Still here

I am sorry for not posting for so long. The last few weeks have been trying times for me. I have had to focus on Claire and spending every moment on structuring our world for her success. It has been very rewarding. Since I last posted, Claire has pulled to stand off of a stool, with only the help of secured hands, once she places them. That is so huge, also her standing balance has improved greatly. These two things are very important pieces two walking, something that I pray that I see her do. This week Claire has started to use her left hand to make choices and hit her swithces, something that I never would have thought to work on or ask for, she just started. It is so amazing to me how fearfully we are designed and the things that we are capable of. On the more overwhelming side of life is our battle with the schools. Claire turned 3 October 24th. In the special needs world, that is a pretty big deal. She aged out of her 5 therapist that we worked 9 hours a week with. We got two new ones that we work with between 2 and 3 hours a week, but it was a shock. The way it is supposed to work is that Claire starts school when she is 3, something that she is looking forward to. Unfortunately the school district is afraid of her, they don't understand her. As a result, they have chosen to take the lower road and through little diligence on their part, we still have yet to meet for an IEP. The IEP is the plan for having Claire in an education environment. Currently the meeting is set for Monday and I am trying to stay focused until then. Otherwise, life is going amazing well up here. We are still enjoying the bounty of the harvest and all of the fun things that food brings. We have enjoyed many meals with good friends who are walking with us during this trying period in life. Now that it is Novemeber I am starting to look forward to the holidays. This will be our first year celebrating Hanukkah and I look forward to teaching Claire about it. So there is the update, now I feel like I can start blogging again. The picture is from Claire's birthday, but she wore the same thing for Halloween.