October 31st: Halloween Extravaganza!

Today Amanda and I dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat! I was so excited to see my little's reaction as she walked into the cafeteria. I saw her look around as she entered, and then once she spotted me, her jaw dropped! I had BLUE HAIR!

I really liked all the activities Amy set up for our Halloween party. My little and I first painted pumpkins, and while painting, we were able to talk about what we did during the day and what she was going to do to celebrate Halloween. She said that she was going trick-or-treating that night with her family. We next played Bozo buckets. She was really determined and threw the ball into all five of the buckets! We also played Halloween twister, made bead necklaces and bookmarks, played soccer, and went outside to play on the playground.

It was really good to see my little in her element again; both last week when she came to WSU and this week when she played with all her friends, she was speaking Spanish more openly and seemed more extraverted and comfortable. I also notice that she looks up to me for guidance and enjoys doing activities with me. She often asks me for permission to do different activities and asks me what we should do next. I usually turn the table and ask her what she wants to do, which, I think, shows that I value her opinion.

For the last two weeks she has not brought her journal, and I hope next week she remembers to write in it! I feel like that sets a foundation or a starting ground for each time we meet. I also have some goals for the remainder of the semester:

- To better understand her emotions and personality
- To learn more about her family and friends
- To make our time more interactive and encouraging.

'Tis all!