I can't believe he can do this!!

Guess what JEB can do????

This evening, I was reading thru JEB's IEP and looking at stuff we needed to work on for this school year.  One of the things, was that he would be able to say his birthday, when asked.  So I asked him when his birthday was and proceeded to tell him, June 12.  I said it over and over, several times, and then one time he started saying....."june, july, august,.....sember (september)........otober......skipped November and then Dember!!  I said, "what?"  start again!  So, I started with January and he proceeded to go thru the months of the year.....sort of skipping thru a couple of them, but said them all nonetheless!!!  WOW!!

I immediately called his teacher and was screaming in the phone and jumping up and down, and she simply said, ask him what the days of the week are......so I did!!  I said, "JEB, what are the days of the week?".....he says.....Sunday, Monday, and so on!!!  AMAZING!!! 

I am soooooo proud of him!!!  Guess we'll be working on some other stuff too!!!  WOO-HOO!!!

School has officially begun!!

Well, it's started!  School is now officially on! 

I had been talking to him for a couple of days about going to see his teachers and his friends and he would very proudly say, "NO POCKET!" (his teacher, Ms Pollock).  "NO SCHOOL"  "GO to MAMA's school", which is what he calls the elementary school where I taught before last year.  I think he enjoyed coming with me while I tutored.  I would take his movies/DVD player, puzzles, his gameboy thing, and whatever else he could squeeze into his backpack and set him up in a classroom across from where I was working and he would play, or I would have one of his babysitters come and sit with him.  It worked out quite well, except for the fact that I had to pay the babysitters a portion of my hourly wage.  BUT well worth it, for sure.

BUT we got him up and dressed and he very quickly settled back into his normal school routine, which is a good thing.  The only damper on this school year would be the fact that they are NOT having after-school-care at his school this year.  INSTEAD, they are bussing the few children a few blocks away to another elementary school.  This freaked me out a bit, at first. 

The other school, which happens to be one of the better ones in our county is across the street from our church, so not so bad.  BUT they are the largest aftercare in the county.  NOT a good thing.

I was stewing about this all weekend, looking into what my other options might be.  So after school yesterday, I went over to his school, and watched him get on the bus.  I was able to talk with the bus driver and she seemed to understand my nervousness about the whole situation.  He did great!  They led him to the bus and someone was right there to lead him to the gym, where aftercare is held.  Even though they had about 60 kids in there, they divide them into smaller groups with a leader, and they stay with them the entire afternoon, or the whole time they are there.  They also have specific activities they do for a specific time slot, so that is good too.  I was able to talk with his group leader and the director there, and I think he'll be just fine.

So other than that, all is well!!

only 1 more week.....

WOW!  Where oh where did the summer go???  JEB starts school 1 week from Monday.  August 1st. 

Seriously???  School is starting AUGUST 1st????  Yep.  Seriously. 

Now, JEB will be happy about this.  His mamma will be happy about this.  But, seriously, I think starting school August 1st is a bit ridiculous.  I grew up going from after Labor Day till Memorial Day and I learned enough to make it thru my Masters Degree.  Going to school for an extra month is NOT going to make these children learn any more information.  They should be outside swimming in the pool, or just playing outside and enjoying the summer.....because AUGUST is still considered summertime!

Oh well, I guess they didn't ask me what I thought.  Sad.  I could help them figure out a lot of solutions to their problems.  But.....they didn't ask me.

he learned to swim.....sort of......

Hey y'all!  Summer is in full swing here in SW GA, and my tutoring schedule is jam-packed!!  I have 9 students that I see thruout the week and JEB has been quite the trooper going with me to most of those I have scheduled!  The younger kids, he'll get to play with a bit before we go on to the next one, which is fun for him.  I tried to not schedule any for the afternoons, but I've had to adjust a couple of them to an afternoon slot, because JEB needed to be home with Daddy while I worked or their schedule was in conflict.  Not too bad though, I tried to leave Monday's free, in case I needed to swap someone, or so that we would have one day totally free to do whatever we wanted to do!! 

Now, the big news?  He learned to swim!!  I'm so proud of him....wish I had pictures, but I was in the pool with him, so I couldn't take any!  A lady from our church was offering lessons, so she agreed to try to work with him.  We started out, screaming-yelling-gulping in plenty of pool water-coughing-sputtering....you get the drill, but he weathered it out that first night.  Then on day 2, he was holding his breath underwater and going from her to me, maybe 1/3 of the way across the pool.  Kicking his feet behind him was a bit of a challenge, but by Friday?  He has mastered it.  She would start of one side, count to three and give him a good push-off and away he would go toward me, on the other side.  She would follow alongside of him, and helped him come up for a breath and go back under to continue on!!  I was so, so proud of him!!  Of course, now all he wants to do is go "swim at lysse's house"!
Good thing I'm going to tutor her 7 yr old for a bit and I swapped the tutoring for some swim time in the pool!!! 

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!!!  Enjoy your celebrations!!!

Deb and JEB

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEB!!!

11 yrs ago today, GOD blessed us by sending us this sweet boy!!  Have a great day!!

Welcome!!

WELCOME!!  To the readers from Kelly''s Korner!!  Thanks for stopping over here and meeting us!!

JEB is a sweet little guy, who will be 11 yrs. old on Sunday, who also just happens to have Down syndrome!  GOD has richly blessed us with him in our lives!!

Spend some time looking over some of our posts and getting to know us!!  We'd love for you to leave us a comment so we can add you to our buddy list!!

I am still here......really......

Well, I have no excuses really.  I check this poor, neglected blog, I really do!  I check it so I can click onto the blog friends and see what's happening with everyone else and think, "You know, I really need to write something on the blog." 

Well, sad to say, it's been over a month since I've posted anything.  No excuses.  I've had plenty of time to do it.  I just chose not to do it.  BUT here I am now to post pics of JEB's Buddy Baseball game.  Too cute!!  He had fun.....wanted to be in the middle of everything!!!  Summer has begun......my tutoring schedule is packed, but I have one whole day off and every afternoon so that JEB and I can do some things.  Pretty good, I'd say!!  Enjoy the pics!!