We received from Anna the most perfectly Amy-ish and Sarah-ish chairs ever. The chairs are custom-made and if you want to commission a chair as I did, just let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Anna. You need to be able to do a local pick-up. Amy’s chair is all about cats, with a cat face for the backrest, pink paw prints decorating the purple legs, and cheetah-print cloth for the seat cushion. Sarah’s chair has a Goodnight Moon house as the backrest, musical note fabric for the seat cushion, and is wearing Elephant and Piggie socks just like Sarah wears daily. There is even a tiny Pigeon on one leg, just as there is a tiny Pigeon on the socks.
Sarah is a sparkly, passionate, stubborn child of 17. She has developmental delays and autism. When she was 4 I decided to run a Son-Rise Program, calling it Sarah-Rise. She wasn’t speaking or eating well or potty trained. Eye contact was fleeting, she didn’t play games or play imaginatively. She couldn’t read or write. All of that has changed. I started writing weekly updates so that people could follow our journey.
Sunday, August 8, 2021
August 8: Chair Perfection, Beach Fun, and a Frisbee Surprise
We are finishing up a wonderful vacation at our mountain house. The weather has been perfect, allowing for many hours at the lake beach nearby. We also enjoyed multiple outdoor visits with friends, including one of my best friends (since I was 4) and her family. Amy got a beach day with her BFF while we got to hang out with the BFF’s parents who are our friends, and yesterday we visited friends who have a dock on a lake. Amy was in heaven with all of the swimming and water play. Sarah liked playing in the sand and sitting on the dock. Normally Sarah puts on a swimsuit and gets in the water at least a bit. This week she preferred to keep her clothes on and not wear a swimsuit, even if she went wading far enough that her shorts got wet. A surprising and exciting Sarah moment came when she picked up our frisbee at the beach and initiated a game of tossing it back and forth with me. She can really do it now, even though it has been two years since we last practiced with her. She can throw and catch as well as I can! Neither of us are super skilled but we can manage, and we had a good time, with many rounds of passing where the frisbee never touched the ground. Sarah also did an impressive job traversing the steep hillside to get to and from the dock.
Sarah and Amy both rode their bike for a bit. Sarah is still using it as a balance bike, but was impressively eager to do so. Amy hasn’t really ridden in about a year but did a tremendous ride with Carl that included steep rocky paths. For another form of wheeled play, Carl got a radio-controlled car that the girls have named Mango. They enjoyed steering it over rocks and into overgrown grass.
We have had many wonderful snuggles this week. Carl documented one snuggle moment between Amy and me when he was up on a very tall ladder replacing a chandelier that didn’t provide light with one that is bright. Other times, the girls pretended to sleep, delighting in Carl figuring out different ways to keep them awake.
This coming week the kids will attend Camp Anna’s Place. They are super excited. Sarah has been eagerly anticipating this all summer. She especially likes it when I say how much I will miss her and when I lament, “What will I do when you are away?” She goes through a long list of all of the babies that I will miss, all of them being her. Baby Uh-Oh, Baby Oh Dear, Baby Oh No, Baby Musical Note, Baby Mouse the Mouse, Baby Mousey, Baby Tiger, Baby Panda, Baby Tiny, Baby Goodnight Moon House, Baby Tie-Dye, Baby Empty, Baby Susie Sheep, Baby Here, Baby There, and Baby Everywhere. The list grows daily and I’m sure I’ve forgotten some.
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