All's Well That Ends Well

Well, the week is over. At least all of the hard/tiring parts. All that's left is to make and eat dinner and put the kids to bed. Then off to the hot tub at my parents house for relaxation with Lovely Neighbor. Four kid related doctor's appointments, two swimming lessons, one dental convention, and several days of getting up at 4am. OVER. Tomorrow I will be the one to get up early, but there is no lunch to make, and no getting kids dressed for school. There will be parenting OTC (On The Couch).

The week was pretty productive. We checked in on The Little Person's pigeon-toed feet and lazy-eye, and Sam will be receiving extra speech therapy and getting some new computer software. He is now up-to-date on his shots. It was hard to hold him down, but afterward he mostly seemed sad and shocked that he got poked. And that IT HURT! I got the nurse to prepare the shots before we came in the room, which ended up being a good thing. They usually take him fairly quickly, which is a nice thought, but then we have to wait for 5-10 minutes in the empty room, which is difficult. Instead, we watched a movie on the new flat screen TV in the waiting room, and when the nurse called us in she was ready to go.

Next week is the big meeting for Sam to discuss his IEP (Individualized Educational Plan). I have some anxiety about preparing for this, but there's only so much I can do. The (autistic) Dr. who spoke at the Dental Convention on Thursday and the meeting with the speech pathologist have re-motivated me to find ways to work with Sam myself, and help him be as successful as possible. I am thinking of ways to better prepare him for events and appointments, and let him know what a day or period of time will consist of, as well as what is expected of him. I need to figure out what I need to make/create to explain things, and what I can use that we already have (PECs, iPod). I feel inspired and optimistic. Not that we can cure him, but that we can figure out ways to give him the best/happiest life possible for him.