Miscellaneous Mia ramblings

Krys's father left yesterday after being here a little over a week. It was good to see him; it's been almost two years since he was out here, and he came at the right time of year (i.e., between December and April, when the weather is tolerable). He's a helpful guy, and he put together Mia's big-girl bed that we bought earlier this week. Krys has yet to put the bedding on it, so Mia's still in her crib, but the transition will come soon! Wally (my father-in-law) also told us that if we ever bought anything ever again from IKEA he would hunt us down and kill us - he wasn't a fan. We also bought a new bookcase for the Demon Child, because she has a lot of books (as do we). We're also moving her old bookcase into the new baby's room (I think - I often get left out of the home decorating decisions). We also bought a new dresser that we have yet to assemble, because she's too big for her changing table and, of course, the new kid needs it. So we're changing her on the bed these days, because, obviously, she still needs to be changed.

(A couple of asides: yes, we're both unemployed and don't have a lot of money, yet we're still buying things. Well, kids don't stop growing just because we have no money, unfortunately - we're going to have to buy a bunch of new clothes for Mia because she's growing like a weed and it's getting summery here - the past few days it's been in the 90s, and it's not likely to get cooler anytime soon. Anyway, we've been spending money, and all I can say is - for a few brief, shining months, we had no credit card balance. Those days are over.

Also, all you parents of young kids out there - you are reading to your kids every day, right? Please do. I get kids in high school who have absolutely no interest in reading, and I believe it's partly because their parents didn't read to them. Mia loves it.)

Okay, back to the miscellany. Her wheelchair should be delivered on Wednesday, which is nice, because we'll have a few months to get used to it before she goes to school. We're still waiting on her Augmentative Communication Device. Insurance companies suck. This past week was the last one for her occupational therapist, who selfishly decided that her and her fiance's health was more important than our child and took a "real" job with actual benefits (if you're reading this, Kristin, I'm kidding!). We'll miss her; she was excellent (well, she still is, I'm sure, just not with Mia anymore). We're still looking for a replacement - OTs are hard to find, apparently. This past week was also her first meeting with her new speech therapist - her previous one, also selfish, had to have surgery so she could walk - the nerve! (Hi, Karen - also kidding!) We got lucky with her new therapist, because she just moved back into the area and is re-building her case load, so Mia was able to snag a spot. STs also, apparently, in high demand. If anyone's thinking about a career - there you go. Her PT, however, is staying right where he is - we have threatened to take him with us if we ever move.

Finally, this afternoon she has started to put some thoughts together, which is a pretty big deal. When she signs, it's usually one sign like "Please," which is what she does whenever she wants something. Today Krys had her on her (Krys's, that is) lap and was helping her drink some juice. Whenever Krys put the glass down, Mia would reach for it. Krys kept asking her "What do you want?" and Mia would sign "Want." Krys would say, "Do you want more?" and Mia would sign "More." Finally, after this went on for a while (parents know what I'm talking about - kids occasionally can be endlessly entertained by mind-numbing things), Krys began saying, "What are you trying to say?" and Mia signed, very clearly, "Want" and then "More" (Krys got her to sign "Please" after that, as well - we want a polite child!). So that was exciting - we're trying to get her to understand the significance of her signs instead of just mimicking us, and this was one of the clearest examples yet. Of course, now we're going to push her even harder. Hee-hee-hee!