My First Car

My first car was a new VW Bug, shiny Navy Blue with tan interior, awesome sound system with 6 CD changer, a vase for my fake flower next to the steering wheel. My Parents gave me the car on one condition - that I drove my younger brothers to school and any activities. David was in Kindergarten and Andy Preschool. The first thing I did after the initial excitement was to print up rules to "Myky's Car" I still have a couple somewhere, but I went to the trouble of laminating them at my mom's school... No Food, no Drinks other than water, I choose the Music - will accept requests (My brothers went through a Maroon 5 phase where I heard 'The phone song 5,000 times) I was tough and sometimes mean but always loving and an awesome sister!

My have things have changed... I drive so much with Maggie and usually she's very good but when she requests cereal I'm so proud she signed I will give her what she asked for. And she's not a clean eater... My Car usually smells like peanut butter panda puffs despite my efforts... And if she doesn't like the music she lets me know!

I used to waste a lot of energy worrying but I got over it! I've resolved the fact my life may never be clean and organized again - Life with children

Uncle David's Graduation

Uncle David is officially an High Schooler! He graduated from All Saints Middle School a couple weeks ago and I am so proud of him for being an awesome brother and a patient, loving Uncle! At 14, he is calm, attentive and caring towards his niece. He has chosen friends who are also respectful and inclusive towards her. He will be attending Holy Angels High School next year and I am excited that he will be playing Soccer (which he loves!) but he is also excited over another aspect of this wonderful school. Younger siblings, or nieces are encouraged to be a part of their families involvement and are considered "Honorary Angels" - All this means is Maggie is welcomed and always invited to attend games or practices. A friend of mine even made an adorable Cheerleader outfit for her! We are extremely proud of David! He has grown so much sense being "Baby David"

And yes he is just shy of 6ft... Crazy!

Puzzles

I know how you feel. You tell yourself "It's ok (my child) will get there in their own time. I shouldn't compare them to their siblings or other children. Their unique, special. Deep Breathe What can I do to help, to learn or to be a better parent of a special needs child?" (And then stop yourself from thinking, "It's my fault")

In my few years with Maggie, I've learned it's nearly impossible to get her to do what you want her to do, she will only do what she wants to do! And she is not interested in putting beads on a string or stacking 4 blocks... Hand over Hand annoys her that I'm touching her. Dozens of therapists have lead to progress yet there are still tasks I know she can do that she just doesn't want to! Drawing or coloring is a big one. But puzzles have always been challenging. The piece has to be perfectly in place to fit and the little red nob requires pincher grasp , least favorite, and it doesn't have the most exciting end result seeing as you are basically covering up a picture with the same picture... BUT this most annoying puzzle makes the sound of the animal if she fits it in the right spot! Brilliant! The motivator she needed :-) A friend of my dad's gave this to Maggie and she loves it.

Only downside is that it will randomly makes noses when we walk by it.... Oh Well another amusing aspect my life :-)

Focus

Attends to a task...

A) Sometimes

B) Often

C) Always

D) Never

Well... If you ask me this question in the context of a task that Miss Mags is not interested in then of course it's D. But if it's something she has interest in then possibly A. But if it's something she loves that is a whole new level of attending to a task that is amazing! I have spoken before of my love affair of all things APPLE and the iPad is no different! It is amazing how a meltdown to calm happy child with a touch of my finger to the screen. And football has never failed me yet! Gosh I can't imagine how my kiddo will do if the selfish owners continue their dumb strike and there is no football this fall, I may have to take her down to the headquarters and let her meltdown for them... whatever it takes! But I digress, I am shocked and so impressed by her ability to focus, pay attention and understand what she is watching! It's incredible to me :)

After an hour she is still watching and getting excited at the correct points, signing touchdown when the receiver crossed into the end zone.

Perhaps in 20 years we will have woman referees...

(always with chewy in hand...)

Little Chef

Like Mother, Like Daughter... Maggie's most favorite food in the whole wide world is gluten free pancakes. She will eat 6 little pillows of heaven (which for this supermodel is a lot) Today she had the urge to help so I let her stir the batter and then she helped me flip them! She chewed on the spatula covering it with drool....ew.... On to spatula #2 - conquering breakfast!

My mini helper

When times get tough...

When Times Get Tough... The Tough Go Blonde! The past week has been filled with drama, meltdowns, results from IQ tests, adaptive tests and every other test came down and no surprise the results were as expected, yet still hard to swallow. To keep my mind off the negative I decided I needed to do something for myself. I decided to take a risk, have some fun and get in touch with my inner Pin-Up girl :-) The most amusing part of this process was that I only had a 3 hour block of time when the kiddo was at class so this was a 2 day process and the first day I left with almost white hair - but left the second day looking like this!

It did throw Maggie off slightly but then I started talking to her and she realized who I was and then all was right in her world!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Nothing is more wonderful than Horseback riding season! After all the mandatory, repetitive therapies - Horse Therapy is an exciting break! She loves the bumpy ride, giving them hugs and touching their noses. She likes singing to herself and noticing every little detail around her. I love watching her smile and rock herself to try to get the horse going faster :) I wish I could go riding every week - Lucky GIRL!
This particular horse she is riding is one of the smaller horses, but typically she likes the taller, larger and faster horses! She giggles like it's the most wonderful ride ever!

Signing 'Touchdown' while on the horse...