Maria and I went to the Folk Festival here in Phoenix today. What a wonderful event it was! It’s the first festival we’ve gone to where we actually stayed and enjoyed ourselves, rather than walking around once to see everything, eating something, then splitting before the crowds got too crazy. It was at Encanto Park, a huge park near downtown. There were 6 or 8 formal “stages” where individuals and groups played, changing every half hour; in addition, there were clusters of people everywhere just jamming. It was all about the music. Only a couple booths were selling things (t-shirts and CDs, and one small stand with hot dogs and pop). The weather was perfect, plenty of shade and chairs and room to sit on the grass. Maria seemed to like it. Often when we go to events, she gets stiff and stressed. She seemed relaxed and calm at this one, probably because of the music. There was enough going on that we could sit right up front if we chose since the crowds weren’t overwhelming. This will be a “can’t miss” event from now on!
I think Maria’s brain is growing and maturing since she’s been sleeping so well. She seems to be making some nice cognitive jumps. My artist friend, Monica, is visiting and she noticed a huge difference in Maria just since early December when she last saw her. Maria & I are going back to Oregon in early May after Manolis leaves. It’s going to be a tough summer without him. At least her sleeping is under control, so I won’t have that issue to deal with w/o him. Wonder how Maria’s going to react…
I’m writing Maria’s transition book. Her early intervention specialist usually writes them for her kids when they transition from the early intervention program (0 to 3 years old) to pre-school (3 and older). It’s written from the child’s standpoint, has photos, and is intended to let the school personnel get to know Maria w/o having to rely on clinical reports and test results. Mine is a little longer than the samples she showed me (naturally), but I tried to edit it down as much as I can. I wanted to include all the pertinent info to help a teacher realize her strengths and areas needing improvement (can’t say weaknesses)–you know, hearing, vision, communication, eating/drinking, social interaction, gross and fine motor skills, that kind of thing. Now I just need to add a few photos. We’re going to have quite a crowd there–I will be there with Maria, Uncle Andy, nanny, early intervention, deaf school rep, blind school rep, hopefully physical therapist, and whoever is there to represent the public school district. I hope it’s a big room!