Happy Birthday Kara

At her sister Julia's dance performance 10/24

Kara is really growing up, her little girl body changing a little every day, giving us a glimpse into the woman she will be someday.  I think her birth mama must have been very pretty, as Kara is herself. I wonder if she remembers Kara on her birthday?

Kara is in the 5th grade. We recently pulled her and her sisters out of Arizona Virtual Academy and petitioned to homeschool her.  She is doing very well, and is very smart!

She is beginning to enjoy dressing in pretty clothes, and gets a huge smile when she gets new things to wear, often grabbing them off the racks at stores and putting them in our carts. It is harder to give her gifts of toys though, as she rarely reacts with happiness, she just tosses her gifts aside to play with the box or to grab some random article of clothing she is fixating on, I know that is from her orphanage days where her favorite toys were those rough wool socks she often pulled off her feet.  Some behaviors are set!

Kara has very thin hair, it is often frizzy from her lying down a lot, it breaks easily, so it never grows past a certain point.  Her thyroid levels have always been in medium normal ranges, I wish I knew why her hair was like this. That is why her hair style rarely changes.

She continues to have issues with extremely loose joints and joint instability, especially her feet and hips. We have been careful with her weight (not letting her eat junk all day) and that is a good thing.  She has very low energy due to her hypermobility and her hypotonia.  We don't want obesity to add to her mobility issues.

She saw an orthopedic doctor earlier this year, he confirmed via X-rays that she has early stage hip dysplasia.  He said surgery would likely not help Kara's hips and feels she has a 75% chance of the procedure failing, it is not an easy surgery. They can't shorten her ligaments because the extreme elasticity she has would make the shorter ligaments stretch right back out. It is frustrating because I am not certain what can be done for her except muscle strengthening exercises; which we do as much as she can tolerate, but it causes her some pain.  This one of the issues she has that causes me to stay up nights trying to find solutions.

She is pretty low energy at home, but once out of the house, loves exploring. She can move pretty fast.  This year our family won a lottery via SANDS to attend the NDSC convention.  Kara kept me running after her, she wanted to see the entire building, we were proud of her for climbing the stairs, it is not easy for her to do.

She loves Groovy Girls dolls and often plays with them so much their heads,  arms, and legs come off...I have been looking for replacements for those she has worn out over the years.  I can find large lots on eBay, but all of the dolls are sans clothing...I imagine their owners disrobed them like my girls do?

Kara's birthday

Kara continues to be non-verbal, she has received speech therapy since arriving home, and has had numerous evaluations, no one knows why she cannot speak, she performs tasks and tests very well,  so we know she is bright and learning. However she is very frustrated when she cannot say how she feels and will whine and cry to get a point across... She uses minimal sign language, and will be receiving her new iPad with speech program (Proloquo , which she uses with here speech therapist during sessions)  any day, week, or month now. We have waited a LONG time.  As usual, it is a hurry up and wait scenario when government programs provide devices.

Kara and Madeline

Kara is an Auntie to three cuties; Mathias, Desmond and Madeline. She adores babies and is very tender with them.  She likes animals, but insists on pulling their tails whenever possible, which means they don't like her as much.

Kara is a very sweet little girl, she rarely does unkind things to others, she gets upset if voices are raised, even in happiness, she likes peace and quiet above raucous fun.  She adores her siblings. She will climb on the back of any male family member or friend to get a piggy back ride, and now that she is getting taller and heavier, it is becoming harder for them to play that way, it will be an activity we phase out this coming year I am sure.

She still loves watching Barney and Signing Time, Barney is still her favorite. Her favorite movies are Frozen, High School Musical 1,2 and 3, Les Miserables. Rent; actually she adores any movie if there singing and dancing in it.   She enjoys old school slapstick humor and often laughs if people hit each other on TV shows, whether in anger or not, so at times it seems inappropriate, but I don't think she believes TV shows or movies are real (and she is correct).  She enjoys live theater and going to the movies. She enjoys going for long car rides and going shopping.

My wish for her this year is to get her own voice, whether it is speaking with a device, signing, or being able to talk.