Duncan made me a cute Mother's Day book at school and I love it. He is getting into the phonetic spelling of things and it included such things as My mom likes to "go to storz" and my mom loves me like "a big hrt". (Heart!) It's my favorite thing that little kids do and I am so glad he is starting to write like this! I told him he did a great job and asked him if he did it all by himself and he said most of it but he had a little help. I asked him who helped him and he said "Dylan's maid". Maid?? Haha! I told him it was Dylan's AIDE. No M! It was so cute and worth sharing!
This morning he asked if some spiders have the "poison effect" which I imagine is his interpretation of "poisonous". So cute!
My grandma Shirley sends me letters regularly (she is a better letter writer than I am blogger, though she relies on the blog for updates, ooooops!) In the last one she said she is going to share a gem of wisdom or two. Here they are 1) if you want a clean house... don't live in it. 2) your nose does get bigger as you get older and slower. And 3) throw away pans are great for roasting chicken wings. I love it! I hope she shares more!
As you might know by now, I hate teeth, and loose teeth, and the idea of loose teeth and the gaping hole the tooth leaves when it falls out. The wiggling, oh, the wiggling... Dylan has had a loose tooth for a little while and in the last week it has gotten significantly taller than the others on the bottom row as it's being pushed up by an adult tooth behind it. She has caught on and has started playing with it with her top teeth and lo and behold, I looked at it yesterday and that gross little tooth is laying flat in her mouth under her tongue. Yuck! It's still rather attached on that back side. Ick, ick, ick! Trying to negotiate a tooth puller and I imagine it will be gone soon, maybe before I am done writing this post!
The school district had a meeting the other night for all of the special needs parents. A kind of state of the union. I went to the one last year and it was great information so I was watching to see when this one was. Thankfully they sent an email, I guess you were supposed to hear it from the special needs teachers through the schools, but yea... there was a bit of a communication issue there. One of Dylan's sweet aides who is graduating with her degree in special needs teaching even came just to know what was going on. (again, communication in the school is an issue... plus she isn't going to be an aide much longer.) I hope hope hope, she gets on at Dylan's school but I just don't see it happening.
A big topic in this meeting was the de-clustering. In the past they had the special needs kids in two of the five schools in the district but they were not getting the services that they need because they were getting too crowded. Like Dylan, they were working to move kids out of the cluster programs and giving them the support that they need in their neighborhood schools.
I am not sure where I last left off but the special needs teacher at Dylan's school that I have been having so many problems with isn't going to be returning next year. They are instead hiring two teachers (one severe endorsed, one mild/moderate), I am sure they will not be full time because the district cannot afford to pay the insurance. Which is sad... but a regular problem I have heard about. (The aides are almost all part time now because if they go full time the insurance the district is required to provide actually costs more than their salaries!) During the meeting they mentioned a survey that they had done and overwhelmingly the issue of poor communication came up and they needed more details. I wanted to speak up, I know changes are going to be made next year but I also need them to know that I noticed... and was paying attention. Things like the aides not knowing any of the goals on Dylan's IEP, me not knowing when changes in the aides (like quitting and hiring) and Dylan's aide coverage are all concerns to me. At one point, one representative from the district said to me that I will definitely have a better year next year than I did this year. That's what I needed to hear, moving on now.
The severe certified teacher has already been hired, she has been working at the high school for 16 years and wanted a little change so she is moving to elementary school. She was very nice, I met her after the meeting. She requested that I bring Dylan in the week before school starts so she can meet her ahead of time and get to know more about her. Love it. Love it. Crossing my fingers for a better year next year!
Asher's soccer is meh... he likes it as much as the other kids. Part of the problem I think is that he and Owen are on a team of 4 year olds who played together last year and know what they are doing. So Owen and Asher have a thing about not even wanting to get in the game with them. Yes... sounds familiar. I have no idea what so of recreational activity we are going to have these kids too. Two left feet doesn't help the situation.
The other night we went to the new aquarium with an organization that Dylan is part of for kids with terminal problems. I think Dylan squeaked in because she is doing so well. When I signed up when she was one, I got a bit of a hard time about it so I haven't ever done any of their activities. But I couldn't pass this up and they have some great things going on so maybe I will take a second look. Matthew was supposed to be out of town so I had changed the tickets from our whole family to leave out him and Greyson who my mom was going to watch. But then he ended up being here... so he and Grey just stayed home. Four kids is still a lot of crazy at an aquarium filled with lots of kids and lots (and lots) of strollers and wheelchairs! It's new so a lot of the exhibits were still closed but there is a small shark tunnel and some great rooms where the whole side wall is an aquarium. The kids really loved it and the special needs kids liked it because it was dark except the wall of water which made it easier for them to see the fish! We saw a couple of friends there too which was fun. Dylan totally slept the whole time, which is what she does when she is in her comfy stroller.
We will be doing Night at the Zoo with this group again in a couple of weeks. We have done this zoo night before but it was through the hospital and not through this group. I will be looking for other things to do through them, it's really a great organization.
I don't have a whole lot of pictures this week because I was out of town (again, yes... I am getting to that...) I am sure I left a ton out since the last time I posted but hey, I am trying here!
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