In May of 2001 Kali was placed into a foster care home.  Her foster parents have helped Kali grow and she has flourished in their home.  She has siblings that she can imitate and compete with for attention and affection.  Her socialization communication skills were developing.  She will probably never speak and her cognitive skills may always remain at the 2yr old level however, Kali learned how to push buttons and twist knobs and remove lids.  She was able to remove the caps off shampoo bottles and empty the bottle in the blink of an eye.  By December 2001, when this picture was taken, she also learned that the TV remote control could change the screen but chewing on it did not do anything.  She discovered the buttons that controlled the VCR and managed to somehow record the weather channel over a portion of her least favorite Barney show.  She loves Barney.  I am not real sure what she likes about Barney.  She was not impressed with a stuffed version of Barney and Barney books didn't excite her tremendously.  Perhaps it is the music and children she relates and connects with.  

Kali loves water.  She would spend her entire days playing in a dripping faucet or in a tub of water or a bucket and best of all in a fountain.  When she was little on of the physical therapies we applied involved sitting her in a tub of rice to stimulate her shin and body.  She has always been a bit insensitive to pain and other sensory input.  It seemed to me that her processing cognitive information was very slow perhaps the signals were very weak.   To apply enough pressure on her arm (like a pinch) for her to feel created quite a bruise and was far beyond what it would require on others.  Her skin bruised easily.  Just hold her hand and arm while walking would leave clear images of my fingers on her skin.  It would usually go away within an hour or so unless she was bruised like in a fall or bump against the furniture.

2002 was a good year for Kali.  She grew in stature and grace.  She was more insistent in expressing her feelings.  Especially when Barney was over.  She would come and get me to have me place a new tape in the VCR.  Sometimes she would bring me the remote.  She was happy as always.  During Christmas I had Kali for several days.  I don't think the season or holidays mean much to her. I had Kali stay with me every other weekend.  We had a routine we generally followed.  Up at 6am, breakfast, then off to the grocery store and back home for a snack.  Then we would usually ride the bus or MAX to downtown Portland.  Stop for lunch at McDonalds and ride back.  Then another snack and reading, TV, outside play, or a store until dinner.  Dinner was usually Kentucky Fried Chicken, her favorite food.  After dinner and a bit of play, I would give her a bath and then we would spend the evening watching TV (Barney) reading books, and just running around my apartment.

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