Garrett just had his second medical visit with Dr. Johnson at the International Adoption Clinic. I was surprised that after being in our care for eight months, he’s grown only two inches (he stands 44”) and has gained only four pounds. Dr. J didn’t see any problem with this even though I mentioned my concern more than once. Now his feet are another story—they’ve increased two sizes (and you know what they say about the size of a man’s foot, it’s true by the way). He also thought Garrett had a very good vocabulary, but felt his articulation needed work. Garrett’s vocabulary has grown immensely—he now uses pronouns along with good sentence structure. I'm checking with the school district to see if they would do a speech evaluation. If not, then we’ll schedule one at the clinic.
Dr. J also suggested we set up an appointment with their psychologist to do some developmental testing, which I think would be good to get an outside opinion. My sense is, the school’s expectations of Garrett based on his IEP (individualized education plan) are pretty low and I want to make sure we don’t promote him to the next grade if he’s not ready just because of the “no child left behind” law. Another thing they’ll need to evaluate is his retention. After the long holiday break, he’ll be tested to see if he has experienced any learning retention loss. If he has, he may qualify for ESY (what we used to call summer school). Secretly, I’m hoping he does, because it would be awesome for him to have school year round. So it’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
Currently, Garrett attends morning kindergarten from 8:50-11:10 a.m., ESL class until 12:30 p.m. and finally Kids Place until 3 p.m. He just loves, loves his teachers (and they all adore him) and chatters all the time about his best buddy Isaac (who happens to be the son of his kindergarten teacher). He now takes the morning bus without any issues (except the first day, he got written up for getting out of his seat while the bus was in motion).
My shoulder situation is also coming along. I’ve been in therapy for a month now and I’m able to do most things on my own (taking showers, opening doors, carrying groceries, putting a turtleneck on). I can raise my arm up about 135º and can hold it out to my side at a 90º angle. I see my doctor tomorrow and am confident I won’t need surgery. My only concern is accidentally slipping on an icy surface, which would be very, very bad. It would be so nice to start the new year without any doctor appointments on the calendar.
9 comments:
I say it often, but I cannot help it. You are a phenomenal mom. Garrett is absolutely benefitting from your thoughtfulness and devotion - no doubt. So amazing, how much you are doing for him. Certainly all children deserve this attention and care. Wish more people were like you.
Glad your shoulder is healing. THanks for sharing the update!
ok, my first thought upon reading this is that i am cracking up the comment about Garrett's big feet...and how his future wife will love that fact that you shared on his blog when he was 6. :)
I'm so glad you went to see the doc and that he thought everything looked good.
You are such a wonderful momma...and hey, I am sure I got in trouble for standing up on the bus too.
I do remember getting in trouble for chasing boys around the room. :)
Glad your shoulder is doing better-and do not fall in the ice, please.
You don't need the drama, mama.
Speaking of-very funny books we got as gifts for Leeza--LLAMA LLLAMA MAD AT MAMA AND LLAMA LLAMA RED PAJAMA. Garrett would love them..perhaps Santa could make a trip to Target for them-in a non icy state, of course. :)
That is so awesome that your shoulder might not need therapy. Can you get one of the really cool, eccentric walking sticks to ensure you don't ever fall? :-)
2 inches?! Wow! That seems a lot to me, but then again, 2 inches on a toddler is a lot. So... um... Gigi has really big feet too. Very wide. What does that say? :-)
I'm sure everyone enjoys the fact that Garrett has large feet. Unfortunately, he reminds me of his prowess at every opportunity. He now points and laughs at me.
Papa
So Funny! The comments are cracking me up! The dietitian in me made me look up his growth and it looks fine. If he was 42 when he came home at 5 and now 44 now at 6 (is that right?) then he is growing along the curve beautifully. In growth a child may be at the 25th percentile but as long as they continue to grow at that percentile then they are gaining the right amount....if he was to drop to the 5th or 10th as he gets older then that would mean he was no growing "enough"....most likely that is why the doctor did not say anything. If you want me to show you how to look it up on the computer for yourself since you would have all the accurat numbers...just let me know.
Nick was able to get speech because of articulation. He barely qualified but because he was ESL and catching up they said he would qualify for sure. We LOVE his speech teacher through the school district and feel lucky to have her care so much about Nick even thru his many moods! ha!
We are debating the whole Kindegarten vs private Kindegarten vs transitional K vs more preschool...ugh! I have noticed that when he hangs around kids his age, he acts his age but when he is with the younger ones like the ones in his class (he is still in a 3 yr old preschool class), he acts younger (grabbing, fighting, etc) because that is still how they know how to deal with conflict. It is age appropriate for the 3 yr olds but not for him. I would like for them to jump him back up to the 4 yr old program but don't know if they will...we will see after Christmas break. So hard to know what is the best!!! I feel for ya!
I think it's a good idea to get some evals outside of what they did for his IEP. Dmitrii is going to be doing speech in preschool AND doing it privately as well.
Glad to hear your shoulder is getting better.
I, too, am cracking up about the commentary on Garrett's feet. While I know you probably don't think you are doing anything other than what you "should" be doing, like others have said, you truly are wonderful parents. Just as you are blessed to have Garrett in your lives, he is so lucky to have a mom who is so on the ball about making sure he has all of the resources he needs to succeed. Sounds like he is developing and growing so well- and 2 inches sounds like a lot to me too. How much do kids usually grow each year?
And as for you, take care of yourself!! No slipping or walking on icy sidewalks or parking lots.
It sounds like Garrett is coming along really well. Two inches is pretty impressive actually. I don't want to think about the foot size comment though... But maybe we're like dogs in that he'll grow into his big feet.
I think you need to move to Florida ... you know, to avoid re-injury to your shoulder!
I agree with Jen and Marshall--you are an awesome Mom and I hope to count on you for advice when it is my turn--You seem to know exactly what to do and you make sure Garrett gets everything he deserves.
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