The girls new kitchen
Loves that the card plays music
A big cookie cake
Stephanie turned 5 just over a week ago and had a good birthday. It was a hot day outside so she spent a lot of it in the pool and has a blast in her pool at home. Lately, she loves dumping water on herself over and over again. It keeps her very busy in the pool. Stephanie has grown a lot in the last year and is still very tall and skinny but has actually put on some weight. She is now41-42lbs and 46 inches. All legs too. Summer is nice because it is hard to find pants for her still. One of my favorite thing she has learned this year is how to say "mommy". She learned a few months ago and now says it all the time. There are sometimes she says it when she is either mad, scared, frustrated and doesn't really want me but says it because she is mad at the situation. But it is still great to hear. A lot of the time she says it and comes running to me. I waited a long time to hear it. Her other major progress of the last year was getting potty trained. As much as I thought it was never going to happen she did surprisingly great. So much better than I would have ever expected. It's nice to have only 1 in diapers.
With almost 10 months of therapy in she has made some progress in some areas and not so much in other. As she has gotten older we see more of the autism signs in her than when she was first diagnosed 2 years ago. I wasn't prepared for that but at least we now have a team of therapists in place to help us with these areas. She has gotten more language, some still only understandable to us but does try to communicate more. They are working on some signs with her but because she doesn't like hand over hand touch and has motor delays the signs are sometimes difficult for her. She had a better year at school and the teachers all commented that she seemed happier and more aware of what was going on. A lot better attention span and more aware of the other kids. She had some rough times (like when Matthew was born) with some aggression at home and school. That is one thing that has increased in the last month. It does seem to come and ago, especially with Emily, but more aggression with us and with her therapists. It's hard to watch her get so mad at them when they are trying to help her. She has also become more sensitive to noise. She never had a problem with it and now all of a sudden low flying planes, loud sounds (music, fireworks, thunder, rain) all seem to bother her. So that is something we might start to work on soon.
She loves to do puzzles now, pretend to cook in her new kitchen she got with Emily for her birthday, has taken to TV (is actually understanding some of it now), loves her pool but not swimming in general, Thomas trains, her blanket for the couch, and sometimes playing with Emily. When she is in a good mood, as with any kid, she is so happy, fun, goofy, and such a joy. When she is having a rough day it can be a very rough day and everything is so hard. Even though her language is getting better she still has trouble communicating when she needs help and accepting it. Sometimes when she is being sassy we say she is being age appropriate but that doesn't always make it easier.
I can't believe she is 5 already and will be going to K4 in the fall. It has gone by fast and we are taking baby steps forward. We still have a long way to go but I try to take it day by day and enjoy the little success she is making. We love you sweetie!! Happy Birthday!
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