Halloween Cuties

So, on a lighter note, we had a good Halloween. Yesterday I took Sonja to the drugstore to get a plastic pumpkin and she fell in love with it. She was holding it all night and all the next day.



We tried to do scenarios with asking Daddy for candy and putting it in the pumpkin. Not sure what sunk in. Today we went to a trunk-or-treat and I told Sonja we were dressing her as a cat (my costume from when I was 2). I drew whiskers on her face which she seemed to love because she held totally still with a interested look on her face. When she saw herself in the mirror, there was definitely some examining going on. When we were ready to go, she had her pumpkin all ready and went to the door. I don't know how she knew what to do, maybe it was random. I realize this video overlaps with the pics a bit, but it's for the grandparents.





Isn't there supposed to be candy in here?



Natalia as a Halloween marshmallow:



Sonja didn't get the asking for treats and had a hard time focusing on picking a treat out, but once she had one, everything else was unimportant as she intently tried to open it.



Several people talked to her, "Oh, are you a cat? So cute!" etc. She ignored them until one guy said, "Are you a cat? Can you say meow?" She looked straight in his eyes and said a perfect, "Meow." What the crap?!! He didn't think anything of it, but I obviously was like, "No, you don't understand. She hasn't said any animal sounds but moo for the past year. This is HUGE!" What triggers these moments of clarity I don't know. But they keep me going.



Another fun moment in a very hard week (rough nights of little sleep, mostly) also happened today. Natalia had a poopy diaper, and every time I touched a wipe to her bum she started giggling. I wasn't doing anything different than usual, but this time it was hilarious to her. If only every diaper changing was that jovial.

In looking at video (don't you love video?), I see a difference in Sonja just since her birthday. She responded to me saying, "Bye bye, Sonja" in a store for the first time yesterday by turning around and following me instead of just staring off into space. And in the past two weeks her tantrums around Natalia have dramatically decreased. She still won't acknowledge the baby, but she is starting to passively accept her presence as an inevitability. This is due, I think, first to all the prayers and fasting on our behalf. Also, to me giving her my own therapy sessions several hours a day and just getting in her face. My voice is so sore from talking almost all day and repeating, repeating, repeating. I annoy myself so bad, and hopefully Sonja too, so one day she'll say, "Be quiet, Mom. I understood you the first 50 times."