Summer part 1

The first part of summer has just flown by! Its been fun. 

Fourth of July fun! 

Going to see, "Finding Dory". 

Lots of reading. 

Lots of running errands with mom. 

Lots of snuggles with Riley. 

Dave and Busters with Mamo. 

Washing cars.

Lots of swimming. So much fun with Quinn at Papo & Mimi's. 

Going out to eat at a fun cowboy place for Papo's birthday. 

Bubble Bash. 

See what the rest of summer holds . . . only 1 more month! 

Riley

We have a new addition to our family. Meet "Riley". He is Gregory's very own kitten. :) And they love each other. 

Karate

Gregory started karate over the summer. He became a yellow belt! So exciting! 

Second grade

Gregory is officially a 2nd grader! He is still in the ABC classroom and has his IEP. Hopeing by 3rd or 4th grade he can be in a main stream classroom. In the mean time, look how cute he is. 

First part of the year . . .

Well long time no see! I've been a little M.I.A. on here. Not sure why really . . . I guess no news is good news? All in all things have been good for Mr. G man. School is going really good . . . no behaviors issues (does having time out in the office yesterday count?) . . . just behind a little academically. 

Here is my attempt at summarizing the first part of 2015. :) 

He continues to lose teeth! He has lost 4 total. This one was in a hotel room. It litterally just fell out it was so loose. 

Gregory has a new baby sister! His dad and step mom had a baby. He loves being a big brother. 

Still going to our favorite place for sorbet, The Gelato Spot. 

The super bowl was here this year. We got to go to the NFL experience. It was . . . an experience. Good thing our friend gave us free tickets because it was a little too stimulating for Gregory. We did not last very long. 

Dinner with friends . . . 

Bed time dictionary reading (lol) . . . . 

Getting strep twice in one month . . . first time was all of spring break. 

Opening his first savings account . . . 

Dying Easter eggs . . . 

More In N Out . . . 

Field trips to Butterfly Wonderland . . . 

Cleaning the table after dinner in your underwear . . . 

Big surf . . . 

So far its been a great year. I am glad the school year ends this Friday. I'm looking forward to not being on such a schedule, more time with my boy, not packing lunches and just relaxing more. Hope you all have a great summer!!

Update

Gregory has been at his school a month now. So far so good. I feel like he is already  learning more but he is still behind. Working on writing letters, site words, writing numbers, ect. They work on behavior and for the most part he has been doing good. There are days when he doesn't get to go to treasure box. This is the daily reward for good behavior. I can't believe school is out in a little over a month! I'll let you know how the rest of the school year goes.

New school.

Hi all! So A LOT has been going on with Gregory at school. I've been a little too overwhelmed to do a post . . . and new things keep happening. I will try and give you the readers digest version. 

Its been a little over a month now . . . Gregory has always struggled with some behavioral issues at school . . . they have just really escalated. After several meetings with his teachers and thearpists . . . trying new things . . . changing his IEP . . . a couple more meetings . . . we have decided he needs a more self contained classroom. His current school does not have something like this. Only 2 other schools in the district offer something like this for Gregory. One just happens to be right down the street from my house and its actually where I went to school K-6th grade. :) 

He will be in a classroom with one teacher and two aids. There will only be 10 other kids. It seems like a very contained, positive, strict, structured, fun classroom. They can deal with and accommodate all the things Gregory struggles with. The whole goal is to get them back into a main stream classroom. They get the behaviors under control first and when they are ready they let them back into a mainstream classroom little bits at a time. They also join another kindergarten class to go to specials and lunch with. One of his neighborhood friends is in this classroom. So, he already has a friend. :)

I think it will be really great. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for listening!

Wanted: Wisdom & Guidance

Hi all . . . I'm going to try and keep this short and sweet . . . going through a hard time with Gregory again. His SPD/Behavioral issues have escalated lately. There are many things that can be contributing to this . . . but even with out these contributors, he still had issues. His therapy wants him to see a physiologist. So does his school. It is amazes me that these people who are around kids all day long can't figure Gregory out either. He truly is my Mystery Boy. 

I'm at a point right now where I don't really have any words. I feel kind of numb. 

There are 2 things I am certain of right now . . . 

1. Even though I know I'm doing the best I can . . . my mommy heart aches at the fact that there is something Gregory needs right now and that I don't know what it is. My heart literally aches. 

2. I don't want Gregory falling into the trap of thinking he is a "bad" kid. This makes my mommy's heart ache too. 

I want to remember how far he HAS come. That this too shall pass. 

I will sign off just asking for prayer. Prayer for:

Wisdom . . . being the best parent for him. 

Wisdom . . . for all his teachers/therapists. 

Guidance . . . on just what to do and what steps to take. 

Healing . . . of his sweet body and mind. That he would be in better control of his body and mind. 

Protection . . . over my sweet boy. 

Thank you to all of you out there listening.

Parent Teacher Conference

Hi all! Fall is finally coming here in AZ.  Which means parent teacher conference time. Gregory's dad and I met with Gregory's teacher last week. She said for the most part he is doing better and progressing . . . but he is no where were he needs to be. She said he would benefit from a smaller classroom. She said he does much better one on one and she just can't do that with him as much as she would like to. She said it wouldn't be anything that would happen this year but maybe talk about it at his IEP for next year. Hmm . . . And more than likely he will need to repeat kindergarten. My mommy's heart got a little teary eyed hearing this. Its like you know your child's daily struggles but hearing it in a more formal atmosphere makes it all more real. After the meeting I asked Gregory's dad what he thought . . . he is always good about putting things in perspective . . . he said Gregory has come so far since August, who knows where he'll be at in May. And he's right. Another example of how I'm always reminded to just take life one day at a time. No since in worrying. Just going to work more with him at home. Going to look at getting him a weighted vest to wear at school. Do more heavy work. See what happens.

Ain't it hot! Hot! Hot!

It is HOT here in Arizona! Looking for ways to get cool!!!! 

A great place here in the valley for any kid is the Arizona Science Center !!!! So much to do here! So fun! And there is AC!!!! We went on saturday. Good sensory stuff to do there too. If you haven't already, go check them out! 

 

Summer Time!

Gregory is officially done with preschool! You did it bug! Here comes kindergarten!!!!

We have a fun summer planned with learning to swim, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Physcial Therapy, bike ridding, Big Surf, The Arizona Science center, Summer Movie fun, books, family, The Zoo, bowling, church, learning, improving self help skils . . . 

Whew, I'm tired already! I really want to soak up this summer with Gregory before he starts school full time. Tear. :(  

You're making leaps and bounds bug! I'm so proud of you! 

Therapy.

Gregory is back in OT again! We love our therapist! We're going to Fiesta Pediatric Therapy! They are great. He goes every week! 

He'll hopefully go for Speech and Physical Therapy as well! Keep you posted!

IEP

Gregory had his IEP meeting a few weeks ago. All in all it went really well. Kind of big one since this is the one that will carry him into Kindergarten!!! Cannot believe my little boy is going to be in Kindergarten!!!! 

I'll try and give you just a general idea of how it went. Although Gregory has made progress, he is still delayed cognitively, in speech articulation, and motor skills. 

We all worked together to come up with goals that will best help Gregory in all these areas. The IEP was very detailed so his new teacher will know exactly how to best help Gregory. He will benefit from the use of a part time aid. He will receive speech therapy and Occupational therapy. I'll keep you posted on any new information!

Sensory Sand

I saw this on Pinterest awhile ago. Sunday Gregory and I decided to give it a try. Gregory LOVED it and played with it a long time! Its so soft, great sensory input and smells good! I got the recipe here.

We made it this far.

So, at 2:00 today I got the first call of the school year to come pick up Gregory . . . won't calm down . . . won't comply . . . being too physical . . . ect. Thats improvement right? I mean, last year the first call was in August and this is December! Go Gregory! (sense the slight sarcasm)

You know, this year, Gregory is in a "special" preschool class. You would think all the problems would go away. They don't. Don't get me wrong. For the most part, yes, its been a walk in the park compared to last year's school experience. Even on top of some changes that have been going on in our personal life, Gregory all in all has been thriving. Thank you Lord! 

But I still have "the talk with the teacher" . . . most Fridays . . . when I pick him up . . . we talk about behavior issues and such. 

Will he be ready for kindergarten?

He wants to touch others but does not want to be touched. 

Attention seeking behavior. Ignore or not ignore? 

Need more of his rice milk because he doesn't drink cow milk like the other kids. 

You need to get him evaluated to see if we can rule out autism. 

When will we know if he is ready for kindergarten? 

If he is ready, will he be in a mainstream classroom with strongly urged use of his own aid? Or a special needs classroom?

Where will he go to school? 

He needs to master certain things for Kindergarten like colors, letters, cutting, pasting, ect. 

He does know how to spell "Greg" right now. Makes mommy happy. 

And randomly on Saturday he just belted out his A,B,C's!!!! He'll be 5 in February and I have never been able to teach him this. I almost started crying! So exciting!

All in all he's doing much better this year than last year. This time of year I'm remind that this time last year, his teacher had the talk with me saying she can't keep him there any more. Ugh. So glad to not be there again.

Public

Go run errands with me sometime and this is often the face you will see.  Oh Gregory. What am I going to do with you? He is my mystery man. Gregory's sensory issues are not as evident when he is at home with just me and Tommy. But out in public its just right there in your face. As I've wrote before . . . I'm just being honest . . . I struggle with not having the "well behaved" or "nice" child. This was hard for this first time mommy to get over. Along with that came how to deal with a child with Sensory Processing Disorder in Public.

When we were first learning about Gregory and SPD we were also learning how to deal with it. Out it public he does weird (not appropriate public behavior) things, throws fits, ect. When he would "act out" I would respond as any normal parent would (should) do and discipline the behavior or correct it. You can't just fall on the floor in the middle of the floor at Big 5 for no reason. You can't spin in circles at In n Out hitting strangers in the process. Another honest moment of mine? I address these issues because I'm being a good parent. I also do this because I want these strangers to think I'm a good parent. I am in control of my child. He doesn't walk all over me. Because when you see a child acting out this bad in public the parent must not be in control, right?????

WRONG. 

Gregory has sure opened my eyes to that one! You never know why that child might be "acting" out. I now have learned to not care what people think (hard for me) and treat Gregory according to him being Gregory. I know he's screaming in the middle of Costco not to act out . . . but because something in his body needs to. I find ways to soothe him. Not discipline him. And who cares is Mr. Snotty Pants next to us thinks I don't have my child "under control". Gregory is my main concern. I do whats best for him. Don't get me wrong though. Gregory still does non-sensory-4-year-old-boy stuff. Such a fine line to know what is what. 

So, to all you parents out there with kids who don't have sensory issues . . . now you know. Don't roll your eyes. Give a sympathetic smile. 

To all you parents out there with kids who do have sensory issues . . . can I get wha? wha? 

Side Note: Costco is a great Galacotsemia friendly place to eat! 

 

Randomness

To summer camp or not to summer camp. 

Ugh! I'm so tired of running into another mom and her asking me, "What is Gregory signed up for this summer?" or "What do you have him doing?".

First of all . . . Gregory is my first . . . barely school age . . . I didn't know I was SUPPOSE to enroll him in stuff all summer!!!?? When I was school age I did the occasional week long vacation bible school. Thats it. My summers were spent playing barbie, ridding bikes, pretend, games, being outside, re runs, swim lessons, ect.  

Aside from all that though . . . the main reason we chose not to "summer camp" was I really needed the break from worrying . . . worrying if how he was doing . . . was he hitting . . . "acting out" . . . pooping in his pants . . .  I needed a solid 2 months where I just didn't have to worry. You know?

 

Happy Fathers Day!!!



Happy Fathers Day to all the great daddys out there! Gregory is so blessed to have the best daddy of all! I really won't change a single thing about this amazing man. I'm so blessed to have him as my partner in crime. Ü

I'm really reflective this Fathers Day because Fathers Day last year was horrible for me. Gregory was at his peak of SPD. It was just a really rough day. Mainly because we just didn't understand Gregory. Why was he acting this way? And we weren't handling it very well. It was all around this time when we were really realizing he had the SPD and learning how to deal with it and what do we do. Its been a year of constantly learning, adjusting, and patience. Gregory has come far. Its only going to get better. Its so exciting to see where we will be next Fathers Day!

Sensory play

Gregory loves to be naked! And loves his sensory tub of bird seed. This was all fun and games until I found him sitting in it. Needless to say I had to get bird seed out of places it was not suppose to be.

Week one

So for each week of summer I have planned for Gregory a letter, color, shape, and number to concentrate on. Last week was the first week. 

Letter: Aa

Number: 10

Color: Red

Shape: Circle

We did activities like eating apples . . . they are red . . . draw red circles . . . counting 10 red circles . . . red ice cubes. 

At the end of the week he knows what the color red is. Already could count to 10. Still working on circle and the letter A.