The first miracle has been that every single one of Mika's learning assistants have been super-stars! They’ve been instrumental at keeping her program running smoothly, even when I felt the Winter's blues and retreated in a hot bath with my book instead of offering feed-backs, so thank you!
In December, Mika started to tell us she wanted more food, or something to drink, by pointing and saying "eat" or “ juice”; and then leading us to the source, sometimes far away. I didn't notice right away how big a leap she had taken! She's realized that she needs us to get what she wants outside the playroom! I’ve been hoping for this moment for so long that when it came, I almost didn’t notice how HUGE this was!
Music continues to be a huge motivator and source of joy for Mika, and when she sings with Kheira, even Ellie wonders if it's really Mika in the playroom with her! Bob Marley continues to be a huge hit and we offer her a variety of styles and even languages. Her best performance is "Le Petit Bonheur" by Felix Leclerc. On the creative front, we continue to present drawing and writing opportunities to her, and even though we go all out (by dressing-up as crayons and singing songs about drawing), Mika continues to be more fascinated by the crayons as flying objects that are best thrown away. So I've brought the iPad back in the room and she truly enjoys the drawing app. Sometimes! When technology helps, we go with it!
I would also like to share something. I really feel that our biggest challenge is not directly related to Mika having special needs. I just want to offer both my girls equal opportunity for parental guidance, without discrimination based on ability. Thus our need for a cloning technology so we can have one parent working, one with each of our girls, and one with each other! Each other: what's that again?
While we’re talking about clones, maybe we should have one more for a second income! This conundrum is typical of all parents, but perhaps compounded a little with the added stress of keeping our Mika safe and providing her with what we believe helps: a grain-free diet, pro-biotics, a home-based program and travels to ABM therapy sessions. Just trying to remember that what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger!
Happy Spring Solstice!