it's official!!!

liam's starting preschool!

yikes...yikes...and more yikes.

the whole process leading up to yesterday's IEP meeting has weighed heavy on my heart since it began. survey after survey. questionnaire after questionnaire. psychologists and psychiatrists and teachers and then some in and out of our house on a daily basis for assessments. hearing these strangers talk about my baby and try to "figure him out" has not been easy. this is why i've been pretty off the radar on my blog. i wanted to focus my energy on what was really important at the time - placing liam in a preschool program where he would thrive and be happy.

and finally, some three months later, we have received the results of all his assessments and they describe him pretty perfectly. his social and behavior skills are deficient, which i think will be helped by placing him in a preschool site with other children. and his cognitive skills are way beyond his age level. there were 8 different specialists present at the meetings, many of whom conducted assessments with liam, and all of them were blown away by his intelligence. he was completing puzzles and problem-solving tasks that are age-appropriate for a second grader. the school psychologist said that he finished the testing for a 3 year old with no problem, so she gave him items that were typically given to 5-7 year olds "just to see if he could do them", and he did. all of them. another psychologist saved a piece of paper from her assessment with liam where he had written the entire alphabet in completely legible handwriting. there is no question that our liam is incredibly gifted. now, we just need to focus on the areas where he is deficient and do our best to prepare him for kindergarten.

the decision as to his placement has been made. he will be going to the school site for the same program that he has been with in-home for over a year now. he has made such great progress with them, we didn't see any reason to change things. the only change is that he will be at a school with other children rather than at home with Mom. he will even have the same teachers as he has had in-home, which will hopefully help him transition smoothly.

tomorrow is his last day of in-home sessions, then i have two weeks to spend with my baby before he officially starts preschool. i'm excited for him to start this next chapter of his journey, but i'm also a little sad. therapy in the morning with liam was what ran my days for the past year. i can't help but feel like, "what am i going to do now?" but i'm sure wyatt and i will find plenty of things to do to occupy our time while all of his brothers are in school. :)

i brought liam to his school yesterday because i wanted to see how he would take to the new environment. i feared the worst - tantrum at the door, refusing to go in, kicking and screaming. to my surprise, i got the complete opposite. we walked right in, he recognized a few of the people there from visits at home and found a spot in the play room with one of his teachers. i toured the school a bit and when i came back to him, i found him playing happily and he looked like he didn't even notice i left. i ask him, "do you like your new school, liam?" he answered, "yeah". i asked, "are you ready to go home now?" he answered, "no. no, thanks." i can't even clearly remember because everything was such a blur, almost like a dream, but i'm pretty sure i cried. (i cry about everything.) i think i was just having a hard time realizing that we are finally at this point - the point that we have been preparing him for for the past year - and that he is ready. 


wish us luck!!!


liam has a huge team of people supporting and guiding him. i wish i could give each of them the world. but, i can't. so instead, i made them some cards.

liam and one of his teachers, melissa. she has been such a blessing.