A Very Happy Girl

As the days go on, Raquel is becoming a very content little girl and continues to make lots of progress. The biggest thing I'm noticing right now is not only her increasing vocabulary - it's her understanding of words. I've always known that she understands more than she will say, but now she intently listens to conversations I have with Gabby and responds to what we are saying. For instance, Gabby and I were talking about taking a drive to get some water or going for walk instead. We were going back and forth about what we wanted to do when Raquel says, "Go walk! Go walk!" and then took the PECS of the stroller off our back door.

I'm also noticing that her balance is improving. I'm back to doing her original sensory diet set up by Karin - mostly the fitness ball bouncing and deep joint compressions. When I notice her getting a bit unstable on her feet, she pushes the weighted car or we do jumping. I've stopped the crashing into the bean bag completely and have started swinging her a lot again during the day.

She is also becoming more and more demanding of Mike's attention - tapping his leg and when he turns to see what she wants, holds her arms up with a big smile on her face, saying that she wants HIM.

Putting the music in her room has been a wonderful transition for her. She still loves listening to it, but now that it's in her room, she's able to play with toys at the same time and is becoming better at that as the days progress. This is also allowing her to become more and more independent when playing on her own and it gives her and Gabby a place to be sisters, act silly, dance, and laugh, laugh, laugh, which is music to my ears.

As far as school goes, I've decided to keep her home utilizing my respite care until her neurological testing is complete and we are able to determine what is really going on with her. I know this is not what the district recommends, but it is what I feel 100% in my heart is the right thing to do. I spoke with her teacher on Friday and she will be emailing me her therapy schedule so I can begin taking her to class for the therapy sessions alone, if I choose to do so. Until then, I've been keeping up with the sessions the best I can. I'm fortunate to have participated in 99% of them and know how they work - and have a binder full of notes from every therapist with suggestions.

Gabby continues to be a huge part of this. On the last ABA session, the team told Gabby how proud they were of her and how much she is helping her sister by playing "therapist." Of course, she has no plans of letting them down and has made therapy play as functional as is gets. The other day, Raquel came out of her room with a puzzle piece and saying, "Put!" Gabby immediately set up the matching program and, when ready, handed Raquel back the piece and said, "Okay Raquel. Put with same.", which she immediately did. Raquel doesn't get irritated nearly as much during Gabby's sessions, which I'm assuming is because they aren't two hours long!