I just realized that it's been about a month since I last posted. Lots of stuff since then...I don't know why I haven't wanted to write about it, but I haven't not talked about it either. Big
week...Wednesday is the evaluation at Strong. Not sure what to expect, for Chris it can go either way. We may walk out of there with a diagnosis, or be told to continue services and come back in 6 months. I don't know which is worse...

I just got off the phone with a parent who is considering using the agency that we use because she wanted to know about our experience. I can't believe the conversation that I had with her. I got off the phone and looked at Chris and told him that. Crazy...for a minute I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone and then the next it dawned on me that this is life with Christopher. When we leave Strong on Wednesday with or without a diagnosis, it won't matter either way. If it all went away tomorrow, he wouldn't be him.

So this lady that I talked to has 2 kids the same ages and sex as mine. She is a pediatrician and her husband is also a doctor. Her son is in daycare and receives intensive therapy there so she is not there to participate. Her son is low functioning, no speech, etc... I believe there is a reason from the universe that this woman called me tonight. I had a great conversation with her not only about my experience with the agency, but also about our boys. This was the first time I felt I have ever talked so knowledgeably about something and felt confident about it in my life. You can throw any acronym at me and I know what you are talking about :-). Her being a pediatrician, she had nothing on me when it came to discussing this stuff. She could tell that I knew my shit. It's become a part of life over here, I am beginning to see what Jenny Macarthy means. I haven't wanted to read her books because I didn't buy the hype about the vaccinations but there is a lot more to it than the shot itself and reading her website made me understand that. It's very interesting...

So now for Chrissy....he is doing AMAZING! His speech has exploded! He will pretty much repeat any word that you say now, but also his expressive language has blossomed. He asks to go outside, for milk, for tv, for juice. If you ask him what he wants for breakfast he always says "toast". His personality is shining....he is such a goof. He has been having a lot of fun being outside, going to parties, playing with his sister and cousin, things are going great. Now that there is a lot to do outside, we're going to get working on those gross motor skills. He qualified for physical therapy and that starts on Wednesday also, so therapy 4 days out of 5...Friday is our only day off. It's a lot, but when you see such progress, it is all worth it...I would do 7 days a week if we had to.

His imaginative play is coming around a little bit. He will pretend to feed the puppet and is starting to play with play food. He is so into this little foam bowling set that the special ed teacher had that every time she would come the first thing he would say is "bowling". He must have played that for 6 weeks straight. Well, Melissa our special ed teacher took an early maternity leave so now we have Kristie and she is great too. He's still getting used to her and he is her only kid because she is only working part time easing back from maternity leave, so she is really into working with him. She comes on Tuesdays now and then Wednesdays are PT and then Thursday is the parent/child playgroup at Mary Cariola and Monday is speech.

Lots to work out with the plan for the Fall. The prek that Kim wanted him to go to is already full and she really doesn't want to see him end up at STARS because she is not comfortable with the place. I am going to call Mrs. Moore and see if they have any kids with needs that have their therapists go with them. Apparently this is another option...sending him to a non needs school and have Kim and Kristie go with him. It would only be the 2 day program and then he would also continue with his home services. So I would LOVE it if Chrissy got to go to Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Siebert like Bella (I was actually sad to have to tell her that he couldn't go there) but here's the catch...he will have to be potty trained, where as at the other schools for special needs kids, he wouldn't have to be. I'm not sure if he's ready....he has just begun telling me that he wants milk, how the hell is he going to tell me that he has to go to the potty. Maybe I am underestimating him...I guess I'll have to give it a try, he may just surprise me.