Yay Peter!

Yesterday when I went to pick up Peter from daycare, his Occupational Therapist, Ally, stopped to chat with me. She informed me that she had done an evaluation of Peter and he has scored in the "above average" range in the Grasping and Visual/Motor categories! He scored in the 68th percentile for Grasping -- about 5 months ahead of his age and in the 95th percentile for his Visual/Motor skills -- about 2 years ahead of his age! This coming Tuesday she is going to meet with Peter and present him with a certificate and explain to him why she won't be meeting with him anymore. He loves routine of course so it will take time for him to get used to not seeing her. Ally told me that she will miss working with Peter because he is a very well-mannered boy and he loves to learn new things. She gave me some information about the letter/handwriting program they were using so we will be able to get it for home. She said he is very advanced in his ability write. She also said that most kids his age can count to ten forwards and backwards -- he can do that but he can also count to 38 so that is fabulous as well!

By the way, Peter's new fascination is planets and space travel. He can name all the planets in order from the sun -- I couldn't even do that. We don't know where he learned it, but now he has mastered it. He always wants to draw pictures of rocket ships and his latest favorite book is Berenstein Bears On The Moon.

Peter has had OT since he was 15 months old. He has done well with all of his therapies but just as he learns a new skill, it seems his peers learn 3 new skills. We have always focused on his abilities instead of his shortcomings, but at times it's been hard to hear that he is "below average" in this area or that area. To know that he is above average in the area of Fine Motor Skills is very exciting! We are so proud of his accomplishments and his perserverence through the many hours of therapy and intervention.

Yay for Peter!

T-10 days!

We are so excited for our trip to Las Vegas. We leave in exactly 10 days. We leave on Sunday, August 9th and return on Thursday, August 13th (our actual anniversary). We are staying at the Bellagio. We are going to the show Blue Man Group and the rest is up in the air...we have a list of all the things we would like to do so we will plan it out when we get there...no strict itinerary for this vacation!

Originally my parents were going to take care of Peter while we were gone. That way he could keep up his routine of daycare and therapy. Well that all changed last week because my mom fell on our stairs and dislocated her right ankle and broke it in 3 places and sprained her left ankle badly. She had surgery on her right ankle last Wednesday -- they put 2 plates and 8 screws in. She remained in the hospital until Monday of this week. Now she's at home laid up...and will be for quite awhile.

Since my dad is caring for her around the clock, he wouldn't have much energy to take on Peter for 5 days. A long time ago Ben's parents planned a trip up here to visit us August 14-16. So we asked Ben's mom to take the train up on Saturday, August 8th and stay with Peter while we are away. And then she will go home at the end of the weekend visit with Ben's dad. She agreed and we feel very fortunate that she is willing to help us with this! Our trip is already paid for so we couldn't hardly cancel it...Plus we have a ton of vacation to use at daycare so we will save money by Peter saying home with her that week. He will still have his 6 ABA sessions and his teachers at daycare said Paula could bring him there for Speech on Tuesday and Thursday. So his routine will basically stay the same -- he'll just get to spend a lot of time with Grandma. I'm pretty sure he will get spoiled... :D

Our days continue to be busy...Ben works long hours and I juggle my job, Peter and helping my parents now as much as possible. But it will all be worth it when we relax at the Bellagio in 10 days...

That's all for now...have a great weekend, everybody!

I love Smilebox

My cousin introduced me to Smilebox. And wow, do I sure LOVE IT! I did my very first slideshow with just some random photos I have of Peter on my computer. I look forward to creating many many more Smileboxes! Thanks, Lisa!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Potty News

Well, it's official! Peter pooped on the potty on Wednesday night. We basically consider it a miracle. Let's all pray that it continues, ok??? We are SO proud of him!

Picture Fun

I have had some time the past few days to play with Peter's pictures! (Being creative for MYSELF rarely happens so this is a treat)

The first 2 photos are actually ones that my co-worker/photographer/friend, Jack, edited...the final 3 are mine. I'll be playing some more I'm sure so I'll post more when they are done! Enjoy...

4 year photos

We FINALLY had Peter's 4 year photos taken this past week! Here are our favorites:































I will be zooming, cropping, color adjusting and adding some cool effects so stay tuned!