Days 95, 96, 97 and into 98

Closing in on 100 days on NV - huge progress in some areas, some not as much in others, but definitely worth continuing on it.

Generally pretty good end to the week, again a couple of "meltdowns," seems to be mostly mid-day at lunchtime (tired? hungry? noise? Josh says the noise makes him "nerwous") and on Thursday getting on the bus after school - don't remember if it was raining that day but it was definitely hot and humid, tired? (Gramma and Boompah surprised us on Thursday - they came by with YooHoo for Josh, and Gramma and I sat outside to wait for the bus - Josh got off beautifully) Otherwise, Josh is working very hard, is attentive, is needing very few (if any) prompts on pretty much every day. He is amazingly good at math, of all things! You consider math is a pretty abstract subject, I'm sure they're using tactile for math but, gotta say, I'm surprised at how much he likes it and is so good at it. It's still very elementary math - no algebra or trig (!) - which actually is a good thing since I stink at math and would never be able to help him with homework! LOL! I sure wish the reading would come though. And, he's doing a great job getting on the bus in the a.m. and off at home - he's coming down the stairs all on his own, keeping his eyes open (always a good thing!), and getting right up. Bonnie, the afternoon driver, said she is running out of stickers for him (reward system for getting up/off the right way - her concern has been that, in an emergency, he would not be able to get off - I'm thinking if there's an emergency, even if he's doing a good job daily, he is going to have a very hard time getting off a bus - thank heavens no emergencies have arisen and I pray they don't!). The note on Friday also said that one of the aides, the gentleman named Frank, came up with a really fun system for Josh to complete "tasks" - the parts of the tasks are placed around the classroom and Josh has to go around putting elements of the tasks in a container - he really likes it (maybe associates it with collecting garbage!). Smart man, Frank!

Had a rough day yesterday, Day 97. It seems there is often one day of the weekend that is hard - could be he's just tired from the week and needs to have a "lazy day." But, when you've got things to do, places to be, and people to meet, arranging the weekend for whichever day might be lazy is difficult. Josh was very resistent to getting up and going, resistent to getting in the car (we had planned on going to Elmhurst for train watching and a picnic - I made a big picnic lunch and, as he did once before, would not get up to go - so he lost out on it; after Elmhurst we were going to go to the office where he could help me pack up a lot of his stuff in anticipation of the office move in October - Josh wound up spending the day at Gramma and Boompah's where, of course, he was terrific, and I wound up getting a lot of work done at the office), was resistent to coming back home after Gramma's, but he was great about going up to bed.

This a.m., Day 98, I got up a little early and had some quiet time downstairs, couple cups of coffee. Josh woke up, got into the bathroom on his own, and we got washed up/dressed. He's been fantastic - I had left my coffee cup on the end table and he brought it to me in the kitchen to wash, he ate like a pig (2 pieces toast with PBJ and an egg, and two cups of NV!), and he's very excited about a neighbor who will be doing some culvert work in front of our house and a friend who may come by for a visit later in the day - he keeps running to the door to see if our friend is here (don't even know for sure whether coming or not!). I've got to mow the lawn (finally!) and Josh is talking about taking the lawn mower for a walk - don't know if he'll be so gung ho on that once our neighbor comes with the bucket/digger! We'll see how the noise of the work is going to affect him. I'd take him out and about rather than staying home but don't know if/when our friend is coming over, and our neighbor might need my help in digging the culvert and laying the piping. Big job for our neighbor - very nice guy, postal worker, 11 grandchildren - all boys! He likes Josh a lot and Josh really likes him, mainly because he's a "mail guy" and he had a great dog, Kodiak (Kodie-Bear) (unfortunately, Kodie was put down the other day - very old for his breed and weight, was falling apart and not making it on stairs or outside, very sad, he was a great dog).

So, on with Day 98, whatever this day will hold! No school tomorrow (Labor Day) so Gramma and Boompah will be kidsitting as I need to get into the office for the day (so much for Labor Day for me!). Happy Labor Day to all!