The Tooth Fairy

I was fixing breakfast when I happened to glance over at Antalya who had her hand in her mouth, and a sudden look of fear on her face.
I knew what was happening before I even looked in her mouth.
I admit, my first impulse was to panic. And I did for a minute.

But then, my first born surprised me (as she usually does).
She got excited about that little wobbly tooth in her mouth and couldn't stop playing with it.
And for three days she proudly showed everyone her loose tooth.

And then as we were getting ready for bed, and Antalya was practicing her singing in the bathroom mirror, the little thing popped right out.
She stopped singing just long enough to reach in, pull it out, flash me a smile, and hand the tooth to me.
Then she was right back to her singing, as if something huge hadn't just happened.

I tried to explain the Tooth Fairy.
Antalya wasn't interested at all, but Victoria got excited thinking Abby Cadabby (the fairy from Sesame Street) was coming to their room that night.

The Tooth Fairy came.
Antalya did really care.
But Victoria still talks about when Abby Cadabby came to their room and took Antalya's tooth and brought her some money.

And now, (even with a dirty face) Antalya has just climbed at least ten notches on the cutest scale!

Just Like Riding a Bike

While we were living in London, we had a small toddler trike that I would push the girls on inside our small flat. I tried over and over to teach Antalya how to pedal the bike, but it seemed she just couldn't get the alternating motion of it.

Several weeks ago, we were at a friends house when Antalya hopped on a trike and starting pedaling down the street. Once the shock of it wore off, I realized a few tears were trickling down my face. I was so proud of her.

Either this is something she learned at nursery in London and the bike we had at our place was just too small for her to pedal, or it just all happened to click at the right moment when she hopped on the trike. But whatever the case, Antalya can now pedal a bike!

Maybe next summer we'll try a two-wheeled bicycle?!

Count It Backwards

My conversation with Antalya last night at bedtime.

Me: Will you go pick 3 books.

A: No, 10!

Me: You want to read 10 books?

A: 9.

Me: You want 9 books?

A: 8

Me: 8 books?

A: 7

Me to Jason who was in the room: Are you hearing this?

Me to A: You want 7 books?

A: 6

Me: 6 books?

A: 5

Me: 5 books?

A: 4

Me: 4 books?

A: 3

Me: 3 books?

A: 2

Me: 2 books?

A: 1

Suddenly Jason and I break out in cheering so loud you would have thought we won the lottery! Antalya loved all the praise and was beyond thrilled with herself. What made the moment even better was that she showed us a new skills without any prompting from us - in fact, I had no idea she could count backwards. Not sure if this is something she has been working on at school, or if she just happened to figure it out in the moment. My Talya is always full of surprises!

Doctor, Doctor

I love the English school system! In fact, I could go on and on about how wonderful it has been to be here during Antalya's preschool years. The thing I love most is how individualized it is - or at least our experience has been.

Many of you know of Antalya's extreme anxiety whenever she enters a doctor's office or anything that resembles such. For the last six months or so I have really made it a focus to help her get over her anxiety and be alright with a doctor visit. Her school has played a huge part in this too. The have set up doctor play areas, and frequently send Antalya home with a book about visiting the doctor.

Today, all our efforts culminated. Antalya, two of her classmates, Antalya's aid Michelle, and myself headed to a nearby doctor's office. As soon as she realized where we were she started freaking out and wanting to run away, but she quickly realized that everyone was calm and that her classmates were actually have a good time. And that was all it took!

She listened to my heart with a real stethoscope, she stood on the scale, sat on the patient bed, measured how tall she was, got her blood pressure taken (or as well as you can on your forearm), and even let the nurse look in her ears. It was incredible!

I know for a lot of kids this would be no big deal, but for Antalya, today was huge! It will have me smiling for several weeks at least! And the timing couldn't be more perfect - tomorrow Antalya has a dentist appointment. With any luck she will think it is a continuation of today and be excited to see all the new things.

Success Comes in All Shades

I've mentioned several times on this blog that Antalya is deathly afraid of doctors. That fear stems from the bigger fear of anyone or anything touching her that is not one of the accepted every day activities that she is used to. I have been working with her a lot lately to try and overcome this. And I am happy to say we are making progess!

Just this week she has made some giant steps. She will now let me look at her ears with a doctor play set and even listen to her heart. We've been working towards this for a year now. It may not seem like such a huge thing - but trust me...it is HUGE!

And an even bigger success was this...

Only once during the painting/drying process did I have to remind her that, 'no, your fingers aren't sick, and no, we are not going to the doctor'. I was so happy when she woke up this morning, looked at her fingers and said, "pretty"!

Success for Victoria these days usually means avoiding any cuts or serious falls. She had a big run in with a chair this week. I'm grateful she came out of it with just a swollen eye.

But, swollen eye, or not, she completely melts my heart!

"Mommy, Boat!"

Antalya has always loved to color, but lately I've noticed that she has become very focused when she makes her scribbles on paper. All that concentration finally paid off for her today. She was happily scribbling away at the desk when suddenly I heard, "Mommy, Boat!" I came running and sure enough, Antalya had done drawn a boat! She was so proud of herself, and I, likewise was beaming.

It's the little things like this that that make being a mom to a child with special needs such an amazing job. There is so much that is taken for granted when you have a normally developing child. It's such a blessing to take a step back from that and have the time to celebrate every little milestone that is accomplished.

I'll leave you with Antalya's "boat".