Catching up

Can you tell that I'm still struggling to catch up from being away for a week last month?  Yes, the blog hasn't seen much of us, but we're still here, chugging along.

Natalie's been doing great in school, academically.  Her teacher pulled me aside after class to show how Natalie exceeded the state standards for four different tests:  spelling, reading nonsense words, reading high-frequency words, and reading random letters.  This is the same teacher who, at Natalie's IEP last autumn, said Natalie was "untestable."  Of course I didn't remind her of the previous statement...although it was burning in my mind as she said she always knew Natalie could perform like this.

Behaviorally, there are still a lot of ups and downs.  Some days or weeks, Natalie does GREAT and the notes from the aide make me think that she could be there without an aide.  And then other days or weeks (like the past few days) show that she really needs an aide:  she's highly distracted, using echolalia and self-talk a lot and cannot stay on task without someone right with her.  Not that I think she'll be without an aide anytime soon, but the good days are soooo good!

Potty wise, she's still using the toilet for #1 but not #2.  I'd say she's close to being where she was last summer before school started.  We still use the alarm because it's so wonderful to not have the worry in between taking her on a schedule.  She even used the toilet at a friend's house during the Super Bowl, which is a HUGE achievement, to use the toilet away from home.  No, I don't have pictures of our fun time at the Super Bowl party because I forgot the camera...  But we had a blast!

Anyway, keep going Natalie!  And thanks for your prayers that we all stay healthy this month.  February has notoriously been a very sick month for The Happy Ones, so we're praying for a change of tradition.