Peter

There were a couple of bright moments during this day.  One of them occurred at the baseball game.  But first a bit of background.

Peter sometimes doesn't bother taking the skin off of things that he eats or he will eat something and leave no trace of its existence on this planet.  For example, he will eat through an orange rind much like one would eat an apple and he will eat an apple in its entirety - core, seeds and stem included.

Today at the game we were eating peanuts.  You guessed it - he ate the peanuts shell and all!!  This had Daniela shrieking with laughter and amazement.  Eileen tried doing it to show D that it was quite normal to eat peanut shells.  She was crunching away but when D turned away Eileen was spitting out those shells faster than a pro baseball player spitting out tobacco juice!

 

Peter and I were heading out to the store to pick up a few things.  I asked D if she would like to join us and, much to my surprise, she said yes!  I think that having Pete along made her feel more comfortable.  Anyway, Pete again provided the entertainment by swiping a water bottle from an unsuspecting young woman standing outside the store.  He juked, twirled and swiped that bottle so fast it would have made Vince Lombardi proud.  Daniela shrieked and smiled again.

 

Lastly, Peter and Daniela spent most of the afternoon playing with each other.  D teases him and taunts him playfully - especially when food is involved.  On the way home from camp D gave Pete some of her jelly beans.  Rather than eating them one by one he shoved the whole handful in his mouth - chomping, drooling and smiling away.

Pete really enjoys having Daniela around.  She is like a sister to him and he really likes the attention.  He tries to ride in the front seat of the car but Daniela gives him an "Nuh Uhnnn!" and he willingly acquiesces to being relegated to the back seat.

I seem to struggle with making a connection with her.  In fact, there are times when I feel completely disconnected from her and this process.  Sometimes I feel like my only function is to make her tea, buy her french fries or make her lunch.  At least that is the way it seems.  She can be charming and lovely but I wonder if she does that because she wants something from me or is she being genuine.  It's hard to tell at times.  I have to hold on to the hope that we are both reaching out for each other - bumbling and stumbling through this process - and that we will make whatever connection we are supposed to make.

Something just occurred to me.  Daniela does not call Eileen or I by our names or any other way other than the equivalent of "hey".  Yet she calls Peter by his name all the time.  Interesting.

But today was meant for Peter and Daniela.