A few of Milly's latest interests....

Fashion is still a big interest.

She loves all the fashion dress up sights on the Internet and can spend hours creating outfits.There are sites that have period dress as well as looks from pop stars etc.

I think she has a good eye.

She is into vintage at the moment.

The thing I love is - although she is very interested in fashion and can put together some creative and  individual outfits from her own wardrobe - she is just as happy to be in her 'scruff '.

Makeup goes hand in hand with the fashion I think. She loves to watch pop videos and comments on the different looks created.She has experimented on herself in various ways - usually quite theatrical rather than traditionally made up eyes etc. 

I used make up as a mask growing up - low self esteem meant I rarely went without it.

I think Milly will use it in a very different way - she will use fashion and makeup to express herself...

She has said she wants to be different and have a style that is not easily copied.We have discussed ways we can achieve this.At this moment in time the interest isn't enough for her to go that extra step and spend the time and energy to go around the charity shops or to learn how to customize or make things - many other important things to do :-)  It is a possibility if and when she is ready.

She can explore both areas and practice when she wants to and define her own ' look'. In the mean time I try to buy items that ' fit' her personality and luckily, often score a hit :-)

Sitting in the Osteopaths reception on Monday she picked up Homes and Antiques Mag.She skimmed through it commenting on all the styles she liked. She joked about how she sounded 'old ' going on about which desk style she liked the best or which material swatches she liked ;-)
I asked her if she would like me to get her the latest magazine and she was very enthusiastic about how she could cut out the things she liked and create 'mood ' boards - we talked about storing the images in folders - she liked that idea as well as she could create different ' looks ' with the pictures.

Vampires/werewolves, are still on the list although not just the Twilight genre.

Becoming Human and Being Human are two new programmes she is interested in.

She is dipping into a Vampire book similar to Vampireology .

Friends and Scrubs have provided hours and hours of fun and her sense of humour has become very droll

Droll was the word I wanted to use, but I googled it to make sure it actually described as I had intended and it did - "It means his humor is capricious, whimsical or sophisticated." " Amusing in an odd way." 

Swimming - purely for fun and doing handstands and swimming under water, practising holding her breath seeing how long she can do it for - has sparked an interest in learning to Scuba dive.

She also wants to learn sign language - trying to find ways to facilitate those interests.

She has found her voice and although she is not rushing to do the exercises that D ( singing teacher ) gave her at her first lesson - she is singing a lot and has memorised the words to the song D gave her .Castle on a cloud from  les Mis.She is also interested in accents and likes to impersonate accents - she has been googling to find recordings of the accents she is interested in....

She has a growing library of music on her ipod - mainly chart on there I think but she does enjoy listening to a wide range of music from different era's.

Stories are still massive in her life - whether she is listening to them or telling them :-) 

Computers -  for communication purposes - Facebook chat and skype have been invaluable in her relationships with other home ed girls up and down the country. She continues to expand her computer skills and she will now download music, she worked out how to transfer it onto her ipod without help. She is also working her way around her ipod without my help at all,  finding out how to set up an account to connect to the Internet and such.

She has no fear on the computer and isn't afraid to just try something - she is a very speedy ( with individual style ) typist.

Daily conversations cover a wide range of topics - far too many to document here - many encompass very

 ' grown up ' and philosophical subjects, many are just plain silliness :-)

Her drawing has taken a back seat at the moment, although the small amount of recent art she has produced is showing a progression in her depiction of the various characters she draws.She is trying out different ways to draw facial features and  has a very definite idea of how she wants them to look - as has happened so often in the past -  it naturally moves on after a hiatus.

We talked about setting up a business using her art to make money for some of the things she was wanting to buy. The idea is still on the table and may well happen in the future but it has to be driven by Emily and not me - although I will be right by her side assisting in any way I can. At the mo the idea is sound but the work needed to put it into operation and the disciplined production of art is a step too far for her.She had a huge boost in confidence when we got feedback from people we had sent a thank you card to after Christmas.They all commented her on the professional quality of the image and the fine detail of her drawing.

 Bratz play has wained over the last week or so - she is waiting on the delivery of two Monster high dolls and I am sure it will resume when they come ;-)

There is more of course, but that gives a rough idea of where we are at at the moment.

She continues to build links from all the experiences she has, whether that is conversation - with people of all ages -  film or TV ,  music, Internet, books or story tapes... 

 No academic ' work ' but a great deal of knowledge and real life learning.

And -  most importantly of all - she is HAPPY and absolutley loves her life :-)