EB Auction
Through the sneak peeks it looks like they’re going to be auctioning off some great stuff for a great cause! Check it out!
Adrian’s IEP February 2010
I had Adrian’s IEP meeting yesterday morning. They are always hard for me and I try to just walk away from it without crying, I didn’t cry yesterday but it was very close.
Present at the meeting was Adrian’s teacher, speech pathologist, school counselor, a representative from the area education agency, and school principal. First they just went through everything from when he first started receiving services from the AEA until present day. We talked about his progress and whether or not he is still eligible for special education services, summer school, and door to door bus pickup. He’s still eligible for all of those services.
Next the school counselor brought out the Conner scale that myself and his teacher had filled out. He is rated “high” on many areas that would indicate ADHD but the counselor said you can’t be sure whether or not some of those high ratings are from the autism or ADHD. She just said it’s up to me, I can take this to the doctor and have him evaluated, it’s just our choice how to proceed. I will take the charts to his doctor either next time we go or I’ll make an appointment in the next month or so, I haven’t decided yet because I think we’re going to have to get a referral and go out of town to have him evaluated for ADHD.
Next I talked to the speech pathologist. She just gave her report and is really impressed with how well he started to come along because apparently they had a rough start. Then his teacher discussed his goals, I think I’ll write up a separate post about his actual goals because this will get too long.
The only thing I was kind of surprised about was that the AEA rep was talking about how we need to make sure Adrian’s goals will help him function in his life. For example, rather than teaching Adrian his days of the week we should be teaching him things like telling the difference between a men’s restroom and a ladies restroom or that you should stop at a stop sign to be safe. It kind of turned into a thing where we were discussing whether or not he should be taught to read right now or not. I want Adrian to read, I think he’s capable and he loves letters. The question is will he just memorize the words or will he really understand the meaning behind the words? I just didn’t know what to say or think, I guess I wasn’t prepared for that. I just assumed that the next step, since he knows all his letters and the sounds, that he would start to learn to read. Eventually we came to an agreement that the would add an extra goal, one for learning his sight words AND one for learning more functional skills. Basically it boils down to I want him to HAVE IT ALL!
It was also a big joke that Adrian REALLY likes girls. He cuddles up next to girls, he approaches girls in the hallway, he tries to cuddle with all the female teachers. His teacher made the comment that they were having some college girls coming in to help in that classroom and that Adrian “was going to just love that!” They were all talking about how lovable he is and even when he’s having a rough day it makes it so much easier because he’s such a loving and sweet boy. Music to my ears.
When I receive the actual IEP in paper I will post his goals. I wish I would have done more research on what I wanted his goals to be before I went so maybe our goals can help someone in the future. They had to make some changes to the IEP so I didn’t get a copy yet.
I haven’t been keeping up with the blog very well. I’ve been spending much less time on the computer than I used to but thought I could update real quick.
Adrian’s IEP meeting is this coming Friday. I’m always nervous for these and generally have a very “emotional” week during his IEP meeting weeks. We’ll see, last year it went very smoothly. School is going great, his teacher is amazing. I really wasn’t sure at the beginning of the year but he’s made more progress these last few months than he has ever made. He’s chugging right along, he can read some simple sentences, he can say anything that we ask him to say but spontaneous conversation isn’t there yet, he can write his name. His stimming is still wildly out of control and he can’t sit still. His teacher had me fill out a paper for the Conner’s scale to see about possible ADHD. We’ve always thought he may have ADHD as well and we have talked to a developmental pediatrician about that and he had told us they don’t like to diagnose ADHD until at least first grade. It seems like the teacher is really hoping we can talk to his doctor about this possibility and see if there is anything we need to do to help him in this area. We’re going to talk about this more at the IEP and we’ll probably be scheduling a visit to the doctor and possibly the Iowa State University hospital to look into this more if we need to.
The girls are good. I took Nevaeh to the art center the other day and she loved it. Her favorite thing by far was painting. She also made a necklace and played in shaving cream. There was a lady sitting in there playing a keyboard for the kids and she was holding a cute fuzzball of a dog. Nevaeh loved that. Usually Nevaeh is scared of dogs but this one was so tiny and quiet so Nevaeh was actually petting it which surprised me. Sanura got her report card. She’s doing very very well. Her teacher made a note that Sanura was doing better socially but needed to “use her time wisely” Sanura wasn’t sure what she meant by that so we talked it over and hopefully she understands that she needs to be staying on task. The only part I saw that was concerning was Sanura’s subtraction facts…I guess she’s having trouble with that so we’ll be practicing that at home. Sanura always gets very good marks in music. She loves to sing and she’s good at it too. I’m trying to come up with a way to help her expand on that and practice that more since it’s something she seems to enjoy so much and something that she’s good at.
Mister Lincoln got another hair cut today. He was so good, barely moved throughout the whole thing. He’s talking more and more. He’s even saying a few sentences now, the other day he actually told me “Open the door!” I was kind of surprised by that one!
CHRISTmas Fun and a Happy New Year
We had a really good Christmas. We had some nasty weather from about Christmas Eve until the day after Christmas so the driving was a bit nerve wracking to me. Not only did Glen work on Thanksgiving but he also had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas. We were not very happy about it and he’s insisting that this will not happen next year. It was a bummer to everyone but we made the best of it.
Our Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve when our kids woke up we acted as though it were Christmas morning and opened the gifts under our tree. With Glen’s work schedule it just worked out best. We don’t “do” Santa really so it didn’t matter what day it was. The girls tore into the gifts and the boys just kind of sat there. So…Mommy to the rescue. I started helping Adrian open gifts and he was not too interested, and darn I thought I did a good job picking his gifts. Then I helped Mr. Lincoln with his gifts, he was pretty excited about his. Glen said the boys wait for me to help them and since I always do help them they have gotten a little lazy. I think he’s right!
On Christmas day we went to my Aunt’s house, as always. All of my Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Cousin’s Children, nephews, brother, and Mom are all at this celebration so there are a lot of people to catch up with. I had all four kids to keep up with and look after but they were all so well behaved. There were only a couple of times that I had to get on someone’s case and it was really pretty relaxed.
After that we drove over to my brothers house only a couple blocks from my Aunt’s and exchanged gifts. My brother, his wife, and my two nephews just moved and their house is so nice. They have two dogs. Lincoln was thrilled with it, I’ve never seen him so excited as when those dogs were running around him. Nevaeh is scared of dogs though and was refusing to come out of the bedroom so they had to go downstairs but it was so cute to see Lincoln so excited about the dogs.
When I got home from all that stuff I was walking in to my house and fell on the ice. I knew it was slippery and I was being very careful but my shoes had no traction and there was nothing I could do. I just tried to avoid hitting my head and my back. I landed completely on my ankle with all my weight. I just sat there with my leg under me thinking that this was not good. Glen happened to look out the window at that moment and saw me sitting on the ground. He came out and helped me up and brought all of the kids inside. My ankle bruised up pretty much instantly and it hurt but thankfully the next day it was just tender to the touch and I could walk without any pain. Crisis averted! I would not want to run this house with an injury…I have trouble keeping up with things when I’m healthy so I don’t need any injuries.
So that was pretty much our Christmas. I wish Glen could have been around more but we made the best of it. Glen is off work for five days now so I’m jumping up and down happy about that.
We are looking forward to the new year! We have two resolutions:
We, as in Glen and I, are going to be very careful with our finances and get our ducks in a row for buying a house a year from now. I’m excited about it, we grew out of the house we’re currently living in a long time ago. When we moved here we only had Sanura and since then had 3 more babies so a move is definitely in order.
Our other goal for the year is a lot of other people’s goal too….losing weight! ‘Nough said. I’m always trying to lose weight so no new news there.
Happy New Year!
Winter Break
Friday was the last day of school for the kids until “next year”…January 4th I believe. Sanura keeps getting a kick out of saying she won’t see her teacher until “next year” I probably couldn’t count on one hand how many times she’s told me that in the last few days. Each time I laugh and act like that’s so clever of her. I know this sweet innocent stage won’t last for long!
We don’t have a whole lot of big plans for winter break. Probably some sledding and I’m going to take the girls to the Princess and the Frog movie sometime in the next week. I’m going to finish wrapping presents and probably bake some cookies with the kids. Other than that it will be trying to keep them occupied here at home with coloring, play doh, and games.
I swear we need an endless supply of Magna Doodles around here, Adrian pretty much always carries one with him. Sanura likes to occasionally color on them, Nevaeh loves it too, and Lincoln has really started doing it as well. We have 2 of them but it’s still the most coveted toy in the house so I think we’ll end up with one or two more of them to end the sibling Magna Doodle fights.
Their last day before winter break was Friday, the school had all these fun craft activities planned and wouldn’t you know it I overslept that day. The kids go outside at 10 after 8 to wait for the bus, it pulls right up to our house which is very nice. Well I woke up at 8:06, I had about 4 minutes to get 2 kids ready and out the door for the bus. When I raced down stairs I found that Sanura was already up and dressed to my surprise. I told her to start putting her snow gear on, I raced over to Adrian, changed his clothes and put on his snow gear and got them out the door in time with $10 in hand to eat breakfast at school and lunch since I didn’t have time to pack lunch boxes. It was a whirlwind of a morning but they did get on the bus in time!
I was in the bathroom with Sanura last night giving her a little mini makeover. I straightened her hair and put a little eye shadow on her and put some pins in her hair, just for fun. Nevaeh was in there with us waiting her turn for her makeover. I saw her eyeing the hair straightener and I told her that it was hot and not to touch it. I really expected that she would listen and not touch it. I was wrong. She touched it and got quite the burn on her hand. We felt so bad for her. She carried a cup of water with her hand in it all night last night and then when we looked at it this morning it was not looking very good. We put some ointment on it tonight and she was so upset! I think it will heal up fine but we are keeping an eye on it.
Adrian has been going through a phase of not wanting to eat. He’s very picky as it is but he’s really taken it to a whole other level lately. Most meals he’s been refusing, we’re struggling in this area right now and I’m searching for answers. He does have a few specific foods that he always seems to accept at meal time so at least I have a few things to fall back on when he won’t eat about 75% of the meals that I cook. It’s frustrating.
My laptop is still not working and I’m not planning on putting any money into it until well after Christmas so my computer time has been very very slim. It’s just much easier to hop on real quick and read a blog or two or facebook for a bit when you can take your computer with you. Now that I havn’t had that luxury I’ve barely been on the computer. It’s probably a good thing but I think I’m going through withdraws at this point!
Friday’s Meeting at School
We had our meeting at school on Friday to discuss some ideas that I could use at home to encourage communication. I did get some good ideas. One of them is having a picture of each person in the family and showing Adrian the pictures and telling him for example, “Go say ‘Hi’ to Nevaeh” and Adrian is supposed to go over to Nevaeh and say “Hi Nevaeh”….he’s doing this at school. It’s harder to accomplish at home, I think I need to bribe him with Skittles like his teacher does at school! LOL We WILL get the hang of this! He’s doing it great at school so I know he’s capable.
I watched Adrian naming off numbers and counting objects. I watched him say hi to many teachers.
His teacher told me that Adrian was “bright” and “caught on to things really quickly” two things that honestly, I thought I would never hear from a teacher about Adrian. His teacher is fabulous. I really wasn’t sure about her but now we’re so impressed and excited. She truly seems to really like Adrian, he cuddled with her when I was there and she smiled at him. She is very good at sticking with things and finding out exactly what works for Adrian no matter how long it takes. She used the word “excited” several times when describing how she felt about Adrian’s progess. Adrian is moving on to “normal” kindergarten math activities and working on some 1st grade writing stuff.
We just need to make sure that around home we keep our expectations of him high. I think I baby him and don’t push him and that certainly is not doing him any favors. So I’m working on that!
I’m Pleased.
Well I’m having very little computer time because unfortunately my laptop is acting up and my hubby is still trying to diagnose the problem so we can get it fixed. I have to steal moments on his PC when I can so I may be sparse, we’ll see.
Now on to the point, Adrian’s teacher called me today. She wants me to come meet her at the school tomorrow to talk about how we can help Adrian communicate better at home. I’m assuming she’s talking PECS, which we know all about, but I’m hoping and looking forward to any new ideas she has. I NEVER turn down a chance to meet up with the teacher so I wasn’t about to say that I didn’t need advice!
My conversation with Adrian today:
Me: Did you have fun at school today?
Adrian: (silence)
Me: Did you have fun at school today? Did you play outside?
Adrian: Outside!
Me: Did you go down a slide today?
Adrian: Slide! Swings!
Me: Oh you went on the swings today?
Adrian: Slide! Swings! Recess!
Me: Oh you had recess today? Was that fun?
Adrian: (Silence)
Well it was some what of a conversation, I’m pleased!
Nevaeh has taken to a new hobby. I had mentioned on Thanksgiving she hid from me at my Aunt’s house. Well the day after Thanksgiving she hid from me up in bed with her Daddy, I found her pretty quick. Yesterday she hid from me under her bed, she was playing with her Daddy’s phone-that’s a no-no! We had a long talk about no hiding yesterday and today, so far so good!
Adrian hates it when his siblings cry. When there is a one year old and a three year old in the house there are days where there is some crying and whining. The other day Lincoln was carrying on, really about nothing and I was just ignoring him because when I tried to comfort him he slapped me. Adrian did not like me ignoring his brother! He picked Lincoln up himself and put him on my lap! Whenever Nevaeh cries he gives her a hug. There are days where they walk around arm in arm almost the whole day through.
It’s starting to get cold around here. I can’t complain though, it is December in Iowa after all. We haven’t seen any snow yet so I’m happy about that. It’s not so much that I don’t enjoy the snow, it is pretty when it’s falling or when it’s new but I just hate driving in bad weather. Now that I stay home with the kids though I don’t have to go out really, back when I worked outside the home I had no choice. We also have a great back yard for sledding. We pretty much live on a big hill so that’s fun. I found some hats and gloves at Target for $1.00 so I bought a bunch of those. I had an $8 set in the cart and got to thinking they would probably get lost and opted for the cheaper stuff. It works and I could stock up! I should get to crocheting some hats really but I’m just having trouble getting into it, maybe after Christmas.
Today was my weigh in day, after losing 5 pounds last week I wasn’t sure what I could pull off this week but I lost 2.6 pounds so I’m happy with that. My total is 16.6 pounds now. Plenty to go but it’s a new start. My pants are definitely fitting better already though. I bought the Wii Fit Plus with some money I got for my birthday. I really liked the updates, at least when I can’t get to the gym I can do that plus I love the yoga. I have trouble with my shoulders and the yoga really helps loosen things up. I’m contemplating buying the Reebok shoes that are supposed to help tone your legs, they’re a bit pricey but worth it from the reviews I’ve read. We’ll see!
Here is Adrian’s writing that I was writing about the other day:
Family Update
I haven’t been writing much so I figure I’ll just update on everybody. Happy late Thanksgiving blog readers 
Even though I haven’t written, I did update my ” Meet Our Family” page last week with some new pictures. I didn’t get everyone’s updated but I did some of them anyway!
So let’s see here, not a whole ton new with Glen and I. I slacked off on my weight loss. I had lost 27 pounds and then I messed up continually for a while and gained back all but 9 of it. I got my stuff back together last week and lost 5 pounds so I’m back to a total weight loss of 14 pounds. I hope my will power sticks around this time. I’m just glad I didn’t gain it all back! I turned 27 years old yesterday. Glen got me a Bert’s Bees gift set and I love it. It doesn’t take too much to please me. I gave myself a pedicure and played with my new lotions and lip balm and was happy as can be!
As far as Thanksgiving, Sanura was sick so Glen stayed home with her. I took the other three by myself. They were really pretty good. Nevaeh peed her pants and hid from me at my Aunt’s house and I couldn’t find her anywhere. At first I was not worried, when I checked all the rooms I felt that panic feeling creeping up. My mom and Aunts joined the search. When me and my two Aunt’s found her hiding under the desk upstairs I shed a few tears. I felt really silly afterward but I was beginning to freak out.
Adrian was really well behaved. I don’t think he was overstimulated, he did very little stimming the whole time. I just asked him to calm down a couple of times and it went really smoothly. He did however lick the icing off a bunch of cupcakes, whoops, hope nobody else wanted any of those. And it came as no surprise what so every that he wouldn’t eat any turkey or potatoes. I tried to trick him and tell him the turkey was chicken because he likes chicken but he didn’t fall for it.
Adrian has been talking like crazy, new words all the time. He also spontaneously wrote “Marvel” and “Spiderman” on his magna doodle. His handwriting is awesome.
School is going well for both kids. Adrian has had less time outs and most of his time outs are for running away from his teachers. I don’t know if he thinks it’s funny or if he just doesn’t want to do what they say so he runs but I think he’s learning. They usually give him a choice if he isn’t working like “either you do the puzzle or go to time out” and sometimes he chooses time out which I find really funny. I tried it at home and I said ” Adrian, do you want to stop yelling or do you want to go to time out?” and he said “Time out!” and I said “ok go then” and he yelled “time out!”…I think he was trying to send me to time out. That wasn’t what I had in mind.
We’re getting over the flu stuff around here, again. This is our second time our household has been sick in the last month. Hopefully we stay healthy for a while now. I know everyone seems to be dealing with this though so we’ll see!
15 Month Appointment
Lincoln had his 15 month well child check today at the doctor. It went really smoothly. He actually let the doctor pick him up and smiled a little at her.
At Adrian’s 15 month appointment, we mentioned that we thought something was wrong…as far as speech and what not so it feels great to have Lincoln’s 15 month appointment under our belt.
Lincoln has lots of words, mama, dada, Adrian, hi, bye, juice, milk, and the best one? I love you! That melts my heart.
He’s a perfect little boy. His favorite toys are still phones (real ones prefered by him but not by me after he threw my cell phone in the toilet!), toy cars, and he’s recently started to play with Nevaeh a lot more which is nice to see.
All is well around here, nobody is sick and we’re all happy.
I just felt like recording this little 15 month milestone because it makes me so happy!
Here are a couple pictures I wanted to share, this one is a drawing that Adrian did right before bed tonight:
This next one is Lincoln at the doctor, this actually wasn’t today but a couple of weeks ago when he was sick but I didn’t get any photos today so I’ll just share this:
This is Lincoln playing cars with Daddy, it’s dark and was taken with a cell phone but I till think it’s sweet!:
And this is my beautiful Nevaeh:
