Wow end of year

Christmas just 5 sleeps away, another year almost over. Not much to update since my last post Alex continues to do so well with his therapies I'm very proud of him, he takes a break over the 6 weeks of school holidays. Time to enjoy some family time and for me hopefully I don't pull all my hair out with all four home lol 

Have a great Christmas and happy new year xo

The little things :) mean the most

A lot has happened and I've been slack updating but I just had a moment I just had to share as any parent of a special needs child knows little things can mean so much. Tomorrow is back to school after two weeks of holidays, well I was going through Alexs bag and came across his report. When I read Alexs report I don't expect much we have regular meetings so I already know his improving and that's what matters to me :) but tonight I've pleasantly surprised and beaming with pride all boxes are ticked at level (this means his at his expected level for his age) besides writing ( to be expecting as he has hand strength  problems)  this in itself has mummy proud but one little box is ABOVE level this is measurement and geometry. Also his readying is at level this is a big deal because end of last term it was below and he pushed himself so hard all term and he did it not because anyone expecting him too but because he set his mind too it and wanted it so I'm so happy for him 

So goodnight from one proud mummy  xo

Update post

I'm hoping soon i can update more, our youngest just turned the big one and his settling into life and routine now, Alex is doing great at school, not long ago finished term one of year 2. We then went on a big drive holiday to Brisbane and Townsville (for those not familiar thats about 2,678kms/1664 miles ) to see family for Easter. It was hard on Alex who has trouble sleeping and when we got home Alex slept in - Alex NEVER sleeps in, so i guess he was very happy to be home in his own bed. 
In other news today Alex and his little sister where dressed up in circus theme (photo below) to go on a float for a local event last weekend sadly :( the terrible weather on the day had the parade canceled last min, all the children where loaded up and ready to go. Today they got to wear there costumes again to school and are doing a parade at school and the committee from the event are coming to give the school a trophy as the school won best school float. Well seems like little man is woken from his nap so for today my time is up, i will post soon with more info on our trip 

-Melissa
 

Birthday and dress up

It's been three months since my last update school holidays start in an hour, bubs is sleeping so i thought i would take the time to update a little. Nothing to big to update at this point, well i guess little man turning 7 is a big deal. Alex just had a family day for his birthday this year, we went to visit his nana and grandad in the country for the weekend and his request for his cake was pokemon so that's what he got :)  He also finally received his first lots of lego, his been asking for a while now but we didn't feel he was ready just yet but his been doing so well in his OT and its great for helping him while his just playing and having fun.

  
Alex is doing well at school he knows his different from the other children and it takes him more effort to learn some things and he puts all his effort in. I'm still very proud of him, they recently had a dress up day, as they have been learning about Asia this was the theme, Alex went as a ninja, as we often do, the mask required some taking in but he was very happy, tho i had to stress to him no fighting other children.They also recently had a school disco, Alex went last year but loved bringing his sister along to enjoy the fun with him this year. He really his an amazing big brother who cares so much about everyone else.
In other life news, not related first hand to Alex but too us his family his 3yo little brother is toilet training while his baby brother is learning to roll over and to talk, 5 months already time flies. We are also hunting for a bigger house at the moment, with our expanding family we need more room. As i sign off today i leave you with some photos of all four of my little blessings that we just had don't for dad on fathers day. 

Big brother again plus more

Well the last couple of months since my catch up posts have been very busy, Alex continues this fantastic progress with his therapists and as always ive very proud of him. We have had some setbacks at school with him being cheeky and naughty when asked to come to class after play time, i think this comes a little from the arrival of our 4th child, Meet our 4th child, 3rd boy Matthew :)

There is no doubt once again Alex is a proud big brother but Matty was very demanding the first 8 weeks and all tho there was no change in Alex at home i feel this is where is school behavior is from. During the 10 weeks since Matthew was born Alex has had good and bad weeks at school, we also found out Alex was having trouble sleeping and now with him on something for sleep that also seems to be helping him. We had a meeting at school and i found out his new teacher was punishing him for doing the wrong thing, even wanting to stop his outside time for a full week, i explained to her that with Alex rewards for the right thing work much better, she now does this instead and its working much better.
With the deadline to Alex funding fast approaching im working with his therapists to get him some things for at home that will help, he will continue sessions but they will have to drop in frequency as they are rather pricey and i don't wish to build up a massive bill that we will struggle with, we can avoid this by doing more at home, with Matthew finally starting to settle and not being quite as demanding i know we can find the time easy enough.
Before i sign off for today i wanted to tell you about last week, Alex spend all of last year on the same reading level, this didn't bother him so much but this year is little sister has started school and i see it getting to him that shes learning faster than him, we try to encourage him often and let him know its ok to learn at his own pace, well last week be moved up a level in reading and ive never seen him so happy at school pick up, he was so proud of himself and i of course told him over and over again how proud i am of him as well. I spend time with his sister and i often talk to her about how Alex needs her help, i talk about how remember when you just started to read and Alex would help you with words and remind her Alex has to work extra hard to learn so we need to give him some extra help. She is of course only 5 and all tho some days she picks on him that he cant do what she can, i again remind her to help him not pick on him and im sure as she grows older she will understand better and be a great little big sister too him . So with that i will stop typing as Matthew demands the attention of his mummy and i will be back soon -regards Melissa

Catch up post

Another catch up post :) so last post i filled you in on his schooling and how he was doing there, other things to happen in 2013

# Alex lost his first tooth, in fact his now lost 4 in total with a 5th too come out any day now
# A local funding program here in Australia added Microcephaly too there accepted list of things and we where able to get some funding for him. 

So id like to tell you more about the funding help we have received, its a certain amount and they get it till there 7, for Alex this means it runs out end of August 2014, so really we have 10months so use as much as we can, his doing speech therapy and OT as well. 
The improvement in his speech is amazing even tho at this point his only done around 6 sessions. 
His only just started OT this year as by the time his funding was ready last year, the school year was over and with a little brother and sister and home to distract him it didn't make sense to start at home. In saying that i just spoke with his OT today and once again I'm so proud of my little man, he knows his different to the other kids, there no doubt about it but he refused to let it hold him back in fact his OT said his drive/focus is amazing. Sometimes with other work at school in struggles to focus but when his therapist come he puts in 110% during his sessions this is doing amazing things for his progress and of course his confidence. 

After getting some bad news a few weeks back that once again he failed the government testing and will not qualify for a government funded add :( i was super glad to hear of his progress in his therapy today. He amazes me every day and I'm very proud of him. Today is a day for happy years from mummy not sad tears.  

Another catch up

Wow its been over a year since i posted, id like to say ive been busy and ive been busy enough, after all three kids will keep you busy but ive just bee slack, very sorry :( ill try and do better because Alex's story is important to me. 

The biggest thing that happened last year of course was Alex started school, Alex is attending main stream school.  I'm beyond proud of how far he came during his first year of school and he had the best teacher and children in his class.
He had some small trouble being bullied when he first started, another special needs child pushed other children around, this wasn't limited to Alex but because of his small size he did pick on Alex a lot this really upset him and shook his confidence. A couple of months in, the child was moved to another class and the change in Alex was almost instant he improved dramatically. We had a few tantrum problems at the start of the year, they lessoned during the course of the year with only the odd one on days he was tired. We found the tantrums came down to mostly him getting frustrated that he couldn't be understood, as you know one of Alex's  issues is his speech but as the year progressed the children in his class learnt about him and became fantastic support for him. 
At one point they covered him in stickers when he read his book to the class for the first time, when i arrived to pick him up they all shouted at me and shared in the joy of his improvement. This really touched my heart :) Too know he was supported so well i think it made all the difference in his progress.
 When we got his mid year report i was worried everything was below where a child his age should be and this concerned me a little, i didnt except certain things to be at level but i was hoping some was, well the good news is when i got his end of year report all but his writing was at where it should be, yes it was the lower end of the graph compared to the other children but he was still in the green area and this mummy couldn't be more proud of her little man,