Grammy and Granddad are visiting and we are all having a wonderful time. Sarah's favorite thing to do is sit on Granddad's lap buttoning and unbuttoning his shirt. She also worked on his shoe laces a bit.
Last weekend we took the girls to a bookstore to use gift cards they had received for Christmas. This was their first trip to a store with their own money. As with so many outings, it was really great to have two adults because the girls had very different shopping styles and desires. Sarah bought two Olivia books that were inexpensive. Amy bought a Dora book, a doll sticker book, a Hello Kitty stuffed animal, and a Clifford stuffed animal, maxing out her gift card. It was really great to experience this first shopping trip with them, helping Amy make choices about what things to put back based on her funds, and allowing her freedom to buy whatever she wanted even if it wasn't my first choice.
Sunday night I came home from Zumba in time to overhear Sarah saying, "I love you, Amy" at bedtime!!!!!! I think that was a first. It hasn't happened again, but everything has to happen once before it can happen a second time, so this feels hugely adorably exciting.
Tuesday was my shared birthday with Amy and I had a marvelous day. I used to get caught up in keeping track of who remembered and measuring how good a birthday it was accordingly. In the past few years I have taken much more ownership over having a good day regardless of what others do and my experience is so much fuller. I had a delicious breakfast with one of my dear friends, then a pizza lunch out with Amy, and then dinner with Carl at one of my favorite restaurants. And there was lots of love from other people to top it all off. What a wonderful day!
I had a wonderful time with Sarah in the SR room. I didn't get very much official time this week but what time I did have was lovely. It was a good reminder about how important the room is for my experience, helping me let go of external responsibilities and just enjoy our time together. When I'm really present I feel like there is a magic quietness to the air in the SR room.
Recently, on multiple occasions, I have found Sarah on her own in the SR room, playing games that she recently played with volunteers. A new favorite game is making milkshakes and ice cream in our trash can (it looks like a hippo). She also enjoys lying on the floor and moving the Mr. Potato Head tent, that is very light weight, over her head while saying, "up, down, left, right."
As I write, I am hearing lots of yelling from Sarah. There are daily periods of loud yelling, which is nothing new. They are often short but they are still loud. Wednesday night was bath night and hair-washing night. And yelling night. Sarah yelled a ton every time I would approach with the shampoo. I tried several times to find out if there was something specific that she didn't like so maybe I could change it. I did my best to stay calm and then I totally lost that and yelled even more loudly than Sarah, while quickly washing her hair. Then we all snuggled together and both girls seemed quite sparkly and unphased by my yelling. Hmm. I'm glad they seemed unphased. I'm glad I only did a short bit of yelling. I'm glad I got Sarah's hair clean. I would like to not yell. I would like to find a way to get Sarah's hair clean without her yelling. She hasn't always minded. I'm not sure whether to go really Son-Risey and not force the issue at all or whether I should do it more often so she would get used to the sensory experience, except that I have to be careful how many baths she has so her skin doesn't get too dry and itchy.
Our field trip this week was to the History Center. It was awesome. There were very few people and there are lots of things for hands-on exploring, not to mention an old trolley car that you can sit in and a pretend ice cream shop. I think both girls could easily spend more time there. And, again, it was good to have two adults because the girls often wanted to do different things.
I wish you all easy ownership over having your own wonderful day, if that is what you would like to have.
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