Odds and Ends (2013)

A couple of odds and ends from July-December

he had hooked his wagon up to his tractor- pretty smart idea 

 

 

riding the tricycle Grandpa brought over

This is a marble maze game he has- you can configure the different pieces to make the marbles go in different paths.  He likes it to be tall.

Watching Bear and Blanket in the washing machine while they are "taking a bath"

Our son the engineer!  Look closely at that support system and how perfectly it's all balanced!

 

Shoo fly!  We get fruit flies each year which drive us nuts- so I taught him to sing the song to make them go away

 

Bear makes a great bookmark 

Fall Festival 2013

Not many people know this about me but... I hate Halloween.  I always have.  Even though it involves free sweets.  I enjoyed it when I was with my sisters and we had the three boys together the one year- that was cool.  But overall, not for me.  And we weren't sure what we were going to do this past year.  We are both content to not really promote it with Caelan not to mention that he doesn't care for it himself because he won't wear anything on his head or face or most costumes we have tried.  He is also so visually sensitive that we don't want to put him in an overwhelming situation of multiple people and things that will upset him sensory wise. 

This past year we asked him several times for a couple of weeks if he wanted to go trick-or-treating or get dressed up and he said no.  So we were going to just skip it altogether.  Then around 4:30 that afternoon I saw a post on Face Book by someone about a local church doing a Fall Festival that had games, candy and prizes, food, jumping houses, petting zoo- the works- for FREE.  So an hour later we were there!

We had such a great time!  He had been to that building before for some other activities so he was ok with the environment.  There were some people in costumes but that wasn't the focus so he was fine to not be in one and there was little risk of him being visually set off by that.  And I love the look on his face in these pictures!

He was really good at the games and wait til you see the videos!  

 

Throwing a football

Picking a duck out of the pond for prizes (he was content to do this over and over and over again- not for the prizes but because he loves to watch water)

 

Baseball!

Angry Birds game- Daddy helped him pull back the slingshot and...

let it go to knock down the piggies!

a break for some sugar cinnamon donuts and apple cider

more games

Ok... this picture above- this was his face when he looked over and saw The Man in the Yellow Hat (from Curious George).  LOOK at his expression!!  He was in awe! I was not able to get a picture of the guy though due to the crowd and stuff but this was a priceless moment.

mmmmm..... cotton candy!  Mommy gets in on a little of that!

 

 

this first video.... Caelan struggles with balance, core strength, coordination/motor planning, and not to mention the whole vestibular piece that affects slides.  He wanted to go into this inflatable obstacle course so I went in with him.  I figured he would get to a certain point and turn around.  Which was more than fine- we always encourage and support whatever he wants to do in these areas.  But wait until you see this!!  And he did it THREE times!! (I was exhausted!!)  This was the final time we went through and I had Matt video it because this was a major, major accomplishment on many levels.  We were so thrilled! (we made copies for his therapists who were just as excited as us)  

And when he is at the top of the slide, you can hear him scream at one point (upset) but it was because I was trying to get myself situated and he was trying to get in my lap- he thought I was going to make him go down alone.  But obviously, he enjoyed it!

 

 

 video 2-  one thing he has always done well with is hand-eye coordination (when he focuses).  Anytime I set the tee up in the backyard, he has done well hitting the ball.  So here he is hitting the ball at the festival.  I love how he stops to tap the bat on the ground- he is so cute! 

Taking Advantage of "Pre-Snow" Days - October 2013

The playground down the road from us.... probably one of our last outings before getting blasted with FEET of snow and sub temps this winter.

 

 

Another one of those things that he has trouble with is slides- but here he is braving the little one!

more than once- yay!

Boo!

This one was a little (very slightly) bigger so he wanted me to go down with him.

He has gone down this big one with me last year... but no go this year!  He was content to watch the other kids on it or to pile mulch on the end.

School Bonfire - Fall 2013

One of the really neat things about this school is that they have regular family activities.  About once a month or every other month, they have a Friday evening activity.  The bonfire, a movie  night, sledding party, and games night to name a few.  Twice a year (first week of school and again in January) they have a Praise and Prayer night-  we spend time in the school chapel and sing some praise songs and in between, they pray over every single employee of the school.  It is really awesome!

I took several pictures at the bonfire; I FORGOT the camera for the sledding party - which was a fantastic time!  Caelan wouldn't sled for several years due to the vestibular sensory issue- but apparently he does it pretty regularly on the small hills at the school... then at the sledding party he went down a HUGE hill over and over!!

Above- our church was held at this school for the first year so Caelan is very familiar with the building and such.  Well on Sundays, he would often sit on this concrete block that props the front door open.  It was just "his thing" he did.  So the night of the bonfire- Matt had to work on the school's computers for a few minutes and Caelan... went to "his" spot and waited.

Then off to the playground

Yep... more swinging action :)

The art teacher and her husband were doing some face painting... not just your average hearts and rainbows!

Daddy and Caelan roasting some marshmallows

 

School Time! 2013

Well there is a LOT to say here...
We moved him to a different school this year.  This is the school I have always wanted him in... even before he was born, I was interested in this school.  (if I didn't homeschool)  But life has thrown different things at us over the years and things changed. 
What made us switch at literally the very last minute?  Discovering that Caelan can read.  And not just a few sight words, or rote memorization of his favorite books.  This child can READ.  Just about anything put in front of him.  We have known for quite some time - as you have seen from old videos- that he had some reading skills.  But then one day he was on the couch and started reading aloud a bunch of big words off of an insert from a toy- something we had never read to him.  Matt and I just looked at each other.  Then I grabbed a box of word flashcards that I had and started going through them with Caelan.  He didn't want to do it but I was determined to find out just how much this child knew.  He went through 120 word cards without batting an eye.  And I'm not talking "cat" and "dog" words.... these are longer and more complex words.  The ones he didn't immediately recognized, he was able to sound out.  Again, Matt and I just looked at each other. 
Caelan went to preschool at age 3 for Special Ed.  He went to "early 4's" program last year at the one Christian school and we had him reenrolled there for Pre-K.  So I contacted them about our discovery of his reading skills; I wanted to know what options we had as far as him spending time in a K class, fostering his reading and other areas academically.  I just didn't feel like Caelan needed a third year of shapes, colors, numbers and letters.  He was so, so far past that.  (We realized that he was ahead in a few other areas as well.)  He is so stinking smart.  His ability to retain information is amazing.  Of course, there is the social-emotional aspect though that we have to think about with him.  He is still behind in so many ways and it made me a little nervous to push him in that area.
So I called TCCS (his old school) and TBCS (where I have always wanted him) and set up meetings at both.  I prayed very specific prayers before going to both meetings.  And those very specific things were answered without my prompting.  God let me know for certain where to put Caelan in school (for a LOT of reasons). 
The first school would have kept him in Pre-K.  That was it.  They offered to let him have extra reading time during the day.... I told them that was no different than what he already does at home.  There was no budging or offering of working with him or letting him spend time in the K class.
The second school didn't have a Pre-K this year.  Their K class though is pretty small- he would be one of only 8 kids in the class.  AND... they were willing to tailor the curriculum to meet his needs.  Offer him the K program and if he wasn't able to do it, then have Pre-K stuff ready for him.  AND... if he wasn't able to focus on a K level or sit at the table for class work- they would have alternatives in the room for him that were still related to the topic but more suitable to his needs.  AND... the administrator/principal would spend one on one time with him each day.  And being such a small class, they are still able to support him (and all the kids) in the social-emotional aspect.  I can't get much closer to a perfect situation for Caelan than that.  Seriously- the personalized curriculum and one on one interaction is close to homeschooling, yet keeping him IN school he still gets the social piece that he absolutely must have.
All of this was also with the understanding that he might have to repeat the year.  No problem!
But...
This boy is thriving!!  He has had such a great school year.  They have NOT had to alter anything for him academically, they have NOT had to have someone spend one on one with him outside of the classroom- he jumped right in and did just fine!  The only things they had to change was what is normal for a special needs child... he occasionally does need some sensory control/breaks, input, etc.  He also has a really difficult time with writing.  That's a fine motor issue though.  The only other thing- which has caused him to sometimes complain about going to school-  is that he is there every day of the week.  Some half days, some whole days- but an increase from 2 days a week last year up to 5 days a week this year.  And he is NOT a morning person.  So it has been a challenge in that regard.  But there is no getting around that in life.
And as far as I know, they are planning on letting him progress to first grade next year!  I still get a little nervous sometimes... worrying if I am pushing him too hard or expecting too much of him.  But I also remind myself that this school is exactly where God wants him.  So I try my best to "let go"! 
It's been so neat to watch him learning new things-  money, counting by 5's and 10's, time, adding and subtracting, Bible verses, graphing- or to hear him talk about things.  He is sooooo smart. 
And man do we LOVE this school.  Everything about it. 
So here are a couple of shots of his first week or two....

First day of school!

His name at his spot at the table.

and of course... he immediately found the book corner!

This is his teacher and his classmates.  I love that Mrs. Williams is holding his hand!  The kids are- Lily, Natalie, Judah, Brant in back and in front is Kara (also adopted through same agency as Caelan), Wesley, and Hannah.

The above is a laminated card with his name and he would practice writing with dry erase marker each night.

They have chapel on Wednesdays and the boys have to wear a tie- doesn't he look so adorable??  It only lasts long.

I was so excited to see him start writing his name on his own!  It still makes me smile each time he does it!