Bruiser

Oh what a month! September: back to school, new classroom, new teacher, new friends, new bus that shows up repeatedly at 9:15 when school starts at 9:00... in Westchester! But no, Noa doesn't look like this because she was bullied in school or on the bus. She actually just has some funky dry skin on her eye, and then lost a front tooth!

The tooth had been loose for a few days. At one point - on Sunday - she tried to pull it out but it didn't want to come. It bled a bit, but it stayed in place. A few hours later in the bath she got mad at me because the water was too hot, or too cold, or too soft, or too hard... it was too something and I couldn't figure it out so she did what she sometimes does and gave herself a little jab in the chin (I've explained to that it doesn't hurt me when she does that, but she does it nonetheless). In any case, she knocked the tooth right out!

There was a little blood, and at first she kind of freaked out. She really seemed to get the fact that she'd just lost a piece of her body that had been there just moments before (and I think she liked playing with it). But I just kept reassuring her that it was it alright - that it was supposed to happen and it meant she was a big girl and within a couple of minutes she was laughing and it was all very funny.

On Monday we went to the doctor and got some cream for the eye. But she's still kind of sporting that tough kid look. The other front tooth is wiggling up a storm and we expect it to go at any moment. Her teeth tend to hang in there a while since she doesn't eat solid food.

The other excitement Monday was a visit from Sam Morgan of the NYS Deaf-Blind Project. After YEARS of trying to get Noa in, she has finally been accepted for services! This is a huge deal for all of us - as a blind child who communicates mostly with sign, she is a bit of an odd duck. She just doesn't fit any easy definition. She seems to hear technically - but processing what she hears and/or how to speak is definitely a challenge for her. But all these things have Federal definitions (and they get funding by serving people who fit into that definition) so for odd ducks, it's a battle. ANYWAY - this gives us access to the kind of services and support that we've been longing for - and that Noa really needs: support at school to help her teachers and therapists work with her, and support at home for Noa and for us! One of the greatest challenges we face is that Noa is just plain smart - but her communication skills can't keep up with her cognitive abilities, and filling in those gaps for kids who can't see and who don't follow what they hear is really tough.

We've all seen frustrated kids who can't quite express themselves - this frustration ultimately pushes them to watch and listen to others so they can learn these things, but Noa can't do that. And honestly, the timing for this couldn't be better because she really is in a place of some intense cognitive growth and she gets very frustrated about not being able to tell me what she wants. Sometimes after spending a long time, with me listing things she might want, she just signs that she is sad - and that is really heart-breaking. I tell her that I'm sad too. She is really patient with us, and I'm looking forward to getting the help we need to get her to the next level!