Long Overdue

I just hate letting those toothy pictures fall to the bottom of the page. Seriously, how cute is my Sweetie???!!

Things are going well here. Margaret has finally gotten used to her new teacher at school and resists leaving when I pick her up! She shouts, "No WAY!" and runs to the far corner of the room. I'm glad she likes school so much but it still makes me feel a little bad that she doesn't always prefer me anymore. She even eats better at school!

Around the house Margaret is talking up a storm. Finally. However, when she is around her Speech Therapist, she clams right up. I don't think M has done anything other than repeat the things her ST says. About two weeks ago, I got a alarming note from the therapist saying that she saw "red flags" about M's lack of speech and anti-social behavior. I was very pleased to be able to call her immediately and say that we had just had Margaret evaluated by a Neurologist who saw no "issues" at all to worry about. Still, the therapist wants me to call an agency in town and place Margaret in a speech and hearing playgroup. Yeah, I'm not going to do it. Instead, I racked my brain trying to figure out why Margaret exhibits the behaviors she does.

And I did figure it out, I think. What I think is going on is that her old tactile defensiveness has reared its ugly head again. So, I have arranged to have M seen by, count 'em, two OTs through Early Intervention. I guess I naively thought that after we tackled her early defensiveness, we were done. Nope. But, I do know she can be helped and does show improvement with sensory therapy. I'm just glad that her ST made me think about this in such a way to be able to get her the proper help.

Otherwise, Margaret is being her sweet, funny, loving self. She is still a Daddy's girl, showing so much favoritism to make me a little jealous at times. When Daddy is gone during the day, Margaret loves to come up to me and firmly state, "Daddy. Work." And when he comes home, the room lights up with her smiles and squeals, "Daaaie, Daaaie!"

How does Margaret feel about her brother? She is definitely warming up to him. Tonight she hugged him of her own accord with no prompting from us. And she cries and screams "NO!!! MINE!!!" if anyone other than me tries to push his stroller when I am dropping her off at school. She is also very concerned with any crying he does. "Brodah cwying!"

My favorite thing of late, though, is her new game of "Night Night". She will gather a group of toys: stuffed animals, figurines, rattles, whatever. And then she will put them all to bed, sometimes on the hearth and sometimes in her bed. "Frog, night night. Elmo, night night. Turtle, night night. Toy, night night." Occasionally, one will get extra care. "I coming, I coming!" Followed by the toy being covered in a washcloth and kissed. She is so gentle and it is so cute to see. So cute. Makes me feel good to know that is how she views Motherhood. What a good little Mommy she is!