I feel the need for a start fresh here in Texas, so I have switched blogs. I am going to post things like poetry I’ve written in addition to my usual updates. I hope to post more frequently even it’s short. The time for a change has come 🙂

Things here have been going quite well. Today I had my first ever parent-teacher conference at Nathan’s school. I was bracing myself for doom, especially after some dismal test results I received from the school district. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. Nathan has grown tremendously since the beginning of the school year. He still struggles greatly with his fine motor skills to the point that it hinders his ability to do schoolwork but we are going to begin intensive therapy for that, which will begin soon. But academically he is pretty much right where he should be. Socially, he has found his rhythm. There are still deficits but he is functioning. This is tremendously good news considering where we were during the first couple of weeks in school when they told me he may not be able to function in a regular classroom environment. The teacher is happy. I am happy. And above all else, Nathan is happy.

I have a series of meetings coming up to finalize the IEP plan and go over the massive slew of assessments that have been conducted over the past couple of months. One thing remains clear through all of this, Nathan is very uncooperative on standardized tests, which results in dismal scores that do not in any way reflect his true ability or level of functioning. I’ve learned this the hard way. The first test result I ever got back stated that he may not even be able to understand spoken language. That moment nearly broke me. It was in the early days when everything was unsure and only time would tell if the results of the assessments were accurate. They were very scary and very lonely times. Since then, Nathan continues to make progress by leaps and bounds despite whatever the tests predict.

So next week I have a meeting to go over the dismal 34-page test results and then another meeting to go over and finalize the education plan and services he will receive through the school district. Fun, fun, fun.

William started a new school this week. I was fighting traffic every day getting him to and from the old school. I picked the school before we moved here and I had no idea how bad the traffic would be (nothing compared to LA – but still an inconvenience). I had no idea there was a great little preschool directly across the street, so I took a tour last week and decided it would fit perfectly and there you have it. I dramatically decreased my morning stress and found a school that William will be happy and that I like better anyway.

Colin is as curious and playful as ever. He continues to try and pull all the books off the shelves and eat them. This happens several times a day and can get a little old. I am hoping he loses interest in the books soon enough. He is still a very easy baby to go on outings with, for which I remain deeply grateful. I can take him grocery shopping, on errands, etc and he rarely fusses unless he is hungry or tired. He loves to watch his brothers and always tries to involve himself by crawling over to wherever they are playing and chew on their toys. It’s cute but Nathan and William don’t like it very much.

As for me and David, it’s more of the same. I am done with school in another month and a half and David is plugging away at work. But one thing is clear, we are happy with our lives right now and where we are living. It’s as though someone opened all the windows and let fresh air into our lives. It feels great to breathe deeply.