90 Day Eval

Jen came to see Ayden Jane today and it was 90 eval day. Honestly, I used to not like these so much. I remember when AJ was tiny and therapy seemed to just turn on things I could not dream of sometimes. We used to joke about Jen knowing of secret buttons that she would push each week... I would feel like I had a new mission for the next week. On eval weeks I just wished the time spent during the eval. would be used to 'turn on' new things.... Now, I finally relax a bit about Ayden Jane's skills and the eval is enjoyable. I don't worry about time lost, but enjoy the way that it helps direct the next steps. It is nice to see the goals that were met and get excited to think about the things she will learn over the next chunk of time... It really is amazing when we sit back and look at where she is. I will post her goals next week when I get a copy of them. In fact, I think I will dig out the old ones just to look at how far we have come!

I took Ayden Jane to the beach today. (Surfin' as she calls it) We got there and decided to take a walk. I wasn't sure how well that would go... but Ayden Jane thought it was a great idea and off we went. She was adorable. She walked a bit, ran a lot and went out into the water and jumped the waves. I made her turn around after about a 1/2 mile and she made it all the way back with just a bit of encouragement. When she was in the water, she did a great job of being 'stable'. She was knocked over a couple of times and thought it was quite funny, but had no trouble getting back on her feet. She tried to jump the waves with me and her lack of time was quite hysterical.

We left the beach and headed for the pool. Ayden Jane did her usual swimming and jumping and 'floating' (which is really more like sinking with style). Anyway, we headed home and as I went into the shower, she was playing with Noah in his room and I could hear her laughing. You know, nothing like a toddler belly laugh. She just feels so great after the sand and water and movement and touch... She is just goofy! She was loud and silly and totally connected with her big brother. Priceless moments.