Rhetta answered a Why? question!

To my knowledge this is a first.

Rhetta: Give me the remote, please.

Me: This remote? (shows her)

Rhetta: Yes! (reaches)

Me: Why do you want the remote? (holding it back)

Rhetta: (thinks a beat) To previous.

I hand her the remote.

She wanted to view the previous scene on the DVD, hence "to previous". Huge jump over the chasm that is Why? I am so proud of her. This is one of the most difficult language developments for an ASD kiddo. Such a tough concept. But! I didn't even get to offer any answers to choose from. She was ready. My girl!

Post-Op Two Months

I am not sure I am all that happy with the results of his congenital ptosis surgery BUT it is definitely better than before. It has relaxed a bit since surgery. Doc says to give it 6 months and we'll see what it does. As you can see by the following series of photos it is sometimes strong and sometimes not. The good news is that he doesn't chin-up to see things like he used to, nor does he turn and look at you with his strong eye. He uses them both equally now so I will call it a success. The eyelashes are wonky too. I will have to go through old pictures to see what they used to look like but I'll save that for another day. In the meantime soak up all of this cuteness as he's dangerously close to not being two anymore.

Cats!

We adopted two female kitty cats from our friends at C.R.O.W. Cat Rescue.

I have not be able to snap their pictures yet as they are timid and only come out of the basement in the dark.

Here are the kids looking through the new hole in the basement door very excitedly calling their names. They were at it so long they nearly fell asleep right there.



This is Lola. (photo courtesy of C.R.O.W.) She has been through a lot but is a very friendly, loving cat. She comes to me in the evenings and has sat still and let the kids pet her albeit very close to the hole. She likes to hide under the beds, too.



This is Kit Kat (photo also courtesy of C.R.O.W.) who literally disappeared into the floorboards above the cistern in the basement and was not seen by any of us for 24 hours. We were warned it might be longer. One of the kids swore they saw her but I didn't see her until early this morning, in the dark, in our bed, licking my hand.



Rhetta has been talking to Lola and Kit Kat non-stop since the ride home Tuesday night. She has always been skittish and afraid of animals, cats included, despite exposure. Yet since bringing these two home she has immersed herself in cat things. She has had her cat costume on for 24 hours.

Sleeping cat...



She even told Rob this morning, "I want to learn about cats." - that's a LOT of words for Rhetta - and they went to her computer and looked up a bunch of stuff about cats, played cat games, learned cat facts, and she has been eating dry cereal out of her bowl just like a cat. Oh, and drawing cats.



She's just too cute.

Smiling cat...

Frosty Handprint

Willon left hand prints on my back windshield one day when we had him sitting there to put his shoes on. Just regular hand prints. About a week later we had our first heavy frost and I found this. It's raised. I am too dumb to explain the physics but I thought it was pretty cool.

Who Needs Expensive Toys?

Two Girls Two Cups

The Many Faces of Willon

Wasn't that full of toys and books 2 seconds ago?

I asked him to "Show me cross."

I asked him to smile.

This was his unsolicited version of "cross" while listening intently to whatever I was saying. I don't even remember, ha. (I am trying not to notice how much his eyelid muscle has relaxed since surgery.)

His natural smile. ♥