Fall?

Summer is over? No one told us...or Mother Nature for that matter! Yep, it has still been quite hot here and we are still in summer mode, no matter what the calendar says.

Sammy attempts to keep a bit of dignity but as he is a 'people dog' and wants to be around the girls more than he wants to keep to himself, he often gets dressed up.

The crazy thing is that he just sits there while she plays with him, dresses him up, combs his hair...you name it...he lets K do anything!

Need I say anything?

We went for a hike this weekend without backpacks, cameras or anything.  We required the girls to walk on their own and look around them for things to do.  It took a little while to adjust but soon they were collecting rocks, walking in the the water, playing and enjoying themselves.  At one point, K was taking mud from the creek and building stuff on the rocks when M asked her if she was making a castle to which she responded, "No!  I'm making a farm!"  This cracked me up given our backgrounds yet spewing from the mouth of a child who has grown up in the middle of the city.

Speaking of farms, this was so cute I had to take a pic.  One of the days Em's teacher was here she brought a tactile activity all full of black beans.  K is watering her eggplants...with black beans.

Em is standing in the bucket of black bean soil and watering her carrots with black beans.

This teacher is really good at involving K in all the activities and it has greatly helped with K's tactile aversion!

And this is her.  I actually get to know these ladies pretty well as I spend two to three mornings a week with them.

Well, the "battle of the glasses" turned out to be the easiest new glasses transition ever.  Other than the very first afternoon fights, she hasn't taken them off.  I cannot, however, tell if she is using them correctly.  I am supposed to be looking for head tilts but I don't really see them and if you look back at the pics, you will see that, at least thus far, it does not seem to be helping with the eye crossing.  My understanding is that this will take time and we will see our dr in a couple of weeks to check it out.

On the potty training front, I have no idea how to classify her...potty trained, almost? For the most part she goes all day without an accident, even her nap, but it is also not unusual for her to have an accident.  The problem is that now she thinks she should try to clean up her accidents and since they usually involve poop, it usually means poop all over the toilet, walls, bathroom floor and wherever she started.  She really is doing superb (considering) but it is incredibly difficult to have the kind of patience it requires to deal with potty training for this long.  My big battle is not to get mad when I walk in to see Emily spreading poop all over the toilet (as she tries to wipe it off) and realize I now get to stop whatever I was doing to clean a kid and the entire bathroom.  (The smell never leaves either!!)  :-)  

Anyway, she is also about to turn three and that is when her teacher's government agency drops her and hands her over to the school district so I have been back and forth with the schools and trying to push them along to getting her IEP (special ed stuff) finished before we have a lapse in care. There has been a massive disconnect between the two agencies so I have been fighting much harder than I should have to.  I have been told by honest individuals (within the system) I trust that Em is a very likely candidate to "fall through the cracks".  She is not severe enough to require attention but clearly not capable of survival in a regular classroom. Honestly, I am scared this is going to fall completely on my shoulders yet I know I don't have the training to understand how to best help her and am fairly certain I don't have the patience for it.  Your prayers for us in this would be greatly appreciated!  

On the K front, she is developing perfectly normal.  Yipee!!  :-)  She is past all the major mile stones but continues to learn to speak more clearly, to relate more appropriately, and to develop all the skills necessary for life and education.  Her imagination is going ballistic and it seems like she is pretending all the time now.  She says the funniest things pretty much all day long as she is observant of everything and never forgets a single thing (except when I tell her not to do something she wants to do).  

The other day she was looking at Daddy's "wiskas" (whiskers) and she told him, "Daddy, looks like you have salt and pepper in your wiskas!"  She always has to know what color bra I am wearing and feels the need to dress me before we go out.  The other day she told me, "Mom, you can NOT go out like that!"  Since I can promise that did not come from me, I believe I can confidently say some girls are just born girly.  M and I always joke about who is responsible for her girly-ness and we end up blaming it on some long lost relative somewhere.  Our goal now is to turn her into a hiking, camping, not afraid to get dirty girly girl.  It is taking a very long time.  :)

She loves school and can't wait to start "nagsticks".  We did a gymnastics trial and she loved it but we are saving up for the start up fees and teaching her a little about waiting for things we want.  We will start when we get back from vacation.

Well, God Bless!!