Session Two: Day 3

Today I got to stay in the classroom with Laila for the morning.  All the routine of it was coming back to me again and obviously to her as well.  I'm just so thankful to see her participating and actually trying instead of crying and fighting everything.  You can definintely see the maturity that she has gained this year.
I was able to observe her work in the lying program where they are really working on having a straight body and moving limbs independently instead of everything involuntary and all at once.  She didn't struggle near as much as I thought she was going to and her conductor even commented on how much improvement she has seen in her just in a few days.  I've also been able to notice that in things like putting her shirt on and less hands flailing everywhere in the bathtub when I go to wash her hair and she might get startled. 

I helped her on the potty twice and again, amazed at how she's sitting so good and not fighting it. No bravos today but that's OK.  All those days of crying and fighting the first time we were here just flood my memory and I'm so thankful that we were able to get through that with tons of progress on the other side and so excited to see the progress this time without as much fighting!  I think it also really helped that after we were here last time we went and bought the same kind of potty and even splurged on the ladder back chair that she uses to hold on to with some help of some amazing friends, grandma Kathy and Santa ;)  That crazy wooden spindle chair was almost $300!!  Wood workers, get into that business!!

I love to see how Laila interacts so much more with the other kids this time and is a little chatterbox.  Not sure if you remember our friend Dakota from last session but his mom came with a BIG surprise for Laila yesterday, literally!  She said she had bought this giant Tickle Me Elmo for Dakota forever ago and he just never got into it and she remember that Laila liked Elmo so she saved it hoping we'd come back again.  It's bigger than her!!

I have to be honest and say I'm waiting for the ball to drop.  Laila has a tendency to love to show off or be really proud of herself with something for a little while and then completely quit.  I hate that I feel that way but I'm also proud of myslef for learning over the past few years to rejoice in the moment and continue to work in the next.  Andrea said today that she thought that if Laila was going to do that she would've by the end of the day today and she didn't so that's really exciting.

We were able to go to the nutrition information and running tips meeting last night and meet some amazing people.  Steve and Margaux Drake were presenting at the meeting and they are the couple that is running the 25K and then turning around and running back to make it a 50K.  And no, as I've been asked, they are not running backwards ;)  Anyway, Margaux is a nutrition expert for WOTV here in Grand Rapids and she shared a bunch of tips on eating right and specifically the night before and day of the race.  I was able to share with the group the progress that Laila has made at CLC and what a difference they are making in these kids lives by running and fundraising for CLC.  Of course Laila hammed it up for everyone and they loved her :)

We were excited to go to the meeting but also bummed because Wednesday nights are when the volunteers bring service dogs into the house here at RMH for the residents to have fun with.  This became a favorite for Laila during our last session and it was amazing to see how she warmed up to them over our weeks here.  To our surprise and excitement a few of the dogs were still here when we got back!!  She was so excited and did great with them!  She kept yelling "I pet him nice mama, I pet him nice!"  The only dog she usually likes, scratch that, LOVES is my sisters dog Duke and he's a smaller dog so it was fun to see her being excited about a bigger dog.  We're planning to apply for a service dog for her next year and it will be a golden lab or golden retriever so it's good she's getting this practice now :)

Tonight we're going to a restaurant downtown called Peppino's.  There's a Social Charity Club here in GR and they have organized for the $10 cover charge to go directly to CLC.  I'm very excited because a friend from High School that is living in Kalamazoo now is going to meet us there.  She and I reconnected during our last trip to CLC when she was reading my blog and shared with me about her precious sister-in-law who had CP.  It's been a very long time and I can't wait for her to meet Laila. 

Thanks to everyone for the prayers for Jackson.  He is doing much better today and has been fever free since this morning.  Looks like the medicine is working quickly and hopefully he can go back to school tomorrow.  We're still on the fence as to whether it would be smart for them to come this weekend or not.  Please continue to pray for clarity on that issue for us.

On a side note, we got a call yesterday that our home study is completed and approved for our adoption of Ranjit!  That's an exciting step and I'm again very thankful for a husband who's not only willing to take care of the kids (especially while sick!!) but also willing to help out with all of these paperwork things that I normally handle.  Love you honey!!