Bare Toes

Bare toes.  Big deal, right?  Who makes a big deal about bare toes? 

This momma makes a big deal about it.  When Sara first came to stay in the hotel with me, she insisted on having shoes on all the time.  She would put them on when she got out of bed in the morning.   She would put them on after she put on her pajamas.  She wouldn't brush her teeth without them.  When we came home, she would not take them off in the house.  About a month ago, she started taking them off in the house on her own.  Then flipflop weather came and she found herself in the house bare foot.  She will still occasionally put shoes on in the house but she's ok with being barefoot in the house. 

Tonight, she went outside at my parents house barefoot!   She stayed on the porch but it's huge progress.  She realized after she was out there that she didn't have shoes on but she didn't go back in.  She stayed outside barefoot!  (Tomorrow, I'm going to try to get her in the grass shoeless.) 

It's not really about the shoes.  It's about the changes they represent.  It's easy to see the physical changes in pictures.  She's growing like crazy.  It's harder to see the other changes.  I've noticed tons of them in the last week---I think because I've been with her so much more. 

*She is learning new words daily.  Literally one or two a day.  Today it was "star," "book" and "Becky."  (Not sure where she learned my mom's first name but she's said it twice.)  In the last two weeks she's learned Mom, Porque, Mon (Come on), Yep, and A Ver.  (Yep.  It's a mix of Spanish and English.)

*She is understanding so much English.  She still tends to answer in Spanish but she understands almost everything. 

*She will sit and read a book.  She turns one page at a time from left to right.  She follows the words with her finger and "reads" with expression. 

*She has started to answer "Sara" when asked what her name is. 

*She calls me Mom and will stake out her territory if I talk to any other children.

*She gets nervous when I'm not around.  This might sound like a step back but it's such a good sign. 

*She runs faster than I do.

She still has her moments and will still hit when she doesn't get her way.  But, she's come so far in such a short amount of time.  I can't wait to see where she is at the end of the summer.  I doubt the teacher and speech pathologist will even recognize her.