#1961 Thursday 7 February

Excuse me!  The days have slipped past.   Kaylia is very happy indeed to be back at school!  On Monday she was ecstatic as she met her friends and teachers again.  If you didn't know her, you probably couldn't see it.... but she has little signs that tell us what she is feeling.

Yesterday we had a new house member arrive.... Verbena is a psychologist from Germany who is here as an Intern and will be staying with us for a few months.

Casey will be moving on in a month so there will be a new aupair.

#1960 Saturday 2 February

The dust has settled after Kaylia's birthday.....  she is still quietly enjoying the idea that she is 15!  I can see the cogs whirring.   But now her focus is firmly fixed on "School on Monday?"

When Kaylia was first diagnosed I learned that "Autism is not a word.... it's a sentence.".   It's over 12 years since that time..... and I'm learning that the word "sentence" doesn't have to mean a jail sentence...... it can also mean "a set of words that is complete in itself". And the sentence can mean anything I intend.

Kaylia is showing me that she can grow into a beautiful person.

#1959 Wednesday 30 January

Happy birthday to Kaylia!

After all her anticipation and build up, her start this morning was ver quiet.  We had thought that she would be bouncing out of bed and raring to go.....
But she slept in!  When I woke her, she sort of says "happy birthday" and rolled over for some more sleep!

Now she's outside with a sort of water slide.... she's not using it as intended.... she's worked out her own way. .... and she has the bubble machine blowing bubbles over her.  She's very happy.











This is Kaylia at "Hogs Breath"  ..... she is coming down with a cold.  I hope she recovers before school starts next Monday!



















After her 'party' at Hog's Breath we went home for birthday cake.  She is very exact about what birthday cake she wants .... and she was very pleased with this one.

#1958 Tuesday 29 January

One day to go!  She's soopa excited.

Casey has made her a special "sunglasses drawer"  to hold all Kaylia's sunglasses.

Now you might think that this is a bit odd .... but Kaylia currently has a "thing" for sunglasses!  And she likes spend time selecting just which pair she will wear today.

#1957 Monday 28 January

Today began with an unusual start .... she normally wakes around 6 am or so ..... and begins a process of wearing me down ...... "Kaylia's birthday ....... school?? ...... Bubble Bath!!"  [response] "7 o'clock"

.... but today she slept till 7:30am .... then she woke ... and popped up bright as a button "Bubble Bath!!"

By 9am, breakfast was over and it was "Drive?"  .... so we headed down to Fremantle .... then back to Garvey Park in Redcliffe.  Here she is on the playground equipment .... she's turning 15 on Wednesday but she still likes the playground.






It's now 4pm and Kaylia is on the computer ..... exploring the photo archive.  She's really good at navigating all the folders to find the images that she wants.

#1956 Saturday 26 January

Happy Amnesia Day

Fortunately Kaylia will probably never be plagued by the awareness that she loves in a stolen land.... that she lives in a culture built on lies. 

Today Kaylia's routine won!  She asked Casey if she could have a really long drive.  Seriously....  that's what Kaylia said!  So this afternoon I took on a drive for 200 kms.....    down Brookton Hwy, out to Beverly and back home.

#1955 Friday 25 January

Forgive me for the gap in blog posts!  Since I started writing poetry again, I've had two blogs to maintain.

Today something quite remarkable is going on.... in the morning trip, Casey found a bubble machine at K-Mart..... and Kaylia has been entranced by it for over three hours now.  She just stands in the stream of bubbles.... singing and flapping.  She doesn't want to eat....  she doesn't want any interruption. 

 She finally stopped after 3 and a half hours and now she's in the bath again.