I'm honestly amazed at how well this week has gone so far! I've kept her pretty busy though. One day we met my friend and her 3 year old grandson at the park. He and K spent close to 45 minutes happily throwing rocks into the pond. We then went to eat and she did very well with him overall. At Parks and Rec Day she waited patiently in several long lines to do activities and dealt pretty well with the frustration of her last bit of popsicle falling on the floor. Yesterday we stuck close to home. I wanted to see how she'd spend the day at home without anything terribly "fun." Today we went to church and are going out for ice cream later (she doesn't know this yet). I'm preparing myself for an outburst or tantrum as she's going back tomorrow, but other than stomping off to her rooms a couple of times, she's been great.
We do have about 20 conversations a day that go like this -
"You can have a banana or apple for snack."
-Can I have a cookie?
"You can have a banana or apple for snack."
-Can I have grapes?
"You can have a banana or apple for snack."
-Can I have watermelon?
"You can have a banana or apple for snack."
-I'll have a banana (HUGE sigh).
At some point, I'll let her have the grapes, but not yet!
The other thing I've noticed is that she'll ask really obvious questions. We were walking the dog and she asked "Are we walking uphill now?" "Is that a yellow car?" "Is there a puddle in the road?" "Why is the bird flying?" I can't figure out if she wants reassurance, if she likes to hear herself talk or what. I very much want her to be confident, so my resonse is usually "What do you think?" and I'll either confirm or correct her response. Sometimes I do just tell her the answer. Any other suggestions?
K has talked about both her biological mom and grandpa this week. She had a dream about her mom she didn't like much. And she'll bring up past families she's lived with. I'm glad she's not trying to hide anything. She seems very excited to be coming here and has left almost everything she's brought at my house. We drive back tomorrow morning, and then the following Monday I'll have her again for another week.
We do have about 20 conversations a day that go like this -
"You can have a banana or apple for snack."
-Can I have a cookie?
"You can have a banana or apple for snack."
-Can I have grapes?
"You can have a banana or apple for snack."
-Can I have watermelon?
"You can have a banana or apple for snack."
-I'll have a banana (HUGE sigh).
At some point, I'll let her have the grapes, but not yet!
The other thing I've noticed is that she'll ask really obvious questions. We were walking the dog and she asked "Are we walking uphill now?" "Is that a yellow car?" "Is there a puddle in the road?" "Why is the bird flying?" I can't figure out if she wants reassurance, if she likes to hear herself talk or what. I very much want her to be confident, so my resonse is usually "What do you think?" and I'll either confirm or correct her response. Sometimes I do just tell her the answer. Any other suggestions?
K has talked about both her biological mom and grandpa this week. She had a dream about her mom she didn't like much. And she'll bring up past families she's lived with. I'm glad she's not trying to hide anything. She seems very excited to be coming here and has left almost everything she's brought at my house. We drive back tomorrow morning, and then the following Monday I'll have her again for another week.
