Sarah Rise Weekly Updates

August 18

This week I do not know exactly how many hours we got, nor will I know precisely from this point forward. I have decided to stop my meticulous tracking. Egad!! At first this seemed like a relief and then I started to freak out. Then I realized that my freaking out was due to thinking… Read more »

August 11

This week we got 18 1/2 hours. This was a low week due to my being sick for 4 days (the last two of which I was just a lump and Sonia and Carl did everything). Sarah had another tummy bug and while it only affected one night I still cancelled her volunteers for the… Read more »

August 4

This week we got 35 hours and 45 minutes. We have added a small amount of raw fruits and veggies to Sarah’s diet. Yay! Aside from a stomach bug for a few days this week, she is doing well and I am thrilled that she has more food options available to her. Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop… Read more »

July 27

This week we got 37 hours. Sarah made up a new word, unintentionally, as she tried to say “envelope.” Her new word is “empty-lope,” referring to an empty envelope. She is pointing out when things match, sometimes correctly and sometimes not. When we eat she says we have matching forks. She also says “matching pants”… Read more »

July 21

This week we got 22 hours of Sarah-Rise time (sort of low by my current standards) but we also had an outreach with Becky Blake where she stayed in our house for a few days and worked with Sarah and taught us new things to do to help Sarah. Then we went camping for a… Read more »

July 14

This week we clocked 30 hours and 40 minutes of Sarah-Rise. Sarah had many moments where my jaw dropped at her learning, creativity, and spunk… – driving the little toy car that she can sit in and telling me she is driving to the yogurt maker (she is temporarily off yogurt again) – she has… Read more »

July 7

This update is for the past two weeks. Two weeks ago we got 30 hours of Sarah-Rise time and this past week we got roughly none. Some interactions certainly had that energy but we were vacationing in Cape Cod with college friends so we didn’t do any official time. Sarah’s imaginative play is wonderful. Before… Read more »

June 23

This week may have been our biggest yet, or at least close to it. 44 hours. This was thanks to many things going as planned, my newest volunteers all now doing 2 hour sessions (training starts with shorter sessions), and my mom J. (Mom-Mom) visiting to help since Carl was away. Mom-Mom not only does… Read more »

June 16

This past week we got 30 hours. As I write, Sarah is listening to her latest favorite song “video games” by Lana Del Rey, whose name she pronounces perfectly. Last night we had ratatouille and Sarah pronounced that clearly (with some pauses) too, after a few attempts that weren’t quite clear such as “rabbit-too-ee.” This… Read more »

June 9

This past week we clocked 34 hours. It is interesting how sometimes this total number feels small to me but when I go into the Sarah-Rise room and set the timer for 2 hours I think “wow, that’s kind of a long time to focus exclusively on one person.”  I am continually deeply amazed at… Read more »