Testing

I am so very proud of you. After much thought and consideration I decided to go through a private psychologist for educational, developmental, and emotional testing. When you first arrived home I had said I wanted to give you one year... one year to grow and develop and at least form some bonds here and have stability before you underwent testing. During this last year you also gained some skills, such as sitting in your chair longer then two seconds, to help with this testing. This was not an easy decision though to finally make.

Even though I know you have special needs, and lots of them, I have felt safe not having a label on you. Always being able to say that all of your needs are because of your past, and well, even though your past greatly impacts who you are today we need a diagnosis. We need a baseline and a starting point and also evidence so that when I have the energy I can once again fight the public school system for an appropriate placement. I have been scared though to see these results, what if they come back ID, AUT, or ED? What do those initials actually mean? Will the tests be an accurate picture of who you are? And how can they test a chid who is overall nonverbal and has no paper and pencil skills? All this aside, we had to move forward.

So, off we went today to Bethesda and you did a wonderful job. I am so proud of how hard you worked and how hard you tried to complete the tasks that were presented to you. You worked for over three hours, some tasks were easy for you, others were well beyond your comprehension but you attempted and gave it your all, and that is all I ever ask of you. I just want you to try your best and allow yourself to experience the world around you. I will honestly say, that given the tests were standardized, meaning questions could not be altered and there were no prompts or teaching permitted, I think the results will be an accurate measure. Now, I know you can do more, you have shown us more, but not under those conditions and that will all be written into the report. On top of this, everyday is a new day for you and tomorrow you will learn another skill that you did not have today. Just keep on trucking baby.

All of this aside, we made it through our first mothers day. We had a very busy weekend between lacrosse, swim lessons, birthday celebrations for Terry, and Mothers day dinner with Nancy and Terry we spent very little time at home. You know, you have your ups and downs but you did hang strong for the most part.

Oh, and most importantly, YOU LOST YOUR FIRST TOOTH! I have no clue where it is, I think you swallowed, I do not even though if you lost it Sunday afternoon, evening, in your sleep, or Monday during breakfast but it is gone. I made a big deal out of it when I discovered it brushing your teeth. You just stuck your finger up your nose, said "tooth" and went about smiling as you ran out of the bathroom. Needless to say, a bigger first for me this time then you :)

I love you baby
Mommy

Pictures are from our weekend