Amazing Advice For All of Us

3x5 Folded Card

3x5 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Has Come Early

I don't post as much anymore but I couldn't let this moment pass without documenting it. We got to see Santa on Sunday! A million thanks to the organization "Spare Some for Autism" for organizing the absolutely perfect event "Sensitive Santa" at Crabtree Mall. I'll start at the end. Ozzy and I were driving home with Sofie in the backseat and a photo envelope in my hand. "We just took our little girl to see Santa." And Ozzy replied with a smile, "I know."

Last year at this time I never would have imagined we would ever be able to take Sofie to see Santa. Ever. It just seemed like a dream. And a million thanks to our therapists for teaching us ways to get Sofie involved with Christmas. I'll save our fun crafty sensory-lovin' holiday decorating for another post. But through all of these tips we were able to get Sofie excited about Christmas and ready for Santa. The night before taking Sofie to the mall, we said "Sofie we are going to see Santa tomorrow and say 'hi' " and she softly replied "see santa, see santa"

When we arrived at the mall, we made sure to have no expectations of how the visit would go. The organizers were simply amazing. The event took place before the mall opened. We didn't have to deal with loud crowds and the usual mall muzak. All the lights were off and only natural light flooded the quiet mall.

When we arrived at Santa's village we were greeted by a sweet volunteer offering to wait in line while we enjoyed some of the craft and toy tables. "I'll come find you when it's your turn." I looked towards the line and saw a line of other young people wearing "volunteer" shirts. Sofie held our hand as we made our way to the sticker table. Along with a sticker table, there was also a lego table and christmas crafts table-even balloon animals.

It was our turn and we made our way to Santa's red carpet. I crouched down and said to Sofie "There is Santa! Hi Santa." Sofie started jumping up and down really hard and smiling. Sofie was excited to see this Santa she read so much about. We walked up to Santa and he asked for a high five from Sofie. Sofie gave a delicate high-five and even a low-five. Amazing. As we discussed with Sofie earlier, we told her she could try sitting on Santa's lap but didn't have to. Sofie wanted to try but took us very much at our word. She sat on his lap and after about a minute (probably way less, felt longer) she wanted off and got very squirmy and whiny. Afterwards she was proud when we said how proud we were of her. She also seemed emotionally and physically exhausted afterwards and spent much of the walk back to the car resting on my shoulder. I honestly don't think I need anything else this Christmas. That was the best :)

Feeling very thankful this evening.

It Just Full

We took Sofie to the Butterfly House in Durham this past weekend. While in there she was all shaky smiles as the butterflies fluttered over her head. At one point she wanted to touch the cobble stone path. We told her she couldn't so she pulled herself up on the nearby bench. She gently ran her hands along the polished wood, clicked her heels together a few times, smiled and said "it just full, just full" as she took it all in. Sofie's word for beautiful is "full", so she was saying "it's just beautiful, just beautiful" I am so thankful for all the therapy Sofie receives but am more convinced than ever that making Sofie more "like us" would be wrong. All I want is for her learn a second language, our boring spoken one, and she seems to be doing just fine with that. I want her to be comfortable in her skin and able to learn about the world she loves so intensely. I don't want any of those beautiful eccentricities to go away. She really does have powers, our little princess.

Table Time With Mommy & Her Super Hero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgZ1aF8RoF8

Sofie's Words

-daddy, mama, again, "I sighted (excited)", I'm Mad!", I oppy (happy)", "I did that", "I get," "I got," "gapes (grapes)", "bye-bye" chicken, "I love you" "I love you too" "my baby" "outside" "open" "hands" "ses (sesame)" "I really like it" "I like it" "yessh (yes)" "all done" "mine" "nigh nigh" "I don't know" "uppa" "ice" "i said" "I gotcha" "bubbles" I feel like I am forgetting a few. I will definitely update this more often so I don't forget. Now we just have to work on Sofie speaking more often. But it is happening :) Another benefit of taking a break from blogging, I can see how far we have come in just a summer! Going to bed very happy.

Summer Recap

Uggh...just accidentally hit delete. Boo. This will definitely aid in trimming up my thoughts a bit and cut down on rambling. I took the summer off from writing and after reading the last entry I think I have a better idea of why. I was being really hard on myself and I don't think writing was helping. I turned to drawing for therapy. I was trying to work out "our story" in my head and beating myself up that I couldn't find the words. I would love to write a children's book aimed at families with free-spirited kids like our Bubu. At Ozzy's urging I am taking a page from Sofie and letting the pictures come first and the words later. I have some of the visuals of a book and the phrasing is beginning to come. I am inspired to work on this project because I don't want to explain Sofie to anyone. I don't want her to be tolerated. I want her to be celebrated. I want to expect things from her. I don't want to settle on the easy path because the thought of that path makes me sad. I think it is because settling suggests that we are selling Sofie short. I, so often, am worried about my art leading to something ( a few dollars, some vain praise). But this book project has brought me to something more- I am doing it for me. If anyone else is moved by it-great. But that isn't what drives me. Thank you Sofie for that lesson. I choose to twirl. These days we are feeling very hopeful for the future and THAT is scary as hell. Sofie had her six month evaluation in May and her therapy team, Ozzy and I agreed that she was ready to be in a school setting with typically developing kids. With the recommendations from her team and suggestions on what to look for, we started looking for a half-day preschool for Sofie. God bless the internet. We found White Plains Children's Center in Cary. It is AMAZING! During the tour Sofie wanted to stay. That really gave us the push we needed to realize that she was ready. So she started in mid-June going three days a week. She loves it and we are so thrilled that therapy in the months prior gave her the tools she needed to excel there. The teachers are sweet and very knowledgeable. Sofie seems to talk more at school. That has been a real education for us-the words are in there. Can't say enough good things about school. I just love that they see Sofie for Sofie and not as any academic diagnosis. The kids seem to really like Sofie and she seems, at least, intrigued by them. She is improving following directions and most importantly loves going to school. It makes me so hopeful for pre-school and kindergarten. She is proving every school day that she can learn from her peers. One little girl in her class loves dolls and Sofie held a doll at school and patted it on the back and rocked it saying "mah-beh-bee. mah-beh-bee" Feeling so hopeful and that makes me scared. Am I being naive to daydream of Sofie in a mainstream kindergarten classroom? Time will tell. We begin the meetings with Wake County schools in about a month. A fun scary time. So much more to say but I will stop for now.