It has been over a year since I have updated the blog or even the Facebook page. I decided to take a hiatus and focus on my family and me for a while. It turns the hiatus was just what our little family needed. Kit Cat is now 5 years old and in her last year of pre-kindergarten. She will start kindergarten at her current school next fall. We decided that keeping her at her school for another year before she transitions to full inclusion at a local Catholic school would be the best thing for her.
Kit Cat is now fully verbal. She strings 4-8 words in a sentence now and communicates completely through her verbal skills. We are still dealing with severe apraxia but most of the time we know what she is telling us even if people who don't know her can't make out what she is saying. Another new development is that Cat has become somewhat toilet trained thanks to her teacher at school, Miss Janie. Miss Janie got Cat on a regular schedule and got her toilet trained, which was something we couldn't accomplish at home. Although she still has an occasional accident and doesn't always tell us she has to go she can tell us through non verbal cues that she needs to go.
Kit Cat is still riding at the horse barn and can completely steer the horse right and left and can go where her instructor tells her to go while on Sugar the pony. She adores riding and it has helped with her social and communication skills. Cat still likes to play on her own but she will engage with her sister and friends at school when they ask her to play with them! We still have a long ways to go on the communication and social skills front, but she has come so far in the last 6 months. It's wonderful to see her engage with her peers at school and play with her big sister Gracie.
Here are some photos from the past year of Cat and Grace.
This was taken at a local Dance Marathon Bikes for Tikes event. Kit Cat was assigned to Team Redhead as their Miracle Child.
Telling Kit Cat's story at a local college's dance marathon for Children's Miracle Network.
Kit Cat's most favorite holiday is Halloween. She eat, sleeps and breaths everything Halloween.
Kit Cat riding Sugar the pony. Horse back riding is one of the best therapies for Cat and she is darn good at it.
Cat showing off her gross motor skills at her 5th birthday party that we had with her friends from school.
Kit Cat loved celebrating New Years. She is still doing the countdown and telling us Happy New Year's even though it's no longer New Years.
The official Santa photo for 2015.
Kit Cat pretending she is a superhero during Christmas at her grandparents.
The girls love going to the zoo at least once a month.
