A Little Something Extra

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Micah walked in the SUDS walk!

Today we walked in our first Step Up for Down Syndrome walk in St. Paul.  It was a glorious day!  The weather couldn't have been better.  And we had a great group walking in Micah's Mob, including family (Oma), babysitters and PCA's, Micah's pediatrician (and her son), and wonderful friends.



I don't know how many people were there.  Maybe 7,000?  And Micah... I think somehow he figured out that this was his day to shine.
So he tolerated music and people talking on a PA system.  He laughed... and made others laugh.
He played ball.



He walked (a bit).





And then he didn't walk, but the rest of us did.





And then... he fell asleep before the walk around the lake was completed.  And he slept there in that stroller for about and hour and a half.


His brothers wanted to share the stroller... sort of.


But mostly, they had fun playing with the Stomp Rocket that Nathan got for his birthday (there will be a birthday post coming soon).


One of the wonderful things about a day like this is that you get to meet lots of fun people.  Some of you know Leah.  I had the privilege of meeting her and Axel.  What a sweet boy! (and he enjoyed the Stomp Rocket with the other boys).  I finally met Will and his mom, Tracy, who has prayed many prayers for our little warrior boy.  We were able to see many of our friends in our local parent group.
We shared some space (tent, food, etc) with Team Violet (her mom is Karen).  Violet is such a cutie patootie!


And I got a snuggle with Amazing Gracie.  Remember when I shared about her heart journey?  Last year, her family and friends walked in the walk while Gracie was still in utero.  What a testimony to God's grace that she was there with a huge crew this year.


We are so blessed that Micah has so many people who love him.

(for those of you taking notes.... no, he didn't wear his glasses much today... we put them away the first time they hit the grass because I really don't have time to deal with a full replacement right now)

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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Micah's first day of preschool

Okay, it was "sort of" his first day of preschool.  Micah went to a transition class last semester.  It was great!  There were 4 boys in the class.  It was a perfect environment for Micah to learn in a group setting and get used to a routine of school.

Our school district has a preschool and that's where Micah is going.  There are 20(?) children in the class and I think 5-6(?) are on IEP's.  There is a primary teacher for the class and there's a SPED teacher in the class too.  Micah's therapists will do his therapy sessions in the room (unless he doesn't focus well with all the noise).  Micah knows his SPED teacher and that is a HUGE bonus.  At his listening conference last week, Micah said, "Hi, Timmmmm" and made everyone smile.

Speaking of smiling... Micah was quite the little rockstar this morning.  Lots of teachers were fawning over him as he entered (and exited) the building (seriously cute... and little... he's only 34" and weighs less than 27 pounds).  Micah's para was carrying him out (instead of making him walk) when I arrived at the end of the morning.  She said that the hallway was super crowded.  I'm not going to question anything that happens the first week of school, but I'll be watching to make sure that Captain Adorable isn't charming his way out of working.

I know where I'm going.



Ooo, a locker

Letter puzzles... my favorite!

Posing at the locker

Seriously... he dug right in (his OT would be proud) and pulled out a letter and said, "oh."  Then he pulled out a number and said, "twoooo."  (yes, Mommy is proud!)

Sensing something not quite right, he needed an extended hug.

Cheese!

When Mark and I told him "bye," he headed straight for the door.  Tim was there to keep him in the room, but the pursed lips is all we got when we left.  I'll take it.  It's better than tears.

Apparently, after Micah finished any task this morning, he said, "All done," and headed for the door.  He did two art projects (which is great for him because he doesn't usually like to touch stuff).  He enjoyed the playground and read LOTS of books with Tim.  I'm so proud of my little man.  He's ready for preschool.  He knows the alphabet (and can recognize both upper- and lower-case letters).  He can count to twelve (and pretend to count to 20, but all the "teen" numbers sound the same: ebghebe-teen).  He knows his shapes and his colors.  The key is for his teachers to give him enough time to answer questions.  There's a definite delay when you ask him to identify something.  Give him enough time and he'll prove to you that he knows it.  He's going to rock preschool!

Nathan's first day of Kindergarten

Yes, we had a late start to the school year.  Nathan's school was undergoing construction this summer.  There was a state government shutdown here in MN and the school missed some building permits during the shutdown.  So... school started 2 weeks late.  He's going to a charter school that is taught in the classical tradition.  I think he'll really enjoy it!

Nathan has been very excited about Kindergarten.  After he left his locker to head toward his table he said, "Hey, everybody... I'm here!"  When I asked him about his day, he told me that he sat with a bunch of "gurrrrlsss" at lunch and not his friends ("You sit where you sit and you don't pitch a fit"... must have been a phrase from preschool, LOL).  He was bummed that he didn't have a ball to play with during recess and the kids playing hopscotch "really didn't know how to play."  He mentioned that a boy at his table was calling him mean names today ("I asked him to stop and he didn't. I was going to tell the teacher but everyone was talking.").  I'm erring on the side of low-maintenance mom and I'll let him work it out.

He looked so sharp in his uniform.  And so big.








I missed him a ton today.  It was crazy quiet around here (yes, I did still have two small boys at home, but the noise level associated with #3 is an exponential increase).  But he's going to LOVE school.  He loves to learn.  And I look forward to seeing how they deal with his math acumen.  He's doing second-grade math (the kid LOVES math... long subtraction and he's begun to teach himself simple multiplication, mostly thanks to the iPad, LOL).  There's a possibility of him moving up a grade just for math (how cool is that?), but his challenge is that he won't be able to read the worksheets because he doesn't read yet! (here's hoping that his teacher can boost his confidence in that arena)