#647 Saturday 21 July

Kat2 is downstairs doing a therapy session ..... Kaylia is really enjoying it!  It's so good to see.  In the past therapy has often been very hard work for her but at the moment we have all the right factors combined ... good therapist, good material, right medication mix ..... she's so happy!

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This morning I've been preparing for the trip to Bali tomorrow night  .... the only really visible sign is that I have put my carry-on travel bag on the bed downstairs.  Kaylia (the hawk) has seen it!  She is asking for Bali holiday.  When we use our fingers to count off the choices of activity she has, she points to the next finger and says "What's that? ....Holiday?"  She's smart.

#646 Friday 20 July

The school holidays are almost over .... she starts school again on Tuesday.  It's been quite a successful break .... thanks to Kat, we have been able to share the duties and keep Kaylia to her routines.  She's been fairly calm .... really keen on the scooter .... I hope that continues.
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This evening Kaylia had some time at the local skate park .... she's doing well ... Gathering her nerve to push off ..... and the other kids are trying to engage with her.

#645 Thursday 19 July

The 'honeymoon' (with the morning scooter and walk) ..... is over.  This morning it was like pulling chicken teeth!  She just didn't want to do it.  Where we did a 10km walk yesterday (and she was raring to go further .... ) .... today we only walked 1.6km before she wanted to go to the shops.  Maybe it was because Kym couldn't come today. 
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After walkies, we went to the shops and .... and .....she kept changing her mind!  We went to Bunnings playground .... she wouldn't get out of the car.  A frustrating day.

#644 Wednesday 18 July

Well .... yesterday didn't really happen from the blogging perspective! In reality it was a busy day. Kaylia slept quite late on Tuesday and we then visited Kym. It was a very good visit ..... Kaylia is so happy. We then all went down to Woodbridge Park for "scooter". It was a long walk!
In the afternoon Kat took Kaylia to the aquarium at Sorrento. It was a good day for her.
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This morning it was "scooter" again! Kym joined us again and this time we went even further! We were on the John George Walk Trail which is 5.3 km long. We walked the full length up and back = 10.6km! Hopefully Kaylia will sleep well tonight.
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Then it was time for her therapy review session. She is doing well but her lack of the ability to imagine anything abstract is a big problem.
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Update on Medicare ..... remember I talked about Medicare offices no longer paying claims with cash? Well .... I went to do my first online claim this afternoon ...... and it doesn't work! Medicare currently only allow claims for 18 GP items! In other words, Medicare has implemented a new system which they know is not complete! Incredible! I rang their help line and the person agreed with me that it was clearly a deterioration in service levels.
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#643 Tuesday 17 July

7am .... It was a good night. After several goes she finally slept .... and stayed in her own bed till 3am! It will be a big improvement if we can reestablish this as a routine.
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I'm having trouble remembering just what used to happen in her sleep routines in the 'bad ol days' ..... the blog will be handy now. I will be able to go back a year or so and see .....

#642 Monday 16 July

I think it's been a good day .... Kaylia has changed some of her routines today so I'm not sure which foot I'm standing on! She is normally quite firm (if not rigid) in her routines and changes .... such as today ..... are disturbing in a way. This morning .... instead of heading straight for the shower when she woke ..... she went downstairs to play!
After a while she reverted to the routine but it was quite unusual behaviour.
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Tonight I'm trying to get her back to her old bedtime routine ..... I figure that the change this morning might be a sign! In times past, she would sleep in her own room ..... Maybe she will again. So far, so good. She protested several times but I think she has gone to sleep now.
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Now ..... if I can just do the same for Naomi! (she badly needs some good rest).

#641 Sunday 15 July

It's late morning and we're back at Woodbridge Park .... the scooter seems to be a serious interest. She is always asking for scooter time and this morning she was clearly pleased when we said we weren't going to movies .... we were going to the scooter park! We have completed one journey of about a kilometer each way ... and Kaylia has immediately wanted to do it again. Excellent. I can see that we will soon need to upgrade the cheapie scooter that I initially bought as a trial.
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The area round this park is a very attractive option for the future years when we need to move out of Darlington.