#1563 Saturday 27 May

It's 3pm and Kaylia is in pain .... Or something .... who knows.  I hate it when she is like this. You can't tell if she is really in pain or is it just that she has worked herself into a state. I usually treat it as though it's pain and .... at the same time, use calming methods.

3:25pm she has calmed down.  It's amazing how these 'bouts' might only last for a short time but it feels like hours.

#1562 Friday 26 May

I've written before about Ashley's skill at baking Yorkshire puddings to go with roasts .... well today he made a giant pud!

It was yummy!  We're planning variations on this theme .... savory and sweet.

Kaylia continues to change her bedtime routine .... tonight she slept the whole evening with the door open.  I guess she likes the companiable noise.

#1561 Thursday 25 May

One week to go!  Soon I will be able to burn again.  I have a line of things ready to go on the fire 🔥

Kaylia has an after school routine .... she runs into our top bedroom where I'm having an afternoon nap .... she jumps on the bed with her iPhone .... and for about half an hour or so, we have a cuddle time and I try to get her to talk about her day.  Then she usually has a while in the bubble bath .... the it's teatime.  After tea, she has stories with Naomi.  This is a funny time because Kaylia negotiates for which stories are to be told. She knows the stories off by heart and she will tell Naomi if the story vary from "the line".

I bought Naomi a treat today .... heated slippers! Perfect for winter.

#1560 Wednesday 24 May

This evening she has been talking much more .... and she has come out with a couple of classics!  They were little rejoinders that are completely in context .... and completely normal ..... but which have been missing from her speech in the past.  When uttered by Kaylia, they are so unexpected that it really hits us with a jolt.  If she continues in this way, we will become accustomed to 'the new normal' and we won't be surprised any more.  Still ... we can enjoy it at present.

We had roast tonight ... a double ... beef and lamb.  Ashley cooks Yorkshire puddings ... par excellence!

#1559 Sunday 21 May

It's 8:15am ..... she's been awake since 4am .... I've been 'riding herd' downstairs so that Naomi can have a decent sleep in.  Kaylia hasn't been interested in sleeping .... iPhone yes. Now she's​ gone for a bath. Whoo hoo!

We've had a very quiet day as a result of the early start.  This afternoon we went for a drive out toward Gidgegannup.  I spotted an old tractor at one property .... it reminded me of my earlier days when I restored a 1948 Allis Chalmers tractor .... and about a dozen stationary engines of 30 to 50s vintage.

From a distance, this tractor looks as if it would be a fairly straightforward restoration project.   It seems to be a Case?  There's no house close by so it could be hard to find out who it belongs to.

#1558 Saturday 20 May

Verbal communication with Kaylia is always a problem  ..... how much of what we say does she understand?  How can we change the way we speak so that she can understand?  .And yet we know ....... from the way she picks up things when she's not in the conversation  .... that she has very good listening skills.

And that's only one side of the equation ...... we also have the problem of us trying to make sense of what she is trying to say to us!  This morning she was trying to tell us what she wanted to do with Ashley and Abbie today ...... and the word was impossible to understand.  She struggles to get her mouth to form the sounds ... and yet in some situations she is much better.  Listening to her speech during therapy sessions is a real 'eye opener'  ..... what a difference!   Why is her articulation so variable?

Today I am struggling to resist a temptation to have a rant about the world situation and Australian politics ...... yet it would be such a waste of breath .... a waste of keystrokes ..... (sigh) .....

I spent an hour this morning working with the firewood blocksplitter .... what an amazing machine!  I have almost finished splitting all the firewood round the place ..... lots!  Most of the blocks are big enough that I can barely lift them onto the splitter ..... I'd guess at around 40 to 60kg ..... about 50-60cm diameter.  I have a work table at the same height so that once it has split the block into two pieces, one piece is put aside for later while one is split further.  Usually each block produces about 10 to 15 bits small enough to go into the fire.

2:30pm  Kaylia and I have been shopping .... all god.She wore headphones while in the shops and it seemed to make the hustle more bearable for her. Now we are home .... and the nagging has started.  I immediately sent her to her room .... and she's not happy!  I think I will threaten her with "No drive with Mummy" if she doesn't control the nagging.

3pm ..... she escalated the situation quite a bit ..... and it occurred to me .... Dehydration headache!!

Sure enough ...... Once I had persuaded her to have a BIG drink of water, within minutes she was back to her normal cheery self.  We often forget the simplest things.

#1557 Friday 19 May

5am .... Kaylia has been up to take herself off to the toilet ..... this is real progress in one way but it still means that I must go down to her room and tuck her in ..... and she is quite noisy!  She moves like a baby elephant .... thump, thump, thump!!  For me the process of going downstairs is always hard and painful till the muscles get used to moving again ..... I might have to sleep downstairs.   Then there is the waiting to see if she is settling back to sleep ... there's nothing worse than being woken again a short time after getting back to sleep.

8pm  It's Friday night ... "Junk food Friday"     Kaylia chose pizza tonight and of course, no-one disagreed.

She has continued her thing of wanting her bedroom door to be left open ... we don't know why .... maybe she feels "included" as we sit outside in the loungeroom.