First Day of School: Zach

the bus the driver and aid seem so sweet and caring

Zach on the bus: his seat is the first seat right behind the bus driver

waiting

I'm ready now

More waiting: my bag is as big as me!

Today is Zach's very first day of school. Many of you who keep up with me know that Zach is starting ESE Pre-K through our public school system. He will be 3 in September but because of his social delays they decided to start him on the first day of school in hopes he will do better this way.

Zach's day started very early --- 6:15am. He asked me to open his blinds so he could see outside and told me "Mommy not morning yet?!?! It dark outdare" I told him he will be able to see the sun rise while he was getting his feed. As the sun was coming out he said to me "dee Mommy dare da dun, it is morning now" He did good waking so early.

We waited and waited for the bus......it was running late, but finally did show up. Zach was such

a brave big boy. I carried him onto the bus (the steps are as tall as his legs) and the aid put him in his seat. What a brave big boy he was - no tears were shed and he didn't seem to be shutting down as I was stepping off the bus.

I can't wait to hear how the rest of his first day at school went - I was so proud of him this morning!!!!!
My baby is growing up!!!!!!!!

Quick Zachary Update

We have some positive news and some very unsure of what is happening news.........

Drum Roll Please...................................................



Zachary has graduated out of PT just in time to start school! When he started his journey with Ms. Patty he was 2 weeks shy of turning 2 years old. His Gross Motor skills were at a one year old level. He graduated at 2 years 11 months old (one month before his 3rd birthday) -- JUST 1 year in PT........................ and his gross motor skills were at a 3 year 5 month level! This is HUGE news!!!!

He still has hypotonia, some issues with walking, and some new regressing issues with catching a ball. I was told to keep an eye on him and if anything becomes more of a concern he needs to come back. His PT also really would like him checked by his orthopedic doc and his neurologist just to be sure there is nothing more going on with him. She thought for now it was okay to discharge him into the care of the schools.

His OT has been working on visual tracking because of his poor eye contact. As she has been doing that we are noticing more visual issues occurring. He becomes very agitated and shuts down, blinks, or rubs his eyes. If he has been doing a lot of work with tracking he will come home and nap ----- LOOOOOOOOOOOONG naps upwards of 5+ hours, with me needing to wake him.

Ms Jerry is unsure if this is happening because of poor eyesight or because of his SPD.
I have set him up with his ophthalmologist for September 25th but I am hoping for a cancellation to get him in sooner..........the longer this is going on the worse he is becoming. Today, for example he seemed like he was on total overload after doing some visual work with a computer, he started shutting down, drooling, licking his hand, not being able to verbalize what was happening, crying to the point of not breathing. It took his SLP to pick him up, remove him from the situation by putting him in a little tent area and turning off the lights in the room. It was awful to see..........not only was I concerned, Ms Kristin was worried, and I could see a frightened look on Zoe's face as she watched what was happening around her.

I have to say it has been a while since I have cried at therapy......today wore me out, I cried I couldn't hold back --- watching Zach struggle is so hard to do at times......no parent should have to watch their child go threw the struggles we have seen. Please don't get me wrong....Zachary has come a very long way and I am so very thankful for the progress he has made but all that progress doesn't stop the worry of regression, the worry of further progress. I think today was worse for me because of getting him ready for school -- so much going on right now, so many emotions and worries.

Zach starts school on Monday --- I'm sure I'll be blogging then with pics too ;-)

Getting Things Together

Today is Thursday which of course you all know means tomorrow is Friday.
Friday for us is Meet The Teacher day for both of the kids.

Zoe is excited she already knows where her classroom is because it is across from where her kindergarten class was. She thinks she knows the teacher and says she knew twins who had her last year. So far we only know of one other child who is in the class with her. She has been separated from all of her friends this year, but is looking forward to meeting new ones. Zoe and I have been checking out her teachers website - it is GREAT, she seems so together and organized. She already has up homework and test dates. Zoe loves it and has been going over everything --- she is already for her first test September 4th.

Zach, well, I'm not 100% he is really grasping what is about to happen. He already knows his teacher, so no worries there. Although he will also have 2 other teachers in the room he will have to get to know. Right now the class has 10 children in it and hopefully 1 more will be coming soon -- I say this because it is my friends daughter and I think it will be good for the kids and us moms. The children will be a large challenge for him. We took his school supplies on Tuesday up to his room so he could see it with just the teacher and no children. We meet the nurses that day too and I got to go over all his medical information with them. I finally got the bus schedule for Zachary.....he will be on the bus for 35 minutes each way. Monday we are jumping into everything........bus, school..........it will be a huge transition day for Zach.

Fingers crossed all goes as planned. I think things are coming together okay right now.

In One Week......

In one week my baby girl will be in first grade.
In one week my little boy will be starting school and in the ESE Pre-K.
In one week I will be putting both my kids onto the bus with a kiss and a hug.
In one week the buses will leave and I will have tears.
In one week they will be away from me for a full day.
In one week they will be away from each other in different schools.
In one week my hope is they will be having fun.
In one week my house will be quiet.
In one week I may just need to sit by the pool and relax, take a deep breath and breathe knowing...................
In one week I will be kid free during the day time.
What will I do with all this time that is fast approaching me in one week?!?!?

17 Days Until ESE Pre-K Starts

This week was spent going to some doctors appointments (allergist, pediatrician) to get paperwork ready for school and of course therapy -- as usual.

When Zach turns 3 his EI services are over and we will officially have to figure out how to keep him in therapy. Not only will we have to figure out payment - what insurance doesn't cover, but also time and keeping him with the same wonderful therapists. Their afternoons are already pretty much full - so I'm praying this works out for him. I'm pretty sure I have it all figured out....but as life has proven before you just never know.

Zachary starts school in only 17 more days.

I have been busy getting his school supplies ready, and some new clothes. I've also been very busy trying to explain to him what is going to happen - from being in the classroom to attempting to ride the bus, to the fact he MUST wear shoes, and meet new friends, to the fact Mommy won't be there.

Transitions are very hard for Zach and I'm not sure what he is really comprehending out of this. I'm scared at how the first week or two is going to play out for him. I'm excited at the same time to have him hopefully surprise me and do better then I think he will with the transition.

This is all new to him and new to me sending my "almost" 3 year old to school. Having to explain has not been very easy, partly because I'm not sure what to say and partly because I'm not sure what he is getting out of what I am saying.

I guess in 17 more days we will see if I did a good job explaining this all to him.

AND He IS Going to Pre-K

I didn't get on yesterday with an update...it was such a mentally draining day! Six hours spent with the board figuring out Zachary's future wiped all of us out! The day started nice and early at 8am for the meeting and did not end until 2pm.

We were told because of all of Zach's resent evaluations from his therapists they would not have to run their own tests but when we got there that had decided best to do their own.

First step in the room and Zach was glued to us until he saw we were talking with these people and it was OK to go to the other side of the room - we weren't leaving BUT he needed to be reminded all was okay.

He went with Miss Tori (school psychologist) to start her testing. To our (and their surprise) Zach worked for over 2 hours taking tests. He stayed as focused as he could.

When all was said and done Zach tested for them at the same levels he's tested at therapy for fine motor, and gross motor......on target. For speech and language he tested also the same as his SLP has gotten. Above age range receptively and low average for expressive with a large gap in between the two. His articulation was well below where it should be.

What was the biggest surprise of every one's day was the test for his cognitive ability ------ he finished the whole book which at the end had him asking questions an 7 year old should be able to answer! Yep I said 7 year old WOW and YIKES!!!

Where he really lacked was with his adaptive or self-help development he had a 24% delay, and his self care age equivalent was 1 yr 6 mts old. He had a 26% delay with his social or emotional development.

After the testing was done we broke for an hour so the team could write their report and decide what services Zachary would receive. We got back about 5 minutes before we were to come back thinking they'd be done --- NOPE it took another 45 minutes and a couple different people talking to different people on the phone to make the final decision as to what services Zachary would receive.

When we got there the talk was leaning towards no school and continuing with speech a couple days a week in the school setting. BUT it was obvious 2 of the 3 ladies were pulling for school - it was just that his deficits weren't that bad. When all was said and done we walked out of there with Zach in ESE Pre-K 5 days a week from 8am-3pm and his first IEP in our hands.

One worry Doug and I had was the school he would attend....as I've said before the one we are zoned for only has one nurse. BUT as it turns out the team had the same worry and because of Zach's medical needs they have to place him in the safest environment.....which was the school we wanted AND because they 'had' to place him there they also HAVE to provide transportation (which was another worry because Zoe and Zach will be at different schools at the same time -- I had no clue how I was to be at the school to pick up Zach and at home waiting for Zoe to get off the bus)

My only complaint of the day was the SLP and the psychologist both saying to me my son is not dyspraxic and does not suffer from SPD - that he just refuses to do things or talk because he is 2 almost 3 years old ----- these women had known my son for all of an hour when this was said and it really rubbed me the wrong way!!!! My son DOES have dyspraxia and DOES have SPD, you can ask his doctors, you can ask his therapists, you can ask his grandparents OR you could simply ask me about my son and I do know him best. I plan on spending time with his teacher and letting her get to know him and his struggles with dyspraxia and SPD. When we got home I was talking to my FIL and telling him what they said - I had never seen him so irked about a comment made by a professional --- he simply said "you can tell the difference between a 2 year old who refuses and Zach who struggles!! -- Zach does have these things and now it is up to you and Doug to bring it to the teacher and staff's attention at his school -- BUT they will see it in a day of having him in the class"

Everything really came together yesterday and worked to Zach's advantage! Now the stress of preparing him for school and the bus begins..............BUT all will be fine in the end!!!!!

Tomorrow is "The" Day

I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by....that old adage of if you are looking at a clock time goes slower was not happening for us.....I'd say time went at just the right speed.

Today our family is a wreck - it has been the worst morning we have had in a long time.

Zach in complete overload and not talking only crying.
Zoe is over excited because she gets to spend the night at her grandparents home.
Doug and I just don't know what to expect tomorrow - we are worried about not getting Zach into the pre-k program but also scared about him getting into it. I'm having a really rough time explaining how this all feels. It is another step, another step we have to come to terms with Zach and his issues.

So right now we have Zach who is out of sorts, Zoe who is a spaz, and a mommy and daddy who just want to relax and not think about anything.....Yeah that sums up our morning pretty well.
Hopefully the rest of the day will go smoothly.