The amazing Sherry

This is Sherry. She is Lily's speech therapist and we love her so much! She has been meeting with Lily three times a month since last November. She is so creative in the way in which she interacts with Lily. We meet often in our home, but Sherry always has a fun activity for Lily to do that also encourages her to practice her speech. Lily's vocabulary is extensive, both expressive and receptive. She does however, need some work on her annunciation, mostly on the sounds in the middle of her words. She has made so much progress! Lily will be re-evaluated in two weeks to see if she qualifies for services after she turns three this summer. It is a catch 22 for me; wonderful if she does not qualify, but if she does, I will probably decline. Once Lily turns three, she would have to attend preschool (4 mornings a week) to receive speech therapy. I am in no hurry to send her off to school. She is still so young, they grow up so fast and she has years of school ahead of her. I am fortunate that I get to stay at home with her. We have plans for mommy and me Chinese class next year and also ballet and tap dance class. I tear up at the mere thought of sending her off to a classrooom. If we decide she needs continued speech therapy, we'll probably go the private route. I am curious if anyone reading this has faced a similiar choice. I'm 99% sure Lily will not be going to preschool in the fall, but we will instead do a lot of fun preschool activities and learning at home.

Anyway, yesterday we met Sherry at a local park and petting zoo. It was so fun and a great place for Lily to explore and practice saying new things. I love learning outside of the box like that. Lily tends to be quite reserved in new situations, so it is really good practice for her to be a little out of her comfort zone. Sherry is so amazing in how she uses different situations as teachable moments. On one visit, we went to Whole Foods and shopped for produce. We've been to a park to feed ducks, baked cookies in our kitchen, and played beauty shop. We are going to miss Sherry so much! The good news is that she has become a very good friend, so I know she will remain close to our family.

Here are a whole bunch of photos from our day at the petting zoo.

This is summertime fun!