June/July:
The end of June saw a huge change for our family. Joey started going to daycare/preschool for a couple of days a week so that we could integrate him in with kids. I didn't realize how unsocialized he was until I saw his behavior around other kids. It was anything but a smooth transition. Joey struggled with displaying good behavior and structure. He tended to fight with other kids. There were also some red flags raised with behavior and learning style. I became really concerned and was lucky enough to have some good resources through the director of the daycare and through Multicare.
July consisted of a big 2 week vacation to San Jose, CA and Lake Tahoe, Nevada. My Mom, Joey and I braved the 14 hour drive and were relieved to arrive in San Jose. I used the vacation as an opportunity to wean Joey from his pacifier. I simply told him I forgot it at home and would you believe...the kid hardly missed it. Had I known it was going to be that easy I would have done it a year prior! While in the Bay Area we visited San Francisco, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and took a big hike in Big Basin...Redwoods everywhere! Joey would tell you that the Boardwalk was his favorite part of the whole trip. We got him an unlimited rides bracelet and that kid ran from kiddie ride to kiddie ride. To this day he still ask daily to go to California to ride the rides. Cody and Ashley flew into the Bay Area to meet us and drive up to Lake Tahoe with us. You should have seen my car with all of our luggage plus 5 people. It was a tight squeeze. Cody, Ashley and I visited the casinos to celebrate Ashley's birthday. I taught Ashley how to get free drinks (not hard) and she in turn watched me lose money gambling. As in every year prior we use Lake Tahoe as a place to relax while on vacation. Of course we visited Virginia City and trekked up to Squaw Valley, home of the 1960 Winter Olympics; but for the most part we lounged around, went to the beach and ate lots! At one point at the beach Cody rented a ski doo and Joey got to ride on it. He was so excited. My Mom, Joey and I also took a boat ride on the Lake. We enjoyed some Mimosas and the captain let Joey "drive" the boat. As every year prior, we had such a good time.
August/September
August remained pretty uneventful for us. I was offered a job at Joey's daycare as a substitute whenever needed. It was an exciting change since I had been staying at home with Joey for over 3 years. During this month I mainly helped out with field trips. I also started having Joey tested for the behavior he was exhibiting. The word Autism was tossed around a lot, but after taking a Vineland test with a social worker at Mary Bridge it was apparent to her and to me that while he had some of the symptoms of Autism, he indeed did not place on the Autism spectrum. Instead she encouraged me to seek out further testing for Sensory Processing Disorder. In a nutshell Joey is a sensory seeker. His sensory system doesn't "sense" as well as the average system so it was the reason why Joey has to touch everything or really run into something or someone to feel. His behavior was showing that he was not being body aware and while he was hitting kids constantly, it wasn't in a malicious way...he just didn't realize his own strength. I did lots of research and got a referral for this disorder, but was also encouraged to take Joey to the Tacoma School District for developmental screening to see if he could get into early developmental preschool.
In better news, this month marked the official time that Joey was fully potty trained!
September brought more major changes. As a result of changes at the daycare I was offered a part time position as the classroom assistant for the Schoolmates class (2nd grade to 6th grade). To this day I work a split shift from 7:30-9am where I drive the kids to school (I am a pro at driving 15 passenger vans) and then I come back from 3-5:30pm where i pick the kids up from school and be with them until closing. While I never saw myself working with kids since being a stay at home mom, this job has been the best one I have ever had. The kids are amazing and I have learned so much in the process.
Joey also started in his new classroom this month, the Trackers. The transition was not easy for him. The structure and schedule was pretty rigid and Joey had trouble following the rules and instructions. At one point I had gotten a couple of incident reports home for Joey "strangling" other kids. I use that term loosely because it turns out Joey is a whole head taller or more than the other kids and what was thought as chocking was really Joey giving tight hugs....around the necks of other, smaller children. While things were really dicey in class with Joey, we were able to get him in for a screening with the school district. They tested a broad range of skills (motor, verbal, etc) to see where he was at for his age. We were politely asked not to return as Joey was scoring above average and did not qualify for development preschool.
October/November
October meant saying Happy 30th Birthday to Josh. For as long as I have known Josh he always told me he never thought he would make it to his 30th birthday. This morbid thought always worried me, but I was bound and determined to prove him wrong...and I DID! I threw him a surprise birthday party with the theme as a Halloween Party. He was surprised and I was happy with the turnout and the mass amounts of Halloween decorations we acquired!
While not everything about turning 30 is fun, Josh had to go in for a sleep study for his sleep apnea (that he swore he didn't have, but I beg to differ!). While his heart hadn't really been giving him any trouble it was concluded that sleep apnea could be a big part of his health problems. From irregular heart beats, to constantly being tired to chronic pain, sleep apnea can do a real number on your body and we weren't ever aware of the effects of that. He qualified for a CPAP machine and let me tell you, there is nothing hotter then sleeping next to a creepy masked Josh every night. But I am not complaining...at least he doesn't snore!
On the daycare front Joey and I's class got to celebrate Halloween Parties and Field Trips. What I like about my schedule is that I can work but also spend lots of time with Joey and his class. Joey's Trackers class went to the retirement home this month as well as the fire station. The kids were amazed by the fire trucks and were lucky enough to be there during an actual call out so they got to see the firemen and trucks take off.
One of my very favorite parts about October was Trick or Treating as a family. We took Joey to my parents neighborhood to trick or treat. Joey desperately wanted to be a blue dinosaur this year and would not take any substitutes. It took a while for us to find him the right costume and Amazon.com had one just right for him. Unfortunately it was one size too small, but in Joey's eyes that didn't matter. I even dressed up as a cat to go with Joey. It was awesome b/c one house was giving out full size candy bars to the parents who were dressed up. SCORE!
November
This month was a quiet month for us. It seems that time adjustment has really helped Joey tame down at preschool. I felt lucky enough to have one of my kid's moms in my class as an occupational therapist who deals closely with sensory processing kids. With her help and the help of the teachers and directors at the daycare we were able to sit down and make a plan for Joey to adjust and cope. I can happily say now that the improvements that Joey has made because of that meeting have greatly changed how he behaves and has reduced the stress that I and his teachers have been dealing with. One of treatments that was implemented was a weighted blanket during nap time for Joey. It seems to help him relax and calm himself down for sleeping.
I was suckered into doing a Thanksgiving Day 5k (Norpoint Turkey Trot) with Kara. The days before we had a huge snowstorm and there was ice everywhere. This being my first 5k ever I about died. It probably would have been a better idea to train before hand, but you know how I like winging things. While it was quite demanding and I was pooped afterward it didn't stop me from signing up for another one. Oh yeah and there was nothing more fulfilling then running 3.1 miles and then stuffing my face full of delicious Thanksgiving food afterward. Oh...and some wine too.
December
Oh December! How we love the Holidays. We attended a Young Life Auction where we were the lucky purchasers of a 9 foot tall Christmas tree, fully decorated. Lets just say that that was fun fitting into our apartment.
Andrea and I enjoyed our yearly tradition of making a gingerbread house, but this year I made her run in a 5k before hand. I am almost certain she could have kicked my butt, but she was nice enough to run with me.
This month also marked our 5 year wedding anniversary. Josh surprised me with a trip to Vegas in January. I got him a deep fryer. I can confidently say that we were both happy. As per usual we celebrated Christmas Eve and Josh's parents and Christmas morning at my parents with dinner at our apartment later on.
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