Cooper is going to ‘most-likely’ start preschool in the fall with the school district. This is great for so many reasons. First, Duluth doesn’t seem to have any other places that can give him the services he needs. There are a lot of preschools but they are all for typical developing children. Second, Super Cooper will have a team devoted to him. He will have a speech therapist, occupational therapist, etc. It takes a village folks! And, he can be bussed to and from. (This freaks me the hell out…
Read MoreI just posted about changes in Cooper. I wanted to go into a little more detail because I am such a proud mama. I have blogged before about how picking up the boys from daycare can be a sad point in my day. It’s hard to see other kiddos the same age as cooper talking. It crushes me actually. So much, that there are times where I dread going. Sad, right? On Thursday, as I walked up to the house I saw that another mom was holding Cooper. He was hugging her and…
Read MoreCooper is back. My sweet, smart boy is back. I know that sounds crazy right? Cooper has been a little monster for the last month or so. You can even tell by the theme of my blogs. A little over a month ago my posts were hopeful. Then, they changed. More fear, desperation. More anger. Things changed last week. I am so excited I have a smile on my face as I type it. Thank you God. He’s playing again. Laughing, ‘chatting’ non-stop. So much that he woke us up…
Read MoreI have some exciting news from yesterday. This is so subtle that I truly don’t believe anyone would have ever noticed it but me. And I made Cooper repeat the action so I could make sure it was real. We were reading book number 4 before bed last night. It was this big book about Sesame Street. Lots of colors and pictures and actions. Per the usual, I ask Cooper to point to different things. ‘Cooper, where is the red balloon? Where is the blue car? And so on.’ I…
Read MoreJoy. What gives you pure joy? For me, it’s my kids, my husband and my dogs. Yes, they make me feel like a constant passenger on the bi-polar express but that’s not important right now. Nancy Merrill Photography asks ‘share a photo that expresses joy.’ I LOVE THIS IDEA! And I had fun searching for one as well. This picture is Cooper’s personality in a nutshell. A combination between pure joy and pure emotion. We are at Lake Superior throwing rocks into the big lake. Cooper’s favorite activity of all time.…
Read MoreI have been obsessed with autism/apraxia/SPD research lately. I don’t know why it just hit me so hard but lately it’s all I can think about. Cooper is such a mystery and doesn’t seem to fall into any one category. So, I have been scouring blogs looking for Cooper’s twin and I can’t seem to find one. I keep looking for a social 3 year old with no words who has delays. No go on that end but I keep finding all of these amazing moms that are so much farther than…
Read MoreCooper has an opinion on everything. Every. Single. Thing. We. Do. I get him a blue cup and he wants a red cup. I put his snack in a blue bowl and he wants his Lightening McQueen Bowl. For his snack he wants a few Cheerios, Chex Mix, Goldfish and 2 Vanilla Wafer Crackers. No compromise on this one. He wants his Thomas shirt. Not his blue dinosaur shirt. He doesn’t want to sit in his booster anymore. He wants to pick his chair and also pick where mom and…
Read MoreMorning all, I wanted to do a quick post on Fish Oil and Apraxia. I get quite a few emails about the brand and dosage that I give Cooper. Cooper hasn’t been diagnosed with Apraxia as of March 2014 but he does have ‘some’ of the symptoms and I feel that giving him Fish Oil can only help his overall well being. Apraxia, or Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)is a developmental disorder that affects the ability to say sounds, syllables and words. Children with Apraxia often display problems with coordination,…
Read MoreCertain things are getting better with Cooper and certain things are getting worse. And because of that we can’t seem to get our bearings. We NEED a language breakthrough so badly. Anything really. Just something to show us that it’s going to get better. I have lots of positive from the weekend. Cooper will now sit at the kitchen table in an actual chair and eat a meal. This. Is. Huge. Up until this point Cooper would never ever sit still unless he was in a booster seat. I am…
Read MoreI have some “SCREAM FROM THE ROOFTOPS” exciting news! After 10 or so voicemails, 2 emails and a conversation with a lady about how Cooper can’t be screened, I got a call yesterday from the director of Early Childhood Department for the school district. She was AMAZING! She first apologized profusely for the run-around I had been receiving. It should never have happened. Cooper is a priority for the school district and they are going to make sure he gets ALL the services he needs. She is assembling a team (sounds…
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