My "marathon" of being on my own (with Sonia and Carl out of town simultaneously) is at a close. I was very much not on my own and the whole thing went incredibly smoothly. (Luckily the nights went well.) I have such wonderful people surrounding and helping me. This past week my dad came out to help and it was absolutely wonderful. The girls loved having him here, as did I. Tomorrow my mom arrives so my cup runneth over with a bounty of loving and helpful parents! I am deeply blessed in so many ways!!
Preschool went well both days, with my attending to Sarah occasionally. Sometimes she told me to move away. She seems less resistant to prompts from her teachers than to prompts from me. She waited very patiently for her turn with a painting project on Thursday. She also helps with the clean-up and I have learned from watching her teachers that the way to get her help is to ask her to do a very specific task, rather than asking for her general help. I tried this at home on Friday and she did both things that I requested.
One of the things Sarah loves to do at school is to pretend to be Ms. C. After circle time, when the kids are dismissed to free play, Sarah usually seizes the opportunity to sit in C's rocking chair and do what she can to sing the weather song and the days of the week song, with movements. Though no one is near her I usually hear her squeak out, "pretending to be Ms. C!" She then plays with the calendar and velcro number pieces. Because her teachers are just so awesome, they created a velcro alphabet board because of how Sarah was playing with the calendar board.
At school on Thursday the snack for the other kids was vanilla pudding. Sarah usually handles her food restrictions very well, and she even handled this limitation well but she made it clear that she wished she had some. I told her we would make some at home (having no clue how I would make this happen). Total success! Here is my recipe for Sarah's vanilla pudding:
large dollop of raw cashew butter
1 small spoonful of coconut butter
coconut milk, enough to thin the mixture to desired consistency
tiny sploosh of vanilla extract
Stir. Serve.
Sarah looooves this. I have to make sure she eats other foods throughout the day and gets enough water because if left to her own devices I think she would eat nothing but vanilla pudding. Luckily it is high in protein and calories, both of which are still very good for our little pipsqueak.
Sarah's movements to the music routine are getting stronger. She is at her most focused and active when it is just the two of us in the room. When Amy participates too then Sarah needs more prompting and is clearly interested in watching Amy move. Sarah's tip-toeing is getting quite solid. Sometimes she even does it backwards. As I watched her on Friday I marveled at her strong legs and beautiful foot alignment. When she was very young and learning to walk she pronated her feet to a severe degree in her effort to gain stability. We used AFO's a little bit (a plastic brace of sorts to keep her foot lined up with her ankle). In theory we were supposed to use them all the time, but there were conflicting theories with the Anat Baniel Method, which suggested letting her feet be free so she could explore her movements and get feedback. We did some of both. Looking at her walking and tip-toeing now, I don't think anyone would ever guess how pronated she used to be. Hurray for growth and development and strength.
When Sarah jumps on the trampoline she has been starting to attempt a one-legged jump. This is completely her own idea and it is adorable to see her trying to figure it out. Sometimes she lifts one leg entirely (while holding the support bar) and other times she puts one leg behind her on the edge of the trampoline.
Sarah's pronoun use is getting much better. So is Amy's. They are also asking for things more sweetly and I think I've caught an occasional spontaneous "thanks" from Sarah. Part of the reason for all of this is that I have been asking for all of it directly and explicitly. To help with pronouns I tell them how to say what they mean to say and they repeat.
I have been feeling a tiny bit less irritated by some of the girls' upsets lately. I think this is because of my recent talk with M. and realizing that the girls are just in stages of development and that it is where they are supposed to be and my role is to help them through, but that I don't need to take it personally. Asking them for more kindness and less whining also helps tremendously.
The snail shorts are now only for bedtime and naps! This is a huge change from Sarah wearing them 24/7. I decided on the change because of the cooler temperature and because they are really falling apart. I had been wondering how on earth I would deal with taking them away and then suddenly the solution seemed obvious. She has adjusted well and I am really enjoying seeing her in other clothes!
I mentioned that we were starting to move away from GAPS. It is official. We are moving into a whole, healthy food diet, following the Westin A Price Foundation guidelines. If you want to see what these are, go here: http://www.westonaprice.org/basics/dietary-guidelines
This change is at the suggestion of our GAPS advisor. I feel liberated, and excited, and also like I have come unmoored. I still need to go slowly with introducing new foods, but it feels very odd to be so unlimited with what those are. The first few things I am excited to reintroduce are lima bean hummus (yes, really, it is totally scrumptious), my GAPS banana bread, and GAPS snowball cookies.
Yesterday was Sonia's birthday and we called to sing to her. Sarah sang her best happy birthday ever!! (though the recipient of her song was apparently herself). Amy got phone shy and didn't sing at all, even though I had heard her singing to herself earlier in the day. Carl and I were passably in tune (I hope!)
My love and appreciation to all of you!! Every time I think of this large team of people rooting for us I am moved to tears.
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