Claire Wiegand's Story: 2009 - 2010

Claire turned 20 and started her sixth and second-to-last year at Sheridan High School. She is nearly always content and very healthy. She's much easier to take out in public than she used to be, because she's content to sit for longer periods of time in new locations. She would still prefer to be at home playing with her toys undisturbed. At school, she keeps to herself as well, often going into her classroom's restroom and closing the door so she can play in peace.

	We celebrated Claire's birthday at Grandma Bundy's house. Here's Claire with one of her new sound birthday cards. She loves them. (July 2009)
	For her birthday, Brent treated Claire to McDonald's at Mom's office. (July 2009)
	Sensory Friendly Films: "G-Force." Claire's not a big fan of live-action movies, but she made it mostly through the movie before she started to need M&Ms to distract her. (August 2009)
	Taking Claire to the dentist is a full contact sport. Tom holds down her arms and Mom holds down her legs, even though Dr. Sanders is the nicest dentist in the world. (August 2009)
	Sometimes Tom plays his iPod for Claire when she's waiting for the school bus in the morning. Claire is always amused, but not for long. (September 2009)
	Sensory Friendly Films: "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." Claire loved this one, because it was so colorful. She was riveted! (September 2009)
	Sensory Friendly Films: "Where the Wild Things Are." Claire was not a fan and tried to stand up several times. (October 2009)
	Fortunately, she had Mom's hand to hold onto during the boring or scary parts. (October 2009)
	We brought back a cooler full of lefse from the Schilling reunion. Claire loves lefse because she is a good Norwegian girl. Clearly, she loves it even more than hot dogs. (October 2009)
	Claire ruptured her bursa sac earlier in the year, but it didn't get better like her doctors hoped, so we took her to a specialist to have her knee drained. She was a very good girl and was so cute in her Halloween shirt. (October 2009)
	After Claire's appointment, she hung out at Mom's office until Dad came to pick her up. It's totally normal that Mom is wearing a skeleton costume, isn't it? (October 2009)
	We dropped by the annual Special Olympics Hamilton County Dance-a-thon. It's always nice to see Claire's former teacher Heather, who is the county coordinator. (November 2009)
	Sensory Friendly Films: "The Princess and the Frog." The same girl who wailed before Hannah Montana started wailing again when the movie got scary toward the end, but Claire enjoyed most of it. (December 2009)
	While waiting for the movie to start, Tom helped Claire play with his iPhone. (December 2009)
	Claire may be 20, but she still enjoys a piggy back ride from her stepdaddy from time to time. (January 2010)
	On cold winter days, Claire bundles up for her bus ride to school. (January 2010)
	One of our favorite places to take Claire for dinner is Mudsocks Grill. She watches the televisions on the wall -- every single one of them. (January 2010)
	Claire's been going through a giggly phase. When she gets like this, she can make eye contact for a few seconds, ...
	... and she gives great hugs. (February 2010)
	When the Colts make it to the Superbowl, this family climbs aboard the bandwagon for a couple of days. (February 2010)
	After many years, Claire rediscovered her favorite computer game, Funny Monsters for Tea. Sometimes she enjoys a little dinner while she's watching. (February 2010)
	Sensory Friendly Films: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." Claire's not a fan of live-action films, but she did fine and we really enjoyed it. (March 2010)
	Stranded at Longhorn Steakhouse without a toy, Claire gazes into the bar at the TV on the wall in there. (March 2010)
	Claire's younger sister was home on spring break during Easter, so we got a family portrait in the beautiful weather. (April 2010)
	Claire injured her bursa sac on her right knee in 2009. After a year, it had continued to get worse (even though it didn't hurt her at all), so we decided it was time for surgery. (April 2010)
	It was her first surgery ever, which can be a little tricky when the patient can't speak, but Claire did really well. Here, she recovers by watching her favorite videos and playing with toys on Mom's bed. (April 2010) Next: 2010 - 2011