Here he is baiting him with his cheese.
We spent last weekend driving around the pines of Prescott looking at rental homes available (we are currently renting due to the fact we were unable to sell our Phoenix home and don't want to be tied into two mortgages!). Our current lease is up at the end of May, and we were just curious at what was out there and what it was going for. I found a house on a website and we went by to check it out. We both loved it and decided we definitely wanted to pursue it. We met with the management company this past Saturday, got to finally walk through the house, and we loved it even more! We immediately filled out an application and are just waiting to hear back now. It is quite a bit smaller than the house we are currently in (about 800 sf smaller) but we should be able to live in it just fine, and have plenty of room in the garage and an additional building to store what won't fit in the house. It's on 3/4 acre, and just feet from national forest (Abe's absolute dream location), been totally remodeled, has a screened in porch, hot tub out back, a 100ft. Ponderosa that the back deck was built around, and the best part is its $500 less a month than the house we are currently in!!! We've totally got our fingers crossed (there's a few issues about when our lease is up and them holding the house, etc, etc.) but if it works out, we're even thinking about asking if they'd be interested in selling. We love it that much! So chances are we need to start packing, WOO HOO!!! (that was mildly sarcastic)
So we have had all that going on, and then we had some mildly upsetting news regarding Cole this week. When I took him in for his well check a few weeks back, the doc was concerned about his lack of progress in the talking arena. She suggested we contact the Arizona Early Intervention Program (a govt program aimed at helping delayed children from birth to 3 years). I called and did an over the phone screening (I answered a TON of questions regarding every area of Cole's development) and they decided they wanted to do an in house evaluation to determine eligibility for the program. So, this past Thursday (the 26th), 2 evaluators and an NAU student came to the house to watch/evaluate Cole. The motor skills evaluator was very impressed, but we weren't really concerned about that area. He even started showing off his monkey skills on his climber! The Communication evaluator wasn't nearly as impressed. She said that his receptive communication skills (what he hears, understands, and reacts to) are right on target. However, his expressive communication (what he says) is way off track. He currently is at a 12 month old level (he's nearly 22 months) and has been stuck there. She said she wouldn't be as concerned if he had just started his little 3 word vocabulary recently, but since he has been using these same 3 words for almost a year and doesn't seem to be trying to use any more words, there is need for concern. Plus, the fact that he's so on track or advanced with the rest of his development, and is only lagging in speech, is cause for concern, also. So, as it stands, they deemed him eligible for services and I am awaiting their official report. And then my understanding is that we will meet with a speech pathologist and begin treatment.
Now I know this isn't a life ending catastrophe. But I am amazed at how many people I talk to now that had their child evaluated for the same thing, and hearing the situations that had warranted evaluation in the first place, only to find out that they weren't eligible. For that reason alone I become more concerned daily! My mom pointed out one plus to all this- if he is still behind when he turns 3, he will be eligible for Head Start (govt preschool program for delayed children) and his preschool will be taken care of, and I believe even paid for until kindergarten, as long as he is still behind. I keep hoping that he is just a 'late bloomer', and he still may be, but like I said, the more I learn, the more concerned I become. Well, at least we're getting help early, and hopefully we will have it all straightened out by the time he does start school, so he doesn't have to do speech therapy then.
Regardless of all his newly founded struggles, he is still as curious and rambunctious as ever!
He is such a joy in our lives and I do get excited at the idea of someone being able to help him so he can finally share with us what he is struggling so hard to communicate.
Yesterday was a better day! We were fortunate enough to have Abe's parents and his almost-96-years-old grandfather spend the day with us.
We drove them out to see our hopefully-soon-to-be house (they too, suggested we look into a purchase option) and then went and had lunch at The Palace. It was the perfect place for this group of guys. We read on the menu that its AZ oldest restaurant, established in 1877. The building is no longer the original due to the Whiskey Row fire of 1900. However the bar is still original, because as the fire came through, the patrons picked up the bar, carried it across the street to the courthouse square, and continued to drink as they watched the town burn down. Totally the kind of crowd these men would want to hang with! The food was fantastic and the company even better! It was so good to have them visit, and we are so glad Cole got to meet his great grandfather!
Like I said, long post. I am going to do much better from now on!
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