So, the boys finished with pre-school mid May. They really enjoyed being able to go to school and they improved so much with so many things this year.
Alex-- can recognize almost all the letters in the alphabet
- count to 20 with repeating 16, 16, 16, 19, 20...
- knows all his colors
- knows all his shapes
- his vocabulary has expanded so much. You can hold a very intelligent conversation with him now with you understanding almost everything he says.
- he has grown quite a few inches and is now wearing 4t clothing.
- he is 40 inches tall and 34lbs.
- he is potty trained during the awake hours of the day!
- In December he had a couple of seizures and had to go to the emergency room. We followed up with some testing and a neurologist appointment. He has been diagnosed with epilepsy, though we are not certain he actually has it. It would be possible since uncle Tim had it. It is just one of those things that we just have to wait and see if he has more seizures. If he does, then we can say that he has a seizure disorder. If not, we will try and ween him off the meds and we will just watch him for the rest of his life more carefully.
- he qualified for summer pre-school so he is attending school during June and July this summer 3 days a week.
- He can pedal a tricycle by himself.
Grant-- knows and can recognize all the letters in the alphabet
- counts to 20 with a bit of repetition around 16 and 17
- knows all his colors
- knows all his shapes
- can count objects up to 7 (at 8 he starts to get a bit confused)
- his vocab has expanded also immensely! He can hold a good conversation though sometimes he gets to talking too fast and is really hard to understand.
- he is about 30lbs and 38 inches tall
- he is inbetween sizes and is wearing some 3t and some 4t
- he is potty trained during the awake hours of the day!
- He did not qualify for summer school, so he gets to stay home with me in the mornings when A & E go to school.
- At school, his physical therapist said he can pedal a tricycle but he hasn't figured out how to do it at home with the trikes here.
Ethan-
- knows and can recognize all but a few letters in the alphabet.
- counts to 20 with a bit of repetition around 17 and 18.
- knows a few colors
- doesn't know his shapes
- he is 37 inches tall and 28lbs.
- He grew 3 inches in 6 months!! (from November to April) He is gaining inches but not weight, but we are trying multiple things to try and get more lbs on him, like adding extra protein and calories to some of his food. it isn't a whole lot, but sometimes he gets 800 calories for breakfast!
- we are starting to ween him off some of his asthma meds. The doctor thinks he is actually doing pretty well so we are trying to take him off some.
- his vocabulary has improved from about 30 words to maybe 75-100.
- he still does not hold conversations, ask questions, or request most things.
- he calls me and James both "daddy" (I haven't been called mommy by him yet...)
- at the end of the year we had a meeting with quite a few people at the school. He as been diagnosed with autism for educational purposes. It is not a medical diagnoses, but a "label" for school so he can get more services. He does have a lot of the characteristics of autism, and he could possibly be diagnosed medically, though I don't think it would do any good. So, he will be getting more services, mostly more speech therapy during the school year. It also changes how we go about with transitions, discipline, and basic every day things.
- he qualified for summer school, so he is going too. He is in a class with a teacher that specializes in autism, which is nice, because she can start setting some of the new procedures in motion. :)
- he is not potty trained yet. We have tried but he is just not ready yet.
- the screaming has subsided some, but he still does scream quite a bit. especially when he doesn't get his way.
- It is kind of cute, sometimes, when he gets mad at his brothers or James or me, he will start yelling at us incoherently. He jabbers on an on yelling (especially when his brothers are arguing, he tries to join in) and it's like he is chewing us out! It is kind of funny. I haven't been able to get it in video yet, but I want to. :)
- He is trying so hard to pedal the tricycles here at home, but he just can't quite get it yet. He is thisclose though! :)
James is really liking his new job. He has taken on quite a few responsibilities lately and is working a lot, but he is still loving it. He finished his 6th class in his masters degree this spring and will be doing his 7th class this fall. He is only taking 2 classes a year, but that is quite enough since he has so many other things to do!
I am enjoying life. I am staying at home with the boys during the day and then about 3 nights a week I work for one of the grocery stores in town stocking shelves over night. It is usually a really really long night but I usually can make up for the lack of sleep the next day during the boys' nap time. My favorite thing right now to do is tend to my garden!! :) Oh, and I have become quite the runner lately. I even completed 4 miles as part of a relay team in the Colfax Marathon in May! :)I also turned 30 in April and I feel like I am falling apart. I hurt back somehow. I had just basically gotten through that pain and it was healing well, when bam! I hurt my ankle really bad. Currently I am in a boot and on crutches for the next few days. The boot will be on for 6 weeks. I am hoping this is not one of those things that come in 3s (knock on a huge block of wood right now!!!)
Ok, so that's about all I can think of right now!
Grandpa Dickey and the great grandkids in February!
