Tuesday, May 20, 2014

One More Week

Next Tuesday is the last day of Mr N's play group, he'll have a few weeks off before he starts his extended school year. Today when I picked him up they said he did amazing, listened well and followed directions. Words can't explain how proud of him I am, how impressed I am with how far he's come and the progress he's made.

After picking him up we stopped by the park to play, it's right down the street from the development center and he begs to go every week. Today it was warm and the kids from the preschool were there, so he got to have some more social interaction with his peers. He immediately joined in playing with the other boys.

When it came time for the preschool to leave Mr N continued to play until right as they left then he ran to get in line, turned to wave at me and said "see ya later". I kindly reminded him "no not see ya later, but we can go home if you are done". So we packed up then headed home.

Yesterday when I picked him up from preschool he begged to go to the park but I told him we'd go after sissy got out of school. He then proceeded to beg for the next 3.5 hours to go to the park, each time I reminded him that we'd go after sissy was home. So we walked to the school to pick her up then walked to the park. The kids played for a bit but there was a bunch of older kids there, which typically is fine and all the kids do well, but yesterday the older boys were being rowdy and wrestling with each other. E asked if we could head to the smaller park across the creek, so we did.

After playing for a bit at the smaller park it started to sprinkle so we decided to head back towards home, stopping off at the frozen yogurt place for a treat along the way. The kids love getting the frozen yogurt, Mr N likes his plain, while E likes hers with chocolate chips. They have a new orange sherbet flavored yogurt that tastes amazing, especially when mixed with the birthday cake flavor. YUM.

Mr N has invented a new game where he asks for a kiss then right when I go to kiss him he sticks out his tongue then laughs and laughs and laughs. He's gotten me a few times, but I can usually see it coming by the grin he struggles to hide and the ornery look in his eye.

Next Friday is E's last day of school, she has a trip to the library and to the Y. This week is my last week to volunteer in her class, I'm going to miss it. The library has a summer reading program, so E should enjoy that this summer along with many trips to the park and pool. It's hard to believe summer is right around the corner.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Wrapping up the school year

So quickly time passes us by, life pushes on like a time lapse video. We've been in Wyoming for over a year now, the kids are finishing up the school year. E will be starting first grade in the fall, Mr N will be in preschool at the development center 3 days a week. They decided this year to do a preschool program at the development center so he'll get a lot more time with the speech therapist, OT, and Leslie. I'm super excited about how much progress he'll make next year with the increased hours.

We will be doing Mr N's IEP in the next couple of weeks, it's been decided that he'll be part of the extended school year, so he'll have 6 weeks of play group this summer. Three weeks in June and three weeks in July. I'm so happy to know that his progress won't be interrupted by the summer. He's been making excellent progress, especially socially. Leslie (early childhood educator) said that the goals they set for him were supposed to be eased into, but he's made such tremendous progress they didn't even have to baby step him through them. He's meeting his goals, following directions, joining in activities, transitioning between activities, interacting well with his peers and verbalizing much better.

I know I discuss Mr N's speech relentlessly but it's the one thing that separates him from his peers. I always feel like I need to explain when asked his age by strangers who try to interact with him but can't understand what he says. Children don't seem to notice as much, they seem better able to decipher what he's saying. He uses correct grammar and speaks in full sentences, they are just difficult to understand, not just for strangers, we have difficulty understanding what he's saying many times.

Catch phrases seem to be his latest thing, he'll bring something to show me and say "behold.....a movie"or "behold....a car". It's ridiculously cute since he uses "behold" correctly. The other catch phrase he's picked up on is "well, well, well". The mail lady deliver mail a couple of days ago and he typically just says "the mail is here" but this particular day he said "well, well, well, we've got mail mom". Seriously, how cute is that? He's adorbs.

Mr N most sincerely misses E while she as at school, he frequently points at her picture and says "let's go get sissy". Many times he accompanies me when I pick her up because he just can't wait until she gets home to see her. They play so well together, most of the time. E seems to understand what Mr N says a majority of the time, she recently was bragging on Mr N when they were playing with block shapes. She said she knew exactly what Mr N was saying, he was looking for the triangle, then he made the shape with his hands to make sure she knew.

My little man is feeling a little unwell this morning, he's needing lots of hugs and cuddles, has a fever and is complaining about his throat hurting. I guess that explains why he didn't eat his cereal and instead asked for warm, soothing macaroni and cheese for breakfast.

I wanted to dress him in something comfortable since he's not feeling good, it's supposed to be pretty nice today so I was hoping to have him wear shorts, but he still has yet to be convinced that shorts are okay to wear. I've tried, unsuccessfully, over the last few weeks to get him to wear shorts but he is just not having it. Hopefully as it gets warmer he'll realize the necessity and give in for comfort's sake.