Stripes & Strides

Last week Samantha had her speech evaluation by the school district to deem if Samantha is eligible for special education services once her Alta services ends at the end of the month. Given Samantha’s short attention span, a new normality for her these days, she did incredibly well. The speech therapist said her articulation is slightly below age appropriate levels and may have been a qualifying factor if her comprehension was not above average! In addition Samantha was inconsistent with her ability to articulate well which shows that her articulation is emerging and not quite as alarming. The therapist did ask me about her abilities in fine motor skills, she did notice they were not quite at what seemed appropriate but then she also stated that it was not her specialty and she could be wrong. Her gross motor skills seemed normal to her besides the inability to balance, noting that Samantha is abnormally “clumsy” however that would not be enough to deem her “specials needs” per the school district.

It was not the least bit surprising for me, her speech therapist through Alta, whom Samantha see’s weekly, is quite impressed herself with the strides Samantha has taken since she started therapy with her. I have to give Jessica, her speech therapist, my upmost respect, appreciation and gratitude. She is a wonderful person and is amazing at what she does. Samantha has come so far because of her. I feel like I have also found a new friend in her as well, I have enjoyed sharing stories with her; she too has TWO miracle boys of her own. She has been the support I need from another mother whom understands the difficulties that preemie mommies endure. We will miss her so much!

Samantha is so excited about her 3rd birthday coming up! She is really into helping mommy pick out the decorations, goodie bag items, games and prizes. She has even helped plan the menu. Because she LOVES ice cream we are going to have an ice cream bar with just about everything you could put on ice cream instead of the traditional cake. She loves hotdogs, chicken legs and chips, so that’s the lunch we will make. There is no set theme, its polka dote, princess, butterflies and stripes, some of her favorite “themes” with her favorite colors pink, yellow and light green! She loves bubbles, balls and water. So we will have a bubble machine going and bubbles for the kids to play with, 13 beach balls laying about the backyard, and a water balloon relay race. Sounds like a little bit of crazy with tons of fun!