Busy Girl

It has been a while since I posted, mostly because I am not sure how to put this update into words........everything feels more "normal" for us right now than it has for a long time.  I know, that is kind of a weird thing to say but we are just doing the things other families do without thinking,and it feels so good.

Miss Angie is completely rocking her school year.  Her brain is in extreme learning mode and her progress just blows me away.  Today she did 6 pages of math!!!  This week, she began to read and understand plurals, and there is so much more.  She has a new awareness of the world around her.

Doing her job at school:

We went to a great pumpkin patch last weekend.  Finally, a break in the rain.  We had such an amazing day together.  Hay rides, kettle corn, pumpkin bowling, shooting pumpkins and apples out of cannons.  Again, just "normal" family stuff:

Tonight, I took Angie and a friend to the Fall Carnival at school.  I love to attend community events with Angie.  She has such a zest for life and she reacts as if every experience is the very best one ever.  She reminds me to appreciate the little things.  Every. Single. Day.

There is adoption news and I don't want to jinx it but I will say that we will be announcing our finalization date very soon.  I hope I did not just jinx it.  Oh no!! Let me say this, though.....we will be celebrating with a huge event and I expect every single person who has traveled this journey with us to attend.  No exceptions.  We wouldn't have it any other way.

We had an IEP meeting for Angie today.  As I listened to her team's comments and the data that has collected about her progress I was completely overwhelmed.  There seems to be no explanation for the explosion of learning that Angie is experiencing.  Except, there is:

Angie has a dedicated, creative team of people working with her every single day.  They "get" how she learns and they have adjusted their teaching accordingly.  It is working.  I have said this before but it bears repeating.  At the beginning of this school year, six weeks ago, Angie had no consistent sight words.  Today, she is READING!!!  Color words, number words, high frequency words, nouns, verbs, you name it.  She is reading it.

We shared information about the effects of hemispherectomy on education and they listened.  The results speak for themselves.  And she just continues to surprise us.  I am in contact with many parents of children with special needs and I know this is not the norm.  Many families struggle to get the services their children need.  I want all families to have what is needed because their children deserve it.

I cannot write about Angie's progress without mentioning her sessions of the Anat Baniel Method.  I still do not completely understand why it works but I am 100% convinced that it does.  She is a different child since starting the ABM treatments.  We are planning another series of session for her in early November.

The bottom line is that we are thrilled and amazed with the child that Angie is becoming.  She is a mystery and a wonder and she has blessed our lives beyond measure.  I can't wait to see her progress continue and to watch her continue to soar......