#1041 Saturday 29 November

Yesterday was Kerrie's birthday and we all celebrated at Sizzler's.   As usual Kaylia came home on a "sugar high" and she was entertaining herself for a while at bedtime.  The sugar fix is from the icecream at Sizzlers .... it's in tiny little bowls and she usually has 3 servings ..... this is not much icecream but she thinks it's great!
Eventually she decided it was sleep time and came and called me upstairs.  As soon as I was in my correct spot she went straight off to sleep!  She has to have routine .... even to sleep.

Today she has speech therapy.  This is doing great things!  Kaylia now has the "L" sound nailed .... she can get it right reliably .... we now need to drill it to the point where she uses it correctly in everyday speech.

I had a beaut email from a friend this morning .... she reads this blog and among many other things she says .....
....."I know how you feel about the demise of your bobtail lizard.  We had a quite tame black skink (like the ones you have) living with us in the shed in Albany.  It would eat cherry tomatoes and pieces of fruit.  Come winter it holed up in a  piece of metal pipe out in the pile of “good stuff” you men folk seem to like to keep.  Ken (landlord) was making a back for his ute and started welding his piece of pipe.  There was a hell of a racket and scramble and out shot the poor skink.  Unfortunately it passed away from its burns."

I was also asked .... "Is she up to conversations yet.  How is the anxiety compared to a few years ago."  Yes .... she likes to have a 'conversation' ..... a very "Kaylee version" though.  It's mostly a set pattern involving what she likes to do and remember ..... but it satisfies her and she usually goes off to play after getting the attention she needs.  It's hard to tell that it's what she wants and if we don't pick on the cues, then it can build up into a problem.

I was re-reading a bit of the blog from June 2010 this morning .... we were at a hotel in Nusa Dua ..... and her behaviour issues then were much, much worse at that time compared with now  ...  on a scale of 10, that time was about 8 or 9 .... and now it feels like 0 to 1 in comparison.

What does Naomi do that calms her down??  Much of it is preventative .... don't allow a situation to develop in the first place .... be aware of how she will react to things that are happening ...... and then remind her of the things that she can do to manage her own anxiety .... breathing exercises, diverting her attention to things that relax her.  Stories and poems that she loves .... It constantly amazes me how she is calmed by the car ..... just sitting in the car is great ..... and going for a drive always helps her.

#1040 Thursday 27 November

Stormy weather .... thunderstorms..... just the way it's supposed to be!

This morning I've put the roof sheets on the shed extension that I've put together .... mostly from scrap.

It's a sign of the times that the 2 hours work it took has finished me for a while.   I'll sit in the comfy chair on the balcony and admire the result.

#1039 Tuesday 25 November

We've had a small, sad tragedy today ..... as many of you know we're very keen on our bobtail lizards here ..... one in particular has been moving round our yard for many years.  This afternoon he was run over in our carport.   We're all saddened ..... he's been buried under a rock cairn in the garden.

Kaylia is doing well with her efforts to conquer the "L" sound .... a game is used in which she gets a marble for each success.  The game was cut short when we saw blood over her hands ...... She knocks the marbles together and one broke and the sharp glass cut her fingers ..... so she gets another of her favourite things ..... Band aids!!

#1038 Monday 24 November

Today we had visit from Alison .... who used to be Kaylia's therapist..... and who has a 9 week old baby boy.   It was a special time and Kaylia really looked forward to it.  In her usual fashion Kaylia wanted Alison to herself and her solution was to ask that the baby have a sleep!  

#1037 Sunday 23 November

Kaylia's therapy concentrates on her speech at present ..... and "la la la" is the current sound.  This morning we discovered a new incentive ...... tickles!  She gets a tickle if she says la .... and misses out if she says ya.   She loves it!

Evening

Tonight she was having problems with her iPad..... the screen was showing "iView" but nothing worked.  It was because she was looking at a screenshot that she'd taken ..... when I got rid of the image and loaded the app .... it all worked fine.

There's something unspeakably profound in that story .... but I can't put it into words.