#937 Saturday 8 June

As I was fending off the morning onslaught of Kaylia in "routine mode" it occurred to me that I often talk of "anxiety" and the effect on her.... yet many of you may not be able to visualise what it means.  That may be because we tend to think anxiety = worry.  For her the effect is probably at a lower level than worry ..... she has a very good brain that is able to think very well .... yet it doesn't work in some narrow areas.  It's as though she has a powerful motor under the bonnet .... and the motor is running nicely .... yet she can't put it into gear ... the car won't work and it all feels wrong.

So she is trying all the knobs .... but nothing works.  .... but she has to keep trying to find something that will make the car move.   Usually in a child, it's the learned social skills that "make the car move" ..... asking the right question ..... asking in the right way ..... but the A means that she doesn't have the social skills .... and so "the car won't go".

Kaylia in the train carriage in the museum at Whiteman Park.  What a marvellous facility this is!  Yet it makes me feel very old .... many of the exhibits are things I'm familiar with from my own life!


 There's a Bedford truck .... the same as Dad used to move our household from Wundowie to Rockingham when I was 9.

There's an EJ Holden .... these were new cars at a time when I was working during school holidays at a garage in Beverley .... pumping petrol .... .  literally  pumping the petrol too .... it was the sort of bowser where you had to pump the petrol using a hand lever.

#936 Friday 7 June

Day One without Brynn ..... Oh woe is us!  How can we cope?  (Have fun in Sydney Brynn)

Today has been hard work .... trying to get all the "Friday tasks" (pays and reports) completed before it was time to pick Kaylia up from school.  

The search for aupair #15 continues .... we have a possible person who we hope to meet this weekend.  It would be good to "tie up the loose ends" early.

Evening

She's hyper tonight .... is a full moon coming? No .... 2 weeks away .... so there's some other reason.  School reports that she was hyper at school today too.

#935 Thursday 6 June

Brynn goes off to Sydney tonight for a few days break.... it should be good for her.  

#934 Wednesday 5 June

We're planning dastardly deeds that we will do to the dog!  (Little so & so!). He's had a bath today cos he was stinky .... and now we're wondering what else we can do to him.

On the KK front ..... she continues to delight! Tonight I've been wondering just how much she will remember of these times.  

These days our emphasis is on insisting that Kaylia uses full sentences.  It's so easy to just accept and understand what she means when she uses one word .... 

#933 Tuesday 4 June

It's been another good day ... it's tempting fate but I must say that we're having lots of good days now.  After tea Kaylia and I went shopping .... at the checkout, Kaylia was doing her normal performance and the "checkout chick" was clearly fascinated by her ..... "Cute!"

Then it was home .... now we're in bed with a DVD .. the usual bedtime routine.

#932 Monday 3 June

Kaylia has been home today .... it's a holiday ... not sure why but it is and we must suffer.  Brynn has eased the suffering ... she has worked some extra time in exchange for some time off to do a trip to Sydney next week.  Kaylia is still on her "little office" enthusiasm.  In and out ..... in and out.  I can think of much worse things .... so I'm happy to accommodate her current 'thing'.

I'm on a techno-high at the moment ...... the internet camera idea (that I mentioned a while back) is installed and working exactly as hoped.  On my phone (where ever I am) I can watch live video of the front door of the house ..... and move the camera to see the driveway instead.   Then on top of that, I have brought home  a work printer and it is brilliant!  It's connected wirelessly to our home network and so the iPhones and iPads are also able to access it as a printer and scanner.  The integration with Apple iOS is almost perfect.  I'm stoked.

Kaylia is sitting beside me at the moment ..... watching ABC4Kids.   She is pleasant company now... she always likes to be physically close to us.   

#931 Sunday 2 June

Sunday at Aunty Moo's ...... spa ..... sliding on the floor .... all the things she loves.

We visited some cousins yesterday .... who hadn't seen Kaylia for about 2 years.  They were impressed by the improvement seen in her. It's good!

2pm. The afternoon is a tale of frustration .... Kaylia's!   She is fairly limited in her options for self entertainment (due to absence of imagination) so she relies on adults .... and when the adults are engaged in adult things, she gets stroppy!  ... and devious.  She has been attempting to escape our supervision .... so that she can hop in the shower.  The shower is a sensory diversion ... since she can't engage in imaginary play, she falls back on sensory play.  I'd like to let her just have as much shower as she wants .... but we do want a little bit of hot water!

Later..... out in the little office.   She's got her own version  of play now .... wrapping herself up in a blanket!  She is clearly playing at something ... but what it is I'm not sure.