Hope

We received Alex's IEP progress report and his Kindergarten progress reports on Friday, and I have finally found a little ray of hope. I think that sometimes it is easy for us to tell one another to not lose hope, but we don't really think about the real meaning and vastness behind that word. But when I see the words "Sufficient Progress" or "Secure" on these pages, it makes the real feeling of hope come back to me.

Lately, Alex has really enjoyed playing doctor with his stuffed animals, and of course Tony and I have had to get several check ups. I like watching him come up with ideas as to what ailment each of his animals have, and what he has to cure it.

First, Blue got a check up.

Then, T. Rex got an X, because that is in his name.

Those are his doctor tools he used to make Blue feel better.

This was after I broke the news to Alex that T. Rex was the last of his kind... that dinosaurs died off a long time ago.

This week brought snow. Alex had two days off this week due to snow, and one of those days he was able to spend with Grandpa, while the other he spent with mom and dad.

He enjoyed his time with us, but when he went back to school on Thursday and Friday, he was a bit confused. At the end of both days he wanted Grandpa, because he thought that he was supposed to pick him up from school. This made him a bit irritable, and he didn't want to focus at the end of the day. So, his teachers came up with an amazing idea to have a picture of the bus above his coat hook for days he rides the bus home, and then a picture of Grandpa by his hook for days when Grandpa comes to get him. We hope that this will help him to concentrate a bit more, because there will be less uncertainty in his day.

The best news that I got on his reports was, "Alex will answer some who, what, where questions when listening to a story. He will occasionally ask a question to get information. Alex is just starting to use picture cues to comment on an activity in speech. He is also starting to work on labeling the emotion 'mad' using picture cards/story." This is great because he is not only working on identifying his own emotions, but he is also starting to ask questions! Even if he is starting to resist doing his homework again (meaning screaming matches, hitting, ripping things... etc.) and he is still not cooperating fully in school, at least he is gaining some ground in his speech so maybe one day we can be told why he is angry or frustrated, rather then having to guess.

I am extremely lucky that Tony is so strong. Yesterday, after spending a whole day fighting with Alex to get his homework done, I went into the kitchen and had a few tears while Tony gave it a shot after he came home from work. Leave it to Dad to get stuff done. Alex finished his homework, and I was so grateful that Tony is here with me. I feel like such a wuss compared to him. I have a great partner in him, and I am so thankful that he has the ability to get through to Alex when I can't. No matter what, no one can take away the fact he has done so much to positively influence Alex and I's lives, and he definitely deserves the title of "World's Best Dad".

So to summarize, this week was rough on us again. Things will get better, but I am clinging to my last shreds of hope. I am putting my positive energy into this week, hoping that it is even a fraction of a bit better than last week or the week before. For now, though, there is a light snow falling outside, and I think it is about time that Alex and I go out there to stretch our legs a bit.

All work and no play makes him a hungry guy.