All Things Janae

Today's posting is all about Janae.  We had quite a few firsts today and even though to most they might seem insignificant, to us (or at least to me) they are big :o)

The first thing today was she made a little "gift" for a friend at school.  All it was was a little index card where she used Christmas themed little rubber stamps and stamped them all over the card.  When she was making it I had no idea that she was wanting to give it to anyone.  So when she she told me that she wanted to give it to Mara at school, I was slightly surprised.  I then had her write her name and the little girl's name on the card, and I wrote the To: and From: beside the names.  Janae then put the card in her backpack where I assumed it would stay the rest of the day.  But to my surprise when I picked her up later that morning, I asked Janae if she gave Mara her card, and she said "yes".  I was so happy that she did this!  It makes me feel good that even though she doesn't talk very much to or according to her teacher play with her friends a lot (she calls her classmates friends), she took a step out and gave a "gift" to one them.  Maybe this is a step in her being a little bit more bold in making friends at school.

The second thing was that she actually chewed a probiotic tablet.  Not a big deal at all to probably 99% of the households in America, but Janae is quite picky on what she wants to eat.  I was told earlier in the year by her speech teacher that kids with developmental appraxia sometimes tend to be pickier eaters than most kids.  I think this is due to just how their mouth/tongue muscles are and how they don't like certain textures.  I can't say for certain that this is why she never wanted to chew the tablets, but when she did try them before, all she did was suck on it and then maybe throw it away.  So this morning when I was giving Allyson her tablet and Janae said she wanted one, I asked her if she was going to eat it or throw it away.  She told me she'd eat it, but I still wasn't convinced - that is until I saw her chewing it and then it was gone :o)  And the kicker is that when I decided I wanted Allyson to have another tablet tonight, Janae piped in and wanted another one too.  She chewed it right down!  Amazing!

The third and final thing that happened today was that Janae actually ate a fun size Snickers candy bar.  She got one at church yesterday for participating in the children's small Christmas program but never thought she'd ever even want to try it (thinking that maybe I'd get her candy bar), but when she said after lunch that she wanted it, I let her have it.  To my amazement, she ate it right down.  I should also say that this is the child who really didn't like chocolate.  She loves M & M's and nutty bars, but that is about it - no chocolate ice cream, no chocolate milk, no chocolate cake . . .   but I just got to say too that the other night Rodney made hot chocolate for Allyson and Kaycie and he kept asking Janae if she wanted some, telling her that she'd like it if she'd just try it.  Well, somehow someway, she tried some cold (or at least cool) hot chocolate and just like we told her she would, she LOVED it.  So now she also asks for chocolate milk to drink instead of just plain white milk.  Wonders never cease!  :o)

So as I said earlier.  These things may not seem really significant to most, but to me - it is a big deal!!