Happy Valentine's Day!!

I had three GREAT days at school. Our theme this month is Valentine's Day and food. We're making lots of super sparkly Valentine's art projects and its warming up so we get extra outside time! All of the days I walked in and out all on my own, and I'm just so in love with it all...just in time for the month of LOVE! We had a Valentine's party and I got to make a cool Valentine hat and exchange Valentine's with all of my friends! I shared my goodies with Nixi and we got to have our very first lollipops.....mmmmm! Turns out, a little sugar goes a looooooong way...we were spinning for hours!

We had two great days with Heather, our BIA consultant. We even went to Target and bought cheese puffs and sandwich bags. Remember, I haven't been in Target in over a year. The only stores I've been tolerating going into are pet stores. I was nervous...mom drew me a social story of what we were gonna do. Heather went with us and, while I did have a moment there where I panicked and screamed a bit, I did it! Once a week mom is going to take me into a store to buy one or two things. At first I'm gonna stay riding in the cart...I'll build up to walking around. See, when I'm walking around I tend to get distracted and run into people, also adults are more apt to try to talk to me if I'm out of the cart. The cart gives me a little insulation while I'm getting used to things. Either way, tremendous accomplishment!

Regional Center has approved Heather to do consultation for Nixi, too. That's great news! Aside from mom, dad, and me...Heather is the person Nixi is the most consistently comfortable with. Even with Nixi's trust and comfort in Heather, the prolonged presence of an "outsider" still seems to cause Nix anxiety. See, when Nix is nervous she asks to nurse or twiddles mom's hair. In the hour and 50 minutes that Heather is here, Nixi will ask to nurse a number of times and "checks in" with mom's hair often. Once Heather (or whoever it may be that is over) leaves, Nixi goes immediately back to running around the house, playing, laughing, talking. What a goofball! She's sure come a long way, though.

Mom had some surgery on her mouth this week so dad was home with us for 2 full days of fun! We got to hang out with dad at the park, and Nix got to go see the doctor with dad. Turns out she had bronchitis, but she's feeling much better after a series of antibiotics. At the end of the week dad's truck bit the big one and died. That sucks...but the great news, we got another extra day of dad off work and we got a new car! Its so awesome! We LOVE it so much. Its so cool because its low enough that I can get into my car seat by myself. After all, I am a big girl...its about time!

So, that's the bulk of the excitement for our week. Looking forward to Valentine's Day and sharing the love. Wishing you all a very lovely day of love and a great week!

xoxo
Saf

Check out our new car...we named her Louise!