Calder Adoption: A Summer of Appointments

Hello, everyone! I can hardly believe that the summer is almost over! This blog entry is about 2 months overdue! This summer's theme was "appointments"....almost 30 in total (in a matter of 7 weeks)! We have seen so many people this summer...speech pathologists (4 of them), occupational therapists (2 of them), a physiotherapist, a geneticist, a developmental pediatrician, ophthamologists (2 of them)...then add her "regular" pediatrician, her dentist, and a week long "occupational therapy" class. We've been to Sick Kids, St. Michael's, 3 different ErinOak locations, and all places in between. To be honest, it was sometimes hard for me to keep doctors and their locations straight! I only drove to the wrong location once! Ha!ha! Attending all of these appointments were in the attempt to get some answers as to Ziva's delays and get the best help for her possible. And although we spent a lot of time going to appointments, I am also thankful that I had the summer off to be able to take her to them. I couldn't imagine having all these appointments while working! I can see why parents of special needs kids end up having one parent stay home.

We did have some fun this summer as well! We had a day trip to the zoo, went camping for 10 days, and for the first time, Ziva spent a whole weekend with her Beppe (grandma). Scott and I really enjoyed that weekend too! :)

Ziva is such a joy and delight to us. More and more of her personality seems to be surfacing all the time. She is the kind of child that does everything with gusto....and her clothes and face are usually the proof of that! For example, I drop her off at school with neat hair, a clean face, and clean clothes. By the time I pick her up, she is a total mess. (The sandbox being her favourite pastime at school...you can imagine!) We go home, she undresses at the door, and she goes straight into the tub! The way I figure it, the dirtier she is, the more fun she had!

Ziva is such a child of opposites. She gets so dirty when she plays in the sand and doesn't care, and yet when we sit down for dinner, she will go through 10 napkins (if she had her way!), wiping up tiny drips and spills. (I know this will sound sexist, but) she plays like such a boy when she is outside...she is rough and tumble, she loves cars and the sand. On the other hand, she can play with her "baby" so gently and she is so nurturing and motherly towards it, it is amazing.

Ziva continues to be a very grateful child and she truly savours new things and experiences. She takes nothing for granted. We redid her room this summer and she graduated to a "big girl bed" (photos below). Even though it's been 7 weeks, if a guest comes over, it is the first thing she will show them, she is so happy about it. Since getting her new bed, she now doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning!

Now we are busy gearing up for school! She will start SK at our local public school, where she will receive full time EA support. On her other days, she will continue to go to Maple School and be in their SK program.

Ziva and Mommy dressed as "twins" on Canada Day.

Being silly in the backyard.

Family photo.

She's our sunshine!

Toronto Zoo, July 2011.

Ziva in her new room. No more brown and blue!

Ziva had an absolute blast camping! With lots of sand and water, Ziva was in heaven. We went to Grundy Provincial Park, where they have floating docks out in the water (water is 8-10 feet deep). Ziva has no fear...she would jump off the dock, "swim" back to the ladder, jump again...for hours! People were amazed to see little Ziva do this and they used her as an example to try and cajole their kids into jumping!