Parent/Teacher conference

I just got home a little while ago from a parent teacher conference I had with Jack's teacher.  He is doing really well in school.  I just wanted to touch base and talk and ask some questions I have about his progress, the summer and next year.  Jack has made some great progress from when he first started in the fall.  His daily routine is getting more consistent and his receptive language skills are improving.  He has a large vocabulary but now its a matter of getting him to use his language when he is asked a question or when he wants or needs something. They have started (in the past week) to try and incorporate the first step of the PECS system in his classroom.  PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System.  Lynn and Rachel even made me up the same system they have for him at school so that we can start learning and working on using this system at home.  I found a web site that gives more information on the PECS if anyone wants to know or learn more.  Basically it is a system that allows nonverbal children with or without autism to communicate without words. PECS is used in a variety of ways–starting with pictures–to allow the child to make choices and communicate his/her needs.

http://www.tacanow.org/family-resources/pecs/

I also found out that the summer services we were hoping Jack might get offered he is not eligible for.  Jack after every break from school has not had any regression on his mastered skills, which is fantastic, but is the main criteria for being eligible for receiving summer services from the school district.  Justin and I were anticipating this so we have been looking into getting Jack some extra therapy over the summer and are going to meet with an ABA therapist next week about getting Jack started in ABA therapy for the summer. 

The last thing I was curious about was would Jack be returning to the same class next year?  I was very happy to find out that in most cases they try and keep the children in the same classroom.  This was what I was hoping for since we really like his classroom team, he has made such great progress and he really like his teachers. 

Peyton was a real trooper.  I knew she was going to be a little tired since I have been putting her down for her afternoon nap sometime after we get back from picking Jack up from school.  She cried for a little bit when we first arrived, but warmed up quickly to Lynn and Rachel, she wasn't to sure of Tyler ( I think its because he is so tall :-).  She managed to say away during our conference, but on our way home she kept saying "nap" and went down as soon as we got home...funny girl!

I am very happy that tomorrow is Friday because I am ready for the weekend.  Justin's good friend Parker will be flying in tomorrow night and spending the weekend.  Hope everyone has a nice Friday has a great weekend!  I will post again soon.

Happy Birthday Justin!

I want to start by wishing Justin a very happy birthday!  Since he has to work today we did a little celebrating over the weekend.  I made him homemade ravioli last night and got him a blueberry pie for dessert.  He was able to take Jack to Home Depot on Saturday and picked out a new grill.  On Sunday morning his friend Chuck took him to play a little golf at Top Golf .  He will continue his celebrating this coming weekend with his friend Parker who is coming in from St Louis. 

The past few weeks here have been full of activity.  The week before spring break Jack missed a day of school because he woke up with a terrible cough.  I kept him home and took him to the Dr to see if there was anything major wrong.  He said there wasn't so he went back the last two days before spring break.  While he was on spring break the cough seemed to get better and I though we were in the clear.  We had a few play dates and had family staying with us because of Peyton's birthday party.  The Sunday after Peyton's party Jack seemed fine, but when Justin's parents told me that when they took him to lunch at McDonald's and he didn't want to eat anything, including french fries (his favorite food in the world)  I started to suspect something wasn't right.  After he got out of his bath that night he was running a fever :-(  I let him sleep as long as he could Monday morning, but when he woke up he came out of his room, found the remote control, handed it to me and climbed up in my lap...This is not normal Jack behavior so I called and got him a Dr appointment.  Luckily my parents and sister were still in town so they were able to help me by taking Peyton shopping.  Jack didn't want to do or eat anything and got sick about and hour or two before we were suppose to go to the Dr.  Come to find out the poor guy had strep.  They gave him a shot and by the following day he was feeling much better.  He was able to go back to school on Wednesday, but since he had been off school for over a week and was getting over being sick he had a rough first day back at school.  Just when I though things were back to normal Wednesday night I notice he had a rash on his back and chest.  Called the Dr on Thursday and they said it was strep rash. I am really hoping that we are done with illness for the next few weeks...knock on wood :-)

Peyton luckily didn't catch anything from Jack, but we kept a low profile this past week.  I took little lady to her 1 year check up and everything looked good.  She now weights 20 pounds 8 ounces and is 28 and a half inches long.  She is trying to talk more and we are having a blast watching all the new things she is trying to do.  She is really getting the hang of walking and loves to try and follow Jack around the house. 

April is Autism Awareness month and April 2nd is Light it up Blue.  People, business and land marks for one night light it up blue help spread awareness for autism.  We got our blue light and I wanted to spread the word to anyone else who might be interested to stop by your local Lowe's or Home Depot and buy you blue light. 

I wanted to share something I am very excited about.  I contacted my city and got asked to help write a proclamation to make April Autism Awareness month in the city of McKinney.  The major signed off on it and it went into effect.  I got to pick up my official copy last Friday:

Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy 1st Birthday Peyton!

It has been about a week now, but Peyton is now 1 year old! I can't believe that one year has flown by so quickly. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. My little lady is becoming a toddler, but she will always be my baby :-)
We have been very busy over the past week. Justin's folks came in last Wednesday and stayed with us until Sunday. They got to spend a lot of time with both Jack and Peyton because Jack was on spring break last week. My parents and sister arrived on Saturday and stayed with us until today. We had a birthday party on Saturday for Peyton with our family and some close friends. It was a fun afternoon and Peyton really enjoyed herself. She loves to eat so she really enjoyed her cake. She didn't give everyone that huge cake smash, she preferred to try and eat her cake using a fork and never really make a big mess. She really enjoyed opening her presents and we got some great pictures of her on her big day.
Hope everyone is having a great week and I will post again soon (hopefully) to write about Jack and his spring break.

Jack's First Dentist Appointment

We just got home from Jack's very first dentist appointment and it went really well.  He was really good when the hygienist brushed his teeth.  She used a multi-sided tooth brush and let him sit on a bench instead of making him sit in the big dentist chair.  She was very happy with how his teeth looked.  She said visually she didn't see any problem spots (cavities), that he had great spacing between his teeth, and that his gums looked good with no real plaque build up.  He was a little more irritated when they brushed the fluoride on his teeth but recovered quickly.  When the dentist came in to look at his teeth he climbed up in the big dentist chair and layed back in the chair all by himself.  He did not like it when she started to look at his teeth so we had to hold his head so that she could try and get a good look.  It took a few tries but she eventually got a few quick looks.  She said she saw what see need to see and that everything looked good.  They sent us home with the muti-sided tooth brush to make it easier for us to brush his teeth here at home.  I was very proud of how well he did and I'm sure with each visit he will get more use to the process.  He will be going back in September for another check-up and cleaning.

Peyton did pretty good too and only got upset a few time.  She was very happy when they gave her a "baoo" (balloon) to take home with her :-)  Hope everyone is having a good first day of March.  Down here in Dallas we are enjoying an beautiful 84 degree sunny day.