Elise had lots of funny things to say this morning, albeit with a straight face not meaning to be funny. First, she told me that she thinks she is a sidekick. I asked her whose sidekick she was and she said, "That must be the wrong word. I mean that I can see into the future." When I asked her for some proof of her psychic abilities she said that she "totally predicted that we would have fruit snacks at our school party." Psychic hotline here she comes!

We have been trying to eat healthier dinners lately which means more fish and chicken. Elise informed us this morning that she was a "fish and chicken vegetarian" meaning she can't eat fish or chicken. Looks like she might be hungry in the evenings.

Elise was once again in search of one of my brushes this morning before school because this particular brush makes her hair "way less crazy."



Micah also made me laugh without meaning to, but it was more along the lines of laugh so you don't lose your mind. We sent a cake to school with Elise today for a greek festival. Micah immediately demanded "Did you make a cake for my greek festival three years ago." "Why yes I did." "Are you going to attend Elise's greek festival because you didn't attend mine?" I'm growing weary of the comparisons and "fair/not fair" reactions to almost everything I do. I mean how ridiculous to ask if I made a cake three years ago?! I need to figure out a creative way to deal with it and I'm thinking that shouting, "You have no idea how much more attention you have received over the years as my first born child" might not be the best way to handle it. My brother's family did a "not fair" tally chart a few years ago to bring to my nieces' attention how often they said that. The details are fuzzy in my head as to what they actually did with the chart (rewards, penalties, etc.) so enlighten me, bro.

The IEP Process is Over - Woohoo!

Micah and Isaiah enjoying the iPad together

We had our kindergarten IEP meeting for Isaiah and overall we are comfortable with how it went. We were given two options. The first option was an intensive classroom in our district where he would spend most of his time with children with special needs, but would attend the mainstream P.E., music and art. The other option (which we chose) was to attend a Special School District school outside of our school district where all of the children have some degree of special needs. It was a bit of a wrestle in our minds to give up the opportunity to have some interaction with typically developing peers, especially at this stage when everyone is young and more accepting. However, it really came down to the fact that the classroom and staff at the school we chose really seemed like they would push Isaiah to communicate and enhance his mobility skills. We have talked with a friend who has worked with Isaiah's future kindergarten classroom teacher and it sure sounds like she will be an amazing teacher for Isaiah.

Some of you reading this know the wrestle we have gone through in the past few weeks trying to make this decision and some of the disappointment we have had in what was available for him within our school district. We are primarily at peace with the decision and have hope that Isaiah will thrive there. I am nervous looking forward to school starting this fall and a brand new group of people trying to learn how to best work with Isaiah, but I was nervous coming into this preschool year too and his teachers and therapists this year could not have been any more of a blessing for him. I couldn't get my brain to shut off last night trying to figure out if we had made the right decision and pushed for the right amount of services. It was certainly a learning experience for us, but right now I need to just give it up to God and know that He is preparing the way for our little guy.

*As soon as I completed that last sentence my phone rang. It was the principal at the new school calling to say that he had already talked to the transportation department about what kind of seat to use on the bus with Isaiah. Pretty funny to have such concrete evidence that "God is preparing the way for our little guy" in a safe seat on the bus. :)

Can't Touch Our Dinner Time

I keep reading articles about the importance of family dinners and how most families don't sit around the table for dinner together any more. If you believe the hype, regular family dinners can help prevent everything from childhood obesity to teenage depression. Since we have dinner together quite frequently and that's something my family tried to do while I was growing up, I take for granted why it would be important to have this time each day. We can't have dinner together every night and it is getting trickier as the kids are involved in more sports, but we're still trying to make a strong effort to eat together around the table with no other distractions like TV. If not for this time, I wouldn't be able to hear all of Elise's stories about the crazy boys in her class, Tony's stories about the crazy people he works with or Micah's latest triumphs in gym class. I'm pretty sure from how much he talks about it, gym might be the only class he takes.

Bonus, when I make a healthy dinner the kids don't want they seem to talk even more since their mouths aren't busy chewing. I thought tonight's dinner (chicken tortilla pie) was a genius concoction from leftovers. Micah asked if his friend could stay for dinner. When his friend heard what we were having, he said "I'm pretty sure my dad will make me something for dinner" as in "whatever I have at my house must be better than that." If you are wondering, my tortilla pie was actually quite tasty and easy to make.

Isaiah seems to love our dinner time too. It's the one time of day when he will sit still for 20 minutes or more. He sits and listens to his siblings discuss the day and he repeats a word or two that he understands. Isaiah just started saying "amen" at the end of our meal time prayer last week and Tony and I gave him a huge reaction. This week, he keeps grabbing our hands to pray again at dinner as he tries to remember how to form his new word. I think Isaiah would enjoy dinner much better in the chair that Love that Max is giving away this week. (Shameless contest plug)

As I was bringing dinner to the table tonight, Micah was helping me some, but mainly trying out some dance moves. He was doing "the jerk," but I couldn't remember what that move was called. When I asked him what it was called, Tony quipped, "It should be called 'An Emergency Room trip is in my near future.'" Elise and Micah both broke out in all sorts of dance moves, including doing the "sprinkler" in unison.

Earlier today, my sister in law posted on Facebook that someone in her neighborhood had written "Hammer Time" under a stop sign. So, in case you don't get the genius behind that...."Stop, Hammer Time." One of her friends mentioned seeing a stop sign that said "Collaborate and Listen" as in Vanilla Ice's song "Ice, Ice Baby." "Stop, collaborate and listen." Because of this I have been singing those two songs all night and driving Tony crazy. At dinner, Micah asked me if the song says "Word from ya motha" or "Word to ya motha." Tony was quick with a quip again and said, "Neither one. Your motha needs to stop singing 80's songs." He then threatened to get me an 80's CD for Mother's Day. I'm not scared...it may just help me "bust a move."

Moments I Wish I Had Videotaped This Week

My niece is getting ready for prom today and I'm hoping (strongly suggesting) that her parents are taking lots of pictures and videos today to share with me. In thinking about that, I thought of several moments this week I wish I could have captured on video or picture.

I would have liked to be able to watch Micah absorb the impact of cleaning up someone's home that has been demolished by a tornado. On a funnier note, I wish I could share a videotape of us pulling up to the youth group lock in last night. Middle school girls were calling his name and giggling while Micah was oblivious and scanning the church property for a football game. I should have videotaped his bloodshot eyes and stumble as he came in from his first ever all nighter as a visual reminder of what lack of sleep can do to you.

I wish the video camera was rolling when Isaiah climbed into his dining room chair by himself, said "Mommy" to get my attention instead of yelling at me and then signed "cheese please" because he saw Elise eating cheese. If I had three hands (which I really think I actually need), it would have been fun to videotape all of the hugs he has given me this week while wrapping him up in big hugs with my other two arms. It would have been interesting to record Isaiah's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" moment yesterday in speech therapy when he was happily playing with new toys, but as soon as the speech language pathologist said "match," he instantaneously went into meltdown mode because he knew hard work was ahead of him.

I should have snapped a picture of Elise in a very colorful ensemble this week. She walked out of the house with a teal shirt, purple pants, a yellow coat and baby blue flip-flops. She looked like a walking Easter basket. As far as video coverage of Elise, any video of her telling a story with all of her details would be funny. Honestly, I wish I could video some of her dreams. She has always had an active imagination, but her dream world kicks that up a million times.

Update on School Choices

There's a slight possibility that I haven't been handling the stress of this whole IEP process very well. OK, that's an understatement, but I did want to take the chance to attest to the fact that God gave me a greater peace than I expected on Friday while visiting the other classroom choice and in our meeting that afternoon. If you were praying for us, you helped bring about that peace.

After visiting the two classrooms, we are fairly certain that we will request that he attends the school run by Special School District. The teacher and one of the teacher assistants in that room have been working together for 18 years. We talked with the teacher for about 15 minutes and her words were full of examples of lovingly pushing kids to do more. This is what Isaiah needs...to be held to high expectations and patiently and consistently pushed to live up to those expectations. I have failed a bit in this area, but look forward to possibly learning what this looks like from this experienced teacher. I'm not knocking myself here...I just have been convicted that I'm overly confused when it comes to figuring out where to push and where to let things go with Isaiah.

Our main concern in both classrooms is that the most verbal child is moving on to another classroom next year which may leave Isaiah as the most verbal one in the group. Obviously, it would be best for him to have some verbal role models in his classroom, but it doesn't appear that this is an option at the moment. However, I know the teacher at the special school will push him to use his verbal skills and the augmentative communication resource area for the entire Special School District area is a couple doors down from this classroom. That could prove to be a great resource for him.

We are continuing to be encouraged by how much his current preschool staff cares for him, all the way up to the director of the program who emailed me that she was praying for our decisions. The meeting on Friday was a bit difficult to take in because there was so much information from test results on speech, cognition, etc. Some of it was sad to hear. However, we were continually encouraged by the words of his preschool staff and the evaluators who thought he was very fun and engaging, even while he tried to thwart their attempts to get him to cooperate. These special teachers and therapists truly have a gift of love.

This week it seems God wanted to give us some hope while knowing that we were going to hear some difficult evaluation results. In the last ten days, Isaiah has had a verbal explosion. He is trying to repeat almost everything he hears and labeling things all around him. Friday night at dinner he said a very clear, "amen" for the first time at the end of our prayer. I had been trying to figure out if we had made any diet changes or anything that may have brought about this verbal increase. His "amen" helped me realize it was a sweet gift from God.

If You're Looking for Something to Pray for this Week

It is kindergarten IEP (Individual Education Plan) time around here. We are visiting a couple potential classrooms this week and may visit more next week. As a quick overview of options, the following options are considered:
1. Mainstream kindergarten classroom with a personal aide and pull-out time with a special education resource teacher
2. An intensive, or self-contained, classroom within one of the school district's elementary schools. Children spend most of their time in that room, but join their neurotypical peers for activities like P.E., music, circle time, etc.
3. A classroom within a specialized Special School District school. The only children at that school have varying degrees of special needs, much of the time it is children with behavior issues or medical needs.

We have thought throughout that option #2 would be the route for Isaiah. He loves the normally developing kiddos in his classroom this year and works hard to communicate and keep up with them. It would be great if he could have some structured time with verbal, typically developing children while still being in a smaller intensive classroom that could cater more to his needs. However, at this point, our school district doesn't have any intensive classrooms that really "fit" Isaiah. There are a couple classrooms with children with Autism, a classroom with children with very limited mobility and verbal skills (much more limited than Isaiah's), a classroom addressing behavior concerns and a couple classrooms with much older children. There is one possible intensive classroom within our district that we will visit on Friday.

On Thursday, we are visiting a specialized school run by our city's Special School District (Option #3 above). This school is reserved for children with the greatest needs, or for whom a mainstream or intensive classroom within their school district won't work for some reason. That reason may just be that there isn't a good intensive classroom available, as in Isaiah's case.

At a conference last week, we were encouraged by other parents to push for mainstreaming. While I understand their strong opinions, I think Isaiah would be lost in a mainstream kindergarten classroom. I've spent many hours in kindergarten classrooms, first as a teacher's aide and then as the room mom. I can't picture Isaiah being able to absorb much of what is going on in that environment.

On Friday, we have an afternoon meeting where all of the test results from therapists who have been visiting his classroom will be discussed. Some of these therapists (including the speech therapist) saw him one time for one hour. If you know Isaiah you know that isn't going to give you a very clear picture of what he is and isn't capable of doing. The pre-school staff is ready to fight for him and we could use prayers for patience and wisdom in that meeting as we do the same. The following Friday, we have his actual IEP meeting where it will be decided what room he will be in for kindergarten.

I just got off the phone with his pre-school speech therapist and I wish more than anything that he could have one more year with his pre-school staff. That isn't an option as he is now 5 has to move on to elementary school.

Internet History

We have a filter on our Internet and periodically check Micah's Internet history on his iPod Touch. He knows we do this and why we do it. Tony was browsing through his history last week and found the following:
A web page on Albert Pujols
Lots of web pages on the Cardinals
Information on Johan Sebastian Bach and
A video on "how to clean my room quickly."

He's a pretty good kid, huh? The how to clean my room video cracked me up because it instructs kids to make their bed first. I couldn't figure out why Micah was taking lots of time to make his bed while leaving laundry and trash all over his floor when I told him to clean his room. I told him that I didn't really care about his bed as much as the junk on his floor. He seemed utterly confused and now I know this is because it conflicted with the information on his YouTube video.