Picture Of The Day

I know it's been quiet around here because... well... it's summer and we have nothing and everything going on.  There have been lots of lazy afternoons and evenings in the pool and a general attitude of doing just the minimum to get by while we have fun.

It's been super hot this week, so last night we decided to dine poolside.  Thank you, summer, for your bounty and Kroger for your manager's specials.

Mozarella - $2.58
Greens - $0.70
Tomatoes from the farm stand (I buy the less than perfect ones) - $1.00
Pitas - $1.09
Fresh herbs - $0.75
Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper - pennies

We so enjoyed this delicious dinner for just over $6.00.  And, of course, icecream followed for dessert.  We love summer.

Rex's Together Forever Day - Fifth Anniversary

Five years ago today, we took Rex out of his orphanage as our son.  Five years... was there ever life before Rex?

In spring 2010 when we had a medical review of Rex's referral information, the doctor told us that Rex might be "the proverbial vegetable."  Not responsive, not mobile, not interactive.  And as we landed in Yerevan to meet Rex several months later, I held Craig's hand and said, "What if he really is a vegetable?" and Craig answered, "Then he will be our vegetable."

Rex has turned out to be anything but what was predicted for him.  He's a strong, lively, interactive, opinionated, funny elementary schooler now.  He learned to walk when we were told he might not.  In fact, he runs, jumps, climbs and can ride a bike with training wheels.  He is no longer nonverbal as was predicted for him, but speaks around 30 words now, whether correctly or in approximation.  He repeats whatever he can, fighting apraxia of speech every single day.  He combines two words into sentences whenever possible.  Rex understands everything that is said to him and answers at a minimum with yes or no.  Rex also has become so much better at using nonverbal communication, such as gestures, facial expressions, and signs in combination with expressive language.  He thinks pointing is magical.  His desire to communicate is intense, despite the many obstacles he faces.

Fine motor and self-help skills are still a struggle for Rex, but he can complete interlocking puzzles, he can undress independently, and he can dress with some assistance.  He needs few prompts to follow through with a bathroom routine and is trip trained.  He loves public restrooms and actually initiates using them by signing potty.  He can drink from a water bottle and blow bubbles which is not an easy feat for a cleft-affected kiddo.

Most importantly Rex went from an angry, lonely, aggressive, isolated toddler to a fun-loving, affectionate, sociable elementary schooler.  He calls me Mama and daddy is Gagga with a finger pointing at his main man to make sure we understand him correctly.  Ella is Eh, Emilia is Eee-yah, and his friend Harry at school is Ha-Ha.  He asks for Ha-Ha on weekends because he wants to play.  Rex gives the sweetest kisses and snuggles up to us on the couch or in bed.  Rex loves to play outdoors and get dirty with sticks and mud and rocks.  He loves hikes and to race his tricycle down the street to where we can hardly keep up.  We can't drive past a playground without Rex signing, "Play."  He opens the refrigerator to get out salami and cream cheese to show us exactly what kind of sandwich he wants us to make for him.   He tells us yes and no with complete casualness and as a matter of course - as if it's not been just a year since he acquired this skill.  He gently feeds the animals when we visit our local farmer.  Every single person who has taken the time to get to know Rex loves him and his personality.

There are challenges for and with Rex nearly every single day.  There are tears and screams and falls and broken objects and scratches and frustrations and sensory avoidance or sensory seeking.  There are obstacles ahead for him and for us that we may not even know yet.  And that's okay.  We're together and we will keep walking the road less traveled.

Rex, words fail me to tell you what you mean to your daddy and me.

You are our perfect, precious son.  You are uniquely human.

The purity of  your love and your profound teaching are a great gift 
to our whole family.

I love you.  Daddy loves you.  Forever.

Picture Of The Day

Ella's breakfast - fresh kale and a peanut butter bar

*This photo was not staged. This is what Ella chose for her breakfast this morning.  Raw kale is quite often among her breakfast fare these days per her own request.

Happy Birthday, USA

... from our American girls.

Rex's First Graduation

Last week, Rex graduated from the PreK/K program he has attended for four years.  It was a wonderful celebration of all the children in the class, but especially the eight boys who are moving on to new settings.

Everyone received awards for awesome accomplishments.  Rex was noted for his improvements in oral motor skills and for being the best diver - we had no idea that he can pick up dive sticks from the bottom of the pool, but we have since seen it ourselves.

Receiving his awards

Potluck graduation feast -
we were so glad Oma and Grandpa could join us

The therapists also gave us several great pictures from Rex's last year in the program.

Laughing

Learning

Playing

Cheering

And hiking with his best friend Harry

A part of me is sad that Rex has to leave a program that has been a safe haven for him for the last four years, a program where he was truly cherished and loved and where he has learned so very much.  On the other hand, it's time for Rex to spread his wings and explore new settings.  The next several months are a big experiment to figure out what's best for Rex in the years to come.

Congratulations, Rex, you're a rock star.

Summer Home School Week Three

What?  Three weeks of the girls's summer break are over already?  I can't believe it.  We did a lot of good school work here last week and I am proud of the girls for hanging in there with a rather tough teacher.

Ella continued with daily math, reading and spelling.  We made an underwater-themed collage and experimented with creating foam.  Per chance, we came across the subject of fractions and Ella very much enjoyed it and quickly understood the basic concept.  I guess you'll just never know what makes sense to a certain learner at a certain time.  Ella needed to write a thank you note for a lovely gift she received from a friend, so we turned that task into her main writing project for the week.  Our week-long theme was about plants and we did several fun work sheets and successfully grew chia seeds in our kitchen window.  Ella really had fun with this subject.

Week 3 Work Wall

Elephant Toothpaste Experiment

Emilia is doing wonderfully.  We are continuing to knock out the sight words and are now focusing more on her IEP objective of reading 60 words from the Fry First 100 list.  She is also learning about directionality of print by reading sentences made up of sight words she knows.  She's doing such a great job.  And, she's almost mastered identifying and naming all the numbers between 11 and 21, another new IEP goal.  I thought this would take much longer, but I guess I should never underestimate the power of Easter eggs.

My mom, Ella and I went blueberry picking last week and came home with over 12 pounds.  Ella picked more than one pound all by herself and really enjoyed the experience as well as eating lots of the berries in the car.  We've made blueberry pancakes and cobbler and are otherwise snacking away.  Emilia is a big fan of blueberries (and also watermelon this year).

Blueberry Loot

Blueberry-Lemon Cobbler

This week is our last official week of summer home school and a much shorter week.  Let's see how it shakes out.

Summer Home School Week 2

Last week was a shorter home school week because we went on the annual camping trip with Craig's extended family.  So we worked extra hard on the days that we were home and still got a lot accomplished.

Ella continued with daily reading, math and spelling.  She also wrote a letter to her friend Lilit.  Our art theme was symmetry which we practiced with coloring pages and using the wooden pieces of our pattern boards.  Ella impressed me by creating three-dimensional symmetric structures with them.  For science, we studied interactions with water, making mixtures and solutions, first predicting how each item would behave when placed into the water.  Ella said this was her favorite part of the week's work which made my science non-loving heart beat a little faster.

Learning how to make pizza dough from scratch

Work Wall Week 2

Emilia continued with her sight words and now has mastered her new IEP objectives relating to reading nouns.  She did a surprising job with 1:1 correspondence counting to 20 placing objects into a cup and is beginning to receptively identify some of the numbers from 11-20.  Emilia's worst exercise is tracing with pen on paper.  She does much better in shaving cream or sand or with play-doh.  We also got out our plastic and foam letters and spelled some sight word nouns together.  In the end, Emilia impressed me by independently choosing the letters LKE, placing them side by side and telling me, "I spell like."  There's truly so much in her head that we don't know yet.

Of course, our camping trip also had some educational aspects to it.  Ella learned to cast a fishing line and after having read a book about the Big Dipper at home, we found it in the night sky.  All three kids got to watch hot air balloons soar above the campground and Ella became quite a good dog walker for Grandma's dog.

All in all, another fun and successful week of homeschooling.