School Picture and Kid Update

I had absolutely NO expectations for Kyle's school picture, especially after his teacher told me that the photo session interrupted his snack...that poor photographer!! But I absolutely LOVE this picture!! It is definitely my current favorite of him. I took a picture of it, so it's a little distorted but gives you the idea...

In other kid news, Kyle started going full days at preschool last Thursday. His IEP team felt that he would benefit from the one-on-one time that a full day could offer. So he is in the same class in the morning, without aids. And then he's in a small special ed class in the afternoon with a one-on-one aid, to work on his social skills. His teachers have reported good progress over the last couple weeks, so hopefully that continues. And (knock on wood) he has handled the transition to "double school" fine. But it's a long day (the bus gets him at 8:30 and drops him off around 3), so he comes home pretty tired/grumpy. But I am very happy that he's getting these extra services and am hopeful that his good progress continues.

And in Luke news, he has become a little parrot, repeating anything and everything anyone else says! And without my prompting, he has taken to saying "help please" (in his super-sweet little voice) when he needs help...very polite little 1 year old :) He has also started answering any and all questions (whether they are directed at him or not!) with "yah", and he is very good at recognizing questions vs statements. I just love watching his language blossom!

And now that Kyle is going to "double school", Luke is without his buddy for those four days. So I have been searching for some sort of social activity for him (because he definitely likes being around other kids). But there's not too much out there for 1 year olds. So I decided to send him to a daycare a couple mornings a week (from 9 to 12). And a childhood acquaintance Laurie (who I am friends with on Facebook) runs a center out of her home about 3 minutes down the road. I checked it out yesterday and loved it!

There are a few other kids Luke's age, a nice outside play area, and overall a very fun/nurturing environment. And as an added bonus, Laurie's husband was laid off last year and has been home ever since helping her (apparently they are fine financially). So I absolutely love that there will be a guy around, since Luke has virtually no exposure to males. And I just get such warm, kid-loving vibes from Laurie on Facebook (and also when I talked to her in person yesterday)...she has 3 boys of her own and just really loves kids. So I feel really good about this and am also VERY excited to have these kid-free windows of time in the house. It will help from a work standpoint. But I'm getting my job done right now without this time, so I hope to use at least some of the time to run kid-free errands and get stuff done around the house. Thursday will be his first day, and I think it will be a win-win for both of us!