Dear Noah.......open house and your first day of school...

Monday night was OPEN HOUSE....and the weather was nice and cool outside.  Parents and children gathered around the front door to the school like they were attending some grand premiere.  It was sort of funny actually...and at the same time I was still impressed with the NUMBER of parents who actually turned out  with their kids for the open house.

Here you are standing in line waiting to go in and meet your teachers.

Once inside we went upstairs to see your classroom and meet your teachers.  WOW....you actually got a classroom this year that has a window air conditioner AND fans.  WHAT a nice cool room and nice teachers.   Here you are waiting to meet the teacher in your classroom.

You took your camera along and were busy snapping photos of the classroom.  I did not take my camera because I never think they appreciate us taking photos but it would probably have been fine.  I have forgotten to check your camera for photos I could use!

There are 2 teachers and an aide in your classroom this year.   This is VERY good news and nice.  Your seat was in the front row.....beside a girl and close to a former boy classmate you like.   I forget who was on the other side.   You will go to different classrooms for math and social studies/science along with the rest of your class.  I guess they start preparing you for going to different classes for different subjects early these days!  Your science room was also nice and cool and looked like you would have a lot of fun!  Same for math.  I am VERY excited this year about your attending school and felt even better once I saw the classrooms and met the teachers!  You also had no more trouble-makers in your classroom.....well...maybe one  you said.  He sits in the back and always tries to coerce you if you are in the  bathroom at the same time he is....into peeing into different areas other than the stall toilet or urinals.  I asked you WHERE he suggested you pee (figuring it was the sink or trash can and I am sure his goal was to get YOU into trouble for being caught doing it or telling on you then)...but you said you did not know because you did not take time to listen to him.  You went to the stall and locked the door.  When I asked what you said back to him you said NOTHING and ignored him.  I am so thankful you are doing this and I hope and pray you can continue to avoid kids like that and ignoring them....and avoiding those kinds of problems no kid needs or needs to be exposed to.   Of course you never tell on kids like that.....so the teachers are probably not even aware he does those things.  I am hoping he will NOT do that again this year.

Here you are the morning of your first day.  You got up more than early enough and were ready to leave a full hour earlier than you needed to be.  I guess you were very anxious.   When I asked you what you were most excited about...you replied "seeing all my friends again and playing with them!"  WOW.....I am so happy for you and thankful.  You have been through many times in the past when you did not even WANT to be around other kids let alone play with them or even have them look at you! 

You dad did not make it after all to send you off for the day....but you said that you were not too disappointed about that. 

Off we went...and I walked with you to the front door where I have gotten advance permission to drop you off.  IN you went with a BIG smile on your face, carrying a huge bag of your school supplies. 

At the end of the day your father and I went to pick you up.  I have to say I was so much more impressed with how the school handled everything this year.  The children were so quiet and orderly when it came time to walk to the bus lines or leaving the building.  EVERYTHING was so much more organized and just BETTER. 

Here you finally came.  The teachers said you had a great day....as you did yourself.   We took you to Kentucky Fried Chicken where I began to ask you for more details about your day.  IN the past you would not be able to answer any questions we asked you about your school days.....always answering with "I don't know's."  OR you would tire quickly after successfully answering 1-2 questions and have a FIT or meltdown if we asked you anything else.

NOW.......WOW.  You talked and talked and answered many questions and offered up information we did not even ask you about.   I am so proud of  you and thankful you are making such progress!

Once home I unloaded your backpack.  (OH...Your SONIC backpack arrived while you were in school Tuesday and so did your SONIC T-shirt so those were nice surprises for you when you got home).

Inside your backpack I found a stack of papers I had to go through...and a copy of your SPRING 2008 Achievement test from earlier this year when you were still in 3rd grade.   I was AMAZED to see your scores.   OFF the charts for reading and reading comprehension.....you scored in the high end of the ADVANCED section.   You were in the ACCELERATED section for math.   I mean it was incredible to see these scores!

I went back and looked at your former evaluations and flipped through your 3-inch thick medical file......and glanced over former evaluations and results and test scores....and remembered when you had ZERO comprehension, NO speech/language........and you were like in the 3% range of where you should be.  THIRD percent!???  AND NOW.....you are in ADVANCED!  Your deficits were off the charts....and you were WELL below even the lowest average for your age.  In fact...you were about 2 years below your biological age for even gross motor development and fine motor skills development.  

To see you NOW.....and how well you can talk.....how well you can read....and UNDERSTAND what you are reading.....how much stronger physically you have become... what you can now do where before you could not.....blows me away.  ANYONE looking through your chart before and seeing you NOW would not recognize you anymore.  You have made such tremendous progress!  OFF the charts progress!   Homeschooling, your therapies, just working one-on-one with you at home on many things.....and being around family since moving back to my home state.......as well as public school last year and now again this year.....have worked wonders in your life.   I stand back and watch you and see how you interact and what you say to others....and you are just so THERE already....YOU are ready......just to be a part of everything and the group and with your peers.  A day I wondered if we would ever see.

YET you are still very much YOU....true to yourself...retaining your ability to sometimes display affection and emotion much younger than your age and peers......but so endearing and loving.....nothing fake or phony....so genuine.....and I give thanks to GOD that He is blessing you and you are succeeding and progressing and becoming quite a most amazing young man.

Goodnight Noah.....have sweet dreams and rest up for another exciting day tomorrow. 

And to any other parent out there wondering if your child will ever be able to DO IT or make any progress.....please just don't give up on them.  I hope our story offers "hope" to many.   Find what works best for your child's specific needs and just go with it.   Most of Noah's big moments of progress were NOT overnight successes.  MANY took months and even YEARS to get to the point of where he is today.  I mean some of the most basic things a child can learn or do!  Some such as toileting issues he still struggles with today but he is getting there!!

SO just keep plugging along.....keep trying.   Rest up and take good care of yourself so you will have the energy and patience to keep trying over and over and over again.   Spend time with your child.....lots of one-on-one is HUGE.   AND lots of LOVE. 

And GOD I give you all the praise and glory because I do realize without your blessings and direction in our lives we would not even be where we are today....I am not enough of an idiot to believe this is all my doing.....and THANK YOU for giving me this amazing little boy to begin with.....such a joy he is and precious to me.   I KNOW you will use him one day to make a positive impact in the world. HOW do I know this? Because you already are.

I love you very much Noah.....forever I will...

Mommy

XOXOX