UPDATE 10/16

I have been busy so below is an email from Cindy about her visit with Michele on Thursday.

John

It was a really nice afternoon with Michele!

She got her food turned on at 12:15 and I put her boots on at 12:30. She and I both napped from 12:45-1:15, and she continued napping 'til 1:45.

I gave her a facial and we turned on some TV. On a commercial I asked her if she remembered what John's cell phone number was . . . I was wondering if she could write it on her board. She moved her left hand around as if to say "I'll write it" and she wrote 303-665-9157. The first "5" could have easily been an 8. She smiled when I told her that was right and that she was amazing.

Carla came in at 2:30 and first did 5 swallows of pink lemonade. (By the way, I mentioned the acidity of the OJ from Wednesday, so she is going to steer clear of that in case it was heartburn). Carla was making her work on quick swallows - not leaving it in her mouth too long so she wouldn't accidentally choke. Michele did FANTASTIC. Then, Carla had Michele say the days of the week. It was AMAZING how clearly she said all of them . . . especially FRIDAY! We all laughed when I said that it must be her favorite day of the week. Carla then had Michele name everyone in her family. She named everyone. Her mouth movements were perfect, although most of the names were in whispers . . . until she loudly and clearly in her own voice said "Mom" and "Dad". We laughed and cried and Michele was obviously happy with hearing her own voice so clearly as well.

Carla then did 5 more lemonade swallows with Michele and moved on to sisters. Carla said you have two sisters - who are they? First, Michele said "Cindy". Carla said right, who's next? Michele said, "Michele". We both smiled . . . Carla said, right, there's Cindy, Michele, and who else? And Michele said, "Amy". Carla said, let's try nieces and nephews and Michele shook her head no. I said that one of her nieces visited her yesterday with her boyfriend. Carla said, oh, what is your niece's name, Michele? Michele looked up and tried to think about it and then looked at me. I said, well, that's a hard one because we all call her Kenzie but her Aunt Michele always calls her by her full name, MacKenzie, and that is a long one. But, Michele took a deep breath and said MacKenzie in a whisper. Beautiful. She also said Taylor.

Carla gave her 2 more sips of lemonade and told Michele that she is going to have to set her goals higher because Michele keeps exceeding all of the weekly goals she is setting! Michele was very happy and worked very hard. It was amazing to see. We also talked about Alyssa's upcoming birthday and Michele told Carla that she was going to be 14 (she said 14). Carla asked her what type of cake Alyssa liked. Michele was struggling to say it so she wrote "Bunna". Carla repeated the letters to her and then Michele said "Banana". I don't know if that's the kind of cake that Alyssa really likes, but at least she said it!!!

After Carla left I got Michele comfortable and told her it was time for me to go. She started trying to say something to me but I couldn't understand what it was. I asked her to say it to me one word at a time but I still couldn't understand. I went through all of the body stuff to make sure she was comfortable, but that wasn't it. We were both getting frustrated. I said does it have to do with your music or the TV? She clearly said "Yes". OK, now we're getting somewhere!!! I said would you like me to turn your TV on? She said a clear "Yes". Sweet! Now we're making some progress! I said, "do you know what channel you want it on?" She also said, Yes! I flipped on the TV and then went through each channel slowly. She was moving her left hand around as if to say, "keep going, keep going". I finally ended up on Dr. Phil (the show we always watch together) and I say OH, DR. PHIL?!?!?! She smiled BIG and said YES! I said OK, so say Dr. Phil for me so I know how it sounds, and she said it perfectly. Whew! We were both sweating up a storm trying to figure that one out, but she really smiled at me when I finally got it! I said that Dr. Phil would be on 'til 4 and then I think Oprah is on . . . to which she closed her eyes and nodded her head. She already knew that.  I told her that Amy would be there mid-Oprah.

I really do try and keep these emails short . . . but they just get away from me. Lots of great accomplishments - again - today! Overall, a wonderful afternoon! She gave me the I Love You sign when I left, and when I kissed her on the cheek, she kissed me back.

Love,
C