Preschool and Some Accomplishments

The time has finally come for Dylan to start preschool.  I still can't quite believe it.  I am still not sure that he is ready but I guess I'll never know unless we give it a try.  I will say this though, I am feeling very happy about the school that he will be attending.  The staff there were so welcoming and friendly and fell in love with our little man the first time they saw him.  We knew it was going to be the perfect school for him.  He most likely won't be starting until the end of August but I thought that I would post some info about the school because I have had a lot of people asking about it. 


The CHIME Preschool and Kindergarten Inclusion Program an alternative to public school programs for children ages three through six years. It provides an educational and therapeutic program in which special education, speech and language therapy, and other needed services are provided in an integrated fashion in the context of the general classroom.


The goal of this program is to facilitate children's development by (1) providing access to the regular early education program, including its curriculum, environment, and inclusion with typically developing peers; and (2) providing transdisciplinary early intervention in a developmentally appropriate context.


The CHIME curriculum facilitates children's development in all domains, including language/ communication, social, adaptive, problem solving, social, and fine and gross motor.


The program has an emphasis on child-initiated activity and learning through exploration and play. Children who have disabilities may need extra support to succeed in this type of learning environment. CHIME staff help children to learn to select and complete activities with increasing independence, to initiate and sustain play with peers, and to use appropriate language and social skills to solve problems and conflicts as they arise.


Individual activity plans are developed and implemented on a daily basis to address each child's IEP (Individualized Education Program) objectives. These plans are carried out in both regular classroom activities and in small group or individual sessions with a paraprofessional or special education teacher. Progress is monitored on a regular basis through daily and weekly written notes, as well as regular reviews at staffing meetings.


Speech and Language therapy is provided in the context of the regular classroom and outdoor curriculum activities and routines to facilitate language and communication in a social context. Each child’s program is individualized and targeted support is provided throughout the school day. By bringing the expertise of the professional to the classroom recommended strategies are modeled and taught to the rest of the staff.


Inclusion is a team effort combining the expertise of general early childhood educators, special educators, designated instructional services (i.e., speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, adapted physical education teachers, etc.), and parents. This requires ongoing, intensive collaboration with time and resources for joint planning, staff development, and reflection on the success of the program.


The inclusion team consists of the general and special education teachers, paraprofessionals, designated instructional services personnel and other consultants; and the parents and other family members.


The CHIME inclusion specialist (special education teacher), a professional with expertise in early childhood-special education, develops and models classroom modifications, lesson plans, and intervention strategies. The special education teacher partners with the general education teacher to provide planning, teaching and assessment. In addition, together, the teachers supervise the inclusion assistants (paraprofessionals), who are usually assigned on a ratio of one assistant to two or three children with disabilities.




I have been a blogging slacker lately, but let me assure you this has not been by choice - I just haven't had any free time.  I have been wanting to share some of Dylan's recent accomplishments, they may seem small to some but to us they are AMAZING! 

He can say "mama" and he says it all the time!  It has been difficult to get on video because the moment I get my camera he gets camera shy.  Sometimes he likes to whisper "mama" and then say "MOM" really loud.  He is also babbling more and more, saying "gaga, wawa, mama," etc... the speech therapist is very happy as are we.  This is not the best video but he does say it. :)



He can also do 'high five,' and he will do it to anyone who asks him, not just me.  I made some new flash cards this week and was amazed to see how fast he learned them and was able to pick the correct card - he is so smart.
This video is from PT the other day - I am so impressed with his balance and mostly him holding on!

He can sit with his legs crossed!  He used to only be able to sit when his legs were out straight like a "V" 

He can stand with just his shoulder blades touching something for balance for up to 10 minutes at a time, whereas before he would have to have his whole body against the wall.  Once again this is HUGE!

Today I was out in the backyard hosing off the highchair and Luke and Hailey were playing with the hose and splashing in the puddle that they were making and Dylan was inside.  Dylan rolled over to the sliding glass door and made his usual noises that mean 'pick me up' and wanted me to put him down right next to brother and sister in the water.  The moment I sat him down he was all smiles and interacting with them, it is so wonderful to see the cognitive changes happening.  

He can stand like this too!

My cutie pies. 

Cowboys and a Cowgirl

This awesome old barn is around the corner from our house.  I have always thought that it would make a cool photo shoot area and last week during my run I came across a bridal party taking some pics next to the old fence and I said "I gotta get my littles up there and play around with my camera."  So, yesterday evening off we went down the street with the kids and tow and me with my fingers crossed that I might get one cute shot.  Oh, and we were probably trespassing but we didn't get caught. :)

Here are a few of my faves.  Please bare with me, I am still a photo amature, but I sure do love taking pictures.

A dose of reality

I can usually go about my day and not give Dylan's diagnosis a second thought because I think of us as a "normal" family, but Thursday night I got a little reality check.  When I went to check on him before I went to bed I found that he had vomited and as I picked him up he felt very hot and it seemed like he was having a seizure.  His eyes were rolling back, he was grinding his teeth very hard and his whole body seemed to be in a contracted state.  We tried to get his attention by calling his name and patting his back but he couldn't focus.  We decided to go into the ER, luckily the hospital is just a few short miles away and I ran in holding him close and cut in front of a lot of people in line and said " I am so sorry but my son is having a seizure!" (to my surprise as I said this the tears started to flow).   Everyone moved nicely aside and they took us back.  Once I laid him down he seemed to be coming around and was grabbing at the nurse's stethoscope.  His temp in the ER was 101.8.  They gave him Tylenol and Motrin and checked his blood and urine and did a chest x-ray - everything came back OK and the doc thought he just had a virus that caused the febrile seizure.  We were in the ER until about 3am and then they let us go home. 

This scared me to death and to be honest it made me think, "is this going to be the horrible seizure that takes him from us?"  It reminded me how fragile Dylan really is and it made me sad.  I was once again asking, "why did this happen?"  "Why did our child get diagnosed with this rare syndrome?"  ARGHHHH! It isn't fair!   If Hailey or Luke had a fever of 101.8 they wouldn't have a seizure.  I could go on and on, blah blah blah... but then it made me think all weekend about how fortunate we are that Dylan is fine and has only had two febrile seizures in his life.  I spoke with his Neurologist today and his latest EEG was normal.  I know that seizures could always be a possibility but I am thankful today that he is not on any medication and besides having a rough couple of days following the seizure and his body fighting off the virus he is completely back to the same old happy Dylan. 



  

Yoga with Dylan

On Sunday my sister and I took the kids down to the beach in Malibu.  It was overcast, but warm and fun.  The kids had a blast and Dylan had quite the little yoga routine going on, we were cracking up watching him.  It went something like this...

First, you start out on the towel, but only for a second, while you do a quick meditation.  Make sure you grab a foot for this calming exercise.Then, you roll well away from the towel, making sure you perform a "swim like" maneuver with your arms while working your fingers in the sand... DON'T FORGET TO SMILE!

Lastly, for the ultimate stretch, you alternate foot grabbing - right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot and so on until you get tired and then kick both legs out simultaneously.  This exercise is best when done in wet sand.  Don't worry about getting all dirty - that's the best part!  These yoga poses can be repeated throughout the day for maximum happiness. :)

Hailey and Lukey had fun too.  This was Luke's first time to the beach since he has been walking and it was a little hard but that didn't stop him from making his way to the water with sister.

 After all sister is soooo much fun!

 My attempt to get a picture with the littles...  this was the best we could get.

 Dylan loves to fly

 Photo courtesy of Hailey

Dylan the model

Today was a very special day for me.  I was asked by a photographer if she could use Dylan for a photo shoot for her web site.  She heard about Dylan's story and saw his pictures and couldn't wait to use him as a little model, and because Luke is sooooo cute as well he too showed off his modeling skills.  Watching my babies smile for the camera made my heart warm and filled with love.  I was brought to tears (good ones) a few times and couldn't believe how beautiful my boys were.  It made me so very happy to see Dylan so photogenic and smiling ear to ear in almost every shot.  I am always so touched by how Dylan affects people.  Everyone immediately loves him so much.  It is truly amazing to witness and it sure makes me one proud mama.  Thank you Sharon for thinking of my boys and thank you Lila for taking the most amazing pictures.  I am so anxious to see the proofs. :)

Here are just a few pics I took last weekend.  I thought they were just too cute not to share.

She loves him so unconditionally.  Hailey is the best big sister Dylan could have asked for.

A Day At The Zoo With The Littles

The past few weeks have been crazy busy for me.  I have been picking up a lot of extra shifts at work, and with labor and delivery it is always CRAZY!  I almost always leave work with an aching head and aching feet.  Not to mention that I have had a lot of extra appointments for Dylan and back to dealing with his IEP has me really stressed out.  I have changed my mind on where I want him to attend school and am now in the stages of informal due process to see if we can get his placement changed to a preschool that has a mixture of "typical" kids and special needs.  I went and toured this school for the second time last week and fell in love with it.  I think that they will be able to meet all his needs and I am really excited that they integrate the typical kids into the classroom.  Dylan would get a "typical" buddy during certain activities which I think would be wonderful for him.  Now I am just hoping that we can get him in to this school being that it is a non-public agency it can be challenging to get an open spot but, I know that if it is meant to be it will be.  

Yesterday, I decided to get my mind off my stress so the littles and I hit the zoo.  First off I have to mention that I think the L.A. Zoo is ALL UPHILL!  Is that even possible?  It must be, because my legs are still burning from pushing all three kids in the stroller all afternoon, and no I do not have a triple stroller but a double jogger and Hailey sits on the front where the boys feet go.  I added it up, I am only pushing around 130lbs, so you can say I got a good workout in. :)

 I was stopped by some random dude telling me how cool he thought my chucks were - right!  I think so too, converse are way cooler than heals any day.

Good times.