Anah's Service's Eval.

Yesterday we had Anah's evaluation at the public school to see what services she was eligible for at home. Remember I had said they seemed very willing to give her whatever she needed? Well, now they don't think she needs many services, at least not yet...hmmm. To be honest, I wasn't really wanting PT or OT at this time because she doesn't understand enough English and isn't comfortable enough with new people, to follow directions. They felt the same way regarding this and said we would address it again in six months. That's fine with me because she can walk, go to the bathroom, dress herself with some help, wash up and clean her teeth with help and can feed herself, so I would rather she get adjusted to life here before we work on strengthening and more fine motor skills. However, we may have an issue with Speech and Special Ed. I think she would benefit from ST and SE now, even though her language skills are not far along. Isn't that what ST is supposed to help with?! They were kind of hemming and hawing around this, as well as the SE, but I let them know I felt like she needed them sooner, rather than later, but all that will get discussed at the hearing, which probably won't be until March. With all that being said, I'm not sure if I'm going to have a battle on my hands or not, time will tell. It may just be a matter of them not knowing what the rules and regs are for older homeschooled kids, we are a small district, with very few kids with SN, and even fewer homeschoolers and I believe I'm the first homeschooler with a child with SN, at least with this group of therapists/teachers. They are going to discuss it with the Elem. Principal, who also happens to be the person in charge of Pupil Services. I'll touch base with them at the end of the week, to see if they have any feedback from him yet.

Anah was talking up a storm today! Mostly her own language, but she does say a lot of the same words so I think she "knows" what she is saying, we just don't yet, lol. We did have an interpreter yesterday at the school, Anah wouldn't answer her or listen to her any better than anyone else. When asked, the interpreter told me that Anah wasn't speaking in VN, that it was just her own language (that's also what they told me in VN). I am encouraged in any case, she is vocalizing (which they said she didn't do at all) and is trying to communicate with me regarding a wide variety of things. Today we were taking down the Christmas tree ( I KNOW, I KNOW...no comments from the peanut gallery, lol, at least it's artificial!), and she was such a little helper! She helped me wrap up ornaments and put things away. She would ask me what things were, with a look and gesture, and I would say the words to her. She was very attentive to what I was saying. She even started wrapping up some of her toys, I had to try and explain she could keep her toys and that we were only putting Christmas ornaments away. I'm sure she didn't really understand it, but she WAS trying to be so helpful.

Jonathan and Anah LOVE each other....awwww.... It's so cute to watch the two of them. Anah is always hugging (dragging) Jonathan and kissing him. Jonathan climbs up on Anah's back when she's sitting on the floor and rubs her hair and hugs her neck. They talk to each other, each in their own special language, but I really believe they know what the other one is saying sometimes! I guess that's just the language of love. When we were praying about adopting Anah, I KNEW she would feel comfortable here, not just because of us, but especially because of Jonathan. I knew she was used to babies and I knew since he has DS also, that they would become fast friends as well as siblings. I've been proven right.

Joey does things to make Anah laugh. He pretends to fall down or acts goofy and she just laughs. He often will get her a drink if he thinks she might be thirsty and he is trying to communicate with her and understand what she is trying to tell him. I must admit, I'm so proud of him. He feels so blessed to have his "special" brother and sister. He really loves them and is enjoying being the big brother. I'm very glad of that because he had been the baby for 10 years before we got Jonathan home. Being adopted himself, he really appreciates the importance of adoption and what it means, especially to children with special needs. He says he wants to adopt when he gets married....awwww. Joey had hockey today, he scored a goal! He was very pleased with himself, even though his team lost. He has come so far, now he doesn't really mind loosing, as long as everybody had fun and tried their best.

PJ called from school. He's doing fairly well. School is school after all ;o) . He is thinking about joining a fraternity. The one he went to see tonight was Phi Mu Beta?, it is one of the few that is recognized by Penn Tech., so is a no hazing, keep their nose clean, type of frat. They are also very involved in community service, which is what PJ is looking for. He is going to do a bit more research and go to a couple more events that the frat has planned before he decides. There may be one other frat he's interested in, he hasn't decided yet.

Amanda is coming over tomorrow for lunch with a friend. She's busy with school and work, so I haven't seen her in a while. She misses me, how sweet, and misses her younger siblings.

That's all for now, be safe and be blessed.