School

Ellie seems to really like her school. Today is day 5 and we've already seen a great jump in her speech and willingness to follow directions. Her teachers are fantastic. She isn't eating much, if at all, but not without urging from the teachers. She eats in the room with her 4 other classmates so it's not like she's greatly distracted. If I go in it will only set her back with separation and eating independently. I pack her lunchbox to the brim with all kinds of food- pureed fruits and veggies, raisins, sandwiches, cheetos, graham crackers, cookies... she flat out refuses. Tomorrow is the pediatrician for her 3 year check up so that should be a mess.

10 things I wish I would have done

I can't take credit for this, but I can strongly urge all special needs parents to read it and follow it. http://www.mostlytruestuff.com/2013/08/10-things-i-wish-i-had-known-about-special-needs-parenting-from-the-beginning.html

Orientation

We were super early to the elementary school orientation because I was nervous and because I had seen the havoc at another elementary school orientation. It started at 8, we were there at 7:20. I let Ellie walk around and get comfortable. The names and teachers were listed on the doors outside the office but it started at Kindergarten so we had to ask the ladies in the front office who Ellie had. They said she had hit the jackpot and gotten Mr. Mike. We had heard that the only male teacher over there was, in fact, the best. So we are very excited. Everyone at the school was very, very nice and helpful. We waited in line to get to the cafeteria where a nice lady handed me a slip of paper to fill out. Then we went into the cafeteria where we were given a packet of info to fill out again. Ellie was very well behaved and stayed with me the whole time. Not to say she is a saint because there is a very real possibility she was simply scared to death with all the other people doing things around her. We filled out paperwork, tried to turn it in but we needed a car rider number. So we went to the transportation table and incidentally met Ms. Katy, the parapro. We were told we don't need a car number and went back to turn things in (where we met Ms. Katy's mom). We then went to meet Mr. Mike and see her classroom. Mr. Mike lives up to his sparkling reputation. He was very kind, explained everything to me, answered all my questions, asked a few of his own. Ellie just made herself at home with the dolls. He and I appear to be on the same page on everything, so that really makes it easy for me to trust him. I met another child's mother who seems nice enough. Evidently this is her son's second year in Mr. Mike's class. The classroom is lovely. Ellie gets out an hour earlier than I had thought. Everything went so well and I am so please with everything, but... I wouldn't be a mom without some hesitation and sadness. My baby was already so grown up today and is going to mature so quickly during the school year. Tomorrow is the last day we'll have a free day together without school hanging over our heads for the next 15 years or more. Suddenly I'm desperate to be a stay at home mom more. I want nothing more than to be here for her when she is done with school in the afternoon. This day really snuck up on me and I wish I had done more to really savor this summer.

Speech, genetics

Ellie is absolutely in love with Ms. Kaz, her new speech therapist. So much so, Ellie was distracted and unable to fully participate lol. I like her as well. I'm very satisfied with our first official therapy session with her. Genetics called. Evidently all of Ellie's tests came back negative and clear. No spot growth hormone problems, no thyroid issues, and the Cornelia De Lange was negative. Should be good news, right? *BUZZ* Wrong. The geneticist, the pathologist, and even myself are convinced she still has it. The test is only 60% accurate and only tests 2 markers so there is a very real possibility Ellie still has it, as we all think. Now we have to go back and meet with an expert to see if we need more labs and/or blood drawn. Good times, good times.

Clinic, Big Girl Bed

We upgraded Ellie to a used toddler bed from Craigslist. At first she loved it but then went back to sleeping behind the door. *sigh* Yesterday we spent 4 hours in clinic. It's a long story but the short version is that Ellie's perfectly fine. Here's the long version. The appointment was scheduled for 9:10 a.m. and Atlanta traffic is extremely fickle so we left around 8 a.m. We made it there by 8:45. I remarked to Cheryl, the lovely receptionist I always talk with, how it was going to be a long day since we were here for clinic and not our usual speech therapy. The woman behind me remarked that clinic isn't so bad and it would be fine. I told her that had never been my experience at CHoA with clinic. The waiting area began to get overcrowded with people sitting on the floor, backs against the wall, and just standing around. Sure enough, a PA comes out stating that the surgeon, our surgeon with whom we were scheduled to meet, was in surgery running at least 30 minutes behind. All rooms were currently full, but once he arrives and rooms began to empty they would begin bringing people back again. *sigh* That meant it was truly going to be another clinic day- an all day annoyance where various people poked and prodded my tired toddler who had an annoyed and tired mommy. We got weight & height checked and then sent back to the waiting room. Ellie made a new boyfriend named Liam. His whole family was funny and wonderful, so I offered my email since they live in the next town over (Snellville). We finally got a room and waited. The dentist stuck his head in to say he'd clean her teeth last since kids tend not to enjoy that process. So we waited and waited and waited. I turned on the TV but Ellie wasn't terribly interested in it. All she wanted to do was slam the door and push the phone buttons. Finally the speech pathologist and the new speech therapist (not that stupid girl we got last time) came to evaluate her. They felt she was on track (for her, not for regular 3 year olds). The new speech therapist did a pretty good job of getting Ellie to repeat some words. Ellie had kept her hands in her mouth (along with trying to eat the chair and the window sill). Between being tired, sucking on her hand, eating foreign objects and having a hoarse voice because of her cold, I think she did great. The surgeon came in. Ellie wouldn't open her mouth for him and he said if she's not snoring and talking fine, then she's fine. We can come back in a year. He left, Ellie set off the emergency alarm for the room. Finally it was the dentist's turn. Ellie did amazing! She was unhappy but no tears and would repeat "AH!" when the hygienist or I asked her to do so. Her teeth, while crowded, looked amazing. She did so well, in fact, she got TWO prizes AND a new toothbrush. Even the hygienist said to call daddy and tell him what a good girl she was. Nearly everyone asked about the genetic testing, and I explained that we were still waiting so I imagine the geneticist is going to have several emails from people asking about it- the speech pathologist, the surgeon, the dentist....

School info

The meeting for the school was really easy. I met with the school coordinator and a speech therapist for the school district. They reviewed with me the findings of the evaluation so everyone would be on the same page. Then we went over the goals for the year and the objectives (Baby steps) to get Ellie there. I agreed with all the objectives and goals, signed some paperwork and they said she would be in a cross-categorical class at Shiloh Elementary. She is supposed to attend from 7:45-1:45 five days a week. She will not be riding the bus, one of use will be taking her.

It's been a while

No surprises since I'm a lazy SOB. Ellie's last day of daycare was May 30th. The owner sold the place. We were so sad to see it go. Her teacher, Ms. Sabrina, wrote a glowing evaluation of Ellie for her intervention program. Ellie reached 25 lbs so that was exciting to see. Unfortunately she was sick this past weekend and got sick again today. Hoping that isn't causing any weight loss. 25 lbs at least gets her on the chart, if barely. She also had a great growth spurt. It seems everything is within her grasp, which can be... scary. LOL Today she had her eligibility evaluation from the state's early intervention program. They consider her incredibly intelligent, expressive, and independent. However, her lack of speech was enough to get her into the program. Right now it looks as though she will be attending Anniston Elementary in August. In two weeks I go back to discuss the results of the evaluation in more detail. Then we'll have another meeting before her third birthday to iron out more details. She still loves LOVES LOVES music. We have dance party - we put on the music channel and everyone dances. She loves the song "Cups" by Anna Kendrick and insists on listening to it all the time. Literally. She makes us rewind any thing - commercial, program, even the radio - that has music she enjoys (which is mostly everything). She can already sing many melodies, including twinkle, twinkle/abc and some of the songs she hears on the radio or tv (Taylor Swift).