Friends! On Friday, we saw Sarah with her school friends and it filled our hearts. Well, Carl’s and mine. Amy was rather jealous whenever Sarah was part of her school group getting pictures taken before their performance at the St. Anthony School Program holiday party. The way Amy expressed her jealousy was by complaining about how boring everything was. But it was really wonderful seeing Sarah with her friends as they laughed with each other. It wasn’t that Sarah was having big conversations, but she had small interactions, and it definitely felt like we were getting a window into her school life. One of Sarah’s friends was next to her for the performance of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and he helped make sure she wasn’t hidden behind Santa at the end. When I sent a message to his mom about how sweet that was, she said he often talked about helping Sarah during the rehearsals and that he sits with her almost every day at lunch. Melt my heart!!
To back up a bit, last weekend we made a gingerbread house and decorated it, as we do every year. I made the gingerbread, tracing pieces of cardboard for the walls and roof. I baked the pieces much longer than I would bake cookies so that they were firm. Using frosting as glue, the walls were erected and dried for at least 12 hours before the roof was added. Then that had to dry for another 12 hours before the house was stable enough to have more frosting and lots of candy added to it. A yummy time was had by all. Amy made a wall with magical items such as a wand and cauldron. She also made a cat face. Sarah made an EXIT sign out of Andes mints.
Amy and Carl started a letter war. I’m not sure how it began but somehow they started taping Qs and Zs and As on little slips of paper all over the house, trying to surprise each other with new locations. There were many moments when Carl was walking around with letters taped to his back.
We also watched a Mariah Carey Christmas special and the kids loved it. Amy ran upstairs to get in fancy clothes. She brought her microphone that she made from modeling clay and she gave Sarah a marker to use as a microphone. They stood in front of the tv singing along to the best of their ability. It was super adorable.
In other news, someone on Sarah’s school van tested positive for Covid. She isn’t considered a close contact because she wasn’t sitting next to the person, she is vaccinated, and all were wearing masks. So she doesn’t have to quarantine, according to the policy of her school. The bus and driver do though because they are part of the Pittsburgh Public School system so the policy is different. When I first heard the news about a case on her van my life for the next couple of weeks flashed before my eyes as I was concerned she would have to be home. So the fact that I have to drive her to and from school every day through December 20th feels like no trouble at all! I did have to rearrange my clients a bit and unfortunately had to cancel a few appointments. Carl also needs to stay home longer each morning to get Amy to school, but these seem like small accommodations to make. The ridiculous thing is that the bus can drive Sarah again on December 21, which is her last day before winter break. However, that is also the only day when I couldn’t easily pick her up, so perhaps all of this is perfect.
Sarah continues to have startle seizure moments in her sleep. Overall I think these happen less frequently than they used to, but she seems to be having slightly bigger moments when they do happen. They sound like possible seizures from afar but by the time we get to her she is sitting up and just wants to be tucked in. Or she says, “that’s better.” One night she told me her lips didn’t feel ok. That was disturbing information, but I couldn’t get any more details or clarity from her.
Anyway, overall things are good. We are mostly ready for Christmas and we plan on making gingerbread cookies today.
May you all have a friend who notices if your light is being blocked, and gently guides you to inhabiting your full and clear space.
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