Wow, I cannot believe it's already fall! Where did this summer go? We had a fantastic summer - between summer camp, gymnastics classes, swimming, VBS, campfires, beach days, zoo days, lake days, splash pads, movie nights, mini golf, and trips to see family - we had a lot of fun. Mike and I also enjoyed a few date nights, weekends away, outdoor concerts, and we both did a couple races - Mike did a triathlon with my brother and dad and I ran the Mud Run with some girl friends. Being the project queen that I am I also built the boys a swing set, a new farmhouse dining table and refinished our china cabinet. Love those projects! We added two new members to our family - "Cat" and "The Hat" - two beta fish. It's about all we can handle pet wise in this house. We definitely had a great few months of no schedules, school or routines. However, we are now back in the saddle and ready for another school year.
Mitchell started this week and LOVES going everyday. He is in the Young 5's program at his school and only has 6 kids in his class - ALL BOYS! So, he absolutely loves it. It's like a play date every day, with some learning thrown in. He gets to do a special every day too - Spanish, Computer, Music and Library. I wasn't sure at first how I felt about such a small class size, but now I'm thrilled. He's going to get a lot of one-one-one time with his teacher during a pretty critical year where he'll learn to read and improve his writing skills. He also loves that he gets to eat lunch at school every day. I think it's going to be a good year for the big Mitch Man.
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| First day of school! |
This was my last week of mornings home with Dominic. He starts Early Childhood Special Education on Monday! We got to meet his teachers, OT, PT and Speech therapist on Tuesday at orientation. They all seem fantastic and his teacher is young, full of energy and seems to love working with the littles. Aside from having all of those people in his classroom, he also has 2-3 para pros in his class. So, with only 10 kids, he's got a lot of attention! As hard as it is to put my 2 year old baby on a bus that will whisk him off to school, I think this will be an amazing experience for him. They work on a lot of OT and speech in the classroom and he will be pulled out for individual OT, PT and speech every week to help him reach his individual goals. Speaking of - he's already accomplished two of them! He can stand from sitting in the middle of a room unassisted (without pulling up on something) and he's walking up steps (see video below). They also have all the kiddos try potty time in the morning. Even though he's still in diapers, it'll be a good routine for him, and to watch others try. Maybe this will help when potty training comes around. I'm also hoping that since he gets breakfast every morning at school that this will help his "picky" attitude towards food and he'll branch out from the current 10 foods he eats. All in all, I think this will be great for him to spend the mornings in a social setting getting lots of therapy. Couldn't be happier for my boy!
Since I haven't done a post in awhile, here are some updates on Dominic - He is talking a ton! Not in sentences, but it phrases and using a lot more words to express what he wants. He is a riot and says some of the funniest things. We took a break from OT and PT over the summer, so we were able to spend a lot more time just doing fun, normal things. He LOVES the water and we spent a good amount of time swimming at the pool and the beach. He also LOVES to be outside. He will be my outdoorsy, sports enthusiast. He loves to be outside kicking the soccer ball or on our new swing set (I built myself, by the way :o) He LOVES to jump! Weather on the bed, in the yard or on the trampolines at Skyzone, he totally loves it. Now that he can jump with both feet (another goal attained) he really loves to jump all the time. Pretty funny stuff. He also FINALLY got his new AFO (as seen in the video above), which took forever. But it seems to be helping with his limp. Hopefully we'll see some major progress 6 months from now.
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| Bouncing at Skyzone |
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| Loving the Splash pad |
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| Enjoying the new swing set (ignore the dead lawn) |
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| This boy loves the swings |
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Dominic also reached his two year seizure-free mark on August 2nd. This is a day I didn't see coming. I wouldn't have thought 2 1/2 years ago it was possible. Not to mention we only have 14 more days on his last seizure-med. We are down to 1 ml a day, which is basically nothing. To think this kiddo who had seizures every day while on several meds could be seizure-free and med-free is incredible! At the end of this month we will also celebrate his 3rd birthday! Can't believe he's going to be three. So much has happened in three years, it could fill a book. Maybe someday it will...
So, all is well in the Dunlap house. We are so grateful for where we are in life and for how far Dominic has come. A true blessing from God! Thank you to those of you that still check in here once in a while and still keep Dominic in your prayers. He's doing incredible :o)
