Eight goals and two eggs later...

Our appointment with our intervention caseworker went really well today.  Can I just say how much I like her?  This girl is a thousand times better than the lady that came to evaluate Jackson.  She didn't make me feel stupid or make me feel like Jackson was stupid, once.  Actually, she kept commenting on how smart Jackson was as she kept trying to hide her purse from him but he'd manage to find it every time.  She even took a break from talking about Jackson to chat with me about the latest season of The Bachelor, which we ended up having to put a stop to because I think we could've talked about it for hours!  :)

She asked me more specific questions about what Jackson could and couldn't do in several aspects of his development - sleeping, eating, bathing, communication, discipline, etc.  Based on my answers she set a list of 8 goals for the intervention teacher to work on him with.  I was really impressed with the goal setting.  She set goals for Jackson even for things we weren't concerned about, not because we should be concerned, but just because they can help make it easier and quicker for him to learn.  I thought that was so neat!  She said they have to have at least 6 goals, so they like to help parents do some of the more tasking stuff just because they can.  Hey, I'll take all the help I can get!

Here are Jackson's goals (not in the exact wording b/c I'm having to recall them from memory):

1.  To speak more words and use baby sign language.
2.  To respond to gestures and verbal commands/requests.
3.  To point at body parts and make animal noises.
4.  To eat with a spoon/fork and eat off of a plate.
5.  To drink out of a sippy cup that requires him to tip it up. (He only uses the straw kind so he doesn't get tipping the cup - totally our fault for not introducing the other kind to him.)
6.  To understand and respond to time-out.
7.  To occupy himself with toys without our presence for longer periods of time (he kind of does this now, I just want him to be better at it and not so reliant on tv).
8.  And there was one more but I just can't remember it!! :)

She also answered all the questions I barraded her with kindly and succinctly.  Even though Jackson may reach all of the goals we've set in a matter of a few months, he will receive intervention for at least a year.  After a full year, they will test him again and if he is still behind he'll continue until age 3.  If not, he'll be done.  After age 3, if he is still behind, he will qualify for free preschool at a local state-funded preschool.  She told me all about the one we'd go to - even saying it was one of the best preschool programs in the state!

After she answered all my questions about the program she told me that the intervention teacher would be calling me within a week to set up a schedule for every week (1 hr/week) to work with Jackson.  She said she'd also be calling me to set up a time for Jackson to be evaluated for speech therapy as well as communication intervention.  I was caught off guard by that because I thought they would be the same thing.  Turns out, they are two completely different things.  Jackson will have to be evaluated (probably sometime in May b/c they are booked until then) and he will most likely qualify.  They will ask him to repeat and mimic sounds and since I know he isn't really doing that, they will probably start him in speech therapy shortly after.  The thing that bites about speech therapy is that they don't come to your home, you have to go to them.  And, the closest speech therapist to us is an hour away.  So, I'll be driving Jackson an hour one way to have speech therapy for 30 minutes and an hour back home every week.  I'm not thrilled about that, but I'll do what it takes to get my little boy where he needs to be!!  It can't hurt, right?!

Long story, short...I'm feeling better about the whole process and am back to being intrigued and excited to watch Jackson improve over the next year.  I think I got the most excited when she said that they could even help us when we started potty training!

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Now, onto Mrs. Robin -- She laid her second egg today!!  It is almost identical in size and color to the first egg.  In fact, I'm not sure which one is which.  The most exciting thing is that I literally watched her as she was laying it.  I could see her squinting her little eyes, and squirming around in the nest trying to coax it out.  It was all while I was showering and getting ready around lunch time.  Then all of a sudden she popped out of the nest and flew away.  And poof...there was egg #2!

Double the fun!

Robin fun fact of the day:  Most birds lay their eggs at sunrise but robin's lay them mid-morning.  Since they eat mostly earthworms, they use the early morning hours to feast before they lay their eggs. 

When I read this I laughed.  Not Mrs. Robin!  She decided to sleep in and waited until lunch time to pop that sucker out!  Hey, I get it, I'm not a morning person/bird either.  Plus, Bryan said she was just singing away this evening after it was already dark.  She's such a night owl robin.  She IS me in bird form!!

XOXO