Owen, preschool and turning 3 years old

Just over a little over 3 years ago, this blog got started.  What spurred my blog? This little guy:

Hard to believe as it is, I actually am sitting here...over 3 years later...contemplating his 3rd birthday...which is nearly upon us!

March 26th Owen will turn 3. He will also begin his very first day of preschool. Wow.  That's a lot to take in right??  Preschool doesn't even seem possible...but it is.  How did we get here?  Let me tell you a little story.

It's been a long journey since last July.  When we began therapy sessions (which I talked about here) with Owen I had no idea where we would be led or what it would mean for us. We just knew we were doing the best thing we could for our little boy.  So over the past several months (almost 8 to be exact) We have let therapists into our home 2 and 3 times a week. We have fired a therapist, said goodbye to a wonderful speech therapist, brought on a new also wonderful speech therapist and hung onto one gem of a therapist, Angie, who has been with us since the beginning.  Owen has had successes, setbacks, and made absolutely amazing strides with everything.  From a child who could sign and say More, Hi and Momma/Dadda and a few other hit and miss words...to talk to him today...it's simply amazing!  He's come a long, long way.  He still has some ways to go to be up to speed with kids his age though...and so there was a recommendation to send him to our school districts Early Childhood Program.

How did we get to this step?  Evaluations.  Let me tell you. As a parent...there is nothing harder.  An expert watching your child’s every move.  Telling you why they think he does certain things.  I've had to learn a lot about accepting other’s words and not seeing them as criticism, and also knowing when I do not agree with an "expert" because frankly they aren't around my child enough to be an expert about something.  It’s an interesting dance…and it’s so hard b/c it’s all in Owen’s best interest.  And that adds a certain difficulty to every piece of it. 

I know in my original post I intended to post more updates share more about the therapy sessions and how Owen was progressing. Looking back I’m wishing I had. But after we got started, I realized that some of it was a lot to digest…and I wasn’t sure it was something I could easily share in a written forum and be understood because I wasn’t sure I understood it all myself. Having no background in therapy I was at the mercy of what the therapists told. Slowly we are getting up to speed on some of the jargon. Things like sensory awareness and gross motor function and programming speech make more sense to us now. But with all of it, I honestly wasn’t sure what to talk about each week. Sometimes all the terms and suggestions and his frustrations piled up on me and by the time we were working on things I wasn’t in the mood to further digest it here.  Especially as we transitioned through different therapists and got off our original routine a bit.  Though I didn’t blog it, I do have the sheets the therapists left with us. Each week the therapist would share a sheet with us that detailed the sessions. I think I am going to bind them up and keep them…at least for a little while. In case his teachers at school are interested.  But also…so we never forget all the work he did!  It’s all there. Each week, pushing, growing, learning.  Getting up to speed with his peers at a faster rate than most kids his age are ever asked to do.  Because so much comes naturally to them…and much of that doesn’t/didn't for Owen.  Bottom line I am proud of my son and his beautiful little energy and spirit through all of this.  I hope this next step gives him more fuel to keep propelling him along his toddler years!  What’s next?

Well starting on his birthday (Monday!!) Owen will begin at this new school.  He will attend daily from 8:30am to 11:00am.  It’s just down the road. There will be much juggling of schedules, juggling of routines and juggling in general as I realize that things are changing.  In a big way.  Luckily the first round is a shortened one as he is jumping in at the end of the school year.  He will participate in a summer program for only one short month and then have a break till the fall. 

We are super excited and also tearfully sad to take this next step. Owen is ready...but we do not expect that he won't face some challenges in the coming weeks as well.  As with all change, it comes with both excited and bittersweet feelings! Our big boy is going to school!  Yikes!

Again I will ask, as I have in the past, if you are the praying type…our family is in full on-craziness mode.  We have a Dadda studying for his Professional Engineering Exam (which he takes in less than a month), a Momma juggling a new job schedule and those changes, one little boy starting preschool and getting to work on potty training (HUGE milestones!!), and one tiny boy trying with all of his might to cruise on furniture and walk around on two legs like his brother (more HUGE milestones!).  So it’s a wonderful, amazing time for us.  It’s also a little bit nuts!! 

Thanks for reading and praying for our little family of four! The next couple weeks...I think we're gonna need it!!