Auntie Lu & Big Kid Skool

First thing's first. Friday was Ian's evaluation with the school district to see if he qualifies to continue speech services in their Special Needs Preschool. For those unaware of how it works, the state's "birth to three" services end just when it says: Age three. At that point, he has to be evaluated to be over a certain percentage delayed in order to continue services through them.

We had to start planning his transition to the school district back in November. There was paperwork, testing and evaluation by his present speech therapist, meetings...more paperwork, more meetings. It was a lot like going through the social work phases of our adoption. Part of me wanted him to qualify just so he could stay in Speech Therapy; he has had so much success. A bigger part of me wanted him to NOT qualify just to prove how far we've come.

We arrived for our 9am appointment well fed and happy. He was beside himself that he was actually in a "big kid school". He ran through the hall with this look on his face like, "Mommy, can you believe this?".

Next, we met the 5 people involved in his evaluation and he was taken to another room to start his tests. I was SO nervous about what they would get out of him in a strange place, with strange people, and with me out of the room. In my room, the psychologist and preschool teacher dissected my stack of questionnaires and forms... asking questions that gave them a picture of Ian's social and adaptive skills, among other things. It was 60 long minutes of testing for Ian. That's an eternity for a 3 year old. I can't believe he made it without a meltdown.

The next step was the scoring meeting. By their glowing comments, it was clear that he is doing fine, if not exceptionally well in the social, adaptive, and cognitive areas. The Occupational Therapist rated him age appropriate in both Fine and Gross motor, complimenting his attention to detail and higher than average ability to watch an activity and then repeat it. The Speech team rated him at 65%, or above average for "receptive" speech (or what he understands), and age appropriate for the other areas of speech relating to what he articulates and communicates.

That's it. He doesn't qualify. This means after his final 2 appointments with Mona this month, he'll be done. I'm still looking into options to stay with at least a monthly meeting with Mona or her colleagues, but it might not work with their case loads. We'll see.

Fast forward to today. Ian and I got up early and headed out to meet a dear friend of mine for breakfast. She and I used to have all day "girls days", but those days are long gone. She hasn't seen Ian since his birthday last year. I can't believe it's been almost a year! We met at Panera and had a great time. She brought gifts for Ian, including a whole pack of M&M's. After 2 (his normal potty reward), he looked at me for permission to keep eating. He was thrilled to get a whole package. They lasted over an hour. He savored every one.

We walked over to Target and had almost too much fun trying on sunglasses and loitering on furniture. It wasn't long before Ian was asking for his blanket. He was tired. We headed home, back toward the blizzard awaiting us.

While Ian napped, I went grocery shopping...not the nap I truly wanted and needed. While I was putting away groceries, he woke from his nap, came in the kitchen rubbing his eyes, leaned forward, and threw up. A big projectile event. Three times. He was a little scared and I think it burned his nose, so we had to stop everything and comfort him so he wouldn't think he was in trouble for making a mess. He continued to be extra clingy and groggy for a while, but after a yogurt and two full glasses of juice, he came around and was his usual self, but a little subdued. He bounces back so easily.

If he's feeling up to it tomorrow, we'll play in the snow, otherwise it might be a day in jammies.

Below are a few pictures of his morning with Lu. No pics of Ian at the "big kid school". I wasn't comfortable taking pictures inside an elementary school.

Putting together a puzzle from Lu

Loading his dump truck with Play Doh

Hanging out with Lu at Target

Getting silly from all the M&M's

I told him to stand up for this picture, then promptly told him "thank you Ian, now sit down and never do that again." No mixed messages from this mama!

Trying on sunglasses with Auntie Lu

Hey, it's Elton John!

All the excitement knocked him out. Little did we know his tummy was a churnin.