Annual Review

Wow, time flies! We had Colin's annual IFSP meeting today (which was a tad bit early to accommodate our schedule) to discuss his progress in the last 6 months and to make a plan for the next 6 months. We are incredibly lucky to have the service coordinator that we do because she is amazing! She is so accommodating to ALL of our needs and she really is just so caring and understanding. It's unfortunate we only get to see her once every 6 months!

While these meetings have never been stressful because we have such a great relationship with all of Colin's therapists, I never used to like to hear the "numbers" of Colin's assessments because they showed the delays that we were facing in each area of development. However, today, there was so much to reflect on in terms of how far Colin has come that those numbers are a cause for celebration because they show how HARD he has worked to get to where he is today. He has made such great strides in each area. Colin's PT discussed reducing the number of sessions per week once he is walking because she knows it is coming soon, his speech therapist gushed over how great his receptive language is, and the OT is so happy with how well his pincer grip has developed since she started working with him. We all discussed adding developmental therapy back just to focus on age appropriate items like behavioral play such as finishing tasks when started because they will be so important for when he goes to school.


Speaking of which, our service coordinator discussed preschool! Yikes! I know it is a year away, but since we meet in 6 month increments AND we will begin touring our options in 6 months from now, she had to tell us what our options actually are now. There is a lot to think about and deserve its own post so I won't get into it now, but I am both excited and nervous about the thoughts of this transition. So, since it is literally a YEAR away, I'm not even going to think about this tonight.

Aside from the meeting, Colin, Kailey and I had an exciting day as we went to visit both Grandad and Nana's jobs! Coincidentally it was "take your kid to work day" so it seemed appropriate that we were there. We were so fortunate that so many people from both places of employment were very generous in their donations for the polar bear plunge, so it was nice for them all to see Colin. They were both gushed over and although Colin was shy at first in Grandad's office, he became quite friendly waving to everyone in the cafeteria as he ate his lunch. By the time we got to Nana's job, I realized that his mechanism for when he is nervous is to give lots of kisses to whoever is holding him, I'm guessing for the reassurance that we are there. My mom is a teacher in the district that I grew up and went to school in, and the school that she teaches in is where I attended 1st through 4th grade, so it was quite nostalgic for me as I got to go back and see what it was like now. I even got to see my 2nd and 4th grade teachers as well as my favorite science teacher from high school. It was a lot of fun for me to show off my kids at both places!

My little Kailey girl seems to be growing like a weed these days. The differences between the two are evident every day, especially when it comes to eating habits. Kailey does really well drinking her bottles (it was a struggle for us every day with Colin, but are you surprised?) so it's really helpful right now as we are still working hard with Colin's feeding. Whether or not Colin had DS, I know there would be big differences between the two, so it's interesting to me to see how different each child is. I'm sure it's always going to be interesting!