**2010**

~General Update~

It's been so long since I've posted, so I apologize in advance for the long post. So many great things have happened since the last post. Tru is thriving in school. Her concentration is starting to really improve. She'll sit down for a task and complete it, even if it takes 20 minutes!, this may not sound like much to some, but for us it is a great accomplishment. Her trunk strength is slowly increasing. Just this morning she climbed into a Blazer, which I have problems getting into sometimes, so I'm very pleased that we got the trampoline for Christmas. It's too cold now, but I just know that this summer she's going to love it and that it'll help her continue to increase her strength. She's growing up so fast. She's learning and continue to amazes me everyday. I'm very proud of how she adjusted to her baby brother. We seldom have the terrible meltdowns that followed Tre's birth. Tru is learning to deal with her frustration, we still get some head banging when she doesn't get her way, but practicing breathing exercises with her has really helped. The teachers at her Headstart finally got an aide for her approved. It's always so slow when I have to rely on the school system-whom provided the aide, after the Headstart teachers kept pushing & I threatened to talk to the superintendent. (I SOOO fear the end of this school year and what's next to come, we'll save that for another post though). We're still trying to potty train, she'll go a little most of the time, but she won't come and tell me, or sign, that she has to go, instead she comes to me when she's done and whines. I've tried keeping record and come up with the schedule of taking her every 1 1/2 hours to every 2 hours. We're gonna keep trying and that's her goal for 2010 - even if she doesn't want to do it. The Speech therapist and teachers are all enforcing the sign "potty" and thoroughly talking to her about it, so we shall see........

~My Personal Christmas Wish WAS Granted~

All I every wanted from the time Tru was first diagnosed was to understand what was going on and going to become of my precious lil' girl. That's when I found a support group on Yahoo, with amazing people who are my closest and most inspiring of my extended family to date. A group of dedicated parents, myself included, had enough will power and drive to start a non-profit for people just like my baby girl. Well rite before Christmas we got the acceptance letter that grants the non-profit 501(c)3 status. I couldn't think of a better Christmas wish and felt so much joy I jumped up and down and did a little jig in front of my computer as I read the e-mail. It's amazing what can be accomplished now a days with communication technology =) .....just a thought, but so very true.....

~Have a Beautiful Day~

The Beginning of a New School Year

Well things are certainly just flying by me and I'm too busy to even notice. I am grateful for that though. Tru had a wonderful time at the conference and I enjoyed myself more then expected. It's wonderful to have a group of people that understand everything that is going on. It's great. I am so very proud of Tru. She has been well behaved the entire summer, specially since Tre' was all up in her face, and continues to be. . . to the point that he's been getting timeouts for being too over zealous in play with her. I believe she is truly learning to love him though, I caught them playing and tried to snap a picture and Tru caught me and shoved Tre' out of her way. So I try to play off like I'm not paying any attention to them with the camera by my side, but they usually end up taking it from me and fill my memory with odd angles, which is cute and my excuse as to why I don't take pictures like I promised myself that I would. I did get some of Tru's first day though. She was such a big girl. She got on the bus by herself and sat in her seat like a pro. The teachers say that she does well in class, there is still some frustration with verbal communication, but I am hopeful that she'll get across to them some how. This week we are doing all the annual exam visits that are required by the head start, yesterday was the eye doctor and she did amazing, I wasn't thrilled with the service but hopeful the outcome benefits Tru better when the new glasses come in. Tomorrow is the dentist, and then Thursday we are popping in meeting with the new Ped. Dr. that has joined the office since our normal doctor is booked and it's really more of a practical paper signature that I need, it's not 'important' per say, but then again it is cause the head start requires it. I'm glad she is adjusting to going back to school, and going to bed early =) She has even gotten in the habit of peeing on the potty before going to bed. Still working on the timing through out the rest of the day and trying to migrate the potty from the bathtub to the bathroom floor, but no luck there so for now it stays in the tub, blessed be the garden size tubs, lol.

~Have a Beautiful Day~

The Conference is only 4 DAY AWAY

I can't believe that it will starting this weekend. I'm looking forward to some girl time with Tru. (get away from that trouble making brother of hers) I fear that being home all summer is taking its toll on her. I guess next year she's gonna have to do a daycare of some sort to get keep her in a good mood. It's not her ears bothers her, other then her natural aversion to loud sounds, I'm pretty sure it's just missing being around other kids her own age and away from home, my little birdie just wants out of the nest, lol. I wonder if it could be her glasses, she's broken them again cause she kept taking them off, which she never did there for the longest time, good thing the eye doctor appointment is coming up. She was suppose to go this week, but it got rescheduled.

I can't wait till this weekend. She usually does pretty good in the car. So long as we have our tunes and someone can hand her what she needs. I can't wait to see her with all the other kids and in the pool where her feet can't touch. I haven't taken her to the public pool this year because we got a Walmart special for here. She's floating in that one, but she knows that she can touch the bottom and her head still be above water. The swimsuit has the built in life vest, but I don't know how well it's going to work. I'll find out soon enough I guess. I promise to get lots of pictures.

~Have a Beautiful Day~

Summer Sun

Things have been good. Tru does seem to be missing school. She's a very happy little girl right now since Daddy is home from work for awhile. We bought her nice size pool this year since she has to share with her brother and I. She didn't forget how to float from last summer. She's out of the float riders and into a suit with a built in life jacket. It's the new summer attire for her when she's outside because of the pond. She's also figured out how to get out of the fence. She's is so very clever.

Tru has been talking more. No sentences, but she just blurts out words sometimes. The most recent new word I've heard her say is awesome, which is AWESOME (guess it's easy enough to figure out where she picked that up from) I had asked her if she wanted more cookies, lol. . . Food is a good bribery tool with her. We've switched to the 100 calories cookie snacks.

She has been holding her ears and having more notable crying fits. Good thing she is going in for a check up on July 6th. I'm thinking the tubes may have fallen out and she's getting a build up again.

~Have a Beautiful Day~

~Back on track~

Well, Tru has had her EEG and Tubes put into her ears. The EEG came back normal, so that's a big weight off my shoulders. The tubes have helped her so much already, her balance is imporved so much & some of her behaviors have subsided. She isn't screaming as much, mostly because I think she can hear herself. She's stopped banging her head all the time. She still does it when she's really tired and fighting sleep. I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks that her speech will start picking up. She was out of school for two weeks when the tubes were put in and then there was the winter break, so I'm happy to report that she was ready and willing to go back to school today. She was so well behaved at the bus stop this morning. She listened when I told her to wait until the bus stopped to load up & walked up the three steps, holding onto the railing, with very little help. It's amazing the differences I see in her already. She is kissing her brother every day now, upon request. She will even crawl up in bed with us and watch tv. She still has a bunch more doctor appointment to verfiy exactly how well she is hearing. They could tell that she was hear the octatives that didn't register before, but we have to go to the Easter Seals Clinic for more in depth observation. I'll try to keep this up dated a little better then I did last month, my computer had a virus and it took me forever to fix it.

~Have a Beautiful Day~

**Moving right along**

Well, now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over, the IEP is done, doctor appointments are scheduled for the month of December, Tru's gotten her new full strength glasses, school fund raising is winding down till the spring, & I'm caught up with my online class I can tell everyone what Tru's new Individual Education Plan is.

We are taking a step backwards in hopes that it will make the next few steps forward easier. They are wanting her to FULLY complete tasks, (i.e. putting all the blocks away,helping clean up toys, remain at the activities center the entire time, which is only like 15 minutes.) Verbalizing at least 10 times a day (that means not giving her what she wants until she talks, I'm sure it's going to be fun) Learn to approach other children in a friendly manner, sit and listen to a book for ten minutes, communicate her wants and needs through signs,words, pecs whatever she is more comfortable with (that means everyone else has to be a little more observant, lol, she communicates more then they are giving her credit for you just have to be a tune with her.), walk up five steps, scribble to fill a 1/2 page 50% of the time. She does most of these things for me already, but I have to help her 75% of the time. I know she knows how to do it, it's just a matter of doing it every day on a consistent basis.

Other then that, school is wonderful for her. She participated in a short play. She was a maiden and shook a bottle with rice in it. She had to be cued by her friend and the teacher had to encourage her to stop, but it was adorable. I forgot my camera though, sorry no pictures. She was cute in her plaid skirt, white polyester shirt, and lace apron. Needless to say she was hot & was ready to get out of the thing at the end of the 20 minute performance.

One more note, Tru has been chasing my indoor dog. Lucky, that's the dog, has always been good with her. He is a chihuahua/rat terrier mix, really small. She follows him around the house, either crawls or walks behind him. This is a great thing. She use to just touch him and go about her own merry way, but now she is interested in what he's doing and won't leave him alone. Lucky eats it up though. lol. It's a sight the two of them.

~Have a wonderful day~

Mom's Movie Day

Well, I finally got to go on my first field trip with Tru. I was so worried she wasn't going to enjoy herself, just like the Halloween party we held, but I was so very wrong. She sat through the entire movie except for the last 10-15 minutes. WHAT A SUCCESS! No screaming or yelling, she just sat there eating her popcorn and drinking her sweet tea. If I must say so myself, she was better behaved then some of the other kids. We didn't go with the rest of the class to eat McDonald's though. I took her to the park for awhile and enjoyed it being just me and her. We had the run of the merry-go-round, which delighted her to no end.

I don't think I have mentioned it before on the blog, but we are trying a product called the Miracle Belt. Right now she only wears it for 15-30 minutes a day 5-6 times a day. It really seems to be helping her some, even when she's not wearing it, I can see some improvement in her over all, already & it's only been a couple of days since she started wearing it. Basically what it is, is an extra 2 1/2 pounds centered around her waist in the front. It doesn't bother her when I put it on or take it off, so we're keeping to it.

Another IEP meeting is planned for next week. It'll be interesting to see where Tru is at on the curve now. I'm sure it's still isn't up to the expectations of others, but I'm very proud of her and how far she has come. I praise all accomplishments no matter how big or small. Tru's teacher is the same way, she really is wonderful with her. The entire staff is. Which makes me wonder if I didn't get 'accidentally on purpose' to speak with the review and compliance board, next week, about the services offered at Tru's school.

Which brings us to Tru's glasses. She has adjusted well to them and has another eye appointment next week also. The glasses that she currently wears 95% of the time aren't as strong as they should be, so the doctor may up the strength on the lens. This would be good because Tru came home from school on Thursday with her glasses all scratched up and a scratch on her nose and underneath it. Their wasn't a viable explanation offered & Tru can't tell me so.........hmmmmm.

~Have a Beautiful Day~