Sam Update

Well Sam is FOUR now. Can't believe how fast time flies by. At the beginning of the school year he was so hesitant to get on the bus, most days I had to walk him to the bus or threaten he would have to take a nap if he stayed home. Made for some frustrating mornings but now he just gets on the bus like it isn't a big deal at all. Which is so nice, he even says that he misses "Grandma Ceciley" on non-school days. Grandma Ceciley is the classroom Grandma, she loves Sam and Sam loves her. She is 85 and I hope she comes back next year because Sam would be so sad if she "retired". Sam is shy in the classroom (which is surprising!), so we will have him stay in the same class next year.

Last month Sam was re-evaluated at OT. I wasn't there for the evaluation. Joseph had kindergarten round-up, so Daniel took Sam to therapy and I took Joseph to kindergarten round up. Sam did so good, SUPER good. Daniel said that Steph (OT) stopped doing the evaluation when he was doing over 60 month activities. Overall, though he was two months ahead. This has never happened for Sam. I remember when he was around two, he was a full year behind according to the evaluations. Just crazy to see how much he has grown and changed over the past two years. Samuel's previous evaluation he was two months behind, which is very common of even typical children. According to the school if a child is four months or less behind this is considered typical.

The most exciting news is that he doesn't even qualify for therapy. Kind of a double edge sword, but I am going to just look at the positives. He does qualify because of his diagnosis for check-ups, so every three-six months we will go in for reassessments. Which makes me happy because I really want to make sure that he continues to progress and that he is still age appropriate before kindergarten.

Sam know all of his letters besides "K" and "F" but he knows that it is either a "K" or an "F". He will often say people's names instead of the letter, or "Pirate" for P. When we say "NO, what letter is that?" He will say "P". This is how Joseph learned his letters too, which his teacher said is actually a good sign that reading will come easily for him. So I am hoping that Sam will take after Joseph, at least in the learning style. Joseph likes to do spelling with Anna, and asks me to ask him to spell different words (not that they are always right....but he is SUPER ready for school).

Sam is still our "mad scientist". He is constantly conducting experiments at home. One day he filled up the kitchen sink, gathered a bunch of items and was going to see which would sink or float. I had just assumed he did a similar experiment at school, but when I asked his teacher she said NOPE. They say he is always at the science center during play time. He loves to manipulate objects and see how they work.

Head Start has been amazing for Sam. I raved about Head Start when Anna went there, but for a child like Sam it is the perfect program for him. Because he wants to keep up with everyone, he is learning and growing so much. The other day he was showing me how he does the Crab Walk super fast. Instead of using both of his legs he puts his left leg on his right leg and then he can go super fast. At first I was like SAM use both legs, but then I started to think about all of the ways he has learned to compensate for his weakness and it is amazing how his little brain works. I stopped long ago trying to tell him how to do things. I remember two years ago when the therapist were pushing for him to place beads on the shoe lace. I tried to show him over and over how I thought he should do it. He struggled and struggled with doing it the way I was showing him. Then one day I saw him putting all the beads on the shoe lace without any help. He did it completely different then I was showing him, but he put every single one on without any help. Sam does things his own way, but he keeps up and doesn't seem to notice or care that he has to do things differently then the other kids. I pray that will always be the case.

Two things we will continue to work on; jackets and swimming. Sam loves to swim but he doesn't use his left arm at all in the water. Sam really struggles getting his left arm through his jacket. I am constantly saying "LEFT arm first" but he just doesn't seem to remember to do this, so I usually just help him. I am hoping that next year he will be a bit older and this will come. Over the summer we will practice swimming but if things don't improve I will find some swim therapy or swim lessons that hopefully will help him be more comfortable.

Besides that we are all doing great. I am almost done with school for the semester. I am not taking any classes over the summer. Next semester is my final semester before I apply to the nursing program. I am just trying to get super good grades so I get in. The program is competitive and a really good program. If all goes according to plan, I will start the Nursing Program when Samuel starts kindergarten. (and Lillian goes to middle school! CRAZY!) Will be a crazy year, but I am excited to be getting closer. I was talking to Daniel one night about my class schedule and about applying for the program. He was like OH we have lots of time before that, I was like NO only one semester. Just has gone by fast when I think about it. I will have a crazy semester in the fall. Last Chemistry, last Math, Anatomy, Physiology and Communications. Definitely my hardest semester, but got to just keep plugging away. We all are very excited for summer!!! Everyone starts soccer next week. I will post pictures of Sam playing. I think it will be really cute to see him play. He is aggressive by nature so I think he will have an easy time with it. A couple of our other kids I am not too sure how it will go over!!! Joseph has such a soft heart and Anna has her head in the clouds.....will make for some interesting games and practices. Daniel is coaching the boys team and Anna's team. He is very excited!!!

I know I rarely update this blog, with school and everything I just don't have the time I used too. But Daniel is constantly updating our family blog. So please stop by over there to see what things Samuel is up to.