September 16

This week we were just shy of 20 hours. It is amazing the difference it makes to have a few volunteers! I am astounded to report that as of now I no longer need any volunteers. Holy cow! With the two new people I recently started/am about to start training, we are all set to achieve 30-40 hours a week once Sonia is here and we are fully up and running. Holy cow! I am just so amazed with how all of this has come together. I am so blessed. So blessed by my volunteers and by my amazing family and friends. Word of mouth is such a powerful tool.  I have gotten 4 volunteers because of A.! Because he talked about what he was doing and how much he was enjoying it. It is like thinking you received one present and discovering 4 more inside.

This week when Carl was playing with Sarah and they were drawing on the white board, he asked if she could draw a circle. She did a pretty good job at the circle and then spontaneously said her version of "color in" and proceeded to do a better job of that than ever before. This is exciting in terms of both spontaneity as well as skill. I have requested that she color things in and it is usually a scribble covering the object and reaching far beyond as well. I have modeled coloring things in and staying in the lines. It is exciting when things seem to percolate inside her and come out more fully processed.

When Sarah was playing with Sy. and heard Amy crying, Sarah proceeded to spend 5 minutes interactively talking to Sy. about falling down the stairs and going to the hospital. She had eye contact the whole time. Sarah and I spend lots of time talking about this subject but it is super exciting that she chose to tell another person and that Shephaly could understand! One of my new volunteers, Sc., was also able to understand almost all of what little S told her - another amazing thing. It is so hard to remember a year ago when Sarah barely said any words. She had signs and the beginning sound of many words and a few complete words. Now she says 3-5 word sentences!

Another subject that Sarah likes talking about is when something goes down the wrong tube, such as Amy's juice or water. When G. was here and Amy was drinking and then coughed he said that something went down the wrong pipe. Sarah clearly understood and was tickled by this alternative word choice. In general I make a conscious choice not to dumb down my speaking. Certainly there are times to be simple but there are many other times when I purposely smart up my speaking and use big words and weird words and nerdy words. I so much appreciate when other people also expect that she can understand things.

I hope everything is going down the right tube for all of you.