"Testing"

Well, we did it!  Noah was evaluated this week, now we have to wait until Feb 18th to see if there is a diagnosis and what recommendations they have for us to help him cope.  My biggest fear is that they do not have any recommendations for us. I don't need a diagnosis but I really need help on how far to push him and discipline him.  I never seem to know anymore when he is just being a booger and when he is having troubles expressing and coping.  I am happy to say though that while I have been really nervous about testing him and what they will say, I am really happy we finally did it.  It has been a long 5 months in school.  They funny part, we now seem to have it worked out for the most part in school. Noah has had a few incidents, but mostly positive days in class for the past 3 weeks!  YAY Noah! You ROCK!  While I am so proud of him, I still hold my breath some days waiting for a phone call from the school.  Sad but true. I know Noah can do it, but I don't want to keep my hopes up and then something happen.  I would just be upset and I don't want Noah to feel that.  It seems like that is all he has felt sent school started is us lecturing him. I don't want to act disappointed but Noah is a bright kid and can pick up on things that are never said, especially when they have to do with him.  

Here is to what the future holds!

All Because of a Tiny Little Gummie?!

Noah struggles have suddenly ceased! Now, I am not going to hold my breath that we are done with them completely, I know that is unrealistic when he was having daily struggles and I was celebrating if we were not being called to come and get him...but I am going to cherish the good times he has recently had.  He has had TWO AMAZING WEEKS of awesome behavior and no interruptions in class! 

I am not entirely sure how this has happened but I have a few speculations:
1. Mike graduated and while he is busy working and such, he is more available when he is home.
2. Noah was able to have a nice Christmas Break and enjoy being with family.
3. And the possibly bigger reason, I put Noah on a regimen of two gummie Flinstone vitamins a day and we do not vary this at all. 

I have been told that diet or a lack of some nutrition can cause behavior problems, but I was not entirely sold on that idea.  I thought it would be good to try and see, we tried Added Attention and it did not help.  So I though maybe that was not the case, we had a bout of flu and illness pass through the house and I thought Noah would better from a vitamin...boy was I right?!

See here is the thing, I am still skeptical, could Noah have just decided it was more fun being nice.  Has something else changed that I am not realizing?!  I don't know, but you can be guaranteed that I am not changing the things I think are working...So, everyday after dinner, Noah will be receiving 2 gummie multivitamin flinstones along with lots of hugs and kisses...

No matter what happens, I am thankful for this reprieve of daily struggles that we had happening.  If it happens again, we will approach the subject then, but for now, I am going to stay proud of my smart little man and be thankful he has been happier in class than he has been all year!

On a bragging note, awhile back, Noah was placed in the highest level1st grade Math class, because of his awesome behavior, they finally felt comfortable to place him into the highest 1st grade level Literacy class this week.  In both Noah is flourishing and has found challenges that only a teacher can give him.  He LOVES school and learning.  I am looking forward to summer, we are signing Noah up for baseball this weekend.  It is so fun to watch him play!

Even with the change of behavior, next week Noah is being evaluated.  We have had struggles for too long and I am now not sure if there is anymore to it, so I will leave it to the experts...

Wordless Wednesday

Bad

Noah's words broke my heart this evening.  He was talking with Mike during our usual "Lay on Your Legs" right before going to sleep.  He told Mike, "I am the smartest in my class and I am also the baddest." It still makes me feel like crying.  Noah is struggling, big time. He did not behave like this is Preschool and we are in a few processes to get him help that he needs.

Noah is NOT bad. Period. He is different, and even that makes me angry because EVERY kid in different.  Noah's different is causing him to have trouble coping with the quantity of children and the many and constant loud sounds of his school. He has troubles with controlling his emotion and as a result they come out badly.  To make matters worse the kids know he has a hard time and now they are provoking him and because Noah is the one getting caught, he is the one getting in trouble. Mama is getting angry and so upset. I want to protect him and I can't. Noah was never like this until school started this year, we had some difficulties, but the anger and emotion he acts out is like nothing I have ever seen...

It is heartbreaking as a Mom to hear your child tell you he is bad, because I know he is not. He is the sweetest most loving boy a Mom could have.  He tells me he loves me all the time and gives more hugs and kisses than I ever imagined I would be so lucky to receive.  Noah thinks differently and is special in a most awesome way.  We are going to get through these difficulties and watch out world, Noah is going to do amazing things and one day we will laugh about all the trials and heartache we experienced in his 1st grade year.

What I Have Learned

Since Noah was born, I have had a notion that he was not like most kids...But then I always thought "How would you know?!" I mean really Noah was our first child, what do we really know, he is our guinea pig.  Noah was a difficult baby, now I am not talking colic or he cried a little. I mean: When Noah cried everyone heard him, and when he cried, it was not for a few minutes. When he as born until 9 months old, during the day he took two 30 minute naps and slept about 8 hours at night.  When he was still little, Noah required me and only me to pat, sway, bounce and walk all together for 4 to 6 hours each night to get him to sleep.   At night when we was old enough for us to cry it out, he would cry for 4-5 hours rather than fall asleep.  It was insane and of course everyone told us that we were doing something wrong and I coddled him too much.  I still don't believe it.  Noah is just Noah and he is diffferent.

As Noah has grown older he has mellowed out and while that means a lot to us, for a common person looking in on one of our bad days, it looked like Noah was having an awful tantrum and that he had little guidance from his parents.  Again, this is all wrong. Mike and I have had to be very diligent with Noah and always try (key word is try) to be one step ahead of Noah.  I have always said that Noah's mind was ahead of his body.  It seemed that each time Noah reached a milestone, he would mellow out a little.  I am now really beginning to think I was right.

Since Noah has gone into Kindergarten and then 1st Grade, I think I have started to have a better understanding of Noah.  When Noah would have his tantrums before school started, I would think that I needed to show him that he was acting badly and try and show him the correct way to act.  I would get frustrated and I just couldn't understand how a little guy could be so unhappy and especially not understand how he would not stop. Now, I feel that Noah is misunderstood.  His shut downs are a way for him to express himself and now I am thinking the only way he can express himself when he is overwhelmed.  He has a large vocabulary but it does not consist of emotion words.  Noah has always been quirky, but since he has started school, he has been more quirky than before. Overall, I think I have a better understanding of how Noah works.  I know I have more patience and positive words for him.  It is amazing how much I have grown since he has started school.  God gave us one amazing little guy and I think he could very well be someone who makes a huge difference in the world.  He has an amazing mind and an amazing heart for the ones he loves.

 

More Trials

Oh what fun we have had in the past couple weeks...Noah was doing AWESOME once he was changed into a first grade class. AWESOME!  He was paying attention, listening to his teachers, learning like crazy.  Mind you, he had a few rough days, but overall, they were good.  Well, that has all changed...and I am at a loss for then time being.

We are  currently, waiting to hear from Children's Hospital to make an appointment to see if Noah has some kind of autism.  Once we hear from them (which we hope is this week) we can make our appointment, which will be 3 weeks to 3 months away.  I would just like to say, I am hoping it is on the shorter end of that and I am not sure we can survive if it is 3 months away, seriously. 

Starting about two weeks ago, Noah started acting out something awful again.  Originally, we thought it was because of Halloween and his birthday coming up, but it has all passed and it is still going on. UGH.  But, I got some amazing news today, we know Noah is smart. He is smart enough to skip Kindergarten and head into 1st.  He was smart enough to get bumped into a harder Math class.  Well, we have received his test scores for Literacy and he is the 2nd highest in his class ( and probably would have been 1st if he had been more focused said the Principal)  and they want to bump him into the advanced class for Literacy.  They (meaning the Principal and his teacher) want to give him the Math tests for the advanced 1st grade class and see how well he does.  When he does well, they want to move him into the class as well.  I have been telling his teacher Noah is bored again and the tests show it!! The scary part, all this advancement has happened in 2 months!! Both the Principal and Noah's teacher want him evaluated to check for how GT (gifted and talented) he is.

We have discussed many things to try and help Noah. As time has gone on, he have found more distinctly what his triggers are such as sounds, gatherings of children, and changes in schedule. It has been very eye opening for us and unfortunately very difficult for Noah. He has spent a great deal of time outside of his class and is still quite ahead of the rest of his class. They are now putting together packets for him to do when he finishes the class work before everyone else.  It also gives him a break from the stressors he feels at school and rewards him for doing his work.  He loves puzzles, word searches, cross word puzzles, mind games.  He is different from most kids, they are soothing to him.

So I guess what I am trying to say, all the troubles Noah is having is due to him being a BRAINIAC and I am so proud of him!! Love you Noah!!

So Many Words

Since Noah started school this year, SO many words have been thrown about to describe Noah. Noah was bumped up from Kindergarten to 1st grade 11 days after he started.  He was acting out so badly that I thought he would be suspended in a matter of a month or two.  Yes, it was that bad.  Of course, the teacher we had, had no patience whatsoever for children and their antics. It was an awful situation. 

God answers my prayers and Noah was placed into 1st grade and was placed with a teacher who accepts Noah for Noah. She has embraced his "quirkiness" and does her best to bring out the better part of him.  "Quirky" is one of Noah's descriptive words. I have described him with that since he was a baby.  Noah is not a normal child.  Now I understand that there is no such thing as a "normal" child, but Noah is far from the description of the other children.  Noah's teacher recognizes this and has told me he is "GT" aka gifted and talented.  Noah seems to be able to learn things after only be told one time.  While this is AWESOME for him personally, in class this is awful.  All the other children require things to be taught numerous times before they understand.  Noah has told me he gets bored, and when he gets bored, watch out. 

The final word that has been mentioned in "Aspergers." Noah would be a minor case, but he definitely has characteristics.  We are going to have him evaluated, but the wait time is AWFUL.  So now we wait. Even if he is not classified, I am hoping for recommendations.

Overall, what everyone has told me.  Noah is a very SMART child.  He needs to be kept on his toe, which I already knew, that was one of the challenges we had when he was a baby.  Noah is a loving child, he does better with adults.  He takes time to process interactions with other, sometimes 24hrs+.  He has to think about things and the way they each acted before he can determine if he owes someone an apology.  While this can be difficult for others to understand, he has to have time and people need to understand that not all children are the same and Noah is one of the awesome special ones. I love my Noah and I would not change him a bit!