SSD evaluation

Last Monday morning, Dominick had his evaluation for the Special School District program. There were about four different evaluators present, including one who had observed Dominick at Stay & Play the previous week. I was worried Dom would refuse to cooperate and answer their questions, but after warming up, he was great. After the evaluation was over, each evaluator discussed his or her findings with me. A full report will be coming later.

The news was good: Dominick has progressed so well he does not meet the criteria for the SSD program. We didn't think he'd be found eligible. That just shows how much has changed since August when we requested the evaluation. In speech, Dominick is right at his age range and even a bit higher in certain areas. The occupational therapist found only a few minor concerns with fine-motor skills and low muscle tone, but nothing that put Dominick below average.

We have decided to discontinue speech therapy, effective this week. Erin had contacted First Steps about two weeks ago to report that Dominick has met his goals as stated in his IFSP. We had a meeting with Erin, Carol from First Steps and Angela, the SSD representative, during Dom's regular speech session on November 16 and said that unless the evaluation turned up additional concerns, we were going to drop speech. It didn't, so we did. Speech therapy has been very beneficial, but it's nice not to need it anymore. We may consider cutting back on OT, too, but I want to see what Jacqui recommends.

Big brother

On Monday, November 6 at 8:18 am, Dominick became a big brother with the arrival of Noel Thomas. The baby weighed eight pounds, two ounces, and measured 21 1/2 inches long, making him the same length as Dominick at birth but nearly a full pound lighter. Also like his older brother, Noel came out with a full head of dark hair. Noel bears a striking resemblance to baby Dominick, so it will be really interesting to see how he grows up. Maybe he'll get Mike's dark hair and my brown eyes.

It's hard to believe how quickly my pregnancy went and that the baby is already two weeks old. So far, Dominick has adjusted surprisingly well. Jealousy has not been a problem. In fact, Dominick is affectionate toward the baby, showering him with kisses and asking to hold his hand. Sometimes he can be too rough, but it's only because he doesn't know any better, not because he's trying to be mean. Noel eats constantly, yet Dominick isn't upset by the amount of time I'm spending on feedings. He'll just observe that "baby Noel is eating" and go about his business, which usually involves wasting battery power in as many ways as possible. I actually asked Santa for rechargeable batteries for Christmas this year.

Overall, things are going smoothly since Noel was born. This may change when I'm on my own with the two boys for the first time. My recovery has been easier this time, though there's still some residual pain. Dom knows that my belly hurts, so he'll say "kiss it...all better." What a sweet boy. He'd be sweeter if he'd remember how to sleep past 5:30 am. Just in case he doesn't, I think I'd better sign off now and get myself to bed. Good night.

Trick or treat

Dominick was a railroad engineer for Halloween. He looked very cute in his overalls, red bandana, and striped hat. For the second year, our playgroup had a party, so all the kids were dressed up. It was fun, and Dominick did great, as is usual these days.

When Mike came home from work, we all went down to the produce market to buy a pumpkin. The pumpkins were pretty picked over by that point, but we managed to find a decent one. We also got one of the miniature pumpkins for Dom.

After a quick dinner, we took Dom out for his first trick-or-treating experience. We taught him to knock and say "trick or treat," though most of the time he said it long before we even got to a door. Once he realized how the whole thing worked, he really got into it. He loved reaching into the big bowls of candy and picking out a couple of pieces. As soon as he'd finish at one house, he'd say "do it again." I have to say he was quite adorable walking around with his little handled bag.

After trick-or-treating, we came home and carved the pumpkin. Mike did the design, and Dominick helped scoop out the gunk. He was really excited to see our jack-o-lantern all lit up. My intention is to cook it tonight, so he won't get to enjoy it much longer unless I get lazy and let the thing rot.

Today, he's been saying "trick or treat...do it again" several times. It's probably a good thing that he doesn't understand it will be a full year before he can do it again!