#592 Saturday 19 May

Three weeks to go!

Yesterday Kaylia had a "walk to school" .... her class (5 kids) began with a shopping excursion and then walked to school.  The following is how Kaylia wrote up her story ... on the computer without help!
"On Friday I walked from the shop to scool. I fell hungry.  I had tost ,."  (her spelling!)

This morning was a social skills group class at the office .... the parents of the children attending the class all stayed and talked while their children were occupied. It was a good time of sharing experiences ....

It's probably a moot point ..... but in December/January, there were two big changes for Kaylia ..... the medication and the rapid improvement in knowledge accumulation. I have assumed that the two were separate events .... but maybe the two were linked! Maybe the big reduction in anxiety levels (which came with the medication change) was a factor in allowing Kaylia to begin self-accumulating.
It's worth thinking about.

This morning Kaylia was strongly saying that she wanted to go and see Kym and the boys ...... Kym was Kaylia's aide at school and for a long time Kaylia spent weekend time there. So ..... This afternoon we toddled off to Kym's place. Kaylia had a great time .... It was really good to see Kym again.

#591 Friday 18 May

As I write, I have music by Sarah Brightman playing in the background .... the current song is "Time to say goodbye" ..... this was the closing music at the night of Sanggar's graduation and the music evokes strong memories.  That was an important event.

I've just been researching how to add a sound file to the blog .... it's too much for right now but it's certainly do-able later.

Kaylia is doing the "Walk to School" this morning.  She still loves going to school.  When we walk along she likes to put her head against my side and use my arm to cover her other ear .... the sensitivity to sound can still be an issue for her.  I've noticed that other kids in her class do the same.

Blogging .... It occurs to me that the length of each day's post on the blog can be an indicator of the stress we're currently experiencing.  In the early days .... high stress = long post.  Now?  Things are good .... low stress = brief post.

I've been drawing plans for some alterations I'd like to do at the villa in Bali.  I do the drawings in Excel and I have been instructed to show it on the blog ..... so here it is.

#590 Thursday 17 May

Kaylia is very good at managing the iphone/ipod/ipad .... she's able to select any songs or video's that she wants and then play them.  The trouble is that she has her favourites .... and when she has a favourite,  it's REALLY a favourite! 
Currently (still) the favourite is ABBA singing "Rock Me" ..... over and over and over! This was her favourite song in April in Bali.

It's time to teach her about ear-phones!

#589 Wednesday 16 May

Kaylia loves to 'dip'!  .... her biscuits that is.  She has a little packet of oatmeal biscuits for breakfast and each morning she asks "....dip?"  "Yes Kaylia, you can dip."  She's got the knack of not soaking it too long.
You probably know my fascination with tools .... for the business, we're regularly sent engraved pens for advertising and last night the sample sent was this ......




It's not a pen ..... it's a mini screwdriver set!  I love it!  Their minimum order size is too large for us to afford to buy some so I'll see if I can find some in Bali on my next trip.  They won't appeal to everyone but so far everyone that has seen it has lusted after it.



Today has been helter-skelter at work .... one of the major players in our line of business has "closed their doors" .... so we planning for a significant increase in our business.  (There aren't very many operators in Perth ...  so removing one "makes many ripples in our small pond."

#588 Tuesday 15 May

As I've said before .... she's happy!  So happy in fact that she is really 'over-doing' it ....  I think the happiness has become a form of stim for her.  While this can be a pleasant problem, it's interfering with her attention .....  at present she is very interested in making her speech sounds correct ..... she can listen closely and really tries hard.  This morning we were working on BIS-KIT  rather than the usual Bi ..oot  .... but the hardest task was to get through the "giggling Kaylia" to reach the "thinking Kaylia".

Last night was bad (for a change)  she was up at 4am ..... unfortunately I'd been awake from 11pm to 3am so being awake again at 4am was a bummer!

I used much of the night to buy little doo-dads for my iPhone on Ebay ....... a microscope, a tripod, a set of filters .... all for around $5 each.  It can be a lot of fun looking for the bargains.

#587 Monday 14 May

It's been a busy day at the office ..... lots of coming and going and phone calls. In the middle of it I managed to snag a good fare for Zoe .... On the return from Bali in September she will be able to travel at the same time as us .... different plane but the same time.

Kaylia is on her bedtime routine as I write .... she has definite ideas about who should be where at different stages of the routine .... Mummy's not allowed in now ... she will be later but right now it's
'toy time' as she has her stim time. Unwinding from the day.

#586 Sunday 13 May

Mother's Day .... sleep in, pancakes, movies (Lorax), shoping for Kaylia clothes, Subway for lunch, office for play .... sounds like Kaylia Day rather than Mummy Day!  Mummy needs a break .... but till the current study is over, it's hard to see how she can actually get a break.  The study plus work is a hard life.
At least we have been able to book a week in the villa from 5 to 12 September .... last week I was able to get fares at $184 return! ......
so we have something to anticipate.
Yesterday was beautiful weather .... at lunch time Kaylia, Kat and I all sat out in the little "nook" that I built a couple of years ago on top of a tree stump.

Today has been significant for our current weight management ..... Kaylia has lost 1kg and I've crept below 100kg for the first time in ten years! Wow! This is important for my diabetes management. Naomi says that it's working for her too.