Itty Bitty Olympians

Alexander's special education class took part in our county's special olympics last Friday. Alexander was an "athlete in training", I volunteered to run a station, and Kevin, Jacob, and "Beepaw" (Kevin's dad) came to play, too. All the athletes and ait's were assigned a buddy from the high school to help them participate in the events (and Alexander's was great!), and Alexander had our full entourage following him around most of the time. The ait's got their very own "Itty Bitty Olympics" to do and here are our boys at a couple of the stations.

Alexander thought we were thoroughly inefficient to stand back and try to throw the balls at the target. He demonstrated the practical approach by walking up to the bullseye to place his "dart."


Later we took the boys to the bounce houses, which of course they would have stayed at forever if we let them.

Then I insisted on attempting to get the boys' faces painted. I had the girl do a heart on my cheek while the boys watched and Alexander thought it was so cool, he sat perfectly still while she painted his sun.

Jacob reached up and smeared his before it dried but he sat still while it was going on, too.

Such a great day! We love our itty bitty boys!

Kindergarten Day 1

I'm so sorry I didn't get a picture of Alexander in his first day of school outfit. But I wanted to share this email his teacher sent me this afternoon because it made me happy. I'll try to update with pictures again soon...

"We had a fabulous day! This morning seemed a little crazy trying to get everyone organized and make sure everyone had what they needed. Alexander seemed a little nervous at first this morning and had a few moments where he just wanted to be held, which is quite alright. We love him!!! He did really well I think for his first day in a new school and he really took up with Mrs. [parapro] =)

We are looking forward to the school year as well, we love Alexander already and can’t wait for a fun year =) We have a wonderful class and a great group of parents that support us.

Thanks so much! See you soon!

[home room teacher]
Special Education Teacher-MOID"

July "Annual" Update

I started massage school at the beginning of July and I'm sure some of you are wondering how it's going. Well, it's going GREAT! I love the school, I love the teachers, I love the little hand exercise ball they gave us in our supply package. I love the course material, I love the teaching methods, I love the low tables that keep us from hurting our backs. I love the books, and the overhead projections, and the little quizzes every morning that help us prep for the big tests. I love the people, I love the building, I love the short distance it is from my house. I love my mom for coming to watch the boys during July, and I love Kami for coming to be my nanny for the rest of the year. It's all love, baby.

And now for a boys update (I never remember to do this on their birthdays!):

Alexander got an extension on his Marcus Autism Center Language and Learning Clinic services. They gave him another 6 months so he'll be going until February next year. He's also scheduled to start kindergarten on August 5th. (He's turning 5 on Monday can you believe it??) Because of the Marcus extension he'll only be going to a half day at school but I'm looking forward to seeing if it helps with his progress. I really liked his teacher when I met her at our IEP meeting back in April so I'm hopeful things will come together nicely.

Alexander still says "Go" verbally when he wants to play. He also has picked up a few modified signs that he uses consistently when we give him a chance. (Mommy has to be on top of things and not keep reading his mind.)
Sign list:
Candy (index finger tapped at cheek)
Drink (fist to chin)
Movie (hands rubbed together)
Popcorn (like this)


Jacob turned 3 on July first. We had a fun party for both the boys a couple of weeks ago at Lunar Golf at the mall. (This video will be hard to see but it shows Jacob playing golf.)
Jacob finished up with Babies Can't Wait back in June (it only goes til they turn 3) and he's slated to begin preschool in a couple of weeks. He'll be going to the same preschool Alexander was going to because he's way behind on talking (although he does say a few words) and he's a little behind on some social and fine motor skills.

Kami and I are going to do some home "preschool" type activities with both of them, like, we'll be continuing the color of the week and stuff. They've really loved all the color sensory bins and baths so far.

Water Beads - the coolest sensory bin material ever!

With help from my mom, I created a nice big chalk board wall for Alexander's room that we'll be using for "school" activities.

I primed the black side with magnetic paint so it can be like a real chalk board. The other side is just for drawing cuz I ran out of magnetic primer. Both boys really like drawing and playing with the magnets. The first thing Alexander did when we handed him the chalk was start drawing smiley faces.

I'm really looking forward to busting out my massage schooling in the next few months and also getting some good quality time in with my sister, and with Kevin and the boys. Here's to new beginnings.