January 9, 2008

Happy 2008 to everyone! We had an eventful New Years (that is always good). Dan got home from seeing his parents in Houston and we "spent New Year's Eve together." Katie and I were determined to see the ball drop in NYC and we both stayed up until 11:55. When the Dick Clark show went to commercial, we both fell asleep and missed the ball drop. Dan came walking in a few minutes after midnight laughing at us. We were able to hit rewind on the DVR and watch the ball drop a few minutes later. It wasn't quite as exciting but it was fun nonetheless. Katie was still happy to be awake at 12:05 am and enjoyed the rewind. She is tons of fun to hang out with.

Katie went back to school last week and Dan started by to UNCW today. My first classes are tomorrow (I guess I really should finish up that syllabus). We are getting back to our normal schedule. Katie is one of three 3rd graders selected to participate in this year's science fair. She is doing a project on what stain removers work best. So far, bleach is in the lead and Tide to Go is in last place, but she has a few more tests to go. She has a couple books left in her Beyond Books assignments to go before she moves to the 4th grade book list. She is already reading 4th, 5th and 6th grade level books for Accelerated Readers. Way to go Katie!

Amanda is back in her therapy routine. She has had some really good therapies lately and she had one day when she showed how strong her right of refusal can be. The kid has got spunk! Everyone is commenting on how much more interactive she is now. She has gained a lot with respect to right hand skills but it seems like her intellectual capabilities were equally well improved by the UAB therapies. I spent my evening buying jingle bells, uncooked beans, and other interesting items so that we have all the supplies needed to keep waking up her right side. I am sure the checker had some serious questions about the contents of my basket (given I bought something like $25 of dried beans). Amanda loves her beans (they are a great texture for her to play with and we stick them in a big bin and rub them all over her right arm). I got a good deal on the jingle bells in case you are curious.

The next few weeks should be pretty low key (we hope). Then we get to go to Charlotte and see our Hearts-N-Paws and Paws4People friends and the therapy dogs again! Yippee!!!! We are very excited!! Amanda will be quite happy and Katie will be delirious! Amanda has been paying a lot more attention to Ringo lately so she will be really happy when she gets to see her other buddies again. Thanks so much to all of you who have helped financially with Amanda's therapy dog! We sincerely appreciate everything!

Love to all!

Susan (& Dan, Katie & Mandy Pandy!)