Pictures

One of the projects I am working on now is scanning our pre-digital camera pictures into the computer. As I sort through our pictures and scan them, the one thing that has struck me and overwhelmed me is how thin Kimmie was for so very long.

I'm so glad she has filled out and looks healthy and strong today.

Kimmie was always thin as a child, but there was a spell where she gained some height but not really any weight.

There was also a year of school where her teacher would not let anyone help Kimmie with her lunch. Kimmie was stubborn and this made her mad. Every day she would throw her lunch on the floor because they would not help her. Since her food was gone, we did not realize she was not eating. We did not realize until later that this was happening.

That was a very difficult year for all of us as Kimmie spent a great deal of time screaming hysterically. I had not figured out yet that she screams for no apparent reason when she is hungry.

These two events occurred about the same time and as we watched Kimmie become thinner and thinner, we were very concerned. I talked to the doctor about it and he recommended that I talk to a nutricianist. He advised me to keep a food journal of everything Kimmie eats each day and the quantity.

I took Kimmie's food journal to the nutricianist and she calculated how many calories Kimmie consumed each day. She advised that Kimmie did not consume enough calories to support growth. Pretty scary! I asked her what she would recommend that I feed Kimmie so that she would be consuming more calories. Pediasure. We tried that. It has a smell that I associate with vitamins. Kimmie would not drink it. Peanut butter. We tried that. Kimmie cannot eat peanut butter. It is too thick and just gets stuck in her mouth. She does not have the oral motor dexterity required for thinning and moving peanut butter to the back of her mouth where she can swallow it.

We were able to supplement her milk with Carnation Instant Breakfast which added some extra calories. And we worked a lot harder at getting her to eat more and eat more frequently.

The fact that Kimmie has never been able to identify the feeling of hunger as hunger added to the problem as well.

Kimmie eats pretty good now and she has snacks in between, which helps her mood (unless her snack is OREOS!). We even sometimes have trouble buttoning Kimmie's jeans! Compared to those years she almost looks pudgy now. We laugh about that sometimes. It doesn't bother Kimmie. She wants to have a tummy like Pooh Bear!

--Mom

Folding

I have some new fabric. As I always do with new quilting fabric, I washed it. One of the pieces of fabric was a Pooh Bear flannel that Kimmie spotted at the store and just had to have. She had been playing with it, but I grabbed it and tossed it in the washer with the rest of the fabric I was washing. When I took the fabric out of the dryer, I put it on the couch. We were getting ready to eat supper, so I waited to fold it.

After supper I started folding the fabric. Kimmie was still sitting at the table finishing her supper. She was watching me fold. I noticed that she had managed to pull the Pooh fabric and another one out of the pile before supper.

When I finished with my pile, I picked up the piece she had pulled out with the Pooh fabric. She started fussing at me and I told her it was my piece of fabric and the Pooh one was hers.

I walked into the kitchen and she jumped up from her chair, rushed into the family room, grabbed her Pooh fabric, and promptly folded it up. I stood and watched her and was amazed at how well she did folding it.

I decided we need to put her to work folding towels!

--Mom

Kimmie's 20th Birthday

Kimmie turned 20 this past Saturday. I think she would agree that she had a very nice birthday.

Her birthday celebration started on Friday when the day program had a birthday cake for her.

With "Big Sister" leaving for camp on her birthday, we also celebrated on Friday. She told us she wanted a chocolate cake with sprinkles, so that's what we had. I didn't buy any sprinkles because I thought I already had some; however, all I could find were Christmas sprinkles. Kimmie didn't care. It was a chocolate cake with sprinkles. She was happy.

For several weeks she had been getting in the cupboard and getting out the number candles that we have from previous birthdays; 18. She knew she was going to be 20, so we are not sure why she was getting out the 18. We decided she wanted those kind of candles for her cake. So we had a 2 and 0 for her cake.

Kimmie has gradually done better with the birthdays. She waited patiently through her sister's birthday and her brother's birthday and did not try to make them her birthday. She even waited patiently for everyone to finish their cake, because, of course, the most important part of her birthday is the presents!

Thanks to the dollar store and some finds in Michaels dollar bins, Kimmie had lots of gifts to open which made her very happy. She seemed to like and play with everything she received.

On Saturday, Kimmie's birthday, we dropped Bethany off to leave for camp and then took Kimmie to one of her favorite places, the M-A-L-L. She tells me every day that she wants to go shopping at the M-A-L-L. She doesn't actually want to go shopping at the mall, she wants to go shopping at FYE at the mall to add to her movie collection.

After she picked out a new DVD, we took her to see the new Pooh movie. Kimmie sat on the edge of her seat with a big smile on her face through the entire movie. Well, she did grab me and hang on during a scene when Piglet was scared. But she did enjoy it and we practically had to drag her out of the theater.

We went home, she put on her new Eeyore pajamas and watched her new DVD. The one she bought at the M-A-L-L and held through the entire Pooh movie.

Happy 20th Birthday, Kimmie!

The next day she was in the cupboard and came out with the 2 and the 1 candles. She laid them on the table, 21. She's ready for next year already!

--Mom

Trip to Ben Franklin

After stopping at the dollar store, we went across the parking lot to the Ben Franklin. Kimmie was really, really good in the Ben Franklin. She actually stood for a long time holding and looking at her new Aladdin coloring book, while I looked through the fabric.

However, when she spotted the rack with Winnie-the-Pooh fabric, she tried to put every bolt in our shopping cart. I finally convinced her that we would get one of the fabrics.

She was very patient--something that is not usually her strength!

When the fabric that I'd picked out was being cut, Kimmie kept track of the Pooh fabric. Once it was cut, she had to hold it. She had to carry it to the register. She had to carry it to the car. She never let go of it until she laid it on the seat of the car.

After we were at home, Kimmie had to have the Pooh fabric to play with. She slept with it for three nights. She probably would have slept with it longer, but I slipped it away one morning and put it in the sewing room.

She may love Aladdin and Ben10 and Danny Phantom, but I think she still loves Pooh Bear most of all. She's loved him for a very long time.

--Mom

Dancing with Pooh Bear

In general, Kimmie likes "boy" movies like Aladdin, Ben10, Danny Phantom, Batman, and Superman, but now and then we override her choices and put in a more "girly" movie.

This week big sister reintroduced Kimmie to the movie Anastasia. Surprisingly, Kimmie has asked to watch it three more times.

The cutest part is when Anastasia is imagining a dance in a large ballroom. Kimmie always gets her biggest Pooh Bear, holds him in a dance pose, and then dances around the room. It's really cute.

Yesterday she was doing that when we had a guest at our house. There were lots of "aahh"s.

--Mom

Disney World - Pooh, Eeyore & Tigger

I have been busy and have not finished my stories about our trip to Disney World!

The first characters that we saw, that Kimmie wanted to hug, were Pluto and Goofy. We waited in line and she hugged on them with her Pooh Bear in tow.

One of the workers, cast members, commented on her Pooh Bear and asked if we had seen Pooh yet. I said no, so he pulled out a map and marked exactly where we could go to see Pooh.

We made our way to the character greeting place where Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger were and got in line. The area where they were was pretty good size. The line went along the side of the area with a rope to keep those waiting out of the greeting area, but we could see Pooh and Eeyore and Tigger.

One of the cast members was walking along the rope chatting with those waiting. When he stopped to chat with us, he noticed Kimmie's Pooh Bear and watched her hold her arms up towards Pooh wanting to hug him. The characters were getting ready to leave for a couple minute break. As Pooh was walking past, the cast member called to him to come over to Kimmie. Pooh reached down and hugged Kimmie in her wheel chair. She was thrilled. When Pooh left, Kimmie reached for the cast member and gave him a big hug around the neck. He melted.

The next thing I knew he was unhooking the rope and telling me to take her up by the front of the line so she could be first when the characters returned.

Eeyore had not left yet. Kimmie got herself out of the wheel chair and into Eeyore's arms for some good hugs.

They were all very nice to her. I kept watching the characters to see when they would stop hugging on her so I could pull her away, but they would just keep on hugging.

When they returned, she hugged on them some more.

Every morning when I get her up, she stops at the pictures we hung in her room and points at Pooh and Eeyore and Aladdin. And then her beloved Brown Bear gets lots of hugs as she remembers.

--Mom

Kimmie's New Best Friend

Kimmie has a new best friend. He hasn't replaced Brown Bear, but he is going everywhere right along with Brown Bear.

Kimmie came home from school last Friday with a new Pooh Bear. She "earned" it at school. It's a beanie size Pooh and fits in the palm of her hand.

She has taken him to bed with her every night. She wants him every morning. She took him to horseback riding on Saturday and church on Sunday.

She has two others just like him that she has had for years, but they are part of the mass of stuffed animals, mostly bears, that she has.

This one is special because she earned him. She is proud of him.

--Mom

Pretend Worlds

Kimmie likes to pretend. She has a lot of "places" she visits when her mind wanders off.

Sometimes she is on a rocket ship to Mars.

Sometimes she is a butterfly sleeping in a tree in a cocoon.

Sometimes she is Aladdin walking in the lion's mouth and setting the Blue Genie free.

Sometimes she is flying on Eeyore's back.

Sometimes she is on a picnic with Winnie the Pooh having honey from a honey pot.

Sometimes she is riding on a dinosaur's back.

Sometimes she is Superman, or Batman, or Danny Phantom.

Sometimes she gets a far away look in her eyes and a sweet smile on her face and we wonder where she's wandered off to. How many other places does she visit that are locked up in her little head?

--Mom

More about Christmas

We gauge the success of Christmas by whether Kimmie actually plays with her new toys. Often when she receives new toys she will poke at them for a minute or two and then never touch them again. (Except to dump them into a heap on the floor, just cause everything has to be on the floor.) This Christmas was a success. She is still playing with many of her new gifts.

Four days after Christmas and we are still watching Danny Phantom DVDs. She is still wallowing with her new Pooh fleece blanket. She is still playing with her black genie lamp. She has played with her new Geomag sticks that are a new color, neon pink and orange. She continues to look at her new books.

And her new Care Bears and panda bear have joined the others that get moved around the room. First they are tossed out of the basket and over her shoulder. Then they might be picked up and tossed on the sofa. Then she might climb onto the sofa and push them all onto the floor. Later she might pick them all up and load them in her "Santa bag" (see previous post), also known as her Pooh bag since it is a Pooh Bear pillowcase. Her "Santa bag" is usually carried to another location in the room and then dumped out.

Christmas, part one, was a success. We will see how part two goes when we have more Christmas on New Years Day.

--Mom

Bandaids, another scary thing

A few posts back Dad wrote about "Butterflies and other scary things". This is about another scary thing, bandaids. Kimmie has a phobia of bandaids.

When Kimmie was a baby her eyes crossed (strabismus). For a while we had to patch one of her eyes. Eventually she had surgery on both eyes to correct the crossing. The patches look and are packaged much like bandaids, thus creating this phobia.

Added to this is that bandaids are not generally associated with happy memories. . . doctors' offices, hospitals, falls, cuts. The cute cartoon pictures that are printed on them don't fool Kimmie. She still dislikes them. Not even Pooh Bear is comforting.

I remember one time when she was about 2 years old and her brother was 4. He had injured himself somehow, nothing major, a skinned finger or something. We were tending to him and then realized that Kimmie had backed herself against the farthest wall of the room and was gradually sliding along the wall until she reached the farthest corner.

She has radar when it comes to bandaids. She can spot the first aid box from the next room. She instantly starts signing "no, no, no". Usually it is her sister tending to her own latest scrape. If the first aid box is left out on the cupboard, it will bother Kimmie so much, having it visible, that she will eventually pick it up and put it away just so she can't see it any more.

Kimmie has gotten a little better about other people having bandaids. It used to be that she would not have anything to do with someone who had a bandaid on. Now she will touch the bandaid and sometimes kiss it to help it get better. She spots the bandaids quickly and becomes fixated on the person having a "hurt". Her concern can be really sweet.

--Mom

Rabbit

A few years ago we were preparing for a yard sale. We were gathering outgrown toys, clothes and other stuff no longer needed. I put with the yard sale items a large stuffed Rabbit, as in Winnie the Pooh's friend Rabbit. You see Kimmie has lots of large stuffed animals, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit, panda, Scooby-doo. They take up a lot of space and I decided that she never plays with Rabbit, so he could go. Dad was not too sure about this idea. He said it broke up the set. Usually he is all for scaling back the toys, but not this time.

We continued to prepare for the sale and I kept Rabbit in the sale items. The day before the sale we moved all the stuff to the living room where we could put it outside quickly the next morning. Kimmie became quite aggitated about all that was going on, but we kept her out of the living room.

After a while, when she continued to be aggitated, we turned her loose to go in and get whatever had her upset. It was like she was on a rescue mission. She put her head down and ran into the living room. She snatched up Rabbit and clutched him under her arm. She pivoted around and ran out of the room, past us, and didn't stop until she was safely in the family room with Rabbit and all her other treasured toys.

We still have Rabbit. We won't try that again. She may not play with him, but his presence, along with many other of her stuffed animals, brings her some comfort and security. That's important, too.

--Mom

Kimmie the Collector

Kimmie is a collector. We first noticed this when she wanted the green Care Bear "Good Luck Bear". We searched everywhere for one. Finally we found it and gave it to her. She hugged it, kissed it, and then threw it aside and signed "blue Care Bear". Every time she received a new one, she would think of another color. I've lost track of how many 9" Care Bears she has. After those she moved on to the larger ones that come with DVDs.

Kimmie also collects stuffed pandas, teddy bears, anything Pooh bear and Geomag sticks.

--Mom