ll miss the folks at the IAC who have shared our journey for the last two years.  They have been supportive, informative and kind and we’d recommend them to anyone for the review of referrals, complete check-ups after homecoming, or just general information about the medical and developmental well-being of internationally adopted children.

IAC 220 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 220 which was held on May 8, 2012:

1) Spanish dossier from June 2009 referred a male child aged 4 years and 10 months

2) French dossier from August 2009 referred a male child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status

3) Italian dossier from June 2010 referred sisters aged 6 years and 11 months & 4 years and 1 month

4) Italian dossier from February 2011 referred a brother and sister aged 3 years and 3 months & 2 years and 1 month with features in health status

5) Swedish dossier from August 2011 referred a waiting child (#1275) with a profile on the MOJ site

6) US dossier from December 2011 referred a female child aged 1 year and 11 months with features in health status

7) Italian dossier from January 2012 referred a male child aged 8 years and 7 months

8) Belgian dossier from March 2012 referred a brother and sister aged 12 years and 5 months & 4 years and 6 months

9) US dossier from March 2012 referred a waiting child (#1458) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) Italian dossier from April 2012 referred a waiting child (#1688) with a profile on the MOJ site

11) US dossier from April 2012 referred brothers aged 2 years and 3 months & 3 years and 1 month with features in health status

12) US dossier from May 2012 referred two waiting children (#1163 & #1714) with profiles on the MOJ site

Whodunit - The Berry Case

Yesterday I came into the kitchen only to find this mess: blueberries and strawberries all over the floor.  The culprits were caught blue-handed (and blue-footed) and one still happily clutched the strawberry bowl.  I know the other instigated the incident by opening the fridge door.

I kind of wish I would have snapped a photo of the looks on the doers' faces when I discovered them, but I was too mad and primarily concerned with preventing them from crushing more berries all over their clothes and my floor which, as usual, I had just cleaned earlier in the day.  Last time I cleaned it, a party who shall remain unnamed decided to pull the sand and water table up to the deck door and then dump its contents into the kitchen.  Yep, story of my motherhood: clean the floor, expect huge mess within 24 hours.

Anyway, the perpetrators were in big trouble and I assure you that some fearful tears were shed and some guilty lips pouted as I read them the riot act, especially since this was a repeat offense.

If anyone has suggestions on how to secure the fridge, please let me know.  The mechanism we had installed  did not last but a day due to the brute strength of the male lawbreaker in our family.

Emilia - Twenty-Nine Weeks Home

As of yesterday, Emilia has been home with us for twenty-nine weeks.  The last two weeks with Emilia have been challenging for me.  It’s not actually about what she’s doing, but about what she’s not doing.  She continues to be the most stubborn child you can imagine and resisting any structured learning or acquisition of skills.  I am getting so frustrated with her avoidance behaviors which range from walking away to smiling/hugging/charming to whining to screaming with covered up ears and eyes.  As soon as she gets her way, she is happy as a clam, but if not, she can hold out for longer than I have seen her pay attention to anything else.

That said, physically Emilia is doing great.  I no longer worry about what she will eat as just about anything non-dairy or very low dairy works at this point and she has a great appetite.  She tries new flavors and rarely rejects anything.  She’s also drinking quite well.  She walks, runs, and climbs incessantly.  She sleeps soundly through the night and goes down easy.  Her rocking behavior is all but gone.  She wakes up happy.  She keeps busy all day long on her own terms, moseying from one toy or activity to the next.  Emilia now loves to watch Super Simple Songs on youtube, likes playing with Craig’s cell phone, can’t resist any book to be read to her, and likes to sit on my lap while playing.

I have been working in increments of a few minutes at a time with Emilia on fine motor tasks.  Her pincer grasp is still very poor and I can tell she has to concentrate hard to use her index finger rather than her middle finger or even crazier hand contortions to pick things up.  However, she has learned to pick up jelly beans and put them into a water bottle.  She resists while we do the work together, but sometimes when left alone, I hear the jelly beans clicking into the bottle because she wants to shake it.  Hand over hand inset puzzles and stacking are still most hateful tasks to her, but finger-feeding is getting a bit better.

As for language, I know Emilia understands us.  When she wants, she responds properly to statements like, come here, put in, where is mama’s nose, no no no, give me a kiss, switch the toy to your other hand, shake, etc.  Similarly, when she wants she can repeat several sounds (all vowels I think, for example), but she will not repeat words.  However, she consistently says dada/daddy clear as day when Craig is around and she blurts a powerful Bulgarian ne, ne, ne when she is unhappy with us.  I think this is meant to be yet another lesson for me that I cannot will her to speak and that these things are not going to occur according to any schedule I may have had. If you know me, you are aware that I am an impatient planner and somewhat of a control freak and my kids are simply teaching me to live differently than I have been.  It’s so hard for me to change though, to be the bow that bends, as Khalil Gibran says in his poem about children.  But bend I must and trust in the archer’s plan.

Last week, Emilia had some updated testing done through the county’s early childhood program. There are so many different developmental assessments and their results tend to vary from what I have seen with Rex.  In any case, with the ASQ, Emilia scored completely in range at 35 points with the cut-off being 57, but in the HELP screening, she was out of range in all areas on average.  Her scores on this test were very scattered with some skills as low as 8 months, but some as high as 36 months.  Go figure, this child’s a mystery.

Of course, some of the skills Emilia should have at this age are affected by her tiny size.  For example, she is supposed to be able to go up stairs upright unassisted.  Well, the steps in my home are 8 inches which is more than ¼ of Emilia’s height.  So, clearly, it’s not easy for her to lift her legs that high without losing her balance or holding on to something.  To put it into perspective, proportionately, this is equivalent to me at my height taking 17 inch steps which I think would be almost impossible to do without using my hands to steady myself.  Trust me, I tried it using a chair… very difficult.

On the whole, my little Bartleby is a good girl that just needs to experience that defining moment where the switch flips over and she starts wanting to learn.  For my own sanity, I hope the moment comes soon, but I know it’s not really in my hands.  I can guide and assist and experiment, but the willingness to open up lies with her.  Mama’s waiting on you, lovey girl, so let’s go!

Rex - Forty-Three Weeks Home

Yesterday marked forty-three weeks home and forty-five weeks out of the orphanage for Rex.

I don't have much to report except continued progress.  Once again, Rex has mastered a number of therapy tasks, such as touching his head, pushing buttons, and stacking blocks in imitation as well as rolling balls or cars back and forth with another person, shaking a rattle or maraca when asked, and putting items into containers when asked.

 Getting ready for bed... so handsome

Rex is doing great eating unassisted with a fork.  I guess practice does make perfect.  Depending on the food he may still need some help, but when he's really motivated (say for potato cakes), he's able to feed himself on his own.  Once again, Rex managed to surprise me by accepting some foods I wouldn't have expected.  One of those was rice.  Thus far anything with a small grain texture had been spit back out whenever offered, but one night he tried steamed rice and then proceeded to eat meatballs, marinara sauce and rice for dinner.  I know that's a weird combination, but since he won't do Chinese food, it's what he got instead.  I also made some dark chocolate fudge with sour cherries one day and Rex liked it.  And he's eating eggs again. Not scrambled eggs on their own, but I can fry an egg over some hashbrowns or make a quiche and he enjoys it.

 He likes taking breaks 

by doing a little sunbathing on the deck

Rex's behavior has been really good.  I think we had just one tantrum in the last week.  He's been very loving, seeking out cuddles and tickles, wanting to sit with us or just asking us to sit near him while he plays.  I think he can somehow sense that it's summer and that he should be having a break because he's not been too interested to work some of his therapy programs.  He just wants to play and has a lot of bouncy energy which is okay with me, but not so much with his therapists.

 Checking out what sister's up to

Hmm, what else?  Rex is able to wear his sandals without socks now.  I really wasn't sure if this would be an option this summer due to sensory issues, but he had no problems with it on first try.  Oh and in the too much information category, Rex has been going #2 in his room upstairs for almost a week now.  I am pretty pleased about this because not only does it indicate that he can sense when he has to go, but it also shows an emerging need for privacy which is an important developmental step.  I am going to keep an eye on it.  Potty-training may be possible sooner than we thought.

This boy and his daddy are two peas in a pod

Sometimes I think about what would have happened if we had said no to Rex. And it's not always just a consideration of what would have happened to him, but to us if we had missed out on everything beautiful, challenging, inspiring, broadening this child has been bringing to our life.  I know Craig and I are both so very glad we said yes.

Camping Trip #2

A few weeks ago, we went camping with friends who adopted from the same Armenian orphanage as we did.  We have a special bond because we shared most of our Armenian adoption journeys in emails across the miles.  My friend Elizabeth delivered a gift from us to Rex on their first trip to Yerevan.  She was the one who told me he could walk.  She saw him outside a lot and took the time each day to write a note about how he was doing.  Then, when we went to pick up Rex, I was allowed to see her little girl twice and was able to send her emails, giving updates on Sofia.  

Elizabeth's family does not live very far from us, but we still had managed to meet only once until we put together this camping get-away.  It was a great weekend with time to talk, good food, and fun.  I'll let a few pictures tell the story.

Here's a shirtless Rex getting into the meadow. This is the same child who less than a year ago could not walk barefoot on any surfaces or tolerate certain textures on his skin due to sensory integration issues.  Oh how far he has come!

These are our little Eastern European beauties.  They are about the same size, but Sofia is 17 months younger than Emilia.  We hope that some day these two cuties will be close friends and confidants.

I love this image of Emilia.  Yes, sweet pea, you are a U.S. citizen now.

And here are our Armenian angels reunited.  We are so happy that they will be able to grow up knowing each other and sharing their experiences.

Elizabeth and I are looking forward to many more shared adventures and joint projects as we walk this path of adoption together.

Strawberry Palooza

Yesterday morning, just in the nick of time before their season is over, my friend Marie (aka Rex's therapist Ms. Rie) and I headed out to pick strawberries at a local orchard.  I had a great time chatting with Marie in the fresh air and sunshine while gathering thirteen pounds of glorious berries for my family.

When I got home, I had to start thinking about how to preserve the berries, but I wanted to make sure we first got to eat to our hearts' content.  So, for dessert last night we had strawberry fudge sundaes.  Yum.

 For breakfast this morning, we had strawberry banana smoothies.  More yum.

For brunch we had homemade whole grain waffles with maple syrup, whipped cream and, what else, strawberries.  Now this is what I call the good life on a Sunday morning.

We still have a big bowl of strawberries on the counter just for snacking and adding to cereal and yogurt and so on until they are gone.

But then came the harder and more work-extensive part of preserving the remaining pounds of fruit.  So first, I made some strawberry raspberry sorbet for Emilia. She likes to eat cool treats with us, but due to her dairy allergy she cannot handle much ice-cream.  Sorbet is a great alternative for her.

Next I made seven jars of freezer jam with one additional bowl that went straight into the fridge for our immediate enjoyment.

And then I ran the final batch of strawberries through the blender with some sugar and lemon juice to make strawberry sauce (frozen in ice-cube trays) that we can enjoy on cakes, sundaes, yogurt, etc.

It's been a busy weekend for me in the kitchen, but I am really happy with what I have put up to enjoy until the next strawberry season and with how delicious our menu has been these last two days due to fresh strawberries galore.  Now in a week or two, I am ready to do this all again with blueberries.