It's that time of year again. Ghost and ghouls, skeletons and mummies, guts and gore have appeared in front yards all across America. I respect freedom of expression, but sometimes I pass houses where the decorations are downright disturbing. It's horrifying to see an, albeit artificial, person hanged in a tree, blood dripping down her legs, or rubber severed body part strewn across a field of weathered tombstones. When did death and violence become so appealing that we moved them front and center, voluntarily subjecting ourselves, our neighbors and any passers-by to them for a certain month each year?
I venture to say that when I was little, I spent more time in cemeteries than your average kid. That's not because a lot of people in my life were dying at that time, but because my grandma was a meticulous and devoted keeper of graves. She had a number of graves, including her parents' and in-laws', of which she took care. So on most summer evenings - my sister and I spent much time each summer on my grandparents' small farm - Oma made the short walk to the cemetery to water, weed, arrange and rake. I often tagged along because it was an outing. Plus, the cemetery had a certain mystique that sent a little chill down my spine and, ever the historian, I was fascinated by reading the gravestones and imagining the life summed up in a few letters and numbers. Sometimes we took our bikes and the highlight of the trip would be coming home, down hill and fast, through the little village.
At the cemetery, Oma requested silence, obedience and assistance. I would lug the watering can to the single spigot and back, re-filling it over and over. Meanwhile, Oma tidied up the graves with the final touch of always raking around them, in exact parallel, undisturbed lines. At the time, I had not heard of zen gardening and Oma probably hadn't either, but these days I recognize the meditative effect this task might have had for her. Even in winter, Oma made her way to the cemetery at least weekly to ensure the graves looked up to par.
As a child accompanying my grandma on her frequent pilgrimages to her lost loved ones, I didn't understand at all that she came there to grieve, remember, and reflect. Tending to the graves was simply the physical outlet to maintain a tangible connection with those she had lost and a way of setting aside time to commune. Now that I am an adult whose regular walking route leads through a small cemetery, I understand. I have experienced these losses myself and, more importantly, I am keenly aware that each day with my family is a gift.
The physician's advisory for those affected by Rex's genetic syndrome includes information about sudden, unexpected deaths of children and young adults, including Rex's age. Specifically, these children died in their beds at night with their families not noticing anything unusual or alarming. Some of these children were physically healthy, lively and energetic just like my little boy. Think about it for a second. Do you worry when you put your son or daughter to sleep at night if he or she will wake in the morning? Do you ever imagine the agony of walking into your child's bedroom at the start of a new day to find them lifeless? Do you ever try to comprehend the utter devastation your child's death would bring? I do when I walk along the paved path of the little cemetery. My mind wanders often, if just for a split second, to the possibility of losing Rex to a sudden and unexpected death and tears begin to stream down my cheeks immediately. And I quickly turn my thoughts to silent mantras of gratitude for the time I am given with my son and other loved ones.
So please forgive me when my Halloween spirit does not include tombstones, caskets, skeletons, blood and executions or other macabre associations which seem to become more prevalent each October in our country. For me, death is not entertainment or amusement. Fear is not a thrill or a conquest. Instead, those things, like cemeteries, are a sharp reminder of the fragility of life and of its preciousness. Cemeteries impress upon me the need to cherish every single day that I have with my family, no matter how much they might frustrate, upset or hurt me that day. So for Halloween, we'll stick to jack-o-lanterns, spiders, light-hearted costumes, candy and all manner of orange stuff and celebrate life and the passing of seasons together.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Picture Of The Day
Pre-writing skills are so hard for Emilia, but she's making progress. Hers are the light blue lines tracing over the purple ones.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Ella One Year Home
It's been a year exactly, a whole year, since Ella arrived in the U.S. and fully entered life in our family. She has done exceptionally well in the last twelve months and we feel blessed by her presence in our family and by her accomplishments.
Ella is now seven years old and in first grade. She's very short for her age due to her limb differences, but has gained some height along with about seven pounds of weight since coming home. She's keenly aware in some ways of the physical differences between her and her peers, but with our guidance usually handles herself with confidence and grace. She responded to a girl who told her she didn't like her legs by saying, "Well, I don't like you attitude. It's not nice to say you don't like someone's legs." At another time she told a classmate who asked about her legs, "I don't really want to talk about my body right now. I just want to play." We are often impressed with how she copes with these situations and with how much she is able and willing to do and try physically. Over the summer, Ella learned to swim and to ride a bike with training wheels. Now she's determined to lose those training wheels.
Academically, Ella is within the range of what is normal for a child in first grade. She receives daily ESOL support, but is not pulled for any other interventions. She can read close to 100 sight words and decode many others. We practice reading every night and I can see how she's slowly getting better and better. We also work on spelling which is not Ella's favorite, but again, we notice the progress. Handwriting is the bane of Ella's existence at the moment. She's a lefty like her daddy so we understand the extra difficulties, but she's also just not very fast or precise at forming letters on the page yet. It annoys her to see some of the girls in her class well ahead of her with their penmanship. I am going to ask the school for a new OT eval to see if she can get help specifically with writing skills. Ella is very competitive in all areas of life, but also easily frustrated by anything she perceives in her peers that she cannot yet do herself. We're trying to channel those frustrations into hard work and perseverance, rather than allowing them to shut down Ella's efforts toward progress. Her favorite subjects in school are the weekly time in the computer lab and music. Ella's teachers tell me that when she and Emilia cross paths at school, they always exchange hugs and kisses which warms my heart.
Ella's language acquisition has been incredible thus far. There's no way of quantifying at this point what she can express and understand. She uses words like complicated, nervous, privacy and chrysalis all the time. She still makes some grammatical errors when she speaks, for example, with the use of pronouns he/she and his/her, but they are lessening and she often corrects herself. She understands rhyming and can detect sarcasm in others' speech. I recently had to hold back tears when she had the following exchange with a new medical provider. Her social skills still need work, but have come a long way.
Doctor: Hi, I'm Laura.
Ella: Hi, I'm Ella.
Doctor: How are you?
Ella: I'm fine. How are you?
Doctor sitting down in a chair near Ella: I am great.
Ella stretching out her hand for a shake: Nice to meet you.
Speaking of this doctor, after doing a lot of academic work with Ella over the summer, I had begun to suspect that her eyes and brain were not optimally connected which came as no surprise to me given the lack of stimulation Ella experienced for six years. We had a vision therapy evaluation and I was, indeed, correct. Ella began weekly vision therapy sessions a month ago and is really excited about them. We also have daily vision homework. The doctor believes that in about five months, her eyes and brain and even hands will be a good team. Meanwhile, Ella has reading glasses with a very mild prescription which are helping with some of the immediate issues.
As I mentioned before, our biggest challenge with Ella has been obedience. We are finally seeing improvements after putting some very concrete and strict consequences into place for very specific undesirable behaviors. It's not a perfect solution, but the best we have right now since kids from orphanages often do not respond in the same way to consequences/rewards as their peers who have been in families from birth do. Now, I'm not saying that we don't have to repeat requests more often than we should sometimes and issue some warnings in certain situations, but on the whole I feel like we're seeing less back talk and more immediate compliance from our argumentative child. We also still deal with occasional lying and a month ago Ella told a dangerous and hurtful lie at a family celebration, her biggest to date. This earned her an afternoon grounded to her room and several serious discussions about the potential repercussions of telling such a lie, along with the fact that lying is not acceptable in our family. Since then, she's not lied to us to our knowledge. We're also continuing to focus on gratitude and compassion as high priorities in our family. I plan to do daily exercises in gratitude with Ella next month as we prepare for Thanksgiving and then some activities in kindness during Advent.
Ella has friends in school and has also made friends on our quiet cul-de-sac. She sometimes hangs out with a band of boys and they ride bikes and other wheels up and down the street, have battles, or sit around and chew the fat. Ella is right in the thick of it. However, her favorite friend is a Kindergartener named Claire who lives a couple of houses down from us. They ride the bus together and often go off for a few hours of play right after arriving back home from school. Claire has older brothers, so can handle Ella's somewhat rougher style of play and also knows how to dish it out herself. They're a great match. Ella has learned how to play some board games and enjoys this activity very much, so we have been using it as a reward for completing her homework.
Ella continues to sleep well through the night (usually 10-11 hours) and is a good eater. Her icecream and candy obsession aside, she prefers fresh fruit and veggies as well as meat dishes and soups. She's still not a big fan of American sliced bread (even whole wheat varieties) and would rather have a flat bread, wraps, pita bread, or a roll. I've been making this recipe for her often. I use whole wheat flour and she loves it. She's always super excited when I tell her I baked soft wrap bread for her and she even choose this bread for dessert one night instead of icecream. She's come around to some things she hated at first, like raw carrots, and has stopped enjoying others as much as she used to in the beginning. Even though Ella has fine motor delays in the academic realm, she is able to independently perform self-help tasks, such as tying her shoe laces, opening and closing buttons, styling her hair, buttering a roll, and she even started practicing trimming her nails without help. She definitely likes to be independent. Ella has always been fashion-conscious, but now is developing her own sense of style. Just a few weeks ago she was wearing a plain purple shirt to school and put on two of her necklaces with it. She explained, "Mama, if my shirt had a lot of colors or flowers or something, I probably would not wear a necklace at all. But this shirt is plain, so two necklaces gives people something to look at."
Ella is a spirited child, determined and demanding, active, intelligent and strong-willed. She's observant and it's rare for anything to get past her. Even though she is delightful and entertaining in public settings, she's rather a glass half empty kind of girl at home, never shy to issue a complaint or see the negative in things. At the same time, she lives for anything fun, any adventure, anything out of the ordinary routine, and is a bit of a jokester who likes to tease and play tricks. It'll be interesting to see how these two sides of her personality will develop and whether one will outweigh the other or if there will be balance between them. For now, suffice it to say that we have our hands full with this Armenian blessing who marched into our lives a year ago and just keeps plowing right along.
*Since Ella is now is school and has classmates and friends who can read, write, type and use computers, I am going to limit the details I share about her from here on out. You will still get lots of info and photos as she grows up, but I feel the need to protect her privacy a bit more from now on.
Ella is now seven years old and in first grade. She's very short for her age due to her limb differences, but has gained some height along with about seven pounds of weight since coming home. She's keenly aware in some ways of the physical differences between her and her peers, but with our guidance usually handles herself with confidence and grace. She responded to a girl who told her she didn't like her legs by saying, "Well, I don't like you attitude. It's not nice to say you don't like someone's legs." At another time she told a classmate who asked about her legs, "I don't really want to talk about my body right now. I just want to play." We are often impressed with how she copes with these situations and with how much she is able and willing to do and try physically. Over the summer, Ella learned to swim and to ride a bike with training wheels. Now she's determined to lose those training wheels.
Academically, Ella is within the range of what is normal for a child in first grade. She receives daily ESOL support, but is not pulled for any other interventions. She can read close to 100 sight words and decode many others. We practice reading every night and I can see how she's slowly getting better and better. We also work on spelling which is not Ella's favorite, but again, we notice the progress. Handwriting is the bane of Ella's existence at the moment. She's a lefty like her daddy so we understand the extra difficulties, but she's also just not very fast or precise at forming letters on the page yet. It annoys her to see some of the girls in her class well ahead of her with their penmanship. I am going to ask the school for a new OT eval to see if she can get help specifically with writing skills. Ella is very competitive in all areas of life, but also easily frustrated by anything she perceives in her peers that she cannot yet do herself. We're trying to channel those frustrations into hard work and perseverance, rather than allowing them to shut down Ella's efforts toward progress. Her favorite subjects in school are the weekly time in the computer lab and music. Ella's teachers tell me that when she and Emilia cross paths at school, they always exchange hugs and kisses which warms my heart.
Ella's language acquisition has been incredible thus far. There's no way of quantifying at this point what she can express and understand. She uses words like complicated, nervous, privacy and chrysalis all the time. She still makes some grammatical errors when she speaks, for example, with the use of pronouns he/she and his/her, but they are lessening and she often corrects herself. She understands rhyming and can detect sarcasm in others' speech. I recently had to hold back tears when she had the following exchange with a new medical provider. Her social skills still need work, but have come a long way.
Doctor: Hi, I'm Laura.
Ella: Hi, I'm Ella.
Doctor: How are you?
Ella: I'm fine. How are you?
Doctor sitting down in a chair near Ella: I am great.
Ella stretching out her hand for a shake: Nice to meet you.
Speaking of this doctor, after doing a lot of academic work with Ella over the summer, I had begun to suspect that her eyes and brain were not optimally connected which came as no surprise to me given the lack of stimulation Ella experienced for six years. We had a vision therapy evaluation and I was, indeed, correct. Ella began weekly vision therapy sessions a month ago and is really excited about them. We also have daily vision homework. The doctor believes that in about five months, her eyes and brain and even hands will be a good team. Meanwhile, Ella has reading glasses with a very mild prescription which are helping with some of the immediate issues.
As I mentioned before, our biggest challenge with Ella has been obedience. We are finally seeing improvements after putting some very concrete and strict consequences into place for very specific undesirable behaviors. It's not a perfect solution, but the best we have right now since kids from orphanages often do not respond in the same way to consequences/rewards as their peers who have been in families from birth do. Now, I'm not saying that we don't have to repeat requests more often than we should sometimes and issue some warnings in certain situations, but on the whole I feel like we're seeing less back talk and more immediate compliance from our argumentative child. We also still deal with occasional lying and a month ago Ella told a dangerous and hurtful lie at a family celebration, her biggest to date. This earned her an afternoon grounded to her room and several serious discussions about the potential repercussions of telling such a lie, along with the fact that lying is not acceptable in our family. Since then, she's not lied to us to our knowledge. We're also continuing to focus on gratitude and compassion as high priorities in our family. I plan to do daily exercises in gratitude with Ella next month as we prepare for Thanksgiving and then some activities in kindness during Advent.
Ella has friends in school and has also made friends on our quiet cul-de-sac. She sometimes hangs out with a band of boys and they ride bikes and other wheels up and down the street, have battles, or sit around and chew the fat. Ella is right in the thick of it. However, her favorite friend is a Kindergartener named Claire who lives a couple of houses down from us. They ride the bus together and often go off for a few hours of play right after arriving back home from school. Claire has older brothers, so can handle Ella's somewhat rougher style of play and also knows how to dish it out herself. They're a great match. Ella has learned how to play some board games and enjoys this activity very much, so we have been using it as a reward for completing her homework.
Ella continues to sleep well through the night (usually 10-11 hours) and is a good eater. Her icecream and candy obsession aside, she prefers fresh fruit and veggies as well as meat dishes and soups. She's still not a big fan of American sliced bread (even whole wheat varieties) and would rather have a flat bread, wraps, pita bread, or a roll. I've been making this recipe for her often. I use whole wheat flour and she loves it. She's always super excited when I tell her I baked soft wrap bread for her and she even choose this bread for dessert one night instead of icecream. She's come around to some things she hated at first, like raw carrots, and has stopped enjoying others as much as she used to in the beginning. Even though Ella has fine motor delays in the academic realm, she is able to independently perform self-help tasks, such as tying her shoe laces, opening and closing buttons, styling her hair, buttering a roll, and she even started practicing trimming her nails without help. She definitely likes to be independent. Ella has always been fashion-conscious, but now is developing her own sense of style. Just a few weeks ago she was wearing a plain purple shirt to school and put on two of her necklaces with it. She explained, "Mama, if my shirt had a lot of colors or flowers or something, I probably would not wear a necklace at all. But this shirt is plain, so two necklaces gives people something to look at."
Ella is a spirited child, determined and demanding, active, intelligent and strong-willed. She's observant and it's rare for anything to get past her. Even though she is delightful and entertaining in public settings, she's rather a glass half empty kind of girl at home, never shy to issue a complaint or see the negative in things. At the same time, she lives for anything fun, any adventure, anything out of the ordinary routine, and is a bit of a jokester who likes to tease and play tricks. It'll be interesting to see how these two sides of her personality will develop and whether one will outweigh the other or if there will be balance between them. For now, suffice it to say that we have our hands full with this Armenian blessing who marched into our lives a year ago and just keeps plowing right along.
*Since Ella is now is school and has classmates and friends who can read, write, type and use computers, I am going to limit the details I share about her from here on out. You will still get lots of info and photos as she grows up, but I feel the need to protect her privacy a bit more from now on.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
IAC 330 & 331 Results
The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 330 which was held on September 10, 2015:
1) Spanish dossier from December 2010 referred a male child aged 2 years and 1 month
2) French dossier from April 2011 referred a male child aged 6 years and 11 months
3) Luxembourg dossier from June 2012 referred a female child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status
4) French dossier from October 2012 referred a male child aged 7 with features in health status
5) Swedish dossier from June 2014 referred a male child aged 3 years and 2 months with features in health status
6) German dossier from November 2014 referred a female child aged 9 years and 6 months
7) Canadian dossier from December 2014 referred a male child aged 2 years and 1 month with features in health status
8) US dossier from July 2015 referred a female child aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health status
9) US dossier from August 2015 referred two waiting children (#2590 & #2591) with profiles on the MOJ site
10) US dossier from August 2015 referred a waiting child (#2550) with a profile on the MOJ site
11) US dossier from August 2015 referred a waiting child (#3009) with a profile on the MOJ site
12) US dossier from September 2015 referred a waiting child (#2048) with a profile on the MOJ site
13) US dossier from September 2015 referred two waiting children (#2753 & #2724) with profiles on the MOJ site
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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 331 which was held on September 17, 2015:
1) German dossier from February 2011 referred a female child aged 2 years and 8 months with features in health status
2) Spanish dossier from April 2011 referred two sisters aged 3 years and 4 years and 9 months with features in health status
3) Italian dossier from April 2011 referred a male child aged 6 years and 1 month
4) US dossier from July 2012 referred a male child aged 1 year and 10 months with features in health status
5) Italian dossier from December 2014 referred a male child aged 9 years and 3 months
6) US dossier from April 2015 referred a male child aged 1 year and 10 months with features in health status and a family history
7) US dossier from April 2015 referred a waiting child (#2980) with a profile on the MOJ iste
1) Spanish dossier from December 2010 referred a male child aged 2 years and 1 month
2) French dossier from April 2011 referred a male child aged 6 years and 11 months
3) Luxembourg dossier from June 2012 referred a female child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status
4) French dossier from October 2012 referred a male child aged 7 with features in health status
5) Swedish dossier from June 2014 referred a male child aged 3 years and 2 months with features in health status
6) German dossier from November 2014 referred a female child aged 9 years and 6 months
7) Canadian dossier from December 2014 referred a male child aged 2 years and 1 month with features in health status
8) US dossier from July 2015 referred a female child aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health status
9) US dossier from August 2015 referred two waiting children (#2590 & #2591) with profiles on the MOJ site
10) US dossier from August 2015 referred a waiting child (#2550) with a profile on the MOJ site
11) US dossier from August 2015 referred a waiting child (#3009) with a profile on the MOJ site
12) US dossier from September 2015 referred a waiting child (#2048) with a profile on the MOJ site
13) US dossier from September 2015 referred two waiting children (#2753 & #2724) with profiles on the MOJ site
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 331 which was held on September 17, 2015:
1) German dossier from February 2011 referred a female child aged 2 years and 8 months with features in health status
2) Spanish dossier from April 2011 referred two sisters aged 3 years and 4 years and 9 months with features in health status
3) Italian dossier from April 2011 referred a male child aged 6 years and 1 month
4) US dossier from July 2012 referred a male child aged 1 year and 10 months with features in health status
5) Italian dossier from December 2014 referred a male child aged 9 years and 3 months
6) US dossier from April 2015 referred a male child aged 1 year and 10 months with features in health status and a family history
7) US dossier from April 2015 referred a waiting child (#2980) with a profile on the MOJ iste
Picture Of The Day
Emilia is a favorite visitor at her school's front office and apparently also a new hire. Love the kindness she's shown by the administrative staff.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
What's New With Emilia?
Our little Emilia is now six years old. I can hardly believe it. It seems like yesterday we brought home a sickly and frail 25-months-old from Dobrich. Emilia continues to be a very tender and tiny girl. She weighs about 15 kg and is 104 cm tall. But she has a huge, loving heart and is so affectionate. If you need someone to make you smile and brighten your day, Emilia's the one. It's easy to hurt her feelings or push her past her max as she still deals with the effects of trauma, but in her comfort zone, she's confident and happy. She's delightful company, too, when she is relaxed and doesn't feel any pressure or anxiety.
When it comes to changes and transitions, Emilia is our kiddo that struggles the most. Therefore, I was anxious to send her into half-day Kindergarten this year. Fortunately, all of my fears have been dispelled now as Emilia's doing beautifully in her class. She knows her teachers' names and is especially fond of her aide whom she calls My Miss T. I have had the privilege of volunteering in her classroom and seen the kindness and understanding her classmates extend toward her. Emilia clearly is learning new things in the school setting. Playing tag with Ella recently I heard her yell, "I gotcha" which she had to have picked up during recess. Emilia is up to reading 28 sight words, 18 of which are on the list of 29 sight words she is supposed to master this school year. Her teacher reports that Emilia is making good progress with letter sounds (last I checked she knew 15 consonant sounds and three of the ten vowel sounds) and trying really hard to trace letters. Cognitively, she wants to write, but physically she does not seem able yet. Simple math concepts are still elusive, but I see her now being able to distinguish between big and small and there may be some improvement with one to one correspondence. Her teachers and I are in touch nearly every day and they have told me that they are often surprised by the information Emilia absorbs. Even if she does not seem engaged or interested at the time, she can later in some way re-produce the material or refer to what took place.
Emilia's speech is still much behind her same age peers, but she keeps making progress all the time. We are hearing more and more sentences up to four and five words long. Recently while running errands on a lovely fall day she told us in the car, "I want Christmas. Christmas tree. Jingle bells. I want happy." Apparently she didn't think we got the point because later that afternoon, she went around the house saying, "Hohoho" over and over again. Emilia can make statements like, "No bus yet" or "Icecream is cold" or "I fell down" or" See you soon" or "Knee hurts" or "I want Rex's pizza" or" I play blocks" or "Banana open, please" or "I want to sit on the couch" or "Ella is so pretty." Her single word vocabulary is quite large. She knows and correctly uses words like oboe, caribou, spooky, and crowbar. That said, Emilia is increasingly upset with her struggles to express herself and often resorts to screaming when she wants us to know she disagrees or is frustrated.
At the moment Emilia is a big fan of large vehicles. She especially likes tractors about which she sings a song and firetrucks. She watches firetruck videos on youtube almost daily. She knows where these videos are and navigates to them herself as she does with other favorite videos. Emilia plays with dolls and often rocks them in her arms and sings to them. She can ride a bike with training wheels. She completes simple puzzles on the Kindle and likes to comb my hair. She can feed herself slowly with utensils, get undressed, and stay dry for an entire day at home.
Emilia is the child of ours who wakes up with a huge smile on her face every day. She throws open her bedroom door and runs to find Craig and me to give us big hugs and say her version of I love you over and over again. I can't imagine a better morning greeting than what we receive from our youngest daughter each day. She's a blessing through and through.
When it comes to changes and transitions, Emilia is our kiddo that struggles the most. Therefore, I was anxious to send her into half-day Kindergarten this year. Fortunately, all of my fears have been dispelled now as Emilia's doing beautifully in her class. She knows her teachers' names and is especially fond of her aide whom she calls My Miss T. I have had the privilege of volunteering in her classroom and seen the kindness and understanding her classmates extend toward her. Emilia clearly is learning new things in the school setting. Playing tag with Ella recently I heard her yell, "I gotcha" which she had to have picked up during recess. Emilia is up to reading 28 sight words, 18 of which are on the list of 29 sight words she is supposed to master this school year. Her teacher reports that Emilia is making good progress with letter sounds (last I checked she knew 15 consonant sounds and three of the ten vowel sounds) and trying really hard to trace letters. Cognitively, she wants to write, but physically she does not seem able yet. Simple math concepts are still elusive, but I see her now being able to distinguish between big and small and there may be some improvement with one to one correspondence. Her teachers and I are in touch nearly every day and they have told me that they are often surprised by the information Emilia absorbs. Even if she does not seem engaged or interested at the time, she can later in some way re-produce the material or refer to what took place.
Emilia's speech is still much behind her same age peers, but she keeps making progress all the time. We are hearing more and more sentences up to four and five words long. Recently while running errands on a lovely fall day she told us in the car, "I want Christmas. Christmas tree. Jingle bells. I want happy." Apparently she didn't think we got the point because later that afternoon, she went around the house saying, "Hohoho" over and over again. Emilia can make statements like, "No bus yet" or "Icecream is cold" or "I fell down" or" See you soon" or "Knee hurts" or "I want Rex's pizza" or" I play blocks" or "Banana open, please" or "I want to sit on the couch" or "Ella is so pretty." Her single word vocabulary is quite large. She knows and correctly uses words like oboe, caribou, spooky, and crowbar. That said, Emilia is increasingly upset with her struggles to express herself and often resorts to screaming when she wants us to know she disagrees or is frustrated.
At the moment Emilia is a big fan of large vehicles. She especially likes tractors about which she sings a song and firetrucks. She watches firetruck videos on youtube almost daily. She knows where these videos are and navigates to them herself as she does with other favorite videos. Emilia plays with dolls and often rocks them in her arms and sings to them. She can ride a bike with training wheels. She completes simple puzzles on the Kindle and likes to comb my hair. She can feed herself slowly with utensils, get undressed, and stay dry for an entire day at home.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Falling For Fall
The weather this month has been all over the place with daytime highs sometimes close to 80 degrees and nights down into the 40s. Over the weekend, we finally had our first frost. Craig and I decided it was as good a time as any to have some fall fun with the kids. So, on Saturday after all the therapies and errands, we made a campfire and roasted our dinner and dessert.
On Sunday we went trick or treating at the zoo. I don't know why of all places the zoo is a big landmark in measuring our kids' progress over the years, but every time we go, we can see how far they have come since the last visit. Lately, all three of them are into petting animals (except for dogs in Ella's case - she's terrified of them).
We saw quite a few animals still out for the season and, of course, stopped at our favorites. Add a ride on the carousel and a few sweet treats and we had a good time.
On Sunday we went trick or treating at the zoo. I don't know why of all places the zoo is a big landmark in measuring our kids' progress over the years, but every time we go, we can see how far they have come since the last visit. Lately, all three of them are into petting animals (except for dogs in Ella's case - she's terrified of them).
We saw quite a few animals still out for the season and, of course, stopped at our favorites. Add a ride on the carousel and a few sweet treats and we had a good time.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Amazing Average
At the beginning of the school year, Ella participated in required MAP testing in math and reading. Today we received the results and are completely blown away by them. After less than one year of speaking English and of receiving targeted academic input, Ella scored only seven points below the Norm Grade Level Mean RIT for math and one point above the Norm Grade Level Mean RIT for reading. Most surprisingly, her vocabulary use and functions were scored as high average. In my totally biased opinion this is an incredible accomplishment by our determined little girl. Average is beautiful! Go, Ella!
Monday, October 12, 2015
A Precious Gift From Gyumri
Friends of ours recently traveled to Ella's former orphanage to meet their daughter-to-be. They returned with a most precious gift for us: 75 digital photos of Ella's first six years. We are so thankful to our friends, the new orphanage director, and the orphanage staff for this invaluable treasure.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Emilia Is Six
We recently celebrated Emilia's sixth birthday. My baby is growing up.
Emilia's actual birthday happened to be a day off school for the girls, so Craig and I arranged for a visit at a firehouse where our friend Bryan is a full-time firefighter. Given Emilia's current interest in firetrucks, we knew she would love this surprise. After some initial hesitation, she had so much fun. And she told us many parts of the firetruck: wheel, hose, ladder, ax, crowbar...
After lunch and a nap pit stop at home, we headed to a local pumpkin patch. We weren't actually all that interested in the pumpkins, but came mostly to ride the wagons which were pulled by tractors, another one of Emilia's favorite things at the moment. We had such a good time on a gorgeous fall day riding around a big farm. They also had several tractors parked and Emilia climbed onto all of them and pretended to drive. She kept singing her little tractor song, too. I think the tractors were the biggest hit of the day for her.
We decided to keep Emilia's party with family and friends small and low key at a local park in early afternoon. Our theme was "You Color Our World." I made a garland and party favors from paint cards I picked up for free at Lowes. Our supplies were crazy colorful and the DF chocolate cupcakes had rainbow sprinkles. We also served banitsa, a traditional Bulgarian dish, and fresh fruit. We had some paint on hand for anyone interested, but mostly the kids played away on the playground. We asked our guests to wear their most colorful outfits which everyone did.
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| Commenting on her tea set gift, "I have tiny cup present." |
Emilia's actual birthday happened to be a day off school for the girls, so Craig and I arranged for a visit at a firehouse where our friend Bryan is a full-time firefighter. Given Emilia's current interest in firetrucks, we knew she would love this surprise. After some initial hesitation, she had so much fun. And she told us many parts of the firetruck: wheel, hose, ladder, ax, crowbar...
 |
| A ride around the block in a real firetruck |
 |
| Trying on Bryan's equipment |
After lunch and a nap pit stop at home, we headed to a local pumpkin patch. We weren't actually all that interested in the pumpkins, but came mostly to ride the wagons which were pulled by tractors, another one of Emilia's favorite things at the moment. We had such a good time on a gorgeous fall day riding around a big farm. They also had several tractors parked and Emilia climbed onto all of them and pretended to drive. She kept singing her little tractor song, too. I think the tractors were the biggest hit of the day for her.
 |
| On the hayride |
We decided to keep Emilia's party with family and friends small and low key at a local park in early afternoon. Our theme was "You Color Our World." I made a garland and party favors from paint cards I picked up for free at Lowes. Our supplies were crazy colorful and the DF chocolate cupcakes had rainbow sprinkles. We also served banitsa, a traditional Bulgarian dish, and fresh fruit. We had some paint on hand for anyone interested, but mostly the kids played away on the playground. We asked our guests to wear their most colorful outfits which everyone did.
Happy birthday, sweetest girl.
We treasure your hugs and kisses, your giggles
and your unstoppable big belly laughs at life's slapstick moments.
We see your beauty, inside and out,
your compassion for others,
your talent for bringing happiness and smiles to those around you.
We know when you scream in frustration or disagreement
it's because you have more to share than you're able to verbalize.
We're always listening to your words and your heart.
We love you just the way you are.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Picture Of The Day
Note from Rex's therapist: "Today after cot time, Rex took the blanket over to 'H' to put over top of him. The two of them always swap blankets, funny boys. Rex was putting the blanket as gently as he could over top of 'H' and even tried to get on the same cot as him. That didn't really work, the cot is a bit small. Rex got off and readjusted the blanket for it to cover 'H.' Super cute that Rex realized 'H' was still sleeping and gave up the blanket he was using to cover 'H' up."
Monday, October 5, 2015
Double Digits
I realized recently that the number of words that Rex can say now is in the double digits. These are not words that he can verbally imitate only, but words that he uses purposefully, spontaneously and in correct context. The biggest feats so far in my opinion are hi and bye as well as approximations for yes and no.
I understand that this may not mean anything to parents whose children's language development occurred naturally and effortlessly, but when, like us, you have been told that your child would never speak, every single word uttered is a miracle.
We also found out rather by accident that Rex knows quite a few shapes. When his teachers started to test him in this area after our unexpected discovery, he could identify either receptively or by tacting a star ("gar"), heart ("har"), circle, diamond and oval ("ovah"). They then decided to probe if he knows any colors and Rex showed that he recognizes at least four different colors (but he may be red green blind based on some observations during sorting). In March of this year during Rex's IEP meetings I suggested that we should write shape and color identification into his academic goals and was practically sneered at for thinking that Rex would be capable of acquiring such knowledge. In your face, people, my kid may rock to the beat of his own drummer, but he still rocks!
I understand that this may not mean anything to parents whose children's language development occurred naturally and effortlessly, but when, like us, you have been told that your child would never speak, every single word uttered is a miracle.
We also found out rather by accident that Rex knows quite a few shapes. When his teachers started to test him in this area after our unexpected discovery, he could identify either receptively or by tacting a star ("gar"), heart ("har"), circle, diamond and oval ("ovah"). They then decided to probe if he knows any colors and Rex showed that he recognizes at least four different colors (but he may be red green blind based on some observations during sorting). In March of this year during Rex's IEP meetings I suggested that we should write shape and color identification into his academic goals and was practically sneered at for thinking that Rex would be capable of acquiring such knowledge. In your face, people, my kid may rock to the beat of his own drummer, but he still rocks!
Thursday, October 1, 2015
September Randomness
Here are some random snippets from life at our house.
Chicken salad: there are very few things that I make that all three of my kids like to eat or are able to eat. I recently resurrected the chicken salad and it's currently a rare favorite with all the small Martinis. The recipe is simple: white chicken, fresh basil leaves, garlic, a pinch of salt, and mayo mixed together in a food processor. Ella likes it in a wrap for her school lunch, Rex enjoys it on a chip and Emilia eats it straight up from a spoon. Win-win-win.
Allowance: Ella has started to receive a weekly allowance of $1.00. In addition to her regular unpaid chores, she can earn an extra 50 cents for folding a basket of laundry without being asked at any time and another dollar for cleaning her room (put everything into its place and sweep) once a week. She's already done both chores multiple times. She has three little jars for keeping her money: Save, Spend, and Give. Ella's saving for either a new bike helmet or a pair of rain boots, so I was especially touched when she put 50 cents into the Give jar with the words, "Everyone needs a little help." She made her first purchase of a mood necklace and four pieces of candy as well, two pieces for herself and two for Emilia as she informed me while choosing. Rex doesn't like any candy, otherwise I am sure she would have thought of him, too.
Birthday greetings:
Therapies: We're going through a lot of changes in the kids' therapies. We're staying with the same practice, but the therapists are now new hires under the experienced lead therapist/owner. Even at Rex's school, Rex is working with a new OT and new ABA person and a new Kindergarten teacher. Fortunately, he's not picky in this regard and completes his tasks for just about anyone.
Acquired torticollis: That was Emilia's official diagnosis after a play-related injury. She's fine now, but she was in quite a bit of pain for about 48 hours, "Head hurts. I sad."
Hearts: Ella worked very hard on a secret craft project one afternoon. Before bed, she had all of us sit on the couch, so she could share the surprise with us. She had cut out hearts for each of us and written our names on them. Granted, the hearts look more like Rorschach inkblots, but you gotta love what she was conveying to us.
Chicken salad: there are very few things that I make that all three of my kids like to eat or are able to eat. I recently resurrected the chicken salad and it's currently a rare favorite with all the small Martinis. The recipe is simple: white chicken, fresh basil leaves, garlic, a pinch of salt, and mayo mixed together in a food processor. Ella likes it in a wrap for her school lunch, Rex enjoys it on a chip and Emilia eats it straight up from a spoon. Win-win-win.
Allowance: Ella has started to receive a weekly allowance of $1.00. In addition to her regular unpaid chores, she can earn an extra 50 cents for folding a basket of laundry without being asked at any time and another dollar for cleaning her room (put everything into its place and sweep) once a week. She's already done both chores multiple times. She has three little jars for keeping her money: Save, Spend, and Give. Ella's saving for either a new bike helmet or a pair of rain boots, so I was especially touched when she put 50 cents into the Give jar with the words, "Everyone needs a little help." She made her first purchase of a mood necklace and four pieces of candy as well, two pieces for herself and two for Emilia as she informed me while choosing. Rex doesn't like any candy, otherwise I am sure she would have thought of him, too.
Birthday greetings:
Therapies: We're going through a lot of changes in the kids' therapies. We're staying with the same practice, but the therapists are now new hires under the experienced lead therapist/owner. Even at Rex's school, Rex is working with a new OT and new ABA person and a new Kindergarten teacher. Fortunately, he's not picky in this regard and completes his tasks for just about anyone.
Acquired torticollis: That was Emilia's official diagnosis after a play-related injury. She's fine now, but she was in quite a bit of pain for about 48 hours, "Head hurts. I sad."
Hearts: Ella worked very hard on a secret craft project one afternoon. Before bed, she had all of us sit on the couch, so she could share the surprise with us. She had cut out hearts for each of us and written our names on them. Granted, the hearts look more like Rorschach inkblots, but you gotta love what she was conveying to us.
Weather: We had the best weather this month. I guess I can now let go of our botched June.
Sprained ankle: It happened to Craig. He's wearing a boot.
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