Fall is on its way!

I love fall but I have to admit to being really annoyed this past week with the weather. We start out so chilly and then by the afternoon its 80! I have the dressing of Ella for the day down. Long cotton pants, tshirt and jacket. Poor Dave though. I went to pick her up last week from daycare and she was wearing a turtleneck and corduroys and when I got out of the car, the temp said 81!! She seemed ok and the bldg has AC. Still funny though.

So I haven't posted in awhile. There has been so much going on around here but I am not sure what to say about it. First off, there are hints my job may be wanting to send me to San Antonio. We are so torn about it. Right now I don't have to decide anything because really there hasn't been an offer but if there is one, I don't know what to say. I really love being so close to family. Noone is more than 5 hrs away. Plus our house- not sure what we would do with it. I just don't know.

We also had Ella's evaluation with Early On on 9/10. It went really well. We found out she is at least 11 months behind in communication and language. She falls in the 11-15 month range according to their evaluation. I knew she was delayed, but I was very shocked to find out how far behind she has fallen. I am really glad we called and had them come out. I haven't been concerned just by the fact that she doesn't speak, but more by her lack of trying to communicate with us at all. The lady who came out and I did discuss the possibility that it could all be due to Ella's very laid back personality. She has never been in a hurry to do anything and maybe we just need to find her motivation. We aren't concerned about hearing, but it would be nice to do a hearing test on her just to make sure. Unfortunately Ella was so terrified of the machine that Dave and I declined for right now.

Ever since we had Ella's evaluation, she has been surprising us with some things. This weekend, her cousin Saoirse was visiting, and Ella really tried to talk a lot. I caught her saying "apple" and later on when I asked what she wanted to drink milk or apple juice- she clearly said "apple juice". And lots of times I caught portions of sentences that made sense. So it's there. I am going to try to write things down as I hear her say them. One thing I have noticed is that Ella speaks very softly. I wonder if she has tried to speak more and maybe it went unnoticed. She would never say "hi" or "bye" to people before. She would wave but always after they couldn't see her. When she did start saying it, I noticed it was very quiet and often people figured she didn't say it because she doesn't say much. So now when I hear her say it, and the person she is speaking to does not hear her, I stop them and let them know she said "hi" or "bye" so that she begins to understand that people will respond to you and that communicating can be useful. She is SO shy, and anyone who knows Dave and I well knows that it's genetic. I can remember feeling ignored a lot as a little girl and I am sure it was because I was so quiet and so reluctant to share my thoughts. I don't want to push Ella too hard, but I don't want her to feel the same.

So we meet again this Wednesday to discuss our plan for Ella. I am excited that we may finally get to hear what Ella really sounds like :). If you have read this far, thanks :). I know it was a lot to take in.