Catching Up With Erin

Since I haven't blogged too much this year, I want to talk about some things that have gone on with Erin.  It was a big year for her & well, since this blog is for her - down the line, I really should let her know what happened this year.

• Right before school started, Erin quit karate.  She got her red belt & decided she was done.  David & I are very upset about this because she really is a natural.  Sifu H tried so hard to get Erin to come back.  Her hero Brittany tried to get her to come back.  One of the other teens that she admires, Bobby, also tried.  Nope.  Not happening.  I get it.  The required uniform is very hot - especially when you need to wear a shirt under it because it's too big.  She was also going 4-5 days a week which I offered to make no more than 3 days.  Still not happening.
• Her pediatrician is still very concerned about Erin's size.  Yes, Erin is healthy.  In fact, Erin hasn't really gotten sick for the last 2 years.  (Yay!)  At just about 10 years old, she isn't even 55 lbs.  Good things come in small packages.  And she is the bestest.  :-)
• Last summer we had Erin's vision tested.  All is good there.  No signs of dyslexia.
• Last summer I took the bull by the horns & brought Erin to her audiologist to get a confirmation on my suspected diagnosis of Auditory Processing Disorder (a/k/a APD).  Dr. Randall had been our go-to audiologist since Erin was 2 years old because her ears have some scarring inside.  I love it when I find out I'm right.  This is one of those times that I wish I weren't right.  Erin does have APD on the output organization level.
• This year in school I pushed to have an IEP put in place so Erin could get the necessary help.  I had to wait & have conferences & get pushy.  I went so far as to go to the principal Mrs. A & inform her that Erin would not be taking the FCAT without an IEP in place.  The IEP was put into place 1 month before the FCAT.
• This year Erin decided that being Chinese is a good thing.  She can be an American girl but still be proud of her Chinese heritage.  In fact, she had a few projects to do in school, & she found ways to bring her heritage into them.  (A story on animals?  She chose horses because she was born in the year of the horse.  A report on endangered animals?  She wrote about the FL blue butterfly because she loves butterflies & they are from where she now lives.  Her other endangered animal was the Chinese Great Panda because they are from her birth country.)
• FCATs in FL were much harder this year than previously.  Erin passed both the math & reading FCATs.  She did great! We are so darn proud of her.
• For the first time ever, Erin made the A/B honor roll for the 3rd quarter.  She worked so hard, & we had no clue about it until she called me from school to tell me.
• Last year there was no money for camp so Erin stayed home with David & me.  That really didn't work for any of us.  For the most part, the only happy ones in the house were the animals.  This year David & I pushed ourselves to get Erin back into camp.  It is very expensive but she is having a blast.  Very worth it to do this for her.  The smile on her face tells me that we did the right thing.

There are more things that have gone on this past year but these seem to be the highlights for now.