#1943 Saturday 29 December

Last night we had a visit from Susie.... she's the tailor that is making clothes from the materials purchased on the shopping trips...... and some of the clothes are for Kaylia of course.
During the visit, Kaylia had to try the various items on to check the fit...... and she was soooo excited by it all.  It was a joy to watch.

This morning Kaylia is having a BIG sleep in..... it's now 10:30am and she hasn't stirred.  Yesterday's upset must have been from tiredness.

Excitement for the afternoon!  We came home and found a large monitor lizard running round the yard.  We named him Henry and we'd like to keep him.... but our guests would not agree!  So one of the staff took him home for tea. 

#1942 Friday 28 December

Kaylia's in the bath..... she wanted the bath at 6:30am but I  managed to delay her till 7.  She has a new brand of bubbles..... which froth up really well..... and after a while she called me for "more bubbles".... and there she is..... hardly visible under a mountain of bubbles!  No more!

Midday
Kaylia's not happy....  there's something on her leg that looks like a bite.... inflamed..... it might be hurting her but we can't tell.  It's another case of the lack of speech being a real problem..... if only she could tell us what is wrong!

Evening
She recovered from the pain or whatever.... she didn't have a temperature so we suspect that it was hurting.  But she's back to normal..... and she's back in routine.

#1941 Thursday 27 December

The day began with the usual big sleep in.... followed by a bubble bath.....  while the girls headed over to Denpasar to hunt for fabrics at Jalan Suluwesi.  They returned midday with big grins and arm fulls of beautiful material..... and lots of dressmaking plans.

The day was spent supervising a makeover of the garden in the bathroom.....  it was very successful.

#1940 Wednesday 26 December

A quiet "Boxing Day"..... not much happening

#1939 Tuesday 25 December

Happy Christmas!

Last night I received a lovely email from Chris (Nov13 to Apr14) and the process of reading the email took me "down memory lane"..... remembering all the wonderful people that we have been so fortunate to have share our life. 

Thankyou all so much.

Many of you are still close in Kaylia's memory..... she looks through photos on the computer.... and she has the photos around the house.  In the future she will tell us just what those memories are.

Today?  It's 6:30am and Kaylia is asleep beside me.  She has been very excited about "presents" and I can hardly wait to see her enjoyment this morning.

Below is Kaylia with her favourite present.... bubble gloves! 

and look what Kaylia made for me! 

Christmas lunch at Prama... It was terrible!  But Kaylia was chilled...... 

#1938 Monday 24 December

Christmas eve.

Kaylia had her first massage this afternoon.  She seemed to enjoy it.... so there will be more!

Today we took delivery of new furniture for the lounge room and dining room in the villa.  The old furniture was 7 years old and had been repaired twice after being broken by guests.  The new furniture is very heavy teak.... absolutely gorgeous.... and unbreakable!  It was a very low price by Australian standards so we feel privileged to be able to buy it.

Casey's friend Zariah came home today with some beautiful purchases. .... and if you look closely you'll see her latest tattoo. 

The Christmas eve preparations are complete. Casey and Zariah have constructed a beautiful table montage that's a very adequate substitute for a tree..  Kaylia has gone to bed very excited.....

Christmas tomorrow. 

#1937 Sunday 23 Dec number two

A friend asked about Kaylia and helping round the house.   ..... No... Chores are not really big in her world.  I think the picture of her helping with chores is too optimistic.  For her to set the table is about a realistic limit.  She is still almost totally self absorbed.  Occasionally she will seek contact with us... or engagement..... but she mostly stays within her world.  This means that she is fairly easy to care for..... but I don't think that helping round the house is ever going to be on her menu.

It's sad.  It's very hard for neuro-typical people to grasp just what autism is like....  I think you'd need to spend a day or so with us to fully comprehend it.  Usually our social engagement is not for a long enough period.   I think visitors possibly view us as being rude.... but we constantly have half our attention on Kaylia....  and that is not good for social interaction!

Uh oh....  Now I think I know why I haven't been feeling crash hot for the past few days!  I think I have some kidney stones trying to say hallo.  Ah well.... I know what to be on the watch for.

Sunday driving in Bali! 

#1936 Sunday 23 December

Some Bali pictures......