30 July 2008

Bumps in the road, but WE ARE ON A ROAD!

Ah, just when things seem to be going smoothly, bumps happen!

1. We really think the listening therapy is helping Julia organize herself -- does that make sense? We had some really figity days this weekend and to my eyes Julia's behavior was very autistic-like. Then, yesterday she seemed to calm down. David even commented that she seems like another child. She seems to be inhabiting more of her body. She is also building her vocabulary like crazy -- yesterday, she was upset not angry. This morning she complained about ant bites. When I corrected her that it was the mosquitos that were biting her, she corrected me and told me, "no, it ants."

So where is the bump here? Well, the headphones that we are using belongs to our rehab center. They loaned them for 2 weeks which already was more than they like to do. I am full ready to plop down my cash and get the kit, but the headphones are on back order until the middle of next month. I was really hoping that we could be using them during this next month. We have therapy today, so I am going to beg.

2. With all this forward movement, something has to give. Right? The give point is sleep. It is taking Julia enormous amounts of time to fall asleep -- starting bedtime reading at 7:45 or so and turning out the light about 8:20, Julia is taking until 9:30-10 to get to sleep. Ach! Since either David or I lay in bed with her until she falls asleep, this really cuts into our adult time. That is, we have NO adult time.

3. Julia is becoming a more discriminating eater. She doesn't want salad every night! She asks for noodles a few times a week; she asks for Nu-nu, meat with fat on it. So, okay, she is becoming a more normal 7 year old, but how soon am I going to be longing for those days when she would eat, without question, anything that was put in front of her?

4. And there is not bump here, but yesterday when I went to pick up Julia, she told me about her day -- well, really her lunch ("no, peanut and jelly any more") and swimming -- and carefully cut in half the twisler that one of the parents had brought for the kids getting off the bus. She was also easy to get going this morning and when we were walking to the bus she saw the bus counselor, Haley, about a half block ahead of us. She called out to Haley and ran all the way to her. This is amazing behavior -- recognition, calling out, deciding to run, and staying on task until she got there and hugged Haley. I guess the bump here is that I really want her to continue with the listening therapy so that she has gotten as much as she can out of it when we start family therapy when we come back from vacation.

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