Do You See What I See?

We agree with our RDI consultant that Pamela's expressive imperative and declarative gestures are going to be a long-term project, so we are now working on a new objective in addition to spotlighting gestures during our daily activities. We picked something that I think Pamela can pick up quickly: my consultant always asks me to chose a simple phrase to help me be mindful and mine is Do You See What I See?

Simply put, when Pamela wants to point something out to me like a toy at the store or the truck that went off the side of the road, she needs to make sure that I am looking in the right direction! She needs to stay calm and help me redirect my focus until I am turning my attention to the same thing as her. I will work on this by looking in the right direction some times, but not all of the time. She can redirect me in many ways: pointing, bring something closer, turning it around, telling me which way to look, etc.).

If you have no clue what in the world RDI is, Laurel, a parent and RDI consultant, just launched a new blog explaining what RDI is and how to get started.

Before I update you on the baby blanket bonanza, I have two SWEET stories to share, which show the kind of progress Pamela is making in being flexible and rolling with the punches of life!

Story A - On Monday, Steve was packing for a business trip to Chile. Usually we speak in code because only Knoxville is an acceptable trip in Pamela's mind. So, we say The People's Republic of Knoxville (for trips to China) and Knoxville, SA (for trips to South America). Pamela walked in the room and asked Steve where he was going. He slipped and told her Chile. She did not freak out. It is the first time in ages she did not freak out. Then she sat on the bed and said, "I miss you!" Tissues please!!!!

Story B - Pamela has a thing about watching TV at noon until exactly one o'clock on school days. It's her little routine. Well, we dropped Steve off at the airport yesterday and took the dog to the vet, so she missed her nooner. Normally, she accepts that. But, today, time got away from me and she wanted to go shopping with me. Missing her noon date was completely unplanned on my part and unpredictable. We left the house at 11:53, and Pamela told me very calmly that tomorrow she would watch television at noon. David and I looked at each other in surprise because normally I try to shop at eleven, so we can be home by noon (or rush, rush, rush) to avoid a mini-meltdown.

I should be able to finish my blanket tomorrow. I crocheted it for my grand niece, precious baby Ines, who made her debut ten days ago, one month early, and is doing wonderfully.

I must confess a deep dark secret. I am the anti-Martha-Stewart, and my careless, flippant handling of crafts nearly botched up Pamela's Little Mermaid blanket for baby Ines. I nearly coughed up a hair ball when I noticed the fourth side of the blanket did not line up one bit! Today, I finally faced my mistakes and spent an hour rescuing the blanket, which did survive Tornado Tammy.

Here are my lessons learned:

• Use the big picnic table outside because the kitchen table is too small, and I wouldn't want to scratch up the dining room table or hardwood floors.
• Do not try to mix one knot tying technique with another. It seems I wanted to tie overhand knots like the former (which require five-inch strips) but only made strips long enough for the latter.
• If there is a video, watch the whole thing! Spending three minutes on the video last week would have saved me an hour of sweat today!
• Try to do all the cutting in one shot. Do not take it apart out of curiosity or leave it laying around all weekend and shoved into a drawer before company comes.
• If the instructions say, "Cut all four corners first," then CUT ALL FOUR CORNERS FIRST YOU KNUCKLEHEAD!
• If you have to go back and recut everything, tie a few knots here and there to keep it all anchored.