Stories and creations

We read The Little Red Hen, and the girls each made their own Little Red Hen book. They drew the hen and told me what to write for them for the story.

Miss O's Little Red Hen story.

Miss I's Little Red Hen story.

The same day, the girls decided to use their creative sides on their own. Here is Miss O and her special book she made for daddy.

Here is Miss I with her mask invention. Yes, she did it completely by herself, including asking specifically for the TP rolls.

Chores

The girls have had chores for quite some time now. They are both responsible for picking up their rooms, putting their clean clothes away, helping set the table, and clearing their plates from the table. This winter I've been working with them on cleaning the bathroom. For a few months I've been doing it with them. They have now graduated to doing it mostly on their own. I spray the cleaners and they do the scrubbing. When they are done I go in an wipe up the puddles and any missed spots, and I take care of the base of the toilet and floor. Here they are doing their new chore. I'm so proud of them!

Miss I lost her pants while scrubbing the toilet. :) (Which, by the way, is her favorite part of cleaning the bathroom.)

Two amazing events

As I type this post, I am sitting on our couch watching two absolutely amazing events. Miss O is sitting on the floor with Boggle Jr. spelling out words, looking at the pictures, and saying the words. That in and of itself is wonderful and amazing to watch, as she teaches herself to read! While that was happening, Ato T rolled himself over to her and then "crawled" to her, pushed the top of the game box on purpose to mess up her letters, and then giggled loudly when her game was messed up and she was bothered. These two events from my kids with special needs. The girl who I was chastised about just 2 weeks ago, for not teaching her enough phonics, and the boy who is missing half of his brain. They are amazing kids! Our God is even more amazing. Thank you, Lord, for creating and nurturing these amazing lives, and for allowing me to be part of that.

More sensory fun

Shaving cream play sparks up any day! And mommy loves it for practicing letters. They don't even know they're doing "school." :>)

She did it!!!!!

Miss O has peed in the potty!!!!! We tried for no diapers again today. She always does well until she has to go (about 4-5 hours), and then has the accident all at once. Then she's good for another 3-4 hours. Today it started out all the same, until I noticed she was missing. When I found her, she had taken her panties off and put on a pull-up to pee in. So mommy said, okay, that's it - you are not allowed to wear pull-ups or diapers anymore. And guess what - she's gone pee in potty twice now. Once with a witness and a lot. So it's a pizza party tonight! Wahoo!!!!! Way to go Miss O! We're so proud of you!!!!!

I'm a Christian

We don't celebrate Halloween at our house. Miss O's therapists are aware of this, and are really nice about not doing "halloweeny" stuff with her around that time. Today I guess one of Ato T's therapists was confused about what holidays we do and don't celebrate, so she asked Miss O if we celebrate St. Patrick's day. Miss O boldly and joyfully (from what I hear) said "I'm a Christian! I love Jesus! I've always loved Jesus! I celebrate Jesus!" Ahhhhh ... music to this mother's ears.

Wiggle Tag

Miss O made up her own game, called Wiggle Tag. It's not really tag, more of a race. She had us start in the front living room and do an exercise (like crab walk, downward facing dog, etc.). Then we run to the front door, which is where the race begins. We race to the patio door in the back family room and then back to the front door. Our last time doing it, she added that we had to run around the dining room table before going to the patio door.

This is an amazing accomplishment for Miss O! She made up her own game with rules, and explained it very well to the whole family! Then she came up with her own name for it! I wish I could explain how incredibly amazing this is for our beautiful girl who happens to have 1p36 deletion syndrome. It was the funnest game I have ever played!

I feel so blessed to have her here at home with us all the time, so we are able to witness these wonderful bursts of creativity. On a side note, she has also been very interested in making her own books lately. :) We praise the Lord for His grace in allowing Miss O to continue to develop so well!