Shedding Some Tears

In follow-up to my last post about Zach's school...

There have been 3 days of school so far for this school year. Only three. And I've cried twice.

The First Time - when I dropped Zachary off the first morning of the first day I cried as I drove away. Not the typical first day jitters cry, or my boy's gotten so big cry. I cried out of sheer love and fear for my little man praying that he will fit in and make friends. It's all about making friends and being social for him. He already knows his shapes, colors, numbers, letters, etc. Not that he doesn't have more to learn - but his primary opportunity to benefit from this school year is through socialization. That will bring out his speech too. A win - win. Well, not so much if he doesn't have any friends there. So I cried for fear of rejection. The kids are at an age now where they know he's different, but don't care why. They just move on to someone else who can talk to them. And who doesn't jump up and down in place when excited and/or flap his hands oddly. So my tears hurt. The fear hurt.

The Second Time - today. The note the teacher sent home did it. It reads under the "Social Interaction" section: "Did very well - 'fits in' with friends." I don't need to write more except to say that it was instant happiness and relief all tied into one. And that I am now comfortable saying goodbye to the Special Education class!

I can cry like that all day :-)

First Day of School!!!

Today was Zachary's first day of Pre-K!!! What a big boy! We really talked it up over the last week, making sure that he understood that he'd have different teachers this year than last, that he'd be eating his lunch at school now, and most importantly - that he needs to go to the bathroom in the potty!!! He was really excited yesterday as he knew that Monday = school! And then this morning he woke up saying "we go to school on Monday, right mommy?"! A very excited boy. He got out at carpool with only a slight hesitation, and then didn't look back at the car or anything like in years past.

Monday's and Wednesday's he will go from that "typical" Pre-K classroom to his special ed class for only about an hour. When I picked him up from that class today, the teacher (who he's had for 3 years now) said that he had a great day. She went on and on about how she can see how he's progressed over the summer, etc! And then.... get this.... you ready...... wait until you hear this..... she said "I really don't think I want to see Zachary in my class anymore"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT???? How awesome is that!!! She explained that she feels like he really has nothing to gain socially or academically from her class, and therefore the students in her class. In other words he's advanced beyond the ability of the school system's Special Ed program to help him further. This is fantastic to hear, and truthfully I kinda figured he wouldn't stay in that class also, but I just thought it would come in a few months - not the first day! But she said, and I agree, that there is just no need to keep him coming there when it's not really benefiting him. The "typical" class is where he needs to be to make the social and speech gains from peers. SO... after we work out a few school system kinks, we are going to drop that program all together for now. He may still go once a week just to get his speech therapy from them - but I'm not even as worried about that since we do our own ST from a private therapist and have been for 2 years now. I'm so proud of my boy and his progress!!!!

That being said, there's always a flip side, right? The potential problem here comes into play IF and only IF he isn't able to hold his own in this typical Pre-K class. Then what? The school system's program would really hurt him since he's the star (if you will) of that class. So he'd have nothing to gain there, and therefore we'd not take a step back and put him in that class. And if he's not doing okay on his own in the traditional class... well that leaves no where for him to go. So we are going to cross our fingers, toes, and eyes and hope that he continues to not only thrive personally in that class, but also fit in with the norm in regards to the teachers efforts in watching/teaching him so that he doesn't become a problem to them, or too much for them. And no one foresees that at this point, but you never know...

So it was a great day!! And my little boy who couldn't say a full sentence 6 months or so ago just said to me "Mommy, I all done with the trains. Put the trains away. Let's do cars on the train table now. Okay mommy?" You bet little man.

Neglect, Neglect

So can you tell that we have a new baby in the house by the lack of posts here?!!! HA! Busy, busy. But all is well. Katie is doing just great, and Zachary is still just the right amount interested in her. A good mix.

We just got back from a week at the beach, and it was a great time. Zach is really a good swimmer, and just loves to be in the water. His little butt was worn out by the end of the week though!! He was all about jumping through this waterfall that was in one of the pools where we stayed. They also have a lazy river pool. And he discovered a hot tub as well - so everyday he'd give us the run down of where he wanted to swim - "First we go to the ocean and the beach, and then we go to hot pool, and waterfall and the lazy river." Too funny that he had it all worked out for us! And quite frankly if he vocalizes it - I'm game. The words are just great to hear.

Well, the big day is almost here - Zachary will be going 5 days a week to Pre-K, and even eating lunch there! We are still not where we need to be potty-wise, but it is getting ever so slowly better. He is initiating from time to time which is major progress. Still a long way to go - but at least he's back to holding it until he's told to go. That is much easier to deal with than him wetting his pants every day.

His new teachers came over today to meet him. I feel very confident about this school year! They are both older, and seem to be the nurturing type, but with an edge. They were asking questions about how to best work with Zach, and they were very open to hearing my tips/explanations regarding how he best responds to people both verbally and behaviorally. We talked about ways to make him more social, and more socially accepted. Zach stayed with us for most of the home visit and even gave them both hugs, which is a great thing that he was interested in them. He's been so bored at home that I knew he would be excited to even hear us talking about school. When asked direct questions from them, he actually answered them! Some of it was in a low mumbled voice, but it gave me a good opportunity to demonstrate to them how to get him to speak clearly. It was a great visit, and they seem like a good fit for him! The teacher (on her own account) even offered to send me a daily at first, then weekly report of how he's doing!!!! I feel blessed to have landed a teacher so in-tune to Zachary's needs and so willing to do what she can to make it a successful year for him! And get this - neither teacher flinched at the potty update, and both seem very willing to deal with it! Holy cow! I've been so fearful all summer of that! So good stuff all around!!!