My mind is full, but at least there are some pictures...

Lots on my mind right now. Drama, visitors we were expecting unable to come (leading to much disappointment especially on Kiddo's part), all sorts of stuff, shenanigans and nonsense. Tomorrow morning Kiddo has an appointment with the eye doctor to determine if the patching is effective at treating her exotropia. I'm pretty darn sure it isn't, as I still see the turning as much as I ever did. So, Hubby and I will be discussing The Next Step with the doctor after he finishes the exam. We already know the doctor advocates for surgery in such situations, and fully expect him to recommend surgery as the best treatment option tomorrow. We aren't ready to necessarily jump on in and say "Okay, please cut into my child's eyeballs" without a lengthy discussion and lots of thought. I've already spent more hours than anyone should need to spend doing the Will They Cover This? dance with the insurance company, in an attempt to get all my ducks neatly lined up to try vision therapy as an alternative before surgery. As of tonight (the result of weeks of being glued to the phone, listening to some very bad hold music, and speaking with Kiddo's primary care physician, the vision therapy doctor's office and the insurance company, writing letters and having the doctor write letters, etc etc etc), we have approval for Kiddo to be initially evaluated by Vision Therapist Eye Doc, but not much more than that. Still going to have to fight to get the potential 24 weeks of vision therapy covered. Worst case scenario is we don't renovate the kitchen this year as planned and we pay out of pocket for the vision therapy, but I'm darn well hoping the insurance company steps up to the plate, as, after all, that's what they're theoretically there for, right?

Following the Eyeball Fun first thing in the morning, Kiddo has her screening for classroom placement for the first grade in our new district. I'm hoping she shows off what a smart cookie she is so that she gets appropriate placement. Every now and again, she'll play dumb, like say she can't read something that she absolutely can, or not give it her best effort and sort of half-ass read something and mispronounce words she knows very well how to say/read. It's laziness or stubbornness or both, and it frustrates us no end, and I am fervently hoping she doesn't pull that tomorrow. She is now reading well enough to look over my shoulder and sight read aloud as I'm typing an email or tweet or Facebook status update or comment (and, for the record, I type ridiculously fast - well over 100wpm). She should be able to ace any first grade test they give her, just based on what her reading level was as of the end of May in kindergarten. Yes, I'm obsessing, but given the challenges we're having with getting her IEP transferred over (or recreated, as the case may be), I want to know that at least her classroom placement will be appropriate and not an environment in which she will easily be bored. Boredom for Kiddo with her SPD is a Very Bad Thing. (Not that boredom is good for any other kid, it's just that with her sensory-seeking system, being bored can lead to extra-disruptive behavior because boredom = lack of sufficient sensory input and then she'll go seeking more sensory input, and not necessarily in appropriate ways.)

So, yeah, lots going on and not a lot of it fun blog material. I do have some pictures from a blogging buddy lunch last Friday (holla, Andy and Kristin!) but I haven't pulled those off the camera yet. Perhaps I'll get that up by Mostly Wordless Wednesday time...

In the meantime, Kiddo's in-town grandma made, from scratch, adorable new tiebacks for the curtains in her room and the paint is finally cured to the point that Kiddo could (with Hubby's assistance) put up her wall animal decals. So, here are some pictures of The Pink Safari, mostly done. (Still need to repaint and rehang the closet doors and find an area rug, but other than that, it's done!)

Here are the curtains with the fantabulous, pink, polka-dot tiebacks. I was struggling to get a decent shot with the lighting and the flash... sorry these are a bit washed out.






A shot of the wall above Kiddo's dresser. The decals are pretty high quality - they're not too shiny and plastic/vinyl-looking unless you get up very, very close.



Kiddo was extremely specific about which decals were to go where. Above her headboard, she wanted "the big cats" along with, apparently, some food in case they get hungry. The flash caught the cheetah a bit in this one:



A close-up of one of the decals. I love how they blend into the pink on the walls. It really is the Pink Safari!