A Comprenhensive Update About my Life

I am so into taking pictures and photoshop. I am completely addicted to it. So I hadn't had the chance to write about me or the girls or the baby.

Today the girls went back to school after a 10 days easter break. At this point I really don't care whether they stay home or go to school. They both have reached a point of independence that allows me to do stuff on my own. If they stay home I don't have to worry about dropping them off or picking them up after school. Yet, when they go to school, I really get to enjoy the moments of silence during Roger's 2 hour morning nap.

Mari is doing great progress on her reading process, she is recognizing numbers from 1 to 100, and is already learning to add!

I have so many worries about Mari. I feel so guilty about her mobility and independence issues. She seems to be happy the way she is, in reality she doesn't know any other way to be, although I guess she can see it. But I can't help it, guilt has become a part of my life. I feel guilty she can't play,walk, run, jump, or climb stairs the way other kids do. I feel so guilty about her dependence on other people. Sometimes I wish I could just be by her side all the time so I could become her own feet. But I can't, I still need to take care of myself and get a break for the sake of my own good. Even worse, I feel guilty for being who I am, thinking my daughter will never be able to enjoy life the way I have done so. So I try to make myself rationalize and understand that she will get to enjoy life in other ways that I might never get to experiment or understand.

Marcella is about to finish second grade. I can't believe she is going to third. Everybody tells me they grow up so fast. I can't imagine her 8 years from now. They seem like a million years from today. Yet, these 8 years that have passed since she was born have gone by sooooo fast. So I guess the next 8 years to come will go by as fast as the first ones!

Marcella is a very happy loving and protective sister. She is also great student. But besides all the good stuff about her, I worry about her social abilities. She has no problem interacting with people she knows or meeting new people on a one to one basis. But she sort of gets intimidated when she needs to interact on a large group. Which is what happened to her this last year on second grade, when all her friends got to be together on another grade section and she had to stay on the other section with classmates that were not friends of her.

I kind of feel bad about it because we had the chance to change her into the other section. But I was suggested that since she had a hard time intearcting in unfamiliar groups that we should give her the chance to do so by keeping her in this grade section. Even so, yesterday, after consulting with a new psychologist we found out that changing her into the other section would have helped her strengthen current relationships which would then facilitate the interaction she would have with other friends. I really think this is true since last years she started out with one best friend and ended up with two! Now, I don't think she has a best friend at all.

The good news is that soon she will be starting a group therapy with other girls of her same age and grade. Some girls will have similar personalities other will have different. I am so looking forward into this therapy and hope that she will learn and take advantage of this opportunity that has been given to her. I really like the fact that before therapy starts we will get to meet with the psychologist and we will get to discuss what the girls will learn in the group so that we can also reinforce everything at home. Then we will get to meet in between and afterwards with Marce and the psychologist or sometimes without her to discuss her progress.

And finally I get to talk about my baby. I like to call him baby because soon he will become a toddler and no longer my baby. Well, he is one thing of a kind. Roger is definately different from my other two girls. He is rough and restless. I even dread thinking I have to dress him because he won't let himself get dressed or worse, get his diaper changed! And also he has something called mamitis so everytime he sees me he wants to be with me....I feel so lucky ;)!