When they are sick is when there is peace well sorta of..

Little one was sick all of last week. So sick in fact at one point we thought she would have to go to the hospital because she was becoming dehydrated from not eating and drinking enough. She had a fever for most of the week with an ear infection. So from Saturday to Thursday she slept and slept.

She was so sad to see like this. On Friday morning she woke up before any of us and she was a boundless amount of energy. Still squawking because her throat was still bothering her but we knew she was going to be ok.

On Saturday it was a beautiful day here. Sunny with a little chill but beautiful for an early not yet Fall day. The majority of the morning she was screeching. Joy. Then at one point she kept pushing me or my husband into the kitchen and all she wanted to do was look out the window so we had to hold her up to do that. Whenever we tried to put her down she cried.

Then we decided to just let her lead us to what she wanted. She led me to the door, she grabbed the handle to turn it. She wanted to be outside. Her wish was my command just to make her happy. She lead me to the back yard. At one point she even pushed me out of the yard and closed the gate on me as if to say "ok I'm where I want to be, I don't need you now".

She grabbed the last two dandelions (amazingly!)  in the yard and proceeded to walk around with them for a hour. She went down the slide a few times but what she wanted to do was just play with the sticks and the rocks. After a week of being cooped up in the house I obliged her and just sat and watched her as she tossed them from one side of a little fence to another. She was happy.

At one point I tried to see if she wanted to go inside and I got some yelling from her so I let her be. My husband came out to stay with her while I went and got her a sippy cup and sandwich for myself. She saw her sippy and grabbed it and went back to playing. After about another half hour I opened the gate and put my hand out and asked if she wanted to go back inside. She with no issue grabbed my hand and walked back in the house. A successful outing for her. After being sick all week and not feeling the wind on her face she got to spend time outdoors and it made her happy.

After she went to bed that night I thought about the day and how we struggle with not knowing what she wants because she can't verbally tell us. I wrote this on my Facebook status because this is how I really felt that night:

Having a nonverbal child is a lot like charades. Except the game really kinda of sucks and you can't see an end in sight.

I think it's the way we look at it right now but it's brutally honest to me.

My husband and I discussed what we could be missing in helping her. I'm sure the list is long right now.  It really is a puzzle because hopefully we'll find the right piece that will help her one day.