School is TOO Cool!!

Jace's first day as an Explorer was successful! 

He is so used to sleeping until about 7:30 every morning that I felt so bad having to wake him up. 

I went into his room to wake him up and found him like this. 

I think he was cold and his PJ's weren't quite warm enough because at breakfast he was saying he was cold and needed a jacket. This constant weather change makes it difficult to figure out if we will need the A/C or the heater. So I switched on the heater...poor guy was chilly! 

About to eat some Frosted Flakes before school! 

I was stressing about leaving on time....not too early but not too late. I didn't want to get there too early since we were going to have to wait for the class to walk by on their way to the classroom to join them. And I didn't want to get there too late since Justin and I had to sign in so we can go with him to his class. 

This morning Jace decided to take his time with everything! Getting down the stairs, eating, taking his medicine, putting on his shoes, getting in his car seat.........EVERYTHING! 

I kept my cool.......I got Levi and Jace buckled up and we were off. 

Justin calls me and tells me to not take the usual way because then I would be in line FOREVER behind all the parents dropping off students. So I took the other route. Come to find out I was not allowed to make a left turn into the parking lot where I needed to go. I had to make a u-turn and still ended up in line. It just wasn't as far back as I would have been. Lesson learned - get there early or just wait in line (it moves quickly)!

Jace in front of the school

(he was mesmerized by all the cars and kids getting out of them) 

We checked in and wait for his class to come walking down the hallway. 

Once they class was coming down the teacher asked Jace to grab a ring in the line. He jumped right in! No hesitation, no whining, no shyness! 

We went to the classroom with him and all the kids knew what to do to unpack and get ready for the day.

Once in the classroom, Jace paid no attention to us. He was following his teacher and listening to what she asked him to do. Justin and I seemed to be a bit of a distraction for the other kids so we slipped out and left. 

I still needed a few more items for Jace like ice packs and cups to take for his snacks at school. 

Levi and I headed off to Target to shop! 

Once we got home I had some laundry to catch up on.....and I had the CUTEST helper! 

"Mom, are you sure this isn't supposed to be hung dry?"

Shortly after that it was time to get Jace. He came out the school with a huge smile on his face. 

HE LOVES IT! 

This makes my heart so happy! 

Today I got a note from the teacher about yesterday. Mrs. Bravo really is a sweet lady! 

After meeting her in the ARD I knew Jace would enjoy her! 

Even after day 2, he is SO excited about going to school tomorrow! 

And....for some cuteness.....look at my 3 loves!! 

My heart.....mush!

Jace the Explorer

Jace LOVES when his daddy plays upstairs in the play room. 

A few weeks ago he started to get upset when he leaves the room to go downstairs. 

Its still amazes me how much Jace changes every week. His language seems to expand and mature a little each week. Little at a time but enough to see a difference! 

Despite the quick learning, he is still behind enough for strangers to notice the delay after being around him for a little while. 

I started the process of having him evaluated for speech through the school district before we made the big move. Since we never had formal testing and assessments done with Waller ISD, we just started over with Katy ISD. I am SO thankful for the resources available for children that are not school age yet. 

Private therapy is VERY expensive and we went that route when he was in daycare and I was working. It made sense. They came to the daycare to work with him and contacted me as needed about his progress. Now that I am at home with both boys, going to private therapy is just expensive and burdening with a baby. Also, I wanted to be sure he was evaluated for other possible issues that may not be speech related. At this point I was clueless on what is normal 3 year old behavior and what is due to his speech delay. 

As soon as we settled in the house, I called the PPCD (Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities) offices to figure out how to get started. Since it was over Christmas break it took a bit to get him in for testing. We finally got in for testing in late January! They evaluated him through play and a few formal testing procedures. After the assessment the "team" came back in and told us what they found. They said that his language is delayed in receptive and expressive, his articulation needs some work, and his cognitive function is delayed. I felt very worried and concerned that but after researching and speaking with another diagnostician I learned that cognitive function is difficult to really evaluate at his age. Also, the test administered uses a lot of language skills.  

Jace's first ARD (Admissions, Review, and Dismissal) meeting was this past Friday. We met with the school diagnostician, principal, speech therapist (Ms. Monson), and the PPCD teacher (Ms. Bravo). 

The ARD is basically for all of us to get together and agree to what Jace will need for services. The suggestion was that he attend the PPCD program Monday - Friday. Since he still naps in the afternoon he will attend the morning session, 8:20-11:20 am. He will ride the bus to and from school. At the moment he is VERY excited about this! He LOVES school buses. I hope the excitement continues once he realizes mom won't be on the bus with him. After the meeting we enrolled Jace into the school and he starts school on TUESDAY February 19th!

 I have a full list of supplies he needs but I did get his backpack already since I knew he needed that! 

Jace is now officially a Wolman Explorer

All ready for school!! 

Oh yes....and those glasses! :) They are new! 

At the end of the year he started to cross his eyes. I thought MAYBE it was on purpose (see below video) but after a few weeks it progressively worsened. He had his final post 6 month check up with the ophthalmology required for his old medicine. I mentioned the eye crossing and he said to keep and eye on it (no pun intended). It got worse quick so we went back to him. He is farsighted and the best way to fix this is with glasses first. 

We ordered his glasses and he's given us hardly any issues with wearing them. 

His ophthalmologist suggested Miraflex glasses. They are very flexible and near indestructible!

These are perfect starter glasses - so he can learn how to properly care and handle them. 

They sure do look cute on him! 

Jace's imagination has been blooming! I LOVE IT!! 

He has started digging for treasure chests that are locked. But he has the key....and in the chest there is gold, necklaces, rings, and pirate goodies!! :) 

Then sudedenly last week he came up to me with the kitchen towel asking to put it on to be Super Jace! This came out of nowhere! We never play super heroes or watch any on TV. So, I got something better for a cape (a blanket), put it on him, and he yelled "I'm SUPER JACE!!!" 

And just for fun, some random recent pictures 

Wrestling already! 

Jace being "Santa" in the bath

and a video of JB and Jace boxing!