November 2

I have been feeling much better compared to last week! Thank you for the well-wishes. My headaches aren't gone but sometimes I get two nights off in a row and feel like a normal person.

This week, Carl and I had SR sessions that were totally awesome in terms of engaged play combined with practicing various skills (coloring, cutting, taping, planning, and copying and making shapes). Upon my entering the room Wednesday, Sarah started saying "a bicycle!" in her usual super excited way. I got out paper and markers and asked if she could draw two circles to be the wheels of a bicycle. She did. I drew a seat and asked her to draw lines connecting the seat to the wheels. She did this but had trouble following my actual directions. I added a stick figure Sarah and asked her to add hair and a helmet. She added both in scribbly crazy ways, but with clear intentions. I drew spaces so she could write her name and she did so with my prompting, though not getting the letters in the designated spot. Her S continues to be backwards a lot. I used an idea from the group meeting of drawing dotted lines for letters and having the marker be a bike and she had to stay on the path. She readily attempted but went off the path many a time. I think she veered off not to get my fun reaction of falling over but just because it is still a big challenge. We did some letters together. Then I asked her to draw a bush on a new piece of paper because she had been talking about a bush (a bike running into a bush). She drew quite a lot of stuff that was unclear in subject matter but very clear in intention. I drew a large bike seat and she decorated it. Then I got scissors and she cut out the seat while I steered the paper. Then we used magnetic Handwriting Without Tears pieces to build a bike. I made a wheel with spokes and asked her to make one too. She made a very good attempt. Then I gave her small arches to be pedals. Then I made a scooter and kept falling off.  Carl's Thursday morning session built upon my session. He and Sarah made a bike out of large stacking bricks and planks! Sarah had to get the bike the right height for the seat. She said it needed handle bars so Carl added those. Then he put the blue boards against the bike and asked Sarah to add wheels. Then she said it needed a light stick. Carl drew a rectangle on paper. Sarah colored it and cut it out by herself (entirely) and taped it to the back of the bike by herself! Then they practiced directions as she pretended to bike around. This amazingness was following a royal flop on Tuesday morning of my printing pages about Pennsylvania for both girls to color. Amy loved it and Sarah would have none of it. I cried and felt helpless and hopeless and then realized that this totally proved why Sarah needs a special home schooling situation and not a typical school situation. The SR sessions proved to me how awesome we can be at teaching Sarah when we follow her motivation and have a low--distraction environment.

For Halloween, both girls were Dora the Explorer. Carl was The Map. I was going to be the Grumpy Old Troll but didn't get that costume made (though I have the personality down pat) so I just went with a dirndl that my mom got when she was in high school (I think). I pretended to be a dairy maid who had lost her cow and needed Dora's help. Sarah loved Carl as The Map. Amy wouldn't touch him!

In past years, Sarah's trick or treating has mainly involved wanting to go into houses. This year she still had some of that desire but was also interested in getting candy. Two years ago her favorite treat was a pencil. Last year she sometimes tried to put candy from her basket into the baskets of the people handing out candy. This year she came home with a much bigger haul than what Amy collected! At our house, we gave out toy spiders and skeletons. To trade for the girls' bounty, I made chocolates in all sorts of shapes and wrapped them in aluminum foil. I also had maple sugar candy that the girls could have and mini pumpkin pies with whipped coconut cream. Luckily, once they started on the goods that I prepared all was well. Sarah seemed totally fine with the whole deal. Amy really wanted to have what she received in her pumpkin basket. Technically, Amy could have it, but I wanted the girls to have the same treats and I don't think Sarah's body is yet ready for typical Halloween candy. I was a bit concerned that giving them treats first would mean they wouldn't eat dinner but when I brought out roasted chicken they dove in with as much exuberance as when I held the bags of chocolates.

The beginning of November marks the official 3 year anniversary of our Sarah-Rise Program.

3 years ago: Sarah had a handful of complete words, she could sign, and she could say the first sound of many words. She was not potty trained. She did not play imaginatively. She ate mostly junk food (ice cream, fries, donuts, butter pats). She was on some medication to help with appetite and digestion.

Now: Sarah speaks in sentences that most people can understand. She sings. She plays imaginatively. She is potty trained. She eats healthy, homemade foods. She is off all medication. Her physical abilities have increased (running, jumping, flipping around a gymnastics bar, riding a tricycle and a bike with training wheels). Her attention span and eye contact have increased. She is learning to read and write. She is learning to use scissors. She is beginning to learn some math.

Sarah's prowess in screaming has been a bit of a constant. This past week it seems to have increased. I'm not sure whether it is the chicken or the egg that I have had less space to deal with it gracefully or proactively. Sometimes I really don't enjoy being a mom or being here with the screaming. And sometimes it is pure heaven to have both girls climbing on me, Sarah giving me chin presses, Amy touching my face gently with her palm, and Sarah giving me kisses while Amy says, "Mom, I love you." Thank goodness for the balance. Even on the hard days I try to remember how healthy we probably all are, how much loving one on one time Sarah gets thanks to our amazing team of volunteers, how much our life is richly full and loving even when I might not meet my ideal standards at every moment (or at hardly any moment). We have a really amazing life.

Thank you all for being part of our amazing life!