Sisters

This morning Rachel's conversation was about the same as yesterday, but it consisted mostly of "I'm not." She had to be reminded to keep getting dressed, and she spent several minutes adjusting her jeans before she would button and zip them. I don't know if they felt funny or what. She seemed happy with her frosty the snowman sweatshirt, but wouldn't/couldn't show any excitement about it. She waved goodbye when she got on the bus (yay!)

Yesterday after school she was just not in a good mood. She wanted to stay in her room and look at "bookzines." When she has candy I let her keep it in her room in a little candy dish, because she only eats a piece every week or so. That way she can have it when she wants it as a treat. When I went in to check on her she had a package of gum sitting on the bed next to her, so I asked her if she wanted help getting a piece. It's not meant as a reward or anything, so she doesn't have to "work" for it, but I like her to ask for help when she needs it because it really helps when she'll communicate with me. The gum sitting next to her was rather obvious, but sometimes it's not at all apparent what she wants. I could tell she really wanted it, but couldn't bring herself to say "yes." She kept saying "no" with her mouth, but her expression and body language said "yes." I couldn't decide whether to give it to her anyway, or try to get her past her bad mood enough that she could say something positive. I finally just started to open it, very slowly, while asking her if she wanted it. She finally said (or rather, yelled) "yes. stupid boys." I wasn't thrilled with "rewarding" her for saying "stupid boys," but it was so hard for her to get the "yes" out, that I decided it was okay and gave it to her. Then when we ate dinner (2 hours later) she didn't want to spit the gum out. She kept saying "It's mine. It's not garbage." I can't imagine that it had any taste left (and she does have more), so I insisted. She was mad for just a minute, but got over it fairly quickly.

After dinner we went to her brother's house to celebrate her sister-in-law's birthday. Rachel loves birthdays, as least as long as it's her birthday. Other people's birthdays, not so much. Aside from saying "it's my birthday" a lot on the way to their house, she was fine. I was really glad. There was a lot of family there, and Rachel spent most of the evening laughing and smiling. I absolutely love her laugh and smile. She didn't talk very much at all, but at least she was happy. Happy is good.

There have been times in Rachel's life where she has been very talkative and interactive (and possibly psychic. Just kidding. Mostly). About 6 years ago her oldest brother bought her a pink ball/pillow for Christmas. We were all in the store together and he saw the ball and knew she would love it and it would be easy for her to play catch with, so he bought it for her. I'm not sure she ever even saw it (I know she didn't see him buy it, because I took her to a completely different part of the store). After he bought it he stuck it in his very large coat pocket. It you really looked, you could kind of see some pink inside a plastic bag in his pocket. On the way home she said "Why do you have my pink ball in your pocket?" So much for surprises.  Earlier this year when my son was just starting to date his wife, Rachel was interested and talked about his girlfriend. One day she painted Rachel's fingernails. Rachel told everyone that her sister had painted her fingernails for her. She came up with that on her own. No one had mentioned "sister" to her. I know she is VERY excited to have a sister now. When I was talking to her as I was getting her ready for bed and tucking her in, we talked about her sister. She didn't really say anything, but she smiled and nodded her head. As tired as she was, that's "saying" a lot. Sisters are awesome, and I'm so glad she has one now.