New experiences for Ziva

Hello everyone! (Somehow this photo ended up here...and I am not computer saavy enough to move it!) This is Ziva on our 2 year anniversary of Gotcha Day, January 27th. Ziva has experienced a lot of new things in the past few months! We started gymnastics at the beginning of January which Ziva loves, of course, since it gives her lots of opportunity to run, jump, climb, and swing. Once the coaches realized that she has special needs and was delayed gross motorly, they provided her with a one-on-one EA; we were very glad for that because otherwise she would just run around and not do any of the tasks. In a few weeks, once gymnastics is over, she will go for another round of swimming lessons.

At the end of January, we started with rehabilitation services at Erin Oak; this provides services for kids who have multiple needs. Weekly, Ziva goes to see a (new) speech therapist and an occupational therapist. This week I took her to a physiotherapy assessment and we will now also consult with a physiotherapist every few months. Ziva and I also visited Sick Kids earlier this week for a "pre-MRI" check up. We have been told that Ziva is a great candidate for a weekend MRI appointment, so hopefully that will happen in a few months.

We have spent a lot of time this past month looking into schooling for Ziva- for now and next year. For SK next year, we have enrolled Ziva in our local public school where she will be provided with a one-on-one EA. We also decided to have Ziva switch schools now. Her needs just weren't being met at the school she was attending and so we made the difficult decision to pull her out. Next Monday, she will start at two new schools in their JK classes. We weren't able to find one full time placement so we have had to make do with two different centres; but that is what she will be doing next year when she is in SK, too, so she might as well get used to it! (No, we do not have full time SK in Halton yet!) We have heard nothing but good things about these two centers so we are very excited! It seems that both of these centers are well-equipped and trained to deal with special needs kids.

Ziva is making some progress in her speech. She still does not have all her sounds, though, so most words are still somewhat difficult to understand. Every day, Ziva and I work on sounds using games/flashcards provided by the speech therapist. Although she is limited in her speech, Ziva talks non-stop at home!

We continue to feel frustrated and, quite frankly, sad about other people's perception of Ziva. Ziva has her challenges and her delays... we are very well aware of that...but she is also able to learn and she is making progress! We have witnessed so many times in the past few months where people have low expectations of her and they automatically assume she can't understand or learn because of her delays. It seems that it is mostly related to her speech delay...once people realize she doesn't talk (much), they assume the worst. Although Ziva is not aware that people do this, we feel so badly for her because it is unfair judgement. It breaks my heart that people treat her this way.

I am so happy to say that Ziva is becoming quite the "mommy's girl"! When we are at home together, she doesn't let me out of her sight. For example, if she is playing upstairs and I need to go down to the basement to quickly get something, she always has to go with me. If she gets hurt (even if it is very minor), she always needs "a kiss to make it better"...but the kiss can only be from me (daddy's kisses don't even cut it!). And the number of kisses she gives me! She's my girl!

Now onto some fun photos!

Reading continues to be one of Ziva's favourite pastimes. This was the first time she picked this book off the shelf...

She will often read a book while eating. Hmmm....I wonder where she picked that up?

Snow was a huge hit with Ziva this winter! We took her tobogganing every weekend and she had a blast. She has no fear and so would go down even the hugest hills! Ziva fell in love with her snowman!

Always a helper, Ziva would help me shovel the snow.

Ziva's new look! At an appoinment with the ophthamologist at Sick Kids back in February, they discovered she needs glasses! This week was her first week with them...so far, so good!

Ziva is a puzzle hound! We bought her 24 piece puzzles at Christmas...which she "outgrew" in about a week. She is now up to 48 pieces and whizzes through them!

We took Ziva to an indoor amusement park...this was right up her alley. She loved the spinning, the heights, the speed! This was one ride I wouldn't even go on.

Ahhhh....this is more my speed!

Ziva smiles all the time...she is such a happy girl. But, as you may have noticed, she doesn't often smile for the camera. When we are going to take her picture, we'll say, "Ziva, smile!" and she will usually absolutely refuse. What a stinker! Every once in a while we are able to capture her with her big beautiful smile...