If you've read this blog for a while you know that I love Riley's special ed preschool teacher. Each day we send a note book back and forth in Riley's backpack and she gives us a short update on how the day has gone. I highlighted some of these messages while I was trying to decide which preschool to select last spring. You can find that post here. I love the notebook!
Yesterday the notebook came home and it reported:
Holy Catfish Batman! Riley was ON today! He raised his hand and volunteered that the month was October during calendar. He read names of two of his friends during circle and he Clearly said every letter in his name. He also called Alice by name and thanked her for changing his diaper :-)
OK first I had to laugh at Holy Catfish Batman. I love that she is so excited for Riley. Then we have to celebrate Riley. I know he does well at school and he works really hard to complete the tasks asked of him. To raise his hand by himself and answer a question about what month it is is HUGE. That is a ton of processing in a very short amount of time to come with an answer on demand in a group setting. Then you add in that he is recognizing his friends names as well as his own during circle is very impressive. He has been telling us the letters in his name for a while now but only if he didn't really think anyone was listening. It was like he was keep a secret from us so we wouldn't expect too much from him.
My mom is pretty sure that if he is thanking Alice for changing his diaper then he is ready to not have a diaper. I'm sure he is too... but I'm not. That is a lot of work making sure a little person gets to the potty all the time. I need to make the time and just dive in but I've been hesitating. His teacher is pushing it as well for a self care goal at his upcoming IEP meeting. All things point in this direction except me wanting to deal with dirty pants and being forced to take him to the potty every time he decides it would be fun to tell me that he has to go and who really is silly enough to doubt a potty training toddler's need to make it to the potty fast. More to come on this topic I'm sure.
Riley's IEP meeting is next week. I think I will always have some anxiety about these type of meetings but I'm also excited for it. I want to see what the next round of goals will bring. Its always interesting to me to see what the next steps in the progression of his development are. For example I know that I want him to talk but there is a process to speech therapy. Which sounds should be developing in which order and so on. I find it super intriguing. Some days I wonder if I shouldn't go back to school for special education or speech therapy. I think it would be fun change of pace... and then the thought of school shakes me back to reality.
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| Riley with his teacher Miss Michelle Spring 2010 |
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| Riley during school with his buddies Spring 2010 |
Well who wouldn't love "Holy Catfish Batman!" I mean really, that's spectacular.
ReplyDeleteThat's so completely awesome, what a great day for Riley! I'm reading this thinking he's braver than Abby, as just in her Sunday School setting she totally introverts when there are more kids (not sure if that's proper usage of that word, but we're running with it). What a muffin! Are you tired of hearing about how this article is my new favorite? Because this totally is. I'm just so proud and wishing we got to be around your family. But as we always go back to, it's best you are where you are...Dang it!
I LOVE IT!!! What a great teacher he has! And WTG on all the achievements.
ReplyDeletePotty training sucks big time, but it probably won't be as bad as you anticipate. Find a window of opportunity (ie a week or two with no appointments, or minimal things to do or go to, which I know is next to impossible, but you can do it) and just do nothing but potty train. I managed to train Kaia in about 3 weeks (she turned 3 at the end of that 3 weeks) because I did not want this to be a long drawn out process. She couldn't tell me she needed to go, but she could accurately say yes or no when I asked her. My biggest piece of advice is ditch the pull-ups, except for night time, and go straight underwear. Pull-ups only confuse the matter. The first day you'll probably have 500 accidents (ok, maybe really only about 10), but don't give up. The next day you may have 9, and the next 7 or 8. It will get better and better, and may even get a little worse somewhere in there, but hang in there. You will quickly learn his signals and signs and times when he normally seems to go (ie 20 minutes after a meal time or something). You're not just training him, you're training yourself. If I had to go to the grocery store, I still would keep the underwear on. I just brought a blanket for her to sit on in the cart and made sure I had lots of wipes with me, just in case. I would take her to the bathroom right before we left, and take her again as soon as we got there. I would ask her VERY frequently while shopping and then take her again as soon as we got home. People thought I was nuts to go with no pull-up but she never once had an accident because I just kept on top of it. All of the repetition and reminders taught her to pee in the toilet and not her underwear and she just learned to hold it longer and longer.
Wow...that was a long, drawn out paragraph of totally unsolicited advice!! Sorry.
WAY TO GO RILEY!! That is great!! I feel ya on the potty training thing. Ella is doing great at school with the potty stuff but at home seems to forget. I just wish I didn't have carpet then I would try no pullup. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome!! We have had a notebook all through elementary school and I love it.
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