As you may know, I had knee surgery a few weeks ago. You see, Last December I went to a trampoline center. I was enticed by something that'll probably never happen for me without significant elastic assistance:  dunking. That's right, they had a giant trampoline under a basketball hoop. How could I say no? What could go wrong? 

For some time now, we've suspected that Tess has an auditory processing disorder. She's slow to respond to sounds. Sometimes she doesn't appear to register them at all. We narrate her day, singing, "Okay Tess, let's walk walk walk," or "Want to eat? Eat eat eat?" I'm sure we sound like nutballs.

School vacation week is coming to an end. As in other years, with time off Tess blazed new trails. We never know when she'll hit a new phase of development. She's on her own timeline. But it's safe to say that this week she finally reached a new phase. One that we've been dreading in a big, big way. 

This week my wife and I both got an email. It was one of the greatest messages I've ever gotten in my entire life. It was from Tess's teacher.