Noa enjoyed keeping track of the days with the August calendar that she brought home from school. She also started using an alarm clock. When it rings, she turns it off and then puts her overnight toys (doggies, Bo, Electra Monkey, blankets) into a basket and then gets up by herself using her walker and goes to the bathroom to change into play clothes.

Noa spent the first two weeks of break at Putnam Literary Camp which she enjoyed tremendously, along the way, she had a visit from Aunt Pate which was also a lot of fun. Other highlights of the those first two weeks included a few trips to the local pool with Dad (she picked out a blue bucket from the dollar store to pour water on her head).

Noa was an absolute rock star when we went to get an xray of her foot. She enjoyed meeting the Xray tech, Scott, who gave her a sticker for doing such a good job, and she continues to talk about him.

We spent the third week of vacation in a rented RV on Mascoma Lake in Lebanon, NH. We thought Noa might like an RV because the compactness of the space might make it easier to deal with a new space and it would give us the ability to bring more familiar activities. She did seem to like having her usual activities and, while she couldn't navigate the space independently, she did seem to like the fact that could understand the space quickly. Plus, because we were close to Visions for Creative Housing (where Dad works), we were also able to do some respite time with her "friend" Beth which was a joy for everyone!  The 58-mile Northern Rail Trail runs right through the property where we were staying, so Noa enjoyed her long walks in Blue Stroller.

Noa enjoyed shopping on vacation. She picked out two shirts: one pink, one blue. She also enjoyed pulling herself back and forth on a hammock, reading her books on the porch, and visiting a friend's house for dinner.

Back home, the big event was the arrival of Noa's new blue wheelchair and gait trainer. She loves both, and likes to celebrate talking about her her friend Ken, the NuMotion tech who delivered them. The new chair is lighter and more agile then her previous chair. She is excited to bring it to school and say good bye to her old, heavy purple wheelchair.  She has become enthusiastic about maneuvering in her manual wheelchair.

It's hard to believe that anything could be more exciting than a new wheelchair... but the gait trainer??? Definitely the MOST exciting thing! It's more compact and lighter than the one she's been using at school. She's enjoyed using both of them every single day since they arrived. The challenge is finding space for all this new equipment! 

Sunday started with a bit of a challenge as the snow made her usual stroller ride impossible. But she ultimately agreed to a special time in her "Noa Chair" with drums and zuzzies and Bo together. This was so much fun, that she decided that she should have her drum on the swing as well. 

While having drums and zuzzies on the swing was fun, it was also a bit challenging to keep the zuzzies on her ears while also spinning and drumming, we added a hat to hold the zuzzies in place. 

Then, after swings she had a Zoom call with Aunt Pate and totally on her own remembered to thank her for a cool new apron (with a new kind of neckband that clicks together) and a new pair of blue socks. ​

Noa was excited to go to school so she could celebrate the rest of her birthday with cottage and school friends. She's also excited about vacation in one week when she plans to go shopping.

INDEPENDENT NOA
Noa has gotten very good at toileting independently at home. This includes putting on gloves before wiping after a BM, flushing and closing the toilet. One day, in a startling move, Noa decided completely on her own to get up from the floor (using her walker) and make her way to the bathroom and use the T before coming downstairs for dinner. She did this completely on her own!
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The next day she told me that after finishing braille she wanted to go to the bathroom by herself and then return to her room to clean up her blocks. She got a bit turned around when she came out of the bathroom and ended up in Mom and Dad’s bedroom. But the next day we worked on the best way to turn the walker around and she was very happy.
Noa also expressed an interest nail care and has gotten particularly good at filing her nails.

​WATER IN, WATER OUT
Noa greatly increased her water intake over break (in part because she seems to have gotten over wanting only super hot water). While we were glad to have her hydrating herself, she tending to drink too much water near bedtime and thus had a few accidents. We will work on reducing her late in the day intake. 

​WALKING WITH MUSIC
Noa spent a lot of time perfecting her ability to “walk with music.” This included twelve bells attached to various barrettes (which ultimately had to be anchored with back up barrettes so that one could jump without the bells slipping out of her hair). She also insisted on big bells on her shoes, and a variety of rattles in her pockets.

GREAT WOLF LODGE
​Noa had a wonderful time at Great Wolf Lodge. She was very glad that Christian was there and we had most of our meals with him and his family. She was especially excited to hug friends and tell them that she loves them.

Noa liked jumping up and down in the wave pool, but really enjoyed the pool called “Crooked Creek” in which you float around a circle in an innertube. The water was shallow enough that she could stand up in the innertube (which had handles) and walk around the circle independently. She also loved sitting in the innertube and floating, and liked to finish up by having Mom spin her around in the inner tube.
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Noa did great staying the hotel, she understood that things would be a little different, was patient with and interested in the new setting and agreeable when we had to get out of the water, though she didn’t like waiting for the elevator.

All in all, a great break though Noa is also very happy to return to school.

Noa had a fun and fabulous Winter Break! Break started with a LONG drive to Maryland to stay in an AirBnB vacation house near Grammy, Aunt Pate, Uncle Jamie (who burps) and cousins Aidan, Electra and Petra. Noa adjusted well to the different space and seemed to really enjoy reading braille gift tags, giving gifts to appropriate recipients, and opening gifts addressed to her. She especially enjoyed getting gifts she'd specifically asked for:

• a purple gloves/hat/scarf set with stars for outside,
• soft purple gloves with stars for sleeping,
• new wristbands with bells for both sets of gloves,
• Special blue, green, yellow barrettes.

As well as 

1. Three new pairs of soft pants, 

• winter boots,
• A new necklace with bells.

Noa considers most of these gifts "home" things, but she'd probably enjoy talking about them and talking about how she'll see them on Friday at home. Only the new winter boots and necklace with bells went to school (she has other "home" necklaces.)

As much as Noa enjoyed staying in a new house, she was very glad to get home where she enjoyed her usual home activities: braille, reading books, stroller, spinning chair, treadmill, shopping and getting a haircut.

She actually also decided that she wanted to do yoga in the morning before breakfast. For yoga she wanted to wear "different" shoes (shoes with stars), and then put on shoes with braces and a soft sweater) after yoga. Noa especially enjoys doing her own "woo-woos" - which is something she's been working on for a long time. 

You may hear extra bells - as a Christmas gift, Noa had made rhythms beads, with bells, for Aunt M's horses Evan and Crane. So Evan is wearing other bells - but they sound different from the bell is actually on Evan's hoof. That's what Noa is listening for. 

Above left: Noa making rhythm beads for Evan. Above right: Evan wears the beads that Noa made for him.

Noa kept herself - and all of us - busy this August! As usual, she loved Literacy Camp!

Noa enjoyed entertaining visitors: Aunt Pate from MD, and family friends from NY. She had fun at a birthday party for a family friend in spite of a rather unfortunate (and lengthy) Happy Birthday Song meltdown. They started singing without warning - maybe that was what set her off? Luckily she found a nice young man whose shoulder she could cry on and when it was over (2 hours later) she bounced back as if it had never happened with happy jumping and hugs. She even gave Mom and Dad a break by doing a respite weekend at Visions for Creative Housing in Enfield, NH.  

​Amazing progress was made at horseback riding! Noa has started riding independently (without her coach holding onto the lead.) This is especially impressive as it means that she has to kick the horse occasionally to keep him moving (something that is particularly challenging for her). Thanks to stretching sessions before leaving the house, her posture and leg position have much improved. When she is finishes with horsey, she asks for "proud clapping" and we are very glad to comply. Over the summer, she worked on posting up and down, and this past weekend she trotted for the first time!

Noa's newest friend is "1-2-3 Stars with Nick Monkey!" The phrase 1-2-3 Stars with Nick is one she has enjoyed saying since she moved to Bradlee Cottage (where she met Nick) just before break. Since she'd names another monkey after James, I asked her if she wanted to name another one of her monkeys after Nick. She said yes, but when I gave her the monkey she handed him back and told me that he should have stars on his ears. So... I did that and this is how all that played out...

Noa has been very focused on increasing independence. Taking a cue from the folks at her cottage, I got a small rolling cart for Noa's toiletries that we keep in the bathroom. In the top drawer she has her hair products, the middle drawer has diapers (for nighttime) and the bottom drawer has her slippers for after bath time.

When it's time to get dressed, I lay her cloths for the day on top of the drawer. She has a special bucket that she can put her shoes and braces in at night and she takes them out in the morning to put them on. She seems to enjoy being able to do nearly all of her getting dressed/undressed routine on her own! She also does most of her toothbrushing routine on her own now (including rinsing the toothbrush and putting it away in a cup).
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She has also been getting around the house more independently and figuring new path from place to place on her own. She can now get from the floor, onto the couch and from there to the stairs or the table or the bathroom or the basement. ​

​One morning she told me she wanted to do woo-woos with different shoes (without braces) and put on braces later. I think she figured that she could sit up taller without the braces (which is probably true) but it turns out she needed the extra weight of the braces on her feet to get all the way on her own. Still, we very were impressed with her thought process and her ability communicate what she wanted to try. 

Am I saving the best for last? Hard to tell... but it's awfully cute! One of the books Noa likes to read with Mommy right now is "A Pocket for Corduroy" which ends with Corduroy and Lisa nuzzling noses. One day, showed her what it meant to nuzzle noses and that so nuzzling noses became a regular part of reading that book. Still, when she decided (without the book and in a totally different setting) to nuzzle noses with 1-2-3 Stars with Nick Monkey, it took me a moment to figure out what she was doing. "Are you nuzzling noses with 1-2-3 Stars with Nick Monkey?" I asked. Clearly the answer was yes. As you can see, nuzzling noses has become a "thing" and she figured out how to take into day to day life all on her own!

I'm also including a short video from a couple of weeks ago that shows Noa (after standing up with her walker, finding her way to her bedroom door and to the stairs to go down to dinner. 

Sunday we went apple picking, which was also great fun. She really enjoyed picking apples and putting them in the bag. The hayride was also great fun - and the fact that it was also a windy day made it even better as far as Noa was concerned!