#679 Tuesday 13 August

5am ....  Cramp again .... so while I'm in the "concentrate on relaxing" phase, I can blog.  Cramps are a "bugga" part of life .... my research shows that they are common .... and apart from drinking more water and taking magnesium supplements, there's not a lot that can be done. There's lots of "quackery" but not much in the way of real solutions.

Kaylia is at a delightful stage of development.  The autism and anxiety still require a lot of work and extra / different handling .... but we seem to have worked out a "satisfactory method" that produces an acceptable quality of life.   ..... and Kaylia herself has become a delightful person.   

I wonder .... if Kaylia had been "neuro-typical", would we appreciate her the way we do?  .... or would we be blasé about our child?

Everyday there are little "wow moments" where she does something that makes me just sit and marvel at how far she has progressed.  Sure she still has a long way to go .... but the child is brilliant!

5pm .... nearly finished therapy.  As usual she is really "into it" ..... what a far cry from a few years ago when the therapist would have to struggle to keep her attention from one moment to the next.

Aliso was just doing an exercise for recognising emotions and facial expressions .... and Kaylia says (in context) ".... I'M EXCITED!"   The capitals are for her big voice! She was very excited!

7pm  STOP PRESS!  I've just had an email from Anni!  .... and she is aiming to do her PhD in accounting then move to Australia ..... so in a few years time we might be able to see her more regularly!

Anni was with us in 2007 when Kaylia was 3 going on 4  ...... Anni had the horrible task of sharing Kaylia's toilet training with us!  (We will always be in debt to you for that huge thing alone, Anni!)  Anni also helped us select the fur-ball Teddy .....    (grr grr)