This week I decided to do an update on my sweet, sweet, daughter, Carolyn. I have no way to put into words how dear she is to my heart. I could ask for no better daughter or friend. She is reliable in temperament and behavior, most of the time, so is a child I don't have to worry about misbehaving or causing trouble when out in public, or at home. We work very well together and enjoy each others company all day long.
She is a huge help with the children and has a gift when working with them. She has compassion and a gentle, patient, nature with any person or creature.
Carolyn is doing very well and is at a time in life that she is on the cusp of being an adult. She is 17 years old, soon to be 18 within a few months. That in and of itself is just beyond grasping. She came to us when she was just 10 weeks old.
She has
FAS, so had many sensory, emotional, and learning disabilities. She cried a lot as an infant and was my only child I had to wear, to keep her from crying and being so anxious all of the time. As long as she was held, or very close to someone, she was fine., put her down and she was terrified. She was very tiny and grew slowly. She was fun to dress cute and cuddle with.
Don't get me wrong...I enjoyed her immensely and was so grateful for her but her behavior could and did easily escalate and become over the top when she was little. When she was about six/seven years old, all of that changed. I seriously don't know if it was all of my prayers being answered, she truly understood the gospel and got saved or what... but a u-turn, life changing, occurrence happened in her life and heart and she stopped the tantruming, bad behavior and rebellion. She became very compliant and I could see her try so hard to control herself in all areas. At that point in time, we both started a wonderful relationship and bond, that I can not explain. She tries so hard to please me, be helpful and learn skills that I do daily. She is just a precious soul. She still struggles with learning disabilities, her emotions, her nerves, and how to behave socially but knows she has these issues and what is expected behavior...she tries so hard to keep herself acting in a kind and exceptable manor.
Carolyn spends her days working on daily living skills, helping with the children, loving on her animals and dancing. She has just started to understand math for the first time in her life. She has never been able to grasp the concept at all. She has started doing simple math books, for fun, in her free time.
She rides her pony (Millie) about once a week. I will not let her go out and ride alone, so I pay William to go out and watch her ride. He usually brings out a chair and good book to read, while out there. She usually rides about an hour.
She also has a leopard geko, a Guinea pig and two companion dogs. She totally takes care of her own animals and her dogs are on her lap or by her side pretty much at all times. The dogs really help with her anxiety. She has had a companion/therapy dog since she was very young. Her first dog passed away after eight years of service to her. We had to go right out to get another for her as she did not do well without one. She has had her new dog (Bella) for two years now.
Recently, she was gifted a second dog! I know...what was I thinking! Our neighbor is a vet tech and had bottle fed a litter of puppies and begged us to take the last two she could not find homes for because they were so dear to her heart and wanted to know where they went. One (the runt) had a cleft pallet and since Carolyn always spoils and takes such doting care of her dogs, I allowed Carolyn to have that one. She has had the new one Sadie about seven months.
It is almost house broken. I know Carolyn will most likely live with Tim and I most of her life so we allow her to have her "babies" to smother with attention.
Carolyn's dream since starting to dance as a little girl was to be on point. Last year she was graduated to point. She is so beautiful and graceful when she dances. She practices almost daily and I know she looks so small but that compact little lady is all muscle! This picture is from the girls most recent recital in January.
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| We don't wear make up but for the recital, they wear stage make up. Boy, does it make her look much older! |
Our plans for her future are a bit sketchy. I would love for her to find some kind of employment at some point in her life but has to be supervised closely because if something out of the ordinary happens, she does not know how to reason to make a good decision every time. Also, because of the
FAS, people can manipulate her and talk her into and out of things easily. She really tries to please people around her. I would also love to see her have social outlets at some point as well. Right now, she has dance and all the girls at the studio that she has known for years but at some point she may not be able to dance there because of her age. So having a safe group to go out and do things with would be nice for her.
God is so good to us and we feel so blessed to be given Carolyn to be our daughter. We all love her dearly and it blesses my heart to see her grow into such a lovely, godly young women. We love you girl!
Isaiah 60:1-2 "Arise, shine; for your
light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
Blessings,
susan
