The end of preschool

Today was bittersweet. Elijah officially finished preschool! Holy cr** (oops, I said that word we are not supposed to say)! I think back to the time when he turned three and we were putting him on a bus for the first time. I was so close to pulling him out because I thought he was just too young and too small and too much my baby who I wanted to protect forever. But we let him go, and he got onto that "big yellow bus" and he loved it! 

And now, over two years later, I can tell you that preschool has been a HUGE part of why Elijah is the awesome little person that he is. He has been blessed with the absolute best teachers and friends and therapists and I am extremely thankful for his preschool experience. Thank God I put him on that bus!

We were able to attend both end-of-the-year park parties since Elijah was in both "classes." Here are Elijah and Sammy yesterday, enjoying a cookie together..

Sammy was pretty shy, not surprisingly, and Elijah went about his business, socializing with his friends.

And in standard form, Elijah was drawn to the girls. :)

It was so cute how they sang their "good-bye" song at the end. 

I can't look at this photo without getting teary. This has been Elijah's wonderful teacher for the past two years. She has had such a genuine concern and love for our boy. She will always have a special place in my heart (and Elijah's, too, of course). Dan and I are so incredibly thankful for her! 

Here is the "good-bye" song on day #2.

I was able to capture a quick picture of Elijah and Laura "Woe-ya," the special friend he has talked about so much this year. Although, they didn't interact once during our park visits and I failed to see any connection! They acted like they didn't even know each other!

Toward the end of our park visit today, Sammy got accidentally knocked over by a teacher who was playing with the kids and trying to pop a bubble. I heard the crack of his head hitting the pavement, and it has been haunting me all day. :( I turned around to find my sweet little Sammy lying on the pavement not crying, not making a single sound. It was terrible.

I picked him up and held him close to me. Elijah's teachers were on their toes and I quickly had a cold pack pressed against the back of his head. After about 10 minutes, he started talking and finding his spunk again. He has a nice bump on the back of his head, but he seemed to be acting normally for the rest of the day. I kept an eye on his eyes and behavior and things seemed fine. I checked him a thousand times during his nap today.

I was a little bit extra thankful for my boys today. I found out that a little girl whose blog I have been following for over a year has cancer back in her body. She won't be around for much longer. I cannot imagine.

The pants-pooping? Not such a big deal. I am THANKFUL. I love my life and my boys more than I can explain.

Elijah?? I am SO PROUD of you and how far you have come in sooooo many ways during your preschool career! Daddy, Sammy and I love you to pieces!

Onto Kindergarten!

More sickness and a great kindergarten meeting

I mentioned that E had a slight fever last night, right? Well this morning he had another, but it was super low-grade, and technically not even considered to be a fever. I should have known, though, since his "normal" is well below 98.6. He went to school and all seemed to be fine. I brought him and Sammy to their old daycare for a few hours this afternoon so I could get a few things accomplished. When I picked them up Elijah felt fine and was acting fine. He was his usual chatty self on the car ride home. We walked in the door and I turned around to find Elijah lying on the couch. I asked him if he was ok and he said, "No, Mama. My tummy hurts." I took his temp and it was 101.5. Then he started pointing to his chest and saying that hurt, too. Of course my mind went straight to his heart, and panic was starting to set it. I called the doctor and they wanted us to come in right away.

He has a double ear infection and strep! What the heck?! He has never in his life had strep, and only once before had an ear infection. So we are on antibiotics for 10 days, and contagious for 24 hours. Sammy got tested, too, and so far so good.

We had a ton of fun weekend plans! :( If everyone is feeling ok tomorrow evening (post-contagion), we will resume said plans.

Elijah's kindergarten prep meeting this morning went great. His current teacher provided the new staff information about Elijah, every little piece of information she could think of. And based on what she had to say today, she knows that boy pretty darn well. He has been sooo blessed with amazing care! After she was finished talking, I had the thought that nobody (besides Dan and I) could have explained him any better.

His current teacher explained his "quirks" (tendency to talk gibberish when anxious, arm flapping and tendency to get obsessive about things) his deficiencies (gross motor and anxiety surrounding that and also his need for assistance with potty still) and his strengths (social skills and his brains). The new staff seemed very receptive to everything and by the end of the meeting they were super excited to meet him.

His current teacher and Dan and I all requested that he receive the most nurturing kindergarten teacher possible. He really does need a good balance of nurturing with a sprinkling of firmness. Without the firmness, his smart manipulative side tries to get people to do everything for him. Those who know better know that he is a very capable little lad!

Back when we went to kindergarten round-up last month, the three Jackson kindergarten teachers were lined up and immediately upon seeing them I pointed to one and said, "That's her. That's the one." I knew immediately which one would be best for Elijah. Later, when we were checking out the classrooms, I approached her (fighting back tears) and introduced ourselves. She was very kind and warm. I loved her immediately. I have had it in my mind since then that she would be "the one" that I have been praying for since he was born.

Well, guess what?! She just happened to be in the meeting today! She said she remembered us and was again very kind. I told Dan when we left, "That's her!" :) I hope so! We will find out in July for sure.

I can't say enough how blessed we feel, and have always felt, about the care Elijah has received. Thank you, God!

Thanks for checking in! Please pray with us for NO CROUP tonight.

Preschool Year 3 has begun!

Our biggest boy started his third year of preschool this week! I cannot even begin to explain how much Elijah loves school. AND how good school is for him! There are definitely exceptions to the statement I'm about to make, but overall, his behavior was much-improved this week. There were a handful of times when no whining occurred when he was asked to use the potty. There wasn't as much angry yelling at Sam. And he even did strange things like throw away his garbage without being asked.



Like I said, the week wasn't ALL good. He hit his good friend Paige at daycare yesterday, so we made a very big deal about that. Last night he got no privileges and lots of talks about how hitting is never ok.



I have compiled a few more Elijah funnies to share. He got a toy from the prize drawer at PT this week, as he does every week, that is a monster figure (Mikey) from the movie Monsters, Inc. When Elijah got home from PT that night, he insisted on watching Monsters, Inc. We turned it on and Elijah got situated in "his spot" on the couch and set Mikey on his lap. When the movie started, he said, SUPER excitedly, "WOOK, MIKEY! IT'S YOU!" That made Dan and I giggle.



Then later, he was wearing his Big Brother hat from Grandma (Sammy has a Little Brother hat), and he asked me very seriously, "Mom! Where is Mikey's 'Big Monster' hat?"

And I haven't forgotten about Sammy! He has been into EVERYTHING. I call him my little tornado. I will be getting all of the books put back onto the bookshelf that he has pulled off with his chubby little hands, and I will turn around to find that all of the toys have been removed from the toy box. Elijah has never been like this, so it is a different experience for us!

Sam is officially finished with his bottle and morning naps. I was a bit sad to put the bottle away. My baby is growing up! He is starting to look more like a toddler and less like a baby. This is a very fun age. I love his warm, chubby sweetness. And all of the words he tries to say. And the way he says BRRRM BRRRM and signs airplane every time he hears anything that sounds like an airplane. And the way he rolls around with his blankie like it's the best thing on earth...while sucking his thumb, of course. And the cute way he walks. And they way he tackles Elijah because he loves him so much (despite the fact that the feelings aren't always mutual). And the softness of his skin. And the fact that he runs to his chair in the kitchen after he hears me say, "Let's have some lunch, boys." And the way he attempts to say Yo Gabba Gabba every time the tv is turned on. And even the way he squirms and screams when his diaper is being changed.

I am planning to bring the boys out to the dropzone for the night on Saturday. We haven't been out there much this last part of summer. I'm looking forward to getting out of the city. Other than that, we just plan on staying low-key and enjoying each other! Thanks for checking in. I'm off to do that thing that I love so much called RELAXING!

Yet a few more reasons why preschool is great for him

"Elijah, how do you spell your name?"

"E-eww-i-day-a-h!"

"What is your full name?"

"E-ijah Dan-o Po-uh!"

"What is Mommy's name?"

"Meng-uhn."

"What is Daddy's name?"

"Dan."

Foot in mouth disease

I discovered today that people from Elijah's school have been reading our blog this week, which bums me out a little bit. I never intended for certain people to see what I wrote here, although I do realize that this blog is fair game to anyone who has access to a computer. I truly do adore Elijah's teachers and therapists and think they do an amazing job with him. And I actually take most of the responsibility for the drama that occurred this week. Dan and I should have provided everyone with Elijah's detailed medical history BEFORE school started. Anyway, I certainly hope no harm was done. I am just a mama who has poured my entire SOUL into loving and protecting my awesome little boy(s) and I only want the very best for him.

Enough about that!

Our Dan-less weekend has begun! Having him home next weekend is going to seem surreal. We won't know what to do with ourselves! I cannot fathom it after such a long spring/summer/fall of hardly getting to see him at all on the weekends.

Sammy has a tiny bit of a cold, which I am praying stays TINY. One of the things that makes me a tad nervous about having the boys alone overnight is Elijah's croup. The thought of dealing with that by myself makes me a little crazy. So that's something else I have been saying prayers for. NO CROUP!

That's about all for now. I'm trying to decide between a glass of wine and a bath or a movie. Hmmmm, decisions.

Will she ever be done talking about IEPs?

Based on some of the comments I received on my last post, I have to say a few tiny things. First of all, I got the vibe during the IEP meeting that a handful of people in the room thought Dan and I were slacker parents. Dan got the same feeling, so I wasn't alone. And now that I have had a conversation with Elijah's teacher, I know that our instincts were likely fairly accurate.

Also, I understand that it is required for teachers to compare each child to "typical children of the same age" in IEPs. What I did not understand was why it had to be stated quite so harshly, especially for a child with such a mottled medical past.

With that off my chest..

I both emailed and spoke with Elijah's teacher since my meltdown. I shared with her how extensive Elijah's medical history was and also that I thought some of the statements in his IEP were unnecessary due to his history. She had NO IDEA the extent of his history and thanked me more than once for providing the insight. She admitted that they got caught up in all of his many delays, compiled with lack of self-help, and didn't see the full picture.

She completely rewrote his IEP, which was extremely nice of her to do. And this really isn't what matters to me. It matters that the adults who care for him at school understand his history and the reason for his many delays. And now that they do, I feel much better. She told me that she has never had a student who has had so many surgeries and hospitalizations. I told her that we assumed there were a lot of children in the special education program with similar histories. So, it was good to clear that up!

I feel heard and I no longer feel judged or like people are believing me to be an inadequate parent. And I now know that Elijah is in very good hands. His teacher showed me that she genuinely cares about him and that brings me immense comfort.

IEP aftermath: tears

Last night, as I waited for my popcorn to finish popping in the microwave, I started thoroughly reading through Elijah's IEP report which I apparently should have done 48 hours previous to that. Within seconds I was crying.

Let me first say that we truly believe Elijah's teachers and therapists have his best interest in mind. I just don't think they understand the extent of what he has been through, and maybe that is something we should be making more clear to them.

I bolded the parts of the IEP report that caused my eyelids to suffer from major puffiness today..

"Elijah readily enters his classroom and greets teachers. This skill is not observed with peers at this time, even with prompts or assistance. Elijah does not appear bothered by peers but does not readily seek them out or attempt to converse with them. At the time, full support is needed to engage with peers and to sustain any back and forth play, as well as, to share materials with peers. Elijah is able to parallel play next to peers, and at times, will watch his peers play. Not a lot of imitation play has been observed to date. Children Elijah's age should be able to initiate, respond to, and maintain interactions with adults and peers without support for at least short periods of time. Elijah will engage in back and forth play with an adult and has been able to maintain a very short conversation with adults in the room. Conversations with peers has not been observed while at school, even with assistance. This is a skill children his age should be able to do."

"Elijah is showing enjoyment when he enters the classroom. He often needs adult assistance to find an activity to do once he arrives in the classroom. Elijah appears to need time to look at everything in the classroom, but often needs an adult prompt to really do something other than watching his peers. Given his age, one would expect that he should be able to complete this task independently. In addition, classroom staff are not currently observing a lot of functional use of play with common object/toys for a child his age without adult support. Elijah is often observed to play with doors on toys and roll objects in front of his eyes unless assisted by an adult. He is able to transition from activity to activity given extra time. It is not clear whether Elijah truly needs extra processing time with directions or is distracted by the movement of his peers, but it consistently takes him extra time to transition that is not related to his physical abilities. This is also observed with small group activities. Elijah often needs extra time or or prompts from an adult to complete table top activities, especially when there is more than one step involved. Elijah also needs frequent cues to use a louder voice volume during classroom activities, so that he can be heard. Elijah is beginning to show some independence with self care skills. He often needs prompting to try as he tends to wait for an adult to just help him with dressing/undressing. Physically he is able to take off and put on his own coat, and is beginning to take care of his pants (pulling up/down) when toiletting, but he consistently needs extra time to complete the tasks. Elijah is not yet fully toilet trained, however, he is in the process and is having some success at school with this task. Most children who are Elijah's age are independent with the self care tasks expected for school (toilet trained, put on/take off coat..)."

After reading through this, I have to think that whoever wrote this up just does not truly understand what our little boy has endured. If they did understand, they would not be expecting Elijah to be able to be on the same level as his peers.

As I wrote in an email to Elijah's teacher, Elijah is absolutely not going to be on the same level as his peers at this point. He didn't move for the first fourteen months of his life due to lack of energy. He didn't walk until he was three. He didn't talk until he was two-and-a-half. Because of his weak immune system and constant sickness, he spent the first 2+ years of his life around very few children. And because of all of the people who have hurt him (doctors and nurses), it takes him a very long time to form trusting relationships.

If I had read through this IEP report not ever having met Elijah or Dan or myself, I would not draw up a very positive picture in my head of who we are. This report draws a skewed picture of Elijah and I think it makes Dan and me seem like pretty slackerish parents.

Which brings me to the potty training issue. If Elijah is in kindergarten and he is still wearing diapers and has no medical reason to be wearing them, feel free to judge me then. But at the age of three and with his extensive medical history? Do not imply that we should have him potty trained. Thank you.

One comforting thing is that I received two separated emails from fellow heart moms following my original IEP post. They both shared that they have endured similar reports and emotions surrounding recent IEP meetings. We are not alone!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a school for only CHD survivors?

Field trip

Elijah got to go on his first ever field trip today! And I got to tag along. We went to a beautiful nature center, where we explored the woods and did some fun activities. Well, kind of. Elijah wasn't in a super adventurous mood, and I think the unpredictable terrain in the woods freaked him out a little bit. He mostly just wanted to be in my arms (hence, no photos). During the times we walked on smooth terrain, I set him down to walk by himself and he would fall way way way behind the group. Even with me tugging on his arm.

It made me a little sad. Part of his not being able to keep up is due to his gross motor delays. But some of it is because his little heart and lungs do not have half the stamina that other kids' hearts and lungs have. And it will always be that way. I kept thinking about a book I read recently, My Heart vs. the Real World by Max S. Gerber, and some of the things the heart kids in it said. (I actually wrote a review of this book on my other blog, if you are interested.) Things relating to not being able to keep up with healthy kids and how hard it is to emotionally deal with that as a child.

Anyway, it was just one of those little reminders that pop up on occasion that make me feel sad for my little boy. And just so you I'm not wallowing in pity, I also saw good differences today between Elijah and the other kids. He is definitely on the kinder end of the spectrum and he is especially careful about treating others nicely. He is also just the happiest and friendliest little guy. In many ways, his medical issues have turned into such a major blessing for all of us.

Elijah immediately fell asleep when we got on the bus to go back home. I guess it's a good thing I went! It was fun quality time spent with my biggest munchkin.

And get this! He willingly, with not an ounce of fear or hesitation, touched: a snake, a salamander and a HISSING COCKROACH. I turned myself completely around when he touched the cockroach. I couldn't even look at it! Icky! He was by far the bravest one in his class when it came to being comfortable with those critters. I guess if you can endure all that my little man has, you can do anything! Cockroaches? Piece of cake!

Status quo

I wanted to get some new photos up of this sweet boy's face. Everything is going fine for us. It doesn't seem like much changes for us these days. Dan works a lot of the time, I am either at work or at home and don't get out into the world much and the boys are doing well. Elijah is thriving at preschool, like we knew he would be. Samson is doing well, although we still haven't nailed down a napping schedule for him and that makes some days a little bit hectic. Nothing terrible. Nothing like those first seven weeks.



Tonight when Elijah was eating dinner and I was feeding Sam, I realized that two minutes had passed where Elijah hadn't talked. This is highly unusual, so I said, "Elijah, are you eating your food over there or playing with it?" He said, "Uhhhh, pwaying! Wook, Mom! I make Happy Man!" I went over to find this..



I have to say I was a little astonished! I have never seen him create anything like this before. It must be something they have done at preschool. Impressive!

That's all I know right now. Thanks for checking in!

Pee-gool Part II

Here is Elijah on his first day of preschool for the 2010-2011 school year!



m d89fr97eufrjtei (that was a message from Elijah!)



The shirt he wore was an old shirt of Dan's! Isn't that fun? I think he looks so stinkin' cute in this shirt.



Riding the bus went well on Friday. Elijah is just one of those kids who thrives in social settings, and he adapts so quickly. He's not like his mama when she was his age!



I'm not sure where the funny poses came from. :)



Elijah, Samson and I are having a nice weekend. We miss Daddy, of course, but we always make the most of our weekends no matter what.

More later! Thanks for checking in!

Pee-gool!

I love this photo of Dan and Sammy chillin' on the couch.



Yesterday was Elijah's first day of preschool for the year! My tummy was all in knots for a few days leading up to it, but his day went really well. I decided that I wanted to drop him off and pick him up myself on the first day, and I'm glad I did that. He seemed surprisingly comfortable in his new class, with his new teachers and new friends buzzing all around him. I hung out for a little bit in the beginning and after about five minutes he looked over at me and said, "Bye, Mom!"

There are a lot more kids in his class this year than there were last year. It was a little bit overwhelming for ME. It is also an integrated classroom, which means half are special ed and half are not. I think this will be great for him!

His teachers said he had a great day, but that he seemed really super stimulated the entire time. When I picked him up he was acting like his happy, normal self. Thirty seconds after getting in the car, he started sobbing uncontrollably. He was one tired little guy! :(

Tomorrow is his first day taking the bus from (and back to) daycare, so my tummy is a little bit in knots again. Please pray for peace for me and protection for Elijah!

In other news, I'm exhausted. I am working on a really exciting (personal) project with a friend, so that is taking up all of my non-working, non-sleeping, non-caring-for-children time. It is worth it, though! I am extremely excited about it!!

One last quick thing. Today Samson is the EXACT AGE Elijah was when he had his first open heart surgery!

Not much else has been going on this week. That's about all we have for now!

Elijah ride yellow bus?

This is the question Elijah has been asking us for weeks. So today it finally happened. He is now officially a big boy bus rider!





He was so cute getting on the bus. The bus driver helped buckle him into his seat and then he pointed out the window to our house and said, "Home! Bye home!" He looked a little bit scared for a moment and then they were off! I'm sure he did great.



As the bus pulled away, I cried my eyes out. My baby is riding the bus!

Our munk-is man

Elijah has been LOVING his little computer that Dan's mom gave him for his birthday. He can sit with this thing and go through each letter and each day of the week and each little game. He has such a great attention span and I love that he is learning while playing.



I had the chance to go with Dan to pick Elijah up from preschool this week. There is not anything cuter than seeing my little boy walk around the corner with a giant smile on his face and as the leader of the line. As soon as he saw us he yelled, "MOMMY-DAD! MOMMY-DAD! MOMMY-DAD!" We had a chance to talk with his teacher briefly and she said that he is doing wonderfully in class. He already knows the routine to a T, so after each activity he will exclaim what's coming next: "Circle time!" "Play time!" "Snack time!" She also said that during gym time he has a favorite little car that he likes to drive around the gym. If someone else is using it, Elijah will follow the car around until the other child gets out. :)

Dan and I just played a little bit of Wii (archery is fun from the couch!) and while we were doing that, Elijah took the nunchuck controller and draped it around his neck and said, "DR. GREMMELS!" He is right! Dr. G does always have a stethoscope around his neck. :) I just can't believe that he remembers things like that.

I'll end with some funny new Elijah translations:
backpack = "bock-bock"
tummy ache = "tummy-cake"
picnic = "pick-pick"
knife = "wife"
munchkin = "munk-is"

26 weeks, 6 days

Our little sticker face got some good news yesterday: He has tested out of speech therapy! This is wonderful news!! A year ago he was not talking even a little bit and I never imagined we would be at this point today. I'm so proud of our amazing little boy.

My contractions in the past week have been super unpredictable. One day (like yesterday) I will have only four contractions all day and another day I will have 12+. The doctor told me yesterday to just keep doing what I'm doing. Everything checked out great at the appointment, minus the fact that I have already gained almost all of the weight I gained in my entire pregnancy with Elijah. Ugh. Oh well.

Elijah is loving preschool! He usually comes home utterly exhausted, but he has not cried once about going there. It is so cute to listen to him sing the songs he learns during circle time. Again, so so proud of my little preschooler.

That's all for now!

25 weeks today!

Not much to report today besides that Elijah had a great second day at preschool yesterday. He also got a good report from the dentist! It was his first time there and she just did an exam (no cleaning) because of his anxiety when it comes to anyone dressed in medical-type attire. He had no cavities and his teeth looked great! We will bring him back in six months for a cleaning.



We have some cleaning/organizing to do here at home this weekend and that is the extent of our plans. Well, I will be "helping" from the couch/bed while Dan does all the work. :)

Another funny Elijah translation:
chiropractor = "pie-tractor"

First day of preschool

Elijah had a great first day of preschool! His teacher said he did great, with the exception of a few seconds between each transition time. Any time they switched activities, Elijah would start crying for "Dad." (Yes, it breaks my heart a little bit that he wasn't calling for me.)



I cried for the first 30 minutes he was at school, but eventually found peace about it. I'm glad to have Day 1 behind us and I'm sooo very glad that he enjoyed the majority of his day.



The cute Elmo backpack we got for him is too small to fit his folder in, so we will have to find another one. And, can you see his medical ID bracelet? Having this on while he was away comforted me somehow.



Our little boy came home exhausted. We are hoping for a good, restorative night of sleep for him tonight. He needs it!



Can you hear my big sigh of relief about having this day behind us? I've literally been dreading it for months. It's good to have lived through it and to know that Elijah is going to be just fine. No, more than just fine. School is going to be great for him!

Some new favorite Elijah pronunciations:
ask = "axe"
cactus = "tackus"

Tomorrow morning is my big doctor's visit! I have absolutely zero idea what she is going to tell me. My contractions have been extremely unpredictable (really good days and some bad days, too) for the past couple of weeks, and I don't know if that is good or bad. We will see!

Preschool visit

My contractions cooperated yesterday morning, so I was able to make it to Elijah's preschool visit. We went into the visit already exhausted (more on that below), so I had a feeling there would be a few tears and I was right.

Elijah did fine with the non-structured activities. Play time and snack time went great! :) Any time the teachers asked him to become part of a structured activity, he just cried and cried. I'm thinking this is probably pretty normal for a three-year-old just entering preschool. All of the other kids in the class have been there for at least six months, so they have had plenty of time to adjust to the routine.



Elijah is BY FAR the farthest behind in gross motor development out of all the kids in the class. He is also BY FAR the smallest. I couldn't believe how huge some of those kids look compared to our peanut! I also feel like he was one of the farthest ahead as far as cognitive ability goes. I felt I got a good sense for which areas of development will be exercised the most while he is there.

It was fun to observe play time because that is when Elijah was the most comfortable. He is such a gentle kid and he does not initiate any sort of behavior that will cause conflict. He loves to play on his own, but if someone approaches him he happily interacts with them. He is a really good-natured kid and people seem to be naturally drawn to him.



It was difficult to hear my little boy yell "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" through his tears when he got uncomfortable, but I think that us being there probably didn't help with that. It is going to take him a while to get used to that setting, but I really feel preschool is going to be sooo good for him. I am very glad I was able to sit in the classroom yesterday (there would have been little that would have kept me from going). I feel much more at-ease about his start date on February 23rd.



I don't know what in the world is going on, but Elijah has been waking up sooooooo early in the mornings. You would think that I would be all rested up, being on bed rest and all, but I am exhausted! We are all exhausted. We all get out of bed looking like it is 10:00 at night because that is how we all feel. This morning I almost freaked out when Elijah's wake-up time was 3:00!!!! When he gets up early like this we turn the monitor way down (can't turn it completely off thanks to croup) and we do our best to sleep through his talking and singing. We never get him out of bed before 6:00, but it is hard to get quality sleep when he is wide awake in the next room.

We don't know what to do. We feel like we have tried everything, but he just wants to keep getting up earlier and earlier. We never give him any sort of stimulation before 6:00, and we have even experimented with different bed times. And we are so so tired. Even if I catch a nap in the afternoon, I am still constantly exhausted. Poor Dan is walking around like a zombie most days.

We hope you all have a great Valentine's weekend! Thanks for checking in on us, as always.

22 weeks, 3 days

Just doing my bed rest routine on this snowy Monday. Dan is doing some work for a friend today and Elijah is at daycare. My contractions have increased a tiny bit over the past couple days, so I'm keeping a close eye on them.

Two of the big things we had planned in February were/are supposed to happen this week. Dan and I were going to take an Elijah-less trip up north to spend this coming weekend together in a cozy log cabin. We had to cancel those plans which is kind of a bummer, but obviously taking care of the baby is priority.

The other big plan for the week is still going to happen as planned, I think. We are set to take Elijah to his preschool classroom on Thursday morning for a visit before his official start date on February 23rd. I really really really want to go along for the visit, so if my contractions are under control that morning, I will go. I want to see first-hand what his classroom is like and I want to see Elijah's reaction to it. I have a lot of emotion wrapped up in this whole preschool ordeal, and I think being able to be there on Thursday will help me with some struggles I am having. We are praying for my contractions to behave that morning!

That's all for now! Thank you for checking in!

Happy tears are flowing

Recently at the place where Elijah receives outside speech and physical therapy, his therapists tested some of his adaptive skills to see how well he knows how to do things like get dressed and wash his hands. And, well, he just didn't know how to do any of these things. At first I felt like a pretty terrible mother for not having taught him these skills. I carried this weight around with me for a couple of weeks before I talked to Elijah's wonderful ECSE teacher about it.

She reminded me that we have not had the opportunity to teach Elijah a lot of adaptive skills because of his delayed gross motor development. Think about how difficult it would be to pull up your pants or go to the sink and wash your hands without being able to walk or stand independently. He isn't able to do lot of the tasks that fall into the "adaptive" category because not being able to walk greatly hinders him.

In order for Elijah to have qualified for the ECSE preschool that he will be going to in February (yay!), it was required that he need assistance in two main areas. A few months ago, those two areas were clearly gross motor and speech. Now that he's talking like a superstar, his two new areas are gross motor and adaptive skills.

We sat down and chatted with a team of amazing ladies yesterday regarding Elijah's IEP (Individual Education Plan) for special education. I choked back tears throughout the entire meeting because I just could not believe the amazing things that were being said about him and the positive things that were written on the report lying on the table in front of me.

The speech pathologist spoke first and she said that Elijah falls well within the normal range for speech (minus articulation), so her services are no longer needed. WOW! The occupational therapist said that, again, Elijah falls well within the normal range and that HER services are no longer needed, either. WOW again! The one therapist he does still need is his physical therapist (she will help him with both his gross motor and adaptive skills delays), so his PT wrote out some great objectives for him to accomplish while he is at school.

Elijah will start preschool on February 23rd! He will go for 2.5 hours, two mornings a week. His teacher and PT set some challenging yet attainable goals for him, so they will be working with him on his specific needs each time he is in the classroom. A lot of his goals have to do with him using his walker and this makes me smile. I love the thought of my little Elijah cruising down the school hallways in his walker! I asked him yesterday if he was excited about going to school and he giggled like he was the happiest kid on the planet. I don't know if he truly knows what "school" means, but he will get to find out soon enough!

I am so happy that he qualifies for this preschool program. I believe it will be extremely beneficial for his development in all areas. I think he is a kid who will really thrive in school. We met his teacher yesterday, and we already know the speech therapist who will also be in the classroom, and we love both of them. I am also happy that Elijah is doing well enough to get rid of speech and occupational therapy through the school district! (He still gets speech every other week through his outside therapy and will get assistance with articulation from the ST in his classroom.) Six months ago, we never would have dreamed that all of this could be a possibility before he turned three!

And, I keep thinking about the dream I had about one year ago. That pretty much sums up the rest of my happy tears.

I am so so proud of my little boy.

Pee-pop!

I have had a "pee-pop" (Elijah's word for "lollipop") sitting on the bathroom counter for a week now. He adores pee-pops, so I figured I could use them as a tool in my game of potty bribery. (Ha! That makes "pee-pop" a very appropriate "word!") Elijah will sit down on the potty chair and say, "Pee-pop? PEE-POP? PEE-EE-eeee-PO-oPpppppp!" which is followed by very sad tears rolling down his cheeks after I tell him, "You can have a lollipop after you go potty." Well, today he finally got his beloved pee-pop because he went poopy on the potty! Yay Elijah! Maybe we should start calling it "poo-pop?"

We will be meeting with Elijah's birth-to-three program teachers and therapists on Thursday to go over the results of his recent assessments and testing. I'm really excited to be able to explain what we find out in more detail. One thing I DO know is that Elijah has been approved for ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education) preschool! This is very exciting news! I think he will go to school for a few hours, two mornings per week starting in February. My baby will be going to preschool?! It makes me want to freak out just thinking about that, but I'll deal with that when the time comes. I'll be able to explain more after Thursday's meeting why he is eligible and what will be going on in his classroom.

The poor little cough monster is still coughing quite a bit, although I think it is starting to improve. His sleep is still getting disturbed, but less and less as each night goes by.

Elijah and I are hanging out at home tonight since it is FREEZING outside. This type of cold weather makes driving and running from building to car and car to building pretty miserable. Yuck! Oh well, we can handle it. At least we have a cozy warm house to come home to.

Have a safe, fun, WARM week, everyone!