Manny and I filled out our behavior and social questionnaire about Juliana. Stupid me forgot to stick it in her backpack today, so it's got to go tomorrow. It gets us one step closer in her evaluations to see what might be causing the problems she's having in school with paying attention and following through. Oh yeah, and with focusing. It's frustrating because I know that a lot of it seems to be willful. She's a very willful, stubborn child when she sets her mind to it. My mom says I was similar, but I was also repressed a bit I think. Her self-esteem is loads better than mine was a child. I just hope it's something that we can really work with. There are 3 evals that have to be done total, and the concern isn't really just about how to approach her for Kindergarten but to figure this out before 1st grade.
Gracie is finally willing to wear clothes regularly again. We go through much of the day with clothing on, and whenever we go out, she's the first one asking for an outfit!!! She loves to look pretty and lately is even insisting on having her HAIR done! She's not having nearly as many tantrums as she was a year ago, and she's speaking more again. It was odd that she was such an early talker, then regressed with her speech so much. I felt like there was something wrong with ME because of her behavior. It really is hard, and when your child decides to be difficult no matter how you approach things, and progress is slow, it really can play with your mind. I'm just so proud of Gracie for the progress she's made. She's happier probably 85% of the time. I'd say before it was 40% of the time. I attribute some of it to maturity, as well as my getting treated for PPD and anxiety and the other stuff I've talked about here. I also attribute a lot of the progress to good advice from my shrink.
But of course there's a flip side. Isn't there ALWAYS? Grace has decided that although she knows how to use the potty, she'd much rather just rely on Pull-ups. I'm quickly reaching a point where it won't be a choice for her any more. I'll simply stop buying them and she'll have no choice but to either soil her pretty clothes or use the toilet. I'm hoping she realizes I'm not bluffing. She HAS to do this, because 3 out of the last 5 nights, she's woken up upset because she refused to go potty before bed, thus resulting in soaked blankets, pajamas, and sheets. Thank God the mattress is vinyl-lined... but holy cow, she literally burst through a bone dry Pull-up because her bladder was overly full.
Right now she's singing "If you're happy and you know it" at the top of her lungs. She's making me grin.
No comments:
Post a Comment