Nobody Is Perfect!

 

Yesterday's post was accurate- honest! But today was not quite as good a day as Ellie normally has. There was 1/2 of a Triple Chocolate Delight Cake left for yesterday's BarBQ. It was sealed in a cake holder. When I fed Ellie this morning, I checked the counters and the island for food. I  did not check the dining room  table, because food is never left there. Except this time, the chocolate cake was. Ellie is a very smart dog, and when she noticed the chocolate cake, she abandoned her dog food. At least she didn't leave any mess to clean up- not a single crumb!

Outside Time

Winter is over and everybody is outside again. Ellie and GB are still working on their bonding, but it is progressing. Not doing as well at Public Access, as GB needs her most in places with lots of people and activities and that is where Ellie herself still struggles. Ellie has many commands at an automatic level at this point. She always stops at a door and waits for an ok when going out. She knows her potty spot and when told "Potty" goes to that spot to relieve herself. We aren't putting up gates in the house anymore, as a visual reminder works well. GB and Ellie are inseparable during the night. We have  moved Ellie's bed to the bottom of GB's bed and by morning they are entwined together like they have always belonged to one another. We are still working on Ellie comforting GB when she is winding up to a meltdown. It is hard to do because you need two calm, competent adults- one to help GB and one to train Ellie. Ellie gets upset when GB loses reality and doesn't know how to help.  Now, with the nice weather, we have been working outside on heel with out a leash on. The squirrels make it a challenge, because chasing squirrels is Ellie favorite outdoor activity.

Finally!

After the last week of snow and three days of a fever, Ellie and I got to do some serious training today. We reviewed all the basics, and then went outside without the leash. We have a wrap around driveway and only the street side of the yard is unfenced. I brought a handful bacon and cheese wraps, cut into 1" pieces. I used 'heel' when we started walking. Every three or four feet, if Ellie was still healing, she got a treat and a 'good Ellie'. If she wasn't, I told her to wait, ans when I caught up, I stopped and had her sit, then gave her a treat. Again, I used 'heel' as we started walking. By the second time around the house, I was just giving her a treat every three feet, along with a reminder to 'heel'. Then we played with her kong ball as a reward. I would throw it across the yard and Ellie would fetch it and bring it back. She needs a 'leave it' reminder and then she drops it at my feet and we did it all over again. I watched for her attention wavering, having saved one last treat. When she seemed to be losing interest, I said, "Ellie in" she ran up the steps and sat and waited for me. After I opened the door and went in,I said OK and Ellie came in. She sat right in front of me and waited for me to give her the last treat. I can't wait for spring. Ellie loves to be outside is it is not cold, icy, or wet.

A Fair Weather Dog

Ellie is feeling much better. It is a good thing. With the cold, wet, snow today, Ellie doesn't even want to go out to pee. She is truly a Georgia dog. Her winter coat and boots don't help, neither does her rain coat. Her and GB want/ need to go out and run. I hope winter ends really, really soon.

Poor Ellie!

Ellie is sick. She has made 5 piles so far today and has been sleeping at my side, except when she makes a mad dash to the front door. I am hoping she just got into the cat food and after it runs through her system, she'll be fine. Otherwise, there is a vet trip in the near future.

 

Sick Puppy

OOPS!

GB and Ellie went food shopping with me this afternoon. GB thought it was a spectacular success. Everyone we met told GB how beautiful Ellie was and asked to pet her. She made sure the world knew Ellie was HER working dog. From Ellie's point of view, it wasn't so successful. She was shaking most of the time we were in Hannaford. She wasn't heeling, had to be reminded to sit when I stopped, and a couple of times started to drag me. I guess I let the public access brush-ups go too long. Ellie and will have to get in the habit of going out in her working vest everyday. We got back and let Ellie run for a couple of minutes, do her business, and she was done. She wanted to go in, and as soon as she was in, she found her bed and went to sleep. GB has 2 playmates over, so I am blogging in the same room as they are playing and Ellie has been asleep the last hour. The noise and chaos isn't bothering her at all. One of the girls is GB's age and the other is 4. GB and the four year old are on about the same level socially and emotionally. Her friend, who is the same age (almost 7), is using a lot of self-control and trying to organize the other two into a coherent game. She is having very limited success. 

A Good Morning Training

Ellie and I had a good morning training after she walked GB to the bus. We worked on longer stays when I was out of sight, extended our wait time while there was a yummy treat in plain view, and reviewed all the old commands Ellie and I have down. Ellie and GB are getting really attached. I have taken to putting GB to bed first and Ellie sometime later, and each night when she goes to bed, first she checks to make sure  GB is in bed and sleeping, then Ellie jumps up on her blanket, turns three times and is in for the night. We are still working on making GB's commands more consistent.

A Two Hour Delay!

 

We got our two hour delay this morning. After breakfast, GB and Ellie had a tea party, while I had a quiet EXTRA cup of tea. We got her hair braided, and were ready for the bus with 10 minutes to spare. GB came home all smiles, said she had a good day. I'm about to fix dinner, then homework time.  If it is in God's plans, I wouldn't mind the good day continuing through homework!

Soocer in the Snow!

GB was feeling much better today and after daycare she asked to play in the snow. Hubby took her and Ellie out in the back and they had a great time playing soccer with a basketball. Ellie was wining most of the time. When GB tired, she started leaping on the ball and wrapping herself around it so Ellie couldn't get it. It was funny watching her try. I tried to take pictures, but it was too dark.

It is still snowing, so maybe we will have a 2 hour delay tomorrow. That just leaves Friday and we are through another week.

Sensory Issues

 

GB

Today the entire family, plus friends, went to the indoor water park at Lake George.  GB loves water and hasn't been near it since we brought Ellie home, early December.  We've been to this water park before, and GB has her issues. It is a very large enclosed space, so everything echoes. It is a holiday weekend, so there were a lot of people there. It was noisy and GB doesn't like noise. Usually she can enjoy herself for 2- 2 1/2 hours before she is overwhelmed. She likes the lazy river and the under five play area, with its little slides and many fountains. The park has a lot of Looney Tunes characters and she has never tolerated being in the same room as them before. Today she danced with Tweety Bird, Bugs Bunny, Wag the dog, and Sylvester the cat. She was so proud of herself for being brave! After an hour, hour and fifteen minutes, she was done. She wanted to get dressed and go home. We tried taking her to a quiet corner of the lobby, so that she could regroup. It didn't work and and I realized she was warm. After cuddling for a while, she fell asleep. When she woke up, it was obvious she had a fever. By the time we got home, she was a miserable little girl. The day was still worth it. She went to sleep with the memory of being really, REALLY brave.

 

One brave girl!

I Love Snow Days.

After a really good weekend, GB came home from school a mess, both Monday and Tuesday. So I was absolutely delighted to wake up this morning and find schools were closed! We've done some math and read a couple of books. She also spent an hour out in the snow, playing fetch with Ellie and the Kong Ball, walked up to the dollar store and bought more removable wall decorations, had a couple of cups of hot chocolate, made herself lunch, and is busy right now making a treasure box for her VIP  rocks, pencils, little pads, sunglasses, and stickers. We haven't had any meltdowns at all today. She even made herself cheese, pepperoni, and crackers for lunch and went back for grapes. She just realized we are out purple paint and and instead of having a melt down, she is listing possible solutions (all of which involve me). Where are the good, old fashioned, 3 day blizzards? Such is life... school tomorrow :(

A Good Weekend

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GB had the best weekend she has had in months. She went ice skating with her school and did well. She ran into a friend from last year and enjoyed spending time with her. She lasted the whole session.

Yesterday, she went to her (biological) cousin's 8th birthday party at the bowling alley around the block. GB doesn't like the noise and crowds at bowling alley and doesn't like new people. She wrapped around me and wouldn't let go. The only person she knew was her cousin.  Fortunately, her (biological) grandparents and uncle came about 20 minutes into the party. She is close to them and immediately let go of me. They took turns helping her bowl  and watched out for her withdrawing. I am grateful beyond words that GB still has an important part of her birth mother's family that put in the effort to be part of her life.  GB enjoyed the party and her cousin is coming to GB's 7th birthday party next month. Before she left she got a large tattoo, which we put on her leg.

 

GB  showed Ellie her beautiful butterfly tattoo to Ellie, who was very interested! We only had minor meltdowns over the weekend and last night and tonight she went in easily and was asleep before 8.

Savoring the (relative) calmness of the weekend and getting ready for another week of GB & school.

Made My Day!

  
I got a sunshine award from Essie, the Accidental Mom !  It was unexpected and made me smile. Thanks Essie!

TGIF ?

I am so glad the week is over.  Yesterday, I took GB home and bypassed daycare, hoping to have a quiet hour before we met friends at Friendly's. I saw all the work they sent home for the week, looked at the Valentine list the teacher sent home for the party, cuddled while she told me about her day,  baked cookies for snack (pre-made dough), and then settled her and Ellie in front of the TV for a half hour of PBS. MK decided see wanted to go with us. My Hubby said sure and I mentally groaned. You would think adding a 24 year old to a kids dinner out wouldn't  be worth a thought, but MK and GB have been bickering non stop for weeks. We chose to leave Ellie home, because of space considerations, and put her, her blanket, and a big bone in her crate.

Friendly's took all the patience I had. GB wanted to sit across from her friend Kyra, which was right next to MK. MK tried to dictate wear everybody should sit and I stopped that, which let to MK sulking. Then the complaints started. GB is touching me, there's no room for my food, tell GB to watch her elbow, make GB sit on her butt, GB is not eating her mac and cheese, tell mk to mind her own business, GB is pushing around her mac and cheese, MK shouldn't have ice cream- she didn't finish, and on and on. I finally sat between GB and MK and told them both to worry about themselves. This started MK's usual litany of how I do such a lousy job of raising GB, and Hubby chose to insert himself and deal with MK.

If hubby chooses to let MK come next week, HE can sit between them.

We got home to find Ellie had broken out of the crate. GB was still bouncing, so Hubby chose to take care of Ellie and I got elected for the bed time routine. GB fed Ellie and spilled some of the food out of the bowl. She finished feeding Ellie and helped me clean up the spilled dog food. I told if she couldn't settle down, Ellie would get to stay up late and join her after she was asleep. We did medicine, pjs,  teeth and a book and she was still wound. Since medicine was right before bed, I knew it would be 45 minutes before it kicked in and put her in without Ellie. She was not happy, but I reminded her she would be going to her (biological) cousin's birthday party tomorrow and that seemed to make every thing ok. It still took her 40 minutes for the singing and talking to herself to stop. (We still use a baby monitor with her.) Next week, I think I'll bring her nighttime Meds, and have her take them before we leave Friendly's.

It is Saturday morning, she dressed, fed Ellie, didn't eat her breakfast and went off to the gym with my Hubby, MK hasn't come out of her room, Ellie's asleep in front of the fire place, and I have an hour to myself. Life is good.

I Get Frustrated, Too

GB used to eat lunch in her classroom with her 1 on1 aide. She has been back in the cafeteria for lunch since Monday. She has had a problem in the cafeteria everyday. She has been bouncing every night this week. Sounds to me like the cafeteria is more than she is ready to handle at this point. OT, speech, the social worker, and special ed teacher see GB's difficulties. However, the classroom teacher disagrees. She said GB is like every other first grader and that if we would just treat her as if she was normal, she would rise to the occasion. She doesn't believe in sensory problems, bipolar, and says GB is definitely not FASD because she is way too bright. I listened to the teacher talking and I am thinking"Whose kid is she teaching?". It can't be mine. I put a call in to the special ed office, but it is Friday afternoon, and they are all gone. Just as well- it gives me the weekend to get my thoughts straight and get some emotional  distance. It is frustrating. The year is half over and she still thinks my kid is typical.

Another Manic Evening

GB came home on a tear this afternoon. She was manic through HW, dinner and a bath. When I put her to bed and we were cuddling, she told me that nobody sat with her at lunch today. I will be emailing her teacher again tonight.

It's 7:30...

It is 7:30 and GB and Ellie are quietly in bed. I don't expect them to get up again. I should be thankful, appreciative or something. All I feel is tired. When GB got home from daycare, it was just her, Ellie, and I tonight. I let her unwind with legos as she was telling me about her day. It is the first week I've let them put her back in the lunchroom, instead of eating in her classroom. It is Wednesday and it is the third time she has had a problem in the lunchroom. She wants me to email her teacher "and fix it". I went to reheat pizza and make us salads, and within a minute of leaving her, she's doing the maniacal laugh thing and Ellie is whimpering. We pick up the legos and move Ellie's bed to the kitchen so she can help me with the salad. I put the pizza in and she switches to making herself chocolate milk. I catch her in time, and let her do the stirring. She is talking about the weekend, getting very excited about the birthday party on Sat. and ice skating on Sun. In the process of counting how many days until the weekend, she spills chocolate milk everywhere. I get her a towel to mop it up. As I hand it to her, she says"Don't need it." and point to the dog. Sure enough, Ellie has the floor pretty well cleaned. I point out the chocolate milk on the cabinets and set her to wiping them off. By this time pizza is ready, and I am hurrying to finish salads, when I hear the front door close. Since nobody is due home, I quickly look for GB and Ellie and figure out that they were outside. It is below freezing and her coat is hanging up by the door. I quickly went to the back yard and heard GB crying. She had slipped on the ice and was afraid of the dark.  Ellie was right next to her, trying to get her to stop crying. I got all of us inside and rocked her until she settled down. Right about then, I smelled the pizza burning. After we threw it out, I cut up some pineapple, finished the salads and that was dinner. While we were eating, I asked her why she was in the yard. She said she KNEW Ellie had to pee and it was an emergency (a situation GB herself is very familiar with) and there was no time to let me know. We went over all the applicable ground rules she had broken (a lot) and came up with the "next time" better solution.
She had finished her math HW at daycare, so all we had was reading and spelling. Ellie helped us with HW and with 2 bathroom breaks, a drink break, and an I-can't-find-my book break, it took us to almost seven to finish HW. She wanted to watch PBS with Ellie before bedtime, so I set them up and went to clean up after dinner. I noticed an unusual odor, almost like sun block. I followed it into the kids bathroom and realized it was MK's shea butter she had just bought. I cleaned it up and went to talk to GB. I asked her if she was into her sister's stuff again. She said no and when I looked at her skeptically, she started crying. She insisted that she thought about using it, but after she spilled it, decided that wasn't such a good idea. It was now 7:15, and I said "bedtime". As I was tucking her in, I reminded her she was not to touch anything that wasn't her's with out asking. It is now 8 o'clock and I am heading for bed.

 

The only peaceful part of the evening

It's Groundhog Day!

GB opened her eyes this morning, saying "It's Groundhog Day!".  Apparently, her teacher assigned her class to find out what happened with Punxstawney Phil BEFORE they came to school. That assignment did a real number on our morning. GB couldn't do anything before she finished her 'homework', and since a groundhog can't look for shadow until the sun rises, we had quite a predicament. My husband solved it by turning on both TVs and 2 or 3 radios and convincing her no matter where she was in the house, she would know if Phil saw his shadow. This convinced it was ok to get on with her morning, but she was still very slow and distracted and several steps of our morning routine got skipped because we were out of time. One of the problems with inclusion- I am sure it never occurred to GB's teacher to consider what her assignment was doing to my morning. And unlike most of my kids, GB will not go to school without her HW done.

In the Dog House

GB is off her caffeine high and is having a reasonably good day- as long as I keep her and MK apart. Today, it is Ellie in the proverbial doghouse. MK let two pounds of chop meat (dinner) on the counter and apparently, Ellie thought it would make a good snack. MK insisted she only left the meat for 2 minutes, but however long, it was too long. GB is out with her dad grabbing fast food before gymnastics. Ellie is in the crate, very unpopular. I don't think I'll feed her anymore tonight. I'll bet she can't wait for bedtime- out of the crate and sleeping with her girl. I kept a straight face through all of this. With everything else going on, I find it hard to get upset about 2 pounds of chop meat.

One of Those Days...

It is one of those days... where GB's attention span maxes out at 30 seconds. She got a hold of what I thought was a juice box- and was really ice tea. She is moving at warp speed and her brain is either off or on bypass. Caffeine does it every time.We have been home from church for 4 hours and I feel like I'm stuck in quick sand. As fast as I stop her from one thing, she is into four more. She is so unable to sit still, 3 minutes in the time out chair broke it. She is so loud you can hear her from any room in the house- and we have a BIG house. She has had her manic laugh for 2 hours and counting. It will be better when my husband is back- tag team is the only thing that works when she is like this.

I hear my mother's voice in my head, saying "Patience is a virtue."  Maybe God is trying to get me to work on my patience. I also plan on buying a lot of 100% juice boxes for church and sending the ice tea home with people whose kids can drink it.

What to Do When It's Cold

 

GB and Ellie Dressed to the Nines

Today the temperature hit a high of 16 degrees. It was difficult to get Ellie outside to pee. We spent 30 minutes trying to teach Ellie and GB to play  follow the leader. They started to get the idea, but GB lost focus.  They went to cuddle in front of the TV. I was laying in front of the fire, working on an article, when GB came over to show me their fashion show. GB was having a blast and Ellie didn't seem to mind. They went through 4 or 5 outfits and GB started to spiral out of control. I told them they had a photo session and then the show was over. GB bought into this. A short cuddle to settle back down, and now they are both ready to eat. I am longing for weather that will let them go out and run for an hour- I need it.

CSE- Short and Sweet

We brought Ellie to the CSE. She was very well behaved and very well received. As usual, the classroom teacher was useless. Everything I was concerned about was something she as seen in lots of kids over the last 25 years. She said, in general her class was not treating each other well. Didn't seem like she felt responsible for trying to change the atmosphere of her classroom. Surprisingly, the social worker was much more cooperative and is going to start working with GB and some of her classmates in small groups. Everybody (except for the classroom teacher) was interested in the FASD material I emailed before the meeting and David Boulding's lawyer brief on FASD I brought to the meeting. The OT and speech are going to try to teach GB coping strategies. I am going to spend time sitting in the 2nd grade inclusion class before the next meeting. Then I will decide if we need to go back to a 1-1 aide. GB came into school Wednesday and told all her classmates that she was being adopted. I think that is a good sign.

Ellie and I went home and Ellie ran after squirrels for 5 minutes. I had thought Ellie and I would work on boundaries, but it was 16 degrees out, so Ellie wanted to go back  in. We worked on extending our stay(we are at 4 minutes now), so that I would have an excuse to give Ellie some treats.
Friendly's tonight and then a nice warm  bed. I don't like the cold anymore than Ellie does.

Can't Have It All

GB came home after daycare, bouncing. She wound Ellie up. She was unable to get involved with any activity for more than a moment. She finally decided to have a tea party, and with relief I worked on dinner and the kitchen. The tea party seemed to have her involved. I even made a cup of tea for myself. Several minutes later, our two Maine Coons and Ellie were having a free for all. Apparently, GB had put dog treats in her tea cups and dishes and had invited the animals to the party. Ellie was the first one I got under control, then Gadget, then Sasha. That just left GB with an out-of-control laugh. It took some time to pull her back. During dinner, she spilled her drink three different times. Before dinner was over, she managed to turn over her dinner plates and spill the dogs water. I gave up on the night, she took her medicine and I helped with pajamas. We climbed into bed and read some fairy tales and ended with "Good Night, Moon". Her and Ellie were in by 7:15, and after some more reading, they were asleep. The night was much more tiring, then the last two nights. Yet we still enjoyed our books in bed.

Just Us

Last night was a good night. GB and I were the only people home. We had chicken soup and french bread, and made rice krispie treats for dessert. The rest of my crew would turn their noses up at that! We trained with Ellie for 15 minutes, playing find GB. Then GB, Ellie, Gadget and I curled up in the family room and watched Wizards of Waverly Place- a show GB is too frightened of to watch unless she is surrounded by protection. She went to bed easily.

This morning she woke up at 5:30 to find unexpected  snow.  Two hours later, it is still snowing and she is wound. There are no delays, so I expect them to keep the kids two hours and send them before the white starts. I would love to know who makes these crazy decisions.

After GB get on the bus, MK and I are going to get fingerprinting, the next step on the road to adoption. It is slowly creeping forward. We are 3  letters of recommendation, two physicals, and an updated home study away from a court date. I feel like the tortoise. We still haven't heard from the birth mother- it has been 20 months and counting.

A Better Night

We started talking to her about adoption today, in very general terms, and she was excited by the idea. I thought she was doing pretty well following what we were saying, until she asked if we would adopt her a husband, too. I guess it is enough, at this point, for her to know we are working on it.

After dinner tonight, my husband and I, along with Ellie and our biggest Maine Coon, Gadget, lay on the rug with GB and her hundreds board and worked on one more, one less, and in between. The animals were cooperative and cuddly, GB was focused and enjoying herself. Bed came and GB still wanted more. It was the best night in a while.

Another Week Begins

Back to a school day. GB woke up this morning, complaining of her chest, her nose, and not feeling well enough to go to school. I asked her if she felt worse than she had on Saturday or Sunday and she looked puzzled and said "no". After a minute she sighed and said" Then I guess I feel well enough to go to school".  She did a perfect imitation of my tone, and I almost laughed. Then she said," When is the meeting Mommy? You need to fix things".  I told her the meeting was on Friday and we got on with our morning.

A Normal Church Day

GB and I left with the first car to church and were early enough for her to have a snack and get acclimated to the people (Necessary, even though she has know all these people since birth). She chose to sit with me and color today and was very good for the whole service. Lunch and socialization after church wasn't much fun, since GB and her friend decided that today they couldn't stand each other. Eventually I just sat GB next to me and told her she couldn't get up until she was finished eating (hunger is a big trigger with her).  We are home now, but GB is still all over the place. She did manage to feed Ellie and the two of them are watching Disney channel and cuddling, with me occasionally slipping Ellie a treat. After the two of them go in for the night, I have to start working on Friday's CSE meeting. I am trying to find my neutral, matter-of-fact state of mind. I am much more effective when I can bring it to these meetings. If I can't, we may end up spending $5000 on a lawyer again. I am considering bringing Ellie to the meeting with us. If nothing else, she will be an  ice breaker.

Friends

Social relationships  are tough for GB. Today she had a friend and her younger brother come over for 2 1/2 hours. Before they came, GB and I went over all the rules of having a guest- where they could play, what they could play with. making sure guests had first choice, compromise, not being a control freak. The two play areas adjoin each other, and Ellie and I parked ourselves in a corner, out of the way, but with a view of all the activities. The set up worked well, as GB needed frequent (not quite constant) reminders of the rules that she already knows. Overall, the play date was one of the successes. Both children left smiling and saying see you soon. I am tired, but Joe took GB rollerskating. Hopefully some of hyperness will burn off as opposed to revving her up more.

The School System, Again

GB is still giving us a hard to about going to school every morning. It seems to be a two part problem- she is having a great deal of difficulty functioning socially in the class and the math is unbelievably hard for her. I insisted on a CSE meeting (again), because what they are doing is not working. GB is thrilled to see Ellie when she comes home, but she is so loud and scattered, it has to be watched closely- Ellie hasn't figured out how to deal with her when she is like that. They still fall asleep very quickly and are entwined by the morning, so I think I just haven't figured out how to make the connection for Ellie when GB is wound. Hopefully, we can get school settled down, and there won't be so much bouncing when GB first comes home.

Progress

Tonight, GB and Ellie spent almost an hour played tug with the new toy GB picked at for Ellie. They enjoyed it and got wilder and wilder. After I felt they were getting close to out of control, they agreeably settled down in Ellie's bed to watch Hannah Montana before bed. The are doing better.

GB the Gymnast

A backbend!

a cartwheel.

Gymnastics is important to GB, because it is one of the few things that she can do better than most of her peers.

A Quiet Saturday at Home

Early Saturday morning tv. They slept until seven, then GB fed Ellie and they watched Sesame Street.

We have already done a training session, working on come, sit, stay, and leave it. "up" Ellie has mastered already. Ellie went for a long walk with Malissa, then ran in the yard for a while, chasing squirrels (her favorite pass time). Slow progress in the bonding department- but at least it is progress.

An Ordinary Morning

I came down this morning and GB was already dressed, she had eaten the cereal her dad had given her, and her and Ellie were curled up in one big ball in Ellie's bed, cuddling. I got in touch with a local trainer today. We are a lot more on our own then I expected, and I am going to need reinforcements.

Hugs and Leave it!

GB had another rough day at school and as soon as she walked in the door, she was calling for Ellie and Ellie came running. They enjoyed cuddling. As far as training went, today I scattered little pieces of treats on the floor, and worked on leave it. Ellie picked up on what I wanted quickly and with an occassional wistful look, she left them along.

Ellie and GB are doing fine- I needed to change.

Joe and GB took Ellie out to play with her kong ball this afternoon. Boy, can Ellie run. When Ellie first came home, she was a one sport dog- tennis ball. Now she plays with her squeeky green bone, her blue rope tug, and her kong ball. The kong ball gives her much better exercise, as it can be thrown a lot further.

Ellie and GB's training sessions had slowed down to a crawl, until I realized what was missing was Becca. Not that we need Becca herself, but we need 2 adults for these training sessions- one for Ellie and one to support GB's efforts. GB couldn't keep the commands straight or reward at the right time, which confused Ellie to no end. Once Joe supported GB, by making sure which command she was working on and prompting her to give the reward as soon as Ellie complied, the training went much smoother and GB felt much more successful. She looks so normal, it is much too easy to ignore her limitations.

Hard at Work

Ellie is doing well with her public access work and following my commands, but we are still along way from GB being Ellie's girl. Last night I got out the hot dogs and we played "find GB". It took Ellie a while to figure out that GB was the ONLY source of hot dogs, but once she did, it went very well.

This morning, after GB fed Ellie and Joe took Ellie out, GB and Ellie watched TV and snuggled before school.

 

We are making progress!

Our First Scary Moment

Just after dinner, Ellie was curled up in her bed, sleeping. GB put her nose right on Ellie's nose and yelled loudly. Ellie startled, scared GB, who then jumped back and it looks like she bit her lip in the process. GB also scared one of our Maine Coons, Sasha, this morning. The bleeding only lasted five minutes, and we spent a lot of time talking to GB about how it is not only unkind to scare animals, but can be dangerous. I was right next to GB and Ellie, but wasn't ready. From now on I will be ready.

Back to School

GB went back to school. Ellie and I took advantage of the empty, quiet house. We worked on stay and were 90% successful (18/ 20  times) at 10 feet for three minutes. We spent 3 hours doing public access work and after resting in front of the fire, went outside to play with her Kong ball. GB came home with 4 sheets , both sides, for homework. My email to her teacher went unanswered, as she was ill today  and there was a sub. Time to set up a CSE meeting again. Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out how Ellie can help GB get her math done.