The Princess and the Poo Poo Treats

I spend an impressive amount of time in front of the potty trying to convince little girls to go poo-poo. So much time that it finally occurred to me that it would be worth my while to go the route of poo-poo treats. I filled a plastic container with m&ms and put it up in a cabinet just outside the bathroom. Two m&ms for every successful trip to the potty.

Yesterday while Kimani was on the potty I found that we were out of m&ms (that post would be titled, The Pirates and the Poo Poo Treats.) So I offered her a cookie instead. While I was trying to bribe her with a cookie, my mom was offering to go buy m&ms and...



And then it happened. She signed cookie. SHE SIGNED COOKIE!!! She has never signed cookie before. In fact, she has not signed anything new in over a year, and during this past year she has hardly signed anything other than More.

I felt like crying. It has been hard watching her lose what little words and signs she had by age two. It has been so scary wondering if her cognitive development had stopped.

But over the last few weeks something strange and wonderful has been going on. I have noticed changes. She is focusing more. She is starting to engage in pretend play with her doll. She is being more cooperative. She is understanding more of what is being said around her, evident in her reaching for and putting on a bib when she heard my mom say that it was snack time. She finally knows that there are gifts inside the wrapping paper...



At first I could not believe what I was noticing. Coincidence, I told myself. But yesterday she signed cookie, and now I know that her brain is building new synapses, and strengthening what was left behind by the meningitis. I feel like God is giving her back to me one neurotransmitter connection at a time.