an update on beatrix

a couple weeks ago i found myself with a couple of hours of quiet. penelope was taking an unusually long morning nap and so i sat down with beatrix at the computer to see if she could learn to play some games. i went to pbskids.com and i began to show her how to work the mouse. at first she was very timid and just watched me and then i asked her to try it. she cautiously moved the mouse around and got frustrated that she couldn't get it right away. but slowly she figured out how to work the mouse and that the arrow on the screen moved when she moved the mouse. it was awesome watching it click with her. before i knew it she was doing it all on her own. pretty soon she said, "bebe do it" and she motioned for me to leave the room. a couple of times she came to ask me for help, but the majority of her morning was spent playing the games on her own. i loved seeing the sense of accomplishment in her eyes and her smile...man her smile...it is incredible so see her smile and hear the excitement in her voice. 

beatrix has been talking like crazy this last month. she was supposed to do summer school, but matt and i made the decision to let her stay home for the summer. i am so thankful that we did. rhonda also agreed with our decision and at her last visit she told me that she could not believe the progress that beatrix has made. she said that the improvement is wonderful and that she fully expects that bea will be able to start kindergarten right on schedule. bea still has two years of speech therapy pre-school scheduled, but rhonda thinks that with the help of those two years she will be right where she should be. it is rhonda's opinion that bea is very motivated and determined to tell us exactly what she is thinking.  many of the words beatrix sayd to me are hard for me to decipher, but the amazing thing is that she is patient with me. she knows that i want to understand her and so she takes her time, saying the words over and over. sometimes i still don't know exactly what she is trying to tell me and so i ask her to show me or try to tell me in a different way. she always does. without a hint of frustration. she has never once gotten mad at me. she has abandoned what she has been trying to tell me a couple of times and when those times happen i get right down on her level, make her look me in the eyes, and i tell her "bebe, you know mama wants to understand you right? (she nods) then please don't give up and try to tell me again." she always does. every. single. time. and somehow, by the grace of God, i do eventually understand and the smile returns to her face.