Sunday, September 30, 2012

Preschool!

We started the process of enrolling Cooper in the special ed preschool and he had his evaluation on the 19th (I'm so far behind in posts!) and it went really, really great.  We're only doing the special ed preschool for speech therapy and it'll be good for him to have some additional structure and socialization during the day.  I never ever thought I'd be putting him in preschool at 3 but he really, really needs this speech therapy (especially since we learned on Thursday that our insurance is no longer going to cover his speech therapy...that's another post for another day).  He doesn't turn 3 until November 1st so he has another month before he can start the preschool. 

My hubby took the day off for the eval which was 2 hours long and there was a education diagnostician, a speech therapy and a physical therapists in attendance.  Cooper showed them that he knows all his colors, shapes and was able to identify some letters.  The speech therapist was so nice and she was trying to warn me that there's a huge discrepancy between his receptive (which is perfect) versus his expressive speech (duh, he has Apraxia).  We learned the difference between educational and medical speech therapy.  They're going to ask that he has an occupational therapy consult in the classroom.  We decided to take a break in OT a couple months ago because he was getting a bit burned out with so many therapy sessions.  He's almost 3 and has been in therapy since he was 6 months old. 

The staff told us that they're not the ones that approve eligibility but did tell us unofficially that he does qualify.  My plan is to put him in school for 2-3 days a week (he'll go 7:50-12:00) and they say that he'll get speech therapy for an hour on 2 of those days.  They'll also do pt and ot with him during the day, as well.  My hubby and I are both in agreement that this atmosphere will be good for him and we're actually a little excited for him! 

We went to lunch after the evaluation and had a lazy day for the rest of the day...

 
 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

We will never forget...

 
We went to eat Thai food the other night after a birthday party and the neighboring restaurant was doing an event to honor the 9/11 victims and families.  They had this FDNY firetruck out for display and the kids were allowed to get in and explore.   Our table at the restaurant was by the window so the firetruck was our view for the entire meal.  Inevitably, 9/11 was our dinner conversation, well, as much as it can be while dining with an almost 3 year old.  We talked about where we were and the tears and the anger that comes to mind when we think of all those lost on that tragic day.  How it would feel to send your husband/wife off to work and for them to never return home.  How it would feel to lose your child, the child that you raised and loved more than anything else on the planet.  I'm crying as I type this post as I think of the victims and families and it's been 11 years.  I didn't know anyone personally that died that day but I know they were fellow Americans, fellow humans of this crazy planet and their lives were cut tragically short that day.  Lives that can never be replaced. 
 
 
Those lives will never be forgotten.  
 
Cooper LOVED the firetruck!  He especially loved the part right behind the driver compartment where the extra fireman (sorry, I don't know what it's called) sit...
 


I like this one because he's peering out from behind the "Never Forget" sticker...
 



Monday, September 10, 2012

Art snob

We enjoyed a local art festival on Labor Day and just had a glorious day off with daddy!  There were so many different kind of artists there (the jelwery artist are my favorite, lol), the weather was nice and did I mention that we got a whole extra day with daddy!?! 
 
 
One of my favorite instagram pics from the day.  Cooper ran around like a crazy person inside this gazebo but did stop for one second so my hubby could snap this awesome pic :)
 




The Marietta Square is truly beautiful and Cooper loves this little train that they have there for the kiddos...



I mentioned that there were tons of talented artists at this festival but these two were my favorite pieces, lol...


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Mischievous

The other night, I was making a banana bread and Cooper took this moment to sneak into the pantry.  I'm busy and literally in one minute, he found my secret stash of M&Ms!  There goes the neighborhood ;-)

Monday, September 3, 2012

34 months

I don't really count his age by months anymore but I was thinking this morning about how in just 2 short months my baby will be 3 years old!  How did that happen!?! 
 
This pic was actually taken on Saturday when the boys were having a bonding day because my sister and I were at Dragon*Con.  He actually turned 34 months on Saturday so my hubby made sure to do a bunch of fun things with him that day.  One of those fun things was a Chick-fil-a picnic at Cooper's favorite playground. 
 
Coop is sporting his UGA shirt for opening game day!  My cute future bulldog!  :)  (Side note, that blanket that he's sitting on is the same blanket that draped his isolette in the NICU!)