WOOHOO!!! It’s so nice to have a working laptop again. I really didn’t think I was going to make it without being connected to the world beyond our front door. But I did and I’m ready to get back in touch with everyone!

While being away we had some new developments with the girls!

I think, I can officially say we had a MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH with Michaela concerning the vacuum. Our past experiences with Michaela and the vacuum have not been good. If we needed to vacuum, Michaela would immediately put her hands over her ears while running to her room, screaming in terror and shaking uncontrollably until the deed was done.

I am happy to announce the past 2 times I vacuumed (during the day when the sun was shining outside) Michaela actually stayed downstairs while I vacuumed!!  I prompted Michaela about 5 minutes before and told her I was getting the vacuum out. If she wanted to stay downstairs it would be ok or she could go to her room. I really think the turning point for Michaela was when she looked at Melanie and saw that Melanie could of cared less about the vacuum coming out. Then Michaela sat down in the chair next to Melanie (Michaela’s hands still over her ears) and stayed while I vacuum downstairs!!!!! Michaela was so excited afterwards that she was able to do it! I was so proud of her! It’s still going to take some time for Michaela to learn to cope with the noise and smells from the vacuum. Now with some positive experiences behind her, hopefully Michaela can handle being around vacuums more often!

Last week, we received an email from Michaela’s kindergarten teacher with some encouraging news on Michaela’s progress in the classroom. Here is part of the email,

“As you know, Michaela has been listening to daily social stories about coming into the room quietly and working.  She has also been working on raising her hand and waiting her turn before talking.  Yesterday, she came in the room after speech, went straight to her cubby, quietly put away her folder, then joined the rest of the class on the carpet for the story we were reading.  She did not need any redirection or reminders.  She did this without any hesitation and then listened to the rest of the story without any talking or moving. “

This is a HUGE accomplishment for Michaela!! She has been working very hard not to interrupt during class and listening to directions! I am very happy with her progress academically and socially. Michaela has made some great strides this school year.

Melanie has also made some improvements the past couple of weeks.

She is more chattier lately (not necessarily saying words but in Melanie’s language it is more conversation like) plus she is making a real effort in trying to communicate with us and her therapist. All of Melanie’s therapist last week pointed out to me that they are very happy to see some progress with Melanie’s attempt with communication.

For example, Chris has started a game with Melanie. He will hold up a finger and say, “one.” Melanie will then repeat it and say, “one.” Then they go all the way to number 4 (which is HUGE for Melanie!!!)  This past week, when we hold up our fingers to show any of the numbers up to 4. Melanie will say the number unprompted!!!!! This is very exciting progress.

Melanie also enjoys watching PBS Kids Super Why TV show. It’s amazing to watch her repeat some of the same movements the characters make on the show, like clapping and pointing. Then biggest surprise is when a character shows a certain alphabet letter, there is a pause for the kids at home to respond out loud. For example, the character shows the letter “T.” Melanie will then say “T” before the character tells everyone what the letter is!! Absolutely amazing, she has been doing this for the past several weeks!!

A couple of weekends ago the girls went to my parents house overnight so Chris and I go to a party. Mom was giving Melanie a bath. In the bath tub was some foam alphabet letters. Melanie said “Z.” Mom looked down and Melanie was holding the foam letter “Z” (my mom is kindergarten teacher for over 30 years.) Needless to say, Mom was shocked. So Mom handed Melanie another foam letter and Melanie recognized the letter correctly! The next day when my parents brought the girls home it was so neat to see how excited my Mom was telling me about Melanie’s progress in recognizing letters!

We also did get an appointment made for Melanie to see a geneticist on March, 20th. I’m still not sure how I really feel about this appointment. We have been getting some “this is not a bill” statements from the December developmental pediatrician appointment and the cost for the chromosome blood test is ridiculously expensive!  Of course, the doctors want to draw more blood from Melanie. I just hate the thought that we are putting her through all these test to find out that; A. the doctors don’t know why Melanie has partial deletion in chromosome #19 after all the testing or B. the test will come up with some other syndrome along being diagnosed with autism.

I’m trying to stay positive and take in all the wonderful accomplishments the girls are making while keeping Melanie’s appointment in the back of my mind.