Maya:
Well, it has been a more challenging transition to school this year than in prior years, beginning with Maya's long recovery from pnuemonia in August. Now she is healthy and strong and doing her best to fight minor colds and runny noses...she and her sister have received their first round of H1N1 shots and their flu vaccines. Maya is in a K-1 classroom most of the day with her 1 on 1, and she spends some time learning with the rest of the kids, and then spends a lot of time doing one on one activities. At 2PM she goes with her one on one, over to the preschool room for more socialization time, while they do "free play" time. She stays with that class of kids until the end of the day at 3:30.
Maya is finally making some good communication progress. She is not signing a ton, but when she does sign she is using it appropriately and more consistantly. She certainly is understanding more sign language and can follow some simple directions. She amazed Dean and I a few weeks ago on her trike...her endurance was great and she steered herself all over the place, even turning around at tight corners. Her balance also continues to improve. She is getting up the bus steps (which are HUGE) independently...using the rail for help. She also is very excited to be social with other people, and even kids now...this is a huge change for her. She JUST does not know exactly how to interact with kids yet, but she is trying:-)
We met with our WA state CHARGE families recently and had a blast hanging out with all the families. That connection for us continues to be a safe place to share about our journey as parents and the unique world of Maya, for that I am so thankful. It also is a wonderful place to share our struggles and celebrate the acheivements of our wonderful children...who are ALL so special. We have met now for about 3 years and we are so comfortable with each other...Dean commented on how quickly we dive into "real conversations", we really don't spend much time in small talk...but you know what, it is not all serious, as we try not to take our lives too seriously or we would go nuts I think...we certainly spent a good amount of time laughing together!
Addy:
Well, Addy is definitely becoming her own special person. The words I use to describe her are vibrant, full of emotion, BIG hugger, athletic, and FUN! While at times she can be shy in public, she has quite a crazy side. Her outfits that she insists on picking out herself are very busy, full of color, and on the feminine side. She is doing 2 mornings a week of preschool, and ever since she began she has been reciting the alphabet perhaps 100 times a day, trying her best to write letters and numbers, counting everything that looks like something that needs to be counted, and signing her letters with me...it is cute, often she will sign the letter "a" and have her "a" kiss my sign of "a"...it is sweet. Her preschool incorporates the signs for the letters, which REALLY has helped her acceptance of signing at home:-)
Addy's biggest achievement of the month has been learning to swim all by herself. She now can jump off the wall and swim on her own to the surface and several strokes to Mommy or Daddy...so exciting for her!
Teya:
Teya is Maya's BEST learning partner here at home, as they both are learning to point, and both LOVE the same types of books,toys, and simple sign language. It is great to have a little buddy help me with Maya's story time and puzzles:-) Teya is all about imitation right now, and loves to try to say new words each day. She also is picking up sign language well too. She LOVES baby dolls and carrying around a backpack like her sisters wear when they go to school. She continues to be a real sweet spirit, but has begun to show a tough side of herself, that lets Addy in particular know that she will not be messed with! And, she can screech with the best of them too. Most of all, Dean and I spend lots of time just soaking in her cute little personality and hilarious behaviors...17 month olds are just so darn CUTE!
