My little Kinder!

So Dakota Man is officially a BIG boy at a BIG school now! No more preschool for this kid…it’s the REAL DEAL now folks!!


9.22.14 First Day! All of us had to come wish him a happy day! An official Discovery Dolphin! ;) (I’m sure he was thinking…you guys are SO embarrassing! ;))

I think we were both a little nervous about this big school, new teachers, new kids, ALL day thing!!
So we prepped the night before by reading this book together! ;)
 
Not sure if that really helped! ;)

As you know we have ADORED his preschool teacher to death!! I knew she would be irreplaceable but I hoped he would have a teacher who could see the boy inside and the potential he has like Miss Kerri did!!

I was nervous what this “special ed” class would look like…would the kids be able to talk to him? Would he get enough interaction? How often would he get to go to the kindergarten class and be with kids his own age??

How would he handle all day without a nap??

Would the kids accept him and be nice to him?? Would this be the year where maybe he would get made fun of or treated badly?!

I had SOOO many worries and questions about what this year would look like!!!

Kindergarten started a week later then all the other kids so that they could have kindergarten assessment. I was surprised that even Dakota got assigned a time and day to come for Kindergarten Assessment…I wondered how they were thinking they were going to test and assess him? ;) But intrigued we went…and really it was just for him to meet his assigned Kindergarten teacher and see his classroom.


Mrs. Fawcett

The classroom didn’t look nearly as fun as the preschool classroom but I guess it is time to grow up! ;) His kindergarten teacher seemed very sweet but also a little timid with him. I’m sure it will take her a little bit to get used to him! She asked me that day if I would be willing to come in and talk to the kindergarten class about Dakota. I was so excited and thought what a perfect idea!! So day 2 of school starting I went in.

I brought my FAVORITE picture EVER of Dakota because it is a picture that represents EVERYTHING Dakota!

His cowboy hat and boots because he is all cowboy, tractor because he is a tractor man, Sophie the Dog because he likes animals (dogs and horses especially), and my favorite…if you look closely is Mr. Buzz Lightyear snuggled up behind him because he is a Toy Story fanatic! ;)


 
I shared with the kids what Dakota was like before the accident. How he was a lot like them and could do some of the same things they could do.

I shared that a fence fell on him when he was 2 and that he couldn’t breathe which hurt his brain and made his brain forget how to do all of those things he used to know how to do!

I told them that the doctors were AMAZING though and saved his life. I told them that doctors were really smart and that they used some special things to help Dakota be able to live. I showed them the trach that helps him breathe and cough so that he doesn’t get really sick and die. I showed them how cool his g-tube was so that he can still get food and water even though he doesn’t remember how to chew and swallow like them. I even told them how lucky Dakota was that he doesn’t even have to taste his vegetables…they just go right in! (Dakota smiled at that part!)


Showing off his sweet g-tube! (And 6 pack! ;))

They thought that was pretty lucky. Just the other day a little girl came and sat at the lunch table with him and her whole lunch was vegetables. She told Dakota’s nurse she was going to eat vegetables like Dakota!! (Melt my heart!)

I told them that Dakota has a cool chair (wheelchair) so that he can get around like them even though his legs don’t work like theirs!

Most importantly I told them that even though Dakota can’t talk back to them that he understands what they say to him and he LOVES to have friends and have kids come talk to him, hold his hand, share their toys with him, hug him, etc.

At the end I asked them if they would be his friend for me? And so sweetly and innocently they gave me the biggest nods!

It made my heart so happy!!!!

I started off the year very nervous about the “special ed” class. I never pictured my kid in “special ed” and it was hard to face the reality this year that this is where he will be throughout his whole school career. (Preschool was just preschool!)

I decided this year to take him to school every day instead of riding the bus since it would pick him up super early BUT it has been the best decision I could have made…FOR ME!! Walking in that “special ed” class every day has COMPLETELY changed my perspective of “special ed.” I have come to see as I have gotten to know and watch these SPECIAL kids “special ed” is just that…SPECIAL!!! Each one of the kids in that class have a heart of gold!!! They LOVE each other, their teachers, me, the nurses, everyone…but especially my Dakota man UNCONDITIONALLY!!

They don’t Dakota’s disability like other kids, they see Dakota! They say hi to him just like they would say hi to anyone else! The sweetest little Down Syndrome girl is his BIGGEST fan!! The minute we come in the room she comes over to hug and kiss him and pat his mohawk. They send me pictures of her and tell me ALL day is just like this!!

Does this not make your heart want to explode!!!



She just loves him to pieces and I know he loves her! I swear they were special friends in heaven and just got to reconnect here at school!

I no longer feel bad that my kid’s future is in “SPECIAL ED”…I feel privileged!! He IS so special and there is no other class I would want him to be in!!!

Even though he is in the special ed class…he has lots of opportunity to interact with the other kids at school and he has made quite the impression on the ladies out at recess! The nurses tell me he is constantly swarmed by the girls! (It is great to have nurses to be your picture takers and informants! ;))

Hey Ladies!! ;)

One day a girl asked to go down the slide with him (double slides) holding hands…as soon as they got done there was a line of girls all wanting a turn! ;) Made my heart so happy to hear!

He has this little beauty who likes to take care of him. She just hangs with him at recess while her friends come and go! ;)

Don’t you love the way this girl is just handling his wheelchair like she owns him!? ;)

I feel so blessed that this year is going so well! I know Dakota is loving the constant stimulation and friendships he is forming! I think he was ready to take on the big school…it just took his mom a little bit to catch the vision!

I especially love that he gets to experience more new things at the big school like music class…he loved the drums!


He loves to go to P.E.! And he even got to go to his first assembly! I remember loving those as a kid! The nurse said he was ALL smiles soaking that thing up!!

I am MOST excited that they are all getting trained on using an eye gaze communication that he will be able to use in class! We went one day to learn about it and to see how he would do and the lady over the district said he did the best she has ever seen a kid do on their first time!


 
The screen has a tracker on the bottom that tracks where he is looking. Once he looks at an object for so long it lights up and says what it is! So he would be able to make choices and play games on it and eventually maybe learn to communicate more and more!

I am SOOOO excited to see where this could go! If we could get this kid an avenue to communicate with us I know he will have SO much to say!!!

I am learning to love his new teacher more and more. She has a lot different personality then the preschool teacher…more serious and quiet. But as she has come to know Dakota she has built quite the schedule for him and makes sure he is working and learning right along with all the other kids! Not sure how these special ed teachers do it…so many different kids with so many different needs! They are superhuman!!


Mrs. Hansen

My Little Smarty Pants!

So I had Dakota’s yearly IEP meeting at the school yesterday. For those of you who don’t have a kid with a special need. IEP is just short for Individualized Education Plan. Any child that is behind in any area…whether cognitive, speech, physical, etc. that meets requirements will have an IEP. It is basically just a plan that you set up with individual goals for your child that those that work with him work on throughout the year.

Well, once a year you meet with ALL of the individuals that work on these goals to talk about how they are doing with the goals and what needs to change. For Dakota he has A LOT of goals and A LOT of people that work with him because he has needs in all areas…physical, fine motor, vision, speech/communication, and cognitive. So the room was filled with about 8 people all there to report on how Dakota is doing this year reaching these goals.

I usually go in expecting not to hear anything that is a big surprise since I see improvements in him too and know about where he is at…BUT this meeting was SOOOO amazing and I wanted to cry as I got to hear each of these people talk about how AMAZING Dakota is doing this year and how smart he is.

Each one of them from the second we started just said that Dakota understands EVERYTHING!! He is so mentally there and with it. This of course makes my day because I believe this with all of my heart but it is hard to describe to other people why I think he does understand when they see a little boy that can’t talk or communicate. To know that they see that in him too and that they treat him like he understands means the world to me!!!
The speech person said at literacy time when they read books a lot of the books have subtle humor in them that the other kids in the class don’t get but Dakota gets it and always laughs! I LOVED that because he does have such a fun sense of humor!

His teacher said he knows all of his shapes and colors. I was SO impressed by this!! She knows this because they have him look at a couple shapes and then tell him to look at a certain one and he almost always gets it right. Now she wants to move on to teach him the alphabet…especially the letters in his name.
As she said this the speech therapist that works with him said “Yes…we want him to learn his letters because I really believe that as he gets older he will be able to use communication devices that allow him to spell out words so that he can communicate with you in messages!”
My little heart skipped a beat to hear that she believes in Dakota and that he will be able to do amazing things like this one day!!!

The physical therapist and occupational therapist all commented on how much stronger Dakota is and how much they see him bringing everything together…body, eye tracking, verbalizing, responding, etc.

But the best part of the whole meeting was hearing each one of them say how much they love Dakota and how happy he makes them! That is the greatest compliment of all!!!

I left that meeting with the BIGGEST smile on my face and the HAPPIEST heart ever!! I’m not the only one who is seeing the progress! It was so great to be in a room filled with so many people who love my little boy and are wanting to help him just as much as I do!!

I was SO proud of Dakota!! He will never be on the honor roll or win a trophy for MVP on a sports team BUT his victories are even more amazing to me then that because I know how hard they are for him! They take a lot of work and a lot of time and they are still small and simple but they are AMAZING!!!!

I LOVE YOU DAKOTA AND I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!

Life is “HAPPY”

It has been awhile since I wrote just about Dakota man…it is definitely overdue. The best words to describe Dakota and our little life right now is “happy!”

This new pillow I got for his new big boy room says it perfectly! ;)

I always have the hardest time describing how Dakota is progressing to people because it is tiny and subtle. Probably those who only see him every once in awhile would never even notice any difference at all but for us in our home…we are seeing progress…and that makes us ALL happy!!!

The biggest change is still just subtle progress in his responsiveness, reactions, and communication. He is SO alert and expressive to EVERYTHING around him. He lets you know very easily and quickly these days if he his liking what is going on or not. He whines and cries when he is not liking something or wanting you to do something for him. You can ask him a question while he is whining and most of the time he will stop and look at you or smile if that is what he wants or he will keep whining until you get it right…sometimes you never get it! ;)



For example…the other night he started crying in bed. I went in and tried to roll him back to the side he had been on (since he had rolled onto his back and it is hard for him to roll in his bed since it is tilted). As soon as I did he started whining so I said “oh you don’t want to lay on that side?” He stopped whining. I rolled him onto the other side and he just gave me the hugest smile ever, like saying, “YES!! Thank you mom!!” This is just one example of the many that are happening more and more often which makes life so much more easier for him and us!!

But honestly his mood is just SO happy and full of life lately and that has made the BIGGEST difference in our little home. I remember after his accident just praying that we would see some of his personality come back in him since there was really nothing there as far as personality for a long time. My prayers have sure been answered! This kid has personality…it is not maybe the exact same personality he had before his accident although I still see some of that same little boy inside…but it is personality and it is there and it is fun!!! He is really just so fun again in a new and different way but we sure love it!!

Even a year after his accident he would smile but not at anything we did. We could be funnier then funny and try and get him to smile and laugh at us but we got nothing. The only thing that could get him to smile was watching Toy Story. This was how we had to take our family pictures to get any smiles.

The whole photo shoot my friend Chelsea was holding this DVD player and the camera to catch him at the parts he would smile.

These days we don't need Toy Story to get a smile out of him. They come so easily and naturally now and that has been one of the hugest blessings to our family!!

Here is a short little video of him just having fun with his cousin Houston.

His sweet spirit and smiles fills our home with complete happiness. It is a happiness that is not just superficial…it is pure joy!! When he is in a happy and playful mood, Zach and I always just stop what we are doing and enjoy it together. I'm sure that if someone was constantly watching us they would think we are a little overly obsessive about our child...but that's ok with me! ;) I guess we are! I love that the trials we have been through have created within us a deeper appreciation for these simple things in life like a smile, that we once took for granted.


With Zach’s new job he doesn't leave so early in the morning, so many mornings Dakota is awake before he leaves and we have time to talk, smile, and pray together before he leaves and it is so simple but yet so wonderful.


Zach sharing some pears with Dakota before work!!

The other morning Zach said to me, “I am just so happy! Even though life and work are still stressful and we don’t know what the heck we are doing (and Zach is a really stressful person that has a hard time not focusing on problems) just spending these morning together with you and Dakota just makes me so happy!” This made my heart just skip a beat because that is what it is all about!! In the scriptures in 2 Nephi 2:25 it says, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” For a long time we were missing out on that joy as we grieved and mourned the loss of the Dakota man we once had and struggled with this new change.

I remember as clear as day one night, sitting  in bed one night crying (one of many nights) and struggling after Dakota’s accident after months and months of REALLY hard days and nights. I remember wishing SO badly that I could just fast forward life like 10 years! I wanted to feel happiness again and I had a hope that I would…I just couldn’t see how or when that would be. I didn’t get to fast forward life…I had to struggle, learn, and grow every day since but that happiness is back and it is even more “happy” then I have ever felt before!! So to sit here at this computer today and speak of our home being being filled with SO much HAPPINESS, it is truly AMAZING to me!! I honestly thank my Heavenly Father EVERY day for it!!!

Along with all of these most important changes and progress we are seeing, Dakota is getting stronger too! He holds his head and body a lot stronger. He is still progressing at his crawling in therapy although he can’t do it on his own. He LOVES getting the chance to army crawl on his slide to his favorite Lemon Italian Ice. When he gets to the end he just smiles so big and is so proud of himself! I love it! He still stiffens up his entire body a lot…probably more then before. This makes it super hard to hold him because he is so strong and big that it takes all you got to keep him from falling out of your arms. He does it a lot when he is excited or mad. The therapists say that he has learned that that movement has helped him in his rolling and other things so that is why he does it more often. This is also what makes crawling on his own hard for him because he is really good and pushing but getting his leg back up in position is another story.

He is moving his arms a little more coordinated. He will bring his arms and hands up to his toothbrush as you brush his teeth and things like that. I would LOVE to see him be able to use his hands to grab things. I think that would make life a lot more enjoyable for him and he would be more capable of doing so much more.

As far as his trach goes, he is still needing suctioning at least 3-4 times a day so we aren't really making much progress towards getting that out. He coughs really strong and good but still doesn’t seem to clear our his airway all the way. He has actually started to really enjoy getting suctioned and will smile many times when you ask him if he wants one and when you are doing it because I’m sure it makes him feel so much better to breathe better. Not sure if that is a good thing though since we want him to not need suctioning. But we are okay with the trach. When he first got it is was such a new and weird thing for us. It was a foreign object coming out of our little boys neck. It looked weird, sounded weird, and was scary! Now that we are used to it, it has become a part of him and we no longer feel this sense of urgency to get it out. Of course if he does get it out one day we would be so happy, more for the fact that it means he has progressed but if he never does it will be ok too!! It is his cute little “necklace” as some people call it! ;)

About a month or so ago he got his first loose tooth!! It was kinda my fault though so not sure if that really counts as a first! I was flossing his little teeth with one of those floss picks and he all the sudden bit down on it and it cut his gum right next to he bottom middle tooth pretty bad. I felt SOOOOO bad as he cried and blood was pouring out! I was just trying to be a good mom and get his teeth cleaned!!!
After that his tooth was super sensitive and he didn’t want anything to do with tastes. The times we could get him to try some baby food he would bite down on the spoon and it would make his gum bleed and he would cry. One day at church he bit on a succor and his tooth just got really loose. From there on out it was getting looser and looser. When we took him to the dentist for his cleaning the bottom middle two were both loose so the dentist decided to pull them.
I was so scared and sad for him but he didn’t even make a peep!! He was MUCH braver then me!!!

Getting ready!!

When the dentist got done he said, “well I got 3.” I was a little confused on why the 3rd had to come but well it was already gone so what the heck! Dakota just has a huge gap now in the bottom which you don’t see unless you pull his lip down. It sure makes him seem like such a big boy though!!

All gone!!

He got his first visit from the tooth fairy and got 3 whole dollars!!!

Holding his treasure box with his teeth in it, getting ready to take it to his bed! ;)


Morning time! Looks super excited! ;) Not sure that he really cared about the money but I think he was glad to have that sensitive tooth out of his mouth!



Hooray they are gone!!!

He is still LOVING school and all of his cute friends!

I mean seriously who wouldn’t love school when you get to swing in a hammock swing and ride scooters down the hallway! Sign me up! ;)

He loves the bus rides and can be crying all the way to the bus and as soon as he gets on he is just fine. He loves to look out the window. He seriously has the cutest bus drivers in the whole world. I love them to pieces!! I will be so sad when this school year ends and he moves to a new school and maybe with new bus drivers! :(

I think that about sums Dakota man up for awhile. If I ever leave anything out that you would like to know please leave me a question in the comments and I will be happy to answer!

Change in the Friedli home!!

SOOO many things are happening and changing these days it seems sometimes a bit overwhelming but exciting at the same time!!

Obviously being pregnant and planning for a new little angel to come into our home is the biggest!!! Luckily you get 9 months to prepare! I will spare you the details of the changes to my body this post…since Zach was SO embarrassed that I posted about one of them! ;) (My brother in law Riley texted me too that he now knows TMI about some things! ;))

The second biggest change is Zach started a NEW j-o-b!!! As I have mentioned before he has been wanting to get out of landscaping since it is a lot more stressful being blind and he realizes his body won’t be able to last his WHOLE life digging in the dirt! He already has major back pains from it! His chiropractor told him his abs are on backwards cuz he has a six pack on his lower back from all the digging! ;) I’m a lucky girl! ;)
Anyways, he has been looking and knew a couple people that LOVED their sales job at a place called Trace Minerals. After talking with them more about it he found out they had a part time job opening. Since he normally doesn’t do anything in the winter anyways, he thought it would be a perfect time to start to see if it is something he enjoyed and could do. He interviewed and got the job! Since it is a sales job, the pay doesn’t start out great because it is all commission, but the more you are there and the more clientele you build it can be a great job in the future…which obviously he is looking for something long term.

The people there are SOOOO nice and accommodating to him. The first day of work they had a 32 inch T.V. screen for his computer monitor to help him see better. He is assigned a region in the U.S. and sells directly to stores. Trace Minerals makes vitamins and supplements…there biggest uniqueness is that they get a lot of their minerals from the Great Salt Lake...which is the best place to get them I have learned! :) It has been fun to see Zach get all interested in health stuff and get excited about it. Not that he wasn’t a healthy person but I have always been more into that stuff then him! ;)

After 2 weeks of being there they offered him full time starting in December which is way sooner then they had told him up front. So…obviously that is awesome! He may still try and keep landscaping going on the side until he starts to build a better salary…but we will wait and see.

The weirdest thing is seeing him in polos and slacks every day now instead of holy jeans and stained shirts! ;) I kind of enjoy the change…except I have to iron now! ;) The hardest part for him is learning and becoming proficient at all the computer stuff and learning all the products. He has been studying and studying when at home and all the computer stuff will just come with time. He is obviously at a disadvantage that it takes him a little bit longer then others cuz he can’t see as well but I think the more he does it the easier it will become!

The job is in West Haven and is a 20 minute recruit! Luckily we have an AMAZING friend Mr. Nate Davis that gives Zach a ride down on his way to work and we started a little family/friend rotation on picking him up every day!! We are so blessed to have such a great support that will help us out!!!

One sad change is that we are selling the Ranger TODAY!!! :( We started taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University classes a couple months ago and have learned SOOO much!!! I seriously think EVERY person should HAVE to take his classes in high school. They are SO good for ANY person and especially married couples. Anyways…after learning all that we have from these classes, we realized that we have some big goals…like building a custom home for Dakota man to make life easier for him and us. We had to suck it up and realize that we could get closer to that important goal if we sold the Ranger and put that money somewhere better that could be building us interest instead of losing interest each year. We aren’t anywhere close enough to start that home, although I wish we were, but we have definitely learned some valuable stuff that could help get us closer to achieving that goal sooner then later. Seriously…if you haven’t ever learned his program…DO IT!!! It will change your life and your marriage! It helps you as a couple have a plan! For your money and for your future! Dave Ramsey is all about building wealth to GIVE to others and that is another thing I LOVE about him!!! The feeling you get when you can help someone else is indescribable and unexplainable. I LOVE it!! And I want to be able to do that ALL of the time!! Anyways…I’ll quite my preaching! ;)

So goodbye Ranger! We will miss you! You have brought us a LOT of joy and fun times to our family during our hardest of times when there was NOTHING we could really do with Dakota. Now that Dakota has progressed so much we don’t feel like the Ranger is our only outlet of fun with him. We get to do more and more with him so selling it is easier now. And eventually…when we get to our more important goals in life…we will get another one! ;)

Another change is Zach turned 29 and FINALLY caught up to his old lady…not long before I turn the big 3-0!!!

I am lame and didn’t capture ANY pictures on his actual birthday…except on our Ranger ride! He had a good one though! He slept in…Dakota and I made him some yummy stuffed French Toast. We went on our last Ranger ride in Mantua. Then Zach and I went to his FAVORITE restaurant Carlos & Harleys in Eden and finished the night with our trusty Dave Ramsey class! ;)



 
This smile is the only thing that broke my heart about selling this thing. But luckily he will smile at other things too now! ;)




So grateful to celebrate another year older with this handsome, talented, hard-working, amazing husband of mine!!! Sure love him!!!!

Not too much has changed with Dakota man but he is sure LOVING school!!!


He especially loves gym time where he gets to ride on scooters and bikes! He has the BEST nurses and teachers that involve him in EVERYTHING!!!

The coolest thing is today at school they had a guy from South Jordan come in who is an expert with the Eagle Eyes communication device. It is a device that allows a child to communicate with just the tracking of the eyes. I went to the school to watch and it was SOOOO cool!!!

They hook these little detectors around his eyes on his eye muscles that allows him to control the mouse with his eyes. They start out with simple cause and effect things because he has to learn that HE is controlling the mouse. When he would look at the object that was on 1 spot on the screen it would start a little silly video of a song. He started off slow and needed a lot of guidance to look at the target. But by the end of the 20 minutes he was starting the video over right after it stopped. It was SO cool!!!


All hooked up and ready to rock and roll!!!


He loved this song where the alien danced! ;)

Here is a little video of him doing it to show you how it works. This is still when he was a little slow at it.

Eventually once kids learn that they are in control you can begin to have pictures that are choices and it can get more and more complex the more they learn. I am SOOOO excited to see where this could go because I KNOW Dakota knows what is going on and would LOVE to tell us more then we can understand from our basic communication that we have learned so far!!!

I am SOOO grateful for his wonderful teacher and the communication team that is making this happen!!

First Day of Preschool…for the 3rd time! ;)

Yesterday was Dakota’s first day of preschool…for his 3rd year!! He is no newbie to preschool but for some reason this year was SUCH a different experience. Not sure if it is because he has progressed further and is more aware, if he is better at expressing and communicating, or if he is just more excited this year then the rest!!

The night before school we read a little book, “How will I Get to School This Year” that his grammy and poppy gave him to get him ready for that first day! He smiled at the silly pictures. After the story I began my 1 way conversation with him. “Guess what Dakota…tomorrow is your FIRST day of school!” I got a little grin. “You get to see Miss Kari again!” (he gets the same teacher this year and we are super excited) I got a big smile. “She told me there are LOTS of girls in your class this year!” Big smile stayed. It was like that all night as we talked about school and all of the new friends he will make and things he will do! I thought…maybe I just got lucky and caught him on a happy night and maybe he wasn’t really that excited about school…maybe he was just happy.

BUT the next morning when I had to pull him out of bed to wake him up to get dressed before the bus got there…it happened again. He was just waking up…barely opening his cute little eyes…stretching his arms above his head. I said, “Dakota…today’s the day…you get to go to school!! Remember !” That same sweet smile crept up and stayed the whole time we got dressed and talked about school…even while we waited on the porch for the bus.

 
He can’t even stand it!


Just waiting for the bus…finishing breakfast! ;) He looks so big!!!


He has his same cute nurses we love (Robin on the left) and his same 2 AMAZING bus drivers (Carol and Valerie)!! We are so lucky!!

That is when I knew…he REALLY was excited about school. He TOTALLY knew what was going on and he was ready! The last couple weeks until his cousins came last weekend he had gotten in a little ornery mood. He was more whiny and not so happy. I really feel like he was just like all the other kids that are bored of summer and ready for some stimulation and socialization of school!

I am SO happy he gets to stay 1 more year at preschool with Miss Kari! It is going to be a great year!


Dakota and Miss Kari!

He is going 4 days a week for 2.5 hours this year! I hope he keeps the excitement and enthusiasm ALL year!!

First day captured by Nurse Robin!


Back in the wagon again!!! Just flexing his muscles for the girls! (He asked me to where his muscle shirt the first day to impress the ladies! ;))



Taking a tour of the school and giving the office people high fives!!



He loves them too!! :)

HAPPY SCHOOL YEAR DAKOTA! WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE HOW MUCH YOU LEARN AND PROGRESS THIS YEAR!!

Last Day of School

  So since summer school is starting for Dakota next week I figured I better blog about his last day of school! ;)
First of all, I LOVED LOVED LOVED this year of school for him! I can’t say enough good things about his teacher Miss Kari!

She was AMAZING with Dakota to say the least. She was SO SO SO involved with him, hands on, carrying him, on the floor with him, racking her brain on how to help him. She really went above and beyond for him. I was SO worried that he wouldn’t have many friends this year since there were only like 1 or 2 girls in his class and they were only there on 1 of the days Dakota was there…but the boys stepped it up this year and there were 2 boys in particular that REALLY took a liking to Dakota and took it upon themselves to be his friends, helpers, and protectors!
The nurse sent me a couple pictures of his sweet little buddy helping him sing and act along with everyone else.

SO CUTE!!
We were sad to say goodbye but luckily Heavenly Father answered my prayers and softened the heart of the head district special needs lady and she allowed Dakota to stay in preschool 1 more year!! After our transition meeting for kindergarten where we discussed the pros and cons of Dakota going to Kindergarten (I really wanted him to stay in preschool one more year) the district lady decided she would let me choose. Everyone in the room was shocked. The principal of the Elementary even told me she had NEVER seen that happen in her 7 years! YAY!! So hopefully we will have Ms. Kari again!!!
We LOVED his bus drivers too! They are SO SO sweet to Dakota!
Look at that happy face!!
Here are a few shots of his last day!
 
Got his treats to give the bus drivers. Away he goes!!
Zach’s cute mom went to Dakota’s school one day to visit and captured a glimpse into his fun filled day! Thanks Vicki for getting all the pictures!

Doing some coloring with Ms Kari

His little buddy is helping! Dakota gets to choose by looking what color of crayon he wants.
 
His teacher made this helper chart with pictures of kids helping Dakota so that they would feel comfortable being around Dakota…so thoughtful!!
Dakota has a WIDE variety of chairs and places just for him.
 
Of course the trusty wheelchair that gets him to and from school on the bus. That’s about the only time he is in it.
 
His tomato chair with wheels. This is one of his cute nurses Robin! We love Robin!! He is line leader on the right! Such an important and highly esteemed job for a preschooler!!
 
His corner chair for circle time. Probably his least favorite chair since it makes him work the hardest and sitting up himself.

The Standard that lets him stand up like a big guy! It’s a lot of work but I think he likes being up and seeing everything around him!
And of course their is his sweet rides for gym and physical play time!

Just on my way to the gym!! How cute is this?!
 
Just playin with the kids!! It’s a rough life being pulled around! ;)
This picture cracks me up…that is his nurse Robin riding a trike next to him! LOL! Too cute!

They also put all these scooters together just for him!! I think he is in heaven! ;)

He even gets to go down the slide like the other kids! So sweet that they will help him do this!!

He has a mat when he is feeling like rolling and relaxin!

He likes story time most of the time. He especially liked a story where the doorbell rang. They let him use the IPAD to make the doorbell ring. He thought that was pretty cool!!

What a big helper!!

    
He enjoys snack time with the kids. Some days when he gets applesauce or pudding and the other kids get a cookie, he refuses to eat what he has and stares at the kids eating the cookies. The teachers finally figured out that he was wanting a cookie just like all the other kids so now he gets to suck on a cookie with them! ;) That’s my kid!! Loves his cookies like his mama!!
         
He gets lots of opportunity to make choices with pictures. He knows what he wants!!

This is how he feels about preschool most days! He has really enjoyed it this year and progressed so much. I look forward to another great year!
Until then, we will keep enjoying our summer! I love summer time!!
We have gone to the dollar movies and surprisingly this year he has really seemed to enjoy it. Usually by the end of the movie he is done but he has done really well!!
 
At the movies with our friends!!

We love playing outside and being with friends!!

Chelsea giving my arms a break! ;)

Ella...holding on to this big guy!

He is still going to therapy in Logan and is still LOVING this bike!!!! It is so fun!! Zach is gonna see if he can try and build one for Dakota to have for home. They are $4,000!!! YIKES!!

Until then…we will keep riding at therapy!!

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