Little Gifts

Another Christmas has come and gone, this year rather quickly though. Eva definitely got the hang of presents, and wanted more.  She loved the fact that she understood what unwrapping something is, whether it was hers or not.  She just simply loved taking paper off of gifts.  She would even sneak downstairs to the tree and open a gift, bring it upstairs and had the look of accomplishment while saying "mama, mama, pehpeh" and handing me the torn apart paper.  I have to admit, she will not be selected as an honorary member of a recycling club this year but she was sure cute. 
One day before the holiday, there was a whole roll of wrapping paper left out downstairs.  She had retrieved it (by shear determination and her own initiative) and brought it upstairs.  Now, by the time it made it's way to the hallway, the cardboard tubing was on the stairs and she was dragging what was left of the whole roll of paper to the entryway.  Well, what she does next I just couldn't help but record...

Now, I have to reflect back to what I have seen and how I have reacted to her "cuteness".  So,  I know I am expected to be more firm when it comes to this type of activity because if it was one of the other girls...  I just feel that she can accomplish her motor skills, her ability of a "every minute personal goal" and stay so focus on one task.  I mean, for example, Abigail had a rubber glove.  Eva found it and sat in her room for over thirty minutes putting the glove onto her right hand, then finding the thumb, then taking it off and placing it onto her left hand and repeating the process, for thirty minutes.  Her shirt was the only victim with all of the 'focus drooling' done in the process.  I feel that she needs positive reinforcement when it comes to accomplishing her goals but, not when it comes to destroying a whole roll of wrapping paper.  Next year, I will not make it seem so cute. 

Well, it was a great holiday all in all.  We all learned a bit more about Eva and her abilities and how we need to continue encouraging her daily, as always.  She tends to amaze us every day! 

Holiday Cheer

We have been very busy this holiday.  First we started with a visit from Jan.  That was very exciting to see our Colorado Kool mom and friend.  It really amazes me that Eva can be so open with people.  I mean we were invited to Jan's parents house.  She was extremely sociable even with the dog.  No signs of shyness at all. 

We also had a wonderful breakfast with Santa.  Our first Santa visit was short but just long enough.  We had our pictures taken and Eva was again not shy.  She went right up to him and put her arms up into the air for him to pick her up.  One she was there all she could do was stare in awe.  I only wish I could read her mind to see what she was thinking. Maybe she was so intrigued with his beard and it actually touching her and I think if Santa was more well groomed, she wouldn't be so worried about it.
We also have to have our Bowling with Santa.  This is exciting for more the older girls than the younger ones.  But either way, Santa was there again and Eva did a great job getting up onto his lap for more captured moments of time. 
Here is a great opportunity to talk about her improvement in speech.  She is continuously going twice a week for therapy.  She is working on two word sentences, or just two words said together as in bye-bye mama or nie-nie dada.  We are also working on the ending continent sounds like t, ck, or m.  And here is something really exciting, before this accomplishment she has called all of her sisters Abu.  Now, Abigail is Abi while the others are still Abu.  We're definitely making positive progress!
I am not sure if this is an Eva update but it is exciting for our family.  SFKDVS is now officially a tax exempt organization.  This means that we can now start assisting other families after we receive donations and federal/state/ & private funds/grants.  I feel that this will be so rewarding for everyone. 
Here is another accomplishment happening while I am writing this.  Eva is very self occupied whether it is playing with toys, looking at books or focusing on something else.  Right now, she is emptying her backpack that always contains extra clothing for school.  She has put on her jacket, one sock half on up over her toes and the extra pants in pulled up one leg.  Now, she is starting to take it all off.  First the sock, then the pants and finally the jacket.  All is now being placed back into the backpack with the zipper closed.  All of this was done in about five minutes.  Six months ago these motor skills were not there nor were they attempted.  I would assume she received some of these skills from school.  She loves school.  Even when she was out for three days with a bad cold, she was ready to go to school.  Her classmates are very influential and her two teachers are so patient with the children.  These next two weeks with her being off from school I hope will go by fast.  All of our children need their schedule and routines.  I will just have to remember to keep something going on daily.  Happy Holidays!