Following Our Calling One Day at a Time: Play Time!

Last week was spring break for Claudia. I decided it would be a nice time to have some mommy-daughter time, so I took the week off from work (of course this also meant that I did not have to scramble to try to find a sitter for her). I had planned on taking her out to various places but the weather was really not all that good and to be honest, I was quite burned out from work and needed some time to recoup. So, Claudia and I mostly stayed in, went for walks and played outside. We had some good mommy daughter bonding time.

We had a quiet but wonderful Easter this year. Jason worked during the second service at Church and took Claudia with him to give me a little break. I met up with them for the third service. We heard a beautiful message from our Pastor. I don't have any cutsie pics of Claudia in her Easter dress, I did not have a chance to get any before she left and she got changed and went down for a nap shortly after coming home. I did however get some pictures and videos of our day at the park! The weather was so nice on Easter that Jason, Claudia and I went for a walk to the park after Claudia's nap. It was so much fun being there as a family, usually it is just Claudia and I. I love watching her interact with Jason, she loves her daddy so much! As you will see...

Check out Claudia's ever-improving walking skills. It's hard to tell, but she is going up and down a ramp:

This one is a fun video of Claudia running and crashing into me...

Yep, she loves her mommy too!

Over her break from school, Claudia started to say "All done" although she almost screams it. Claudia only talks when she want to... She will repeat a word several times over the course of a few weeks and then won't say it again for months. She is still working on developing her language skills, but I think that we are starting to see some progress. Claudia has been mimicking our mouth movements as we speak, although she does not produce sounds when she does this. She has also been babbling to herself a lot. Right now her favorite sound the the B sound. We encourage her vocalizations. Claudia also loves to watch herself in the mirror, so we try to get her to talk while looking into the mirror. Jason and I are confident that her verbal skills will continue to improve.

Claudia also worked hard at potty training over her break from school. She even had a whole day without any wet diapers except for over night. She definitely knows when she has to go and when she is wet. She also does not enjoy having a wet diaper. Claudia will tell us when she has to go potty but is not yet telling her teachers or others. She has not quite figured out that she can use the toilet at other places consistently. I'm hoping that as she continues to improve at home, that she will be more inclined to use the potty when we are not with her. We have been very lax with the potty training and do not put much stress on Claudia to use it, she is the one deciding that she is ready for it and we are so proud of her!

Claudia's self help skills continue to improve. She can mostly dress and undress, brush her teeth and scrub up in the tub. We are very encouraged by the improvements we have seen in these areas over the last couple of months. It gives us great hope for her future!

We still struggle with some behaviors, especially in public and in crowds of people. Claudia still does not like to be picked up by most people, I don't blame her. She also does not like other kids to be in her personal space unless she needs or wants something from them. Claudia is getting better at showing people that she is upset instead of lashing out and pulling hair or hitting at first, but this continues to be something we have to work on.

Overall Claudia is doing great. Jason and I have been very encouraged by her grown. We love her so much!

Here are some sweet pics of our playtime today, she was being quite a goofball!