NOT ready to potty train...

For all of you that think Cooper is really ready to potty train I have to say you are still wrong! I bought him a super cool comfortable on the toilet potty seat. We put him on tonight and the kid acts like we are torturing him! I was even feeding him a stead stream of M&Ms and he still cried. I know he hates the diaper, but I think he hates the toilet more...sigh....

Words Cooper said today.....juice, numbers, barks, and boat! Yay! Barks was during the Wiggles song "Barks all day and night". Boat was also during the Wiggles because there was a boat in the background. He also imitated a bunch of sounds from the alphabet including "Sss", "La", and "Ma". Stuff is really starting to happen for my baby boy!!!

And I thought I was done with IEPs! Today was Quinn's intake meeting at his new school. It was basically another IEP meeting. It went well and the difference between this school and his old one was very obvious. They know their special needs stuff here, they just didn't have the training at his old school. We discussed that when the regular school year starts he will start recieving some casual ABA therapy during classroom hours. I am hopeful about this because it has done wonders for Cooper. He doesn't have a dual diagnosis yet, but if the school wants to give him one to get him more services I could care less at this point. I mean the top doctor in the country told me Quinn doesn't have Autism, but he was an idiot so who knows? One of my favorite blogs is about a little girl with a dual diagnosis (yes I am talking about you Ecki and Kayla) and I do see a lot of simiarities.

Next year Quinn will be going swimming at least every other week, which he will love. There will be 4 children with special needs and 4 typical children in his class, which I love. He is going to have a field trip every Friday, that should be interesting. And he will be buying lunch at the cafeteria everyday, that should be very interesting. The vice pricipal was very sure he wouldn't qualify for free or reduced lunch, I guess she knows this because he doesn't qualify for Medical Assistance. Sometimes it sucks not being quite poor enough :( Lucky for Quinn enough of the kids in his school are poor enough (sadly a lot are foster children), so everyone gets a free breakfast. I hear he has really been enjoying the yogurt and actually likes Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal!

So Little!

It is hard to believe Cooper used to be this little! This was two years ago...must go back to this park with a camera asap!!

He thinks he's a toy!

Cooper's new favorite thing is to empty the toys from his toybox, fill it with blankets, and climb in.

He must have slept his whole nap like this, it couldn't be comfortable!!

The Playground

Quinn was really excited to be at the playground.

I was really impressed by how well he was playing independently.

Of course, Cooper never has a problem playing independently on the playground.

He mostly ran around and went down the slide.

Cooper and Sam. Cooper kept sticking his head through this hole so he could see the numbers :)

Cooper.

Quinn playing in the mulch.

Cooper was absolutely thrilled to be at the playground!

We had a great day today with my niece and nephews (Emilia 13, Sam 11, Aaron 15)!

Cooper jumped right in this morning and started playing with Emilia and Sam. They had a great time playing under the blanket with each other and Cooper was so happy to have some new playmates. After Quinn got home from school and Cooper was done therapy we all went to the playground for a while. Quinn was really excited to be there but after a little while he got hot and tired. So did everyone else, well everyone except Cooper and Sam. We were all sitting in the shade staring in amazement at their endless energy. Cooper really enjoyed racing around with Sam, Mommy never moves like that!

After the playground it was off to Opies for ice cream. Everyone was really happy about that, even Quinn was so overjoyed to have some nice cool ice cream that he was clapping his hands between bites. It was a fun day, so glad they are coming back tommorow!

Quinn must really love school because he didn't even want to get off the bus this afternoon! That was embarrassing....

Both the boys did really well at horseback riding therapy today. Cooper is doing great with his signs and Quinn is doing well with the PECS. Cooper was really interested in the horse today, after he got off he was examining him in amazement :)

Tommorow the cousins are coming for two days and I can't wait!! Quinn and Cooper can't wait either, they just don't know it yet.

This morning I finally got a chance to go see Quinn at his new school. I think it is going to be really good for him and he definately seemed to enjoy it. It was a little difficult because all the other children there are so severely disabled. I never thought Quinn would be the highest functioning child in his class, but it appears that he is for now. I think it will be much better during the regular school year because his class will be almost half typical peers. Too bad they don't offer that during the summer! His teacher seems really great and there were tons of aides in the class so Quinn got plenty of attention. He did manage to escape three times and splash in the toilet once, but the teacher said they are still adjusting to everything and there were certainly plenty of distractions. He loved music time and was doing great at playing the bells along with the song. He was super excited to go to the gym and run around and they had this scooter he could lay on and the aide pushed him all over. There is this adorable kid sized easy chair in the classroom and during free time he went and got a book and then sat in the chair and read. It was so cute I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera. The teacher said he does that everyday :)

Cooper is done with school until September but he is now getting ABA therapay through the county everyday for 2.5 hours. He really loves his therapist Julie, and even if she isn't the most experienced she is doing a good job with Cooper. She is working on teaching him signs and he is doing fantastic at it! He is imitating almost any sign you tell him to and can do some like "more" "eat" "drink" on his own with just a verbal prompt. I am anxious for him to start initiating with signs, but since he has only been signing for less than a week I will cut him some slack :) He is also saying more words, in the last week he has said "doggy", "wiggle", "so happy", and "numbers"! He is having a serious developmental explosion and I am loving every second of it!

I am still recovering from my wisdom teeth removal. Today I was supposed to get my infusion meds for my arthritis but it had to be postponed because I still have an infection from the surgery. I am begining to worry that this pain will never go away and I will never be able to eat chewy stuff comfortably ever again!!!

Rehobeth Beach

Cooper loves the pool!

He kept stealing pool toys from the other kids though...sigh....

Our hosts for the weekend...Connie and Christine.

When we first got there Christine told me that Quinn was her favorite because she and him were the same :)

I love Christine!

Quinn having a drink on the screened in porch, both the boys loved it out there.

Typical Cooper.

Christine, Grandma Donna, and the boys on the boardwalk. Yeah, Quinn slept the whole time :(

Quinn loved the pool too, but I couldn't get him to stop drinking the water!

This isn't Cooper's boat, my kid is such a bully!

Today Cooper had his 3 year old check up at the doctors. He did great and is very healthy as usual. His weight is now 42 lbs....when did that happen??? He is also 39.5 inches tall, which is still in the 90th percentile on the growth charts. His weight is just off the chart now, but nobody seemed concerned about that. He is just a big boy! He was so good at the doctors that we stopped at Opies for ice cream on the way home. The man in front of us said hi to Cooper and then he told him that he was special because "all redheads are special." That nice man didn't know just how right he was! Cooper sure is special :)

This morning I took Quinn out for a little walk to get him back in shape for school which starts next week. I decided to go for it and put his glasses on first and I was so glad I did! He was walking around looking at everything a laughing. He was especially amazed to see leaves on the trees :) He did a pretty good job walking and didn't drop once, he did keep asking me to pick him up but only half-heartedly. It was really nice, I hope we have time to do it again soon.

This afternoon we all went to horseback riding. Quinn was really happy to be there and did a great job. Cooper was not sure at first and really didn't like the helmet. This was only his second time riding but once he got on the horse he did pretty good. He understands that when he taps on the horse it makes it go. He rode Snowy, Quinn's old horse today! What a relief, I thought Snowy had gone to the glue factory but he was only out on medical leave :) The therapist kept trying to get Cooper centered on the horses back but he kept readjusting to one side. I finally figured it out, he really likes the main therapist so he kept scooching over to cuddle up against her. What a goof my Cooper is! :)