Just trying to get a little caught up here with all the happenings over the past month. Please read Summer's awesome blog post below, that's where all the cute pictures are anyways. Many of you know that Ammon turned 3 in October and has started preschool. Here's a brief note from our family journal about how that has been going:
"Following is a part of Ammon’s second day of preschool as told to me by Coleson. At the start of each day the kids are gathered in a circle and a welcome song is sung. A mirror is passed around the circle and as each child has a turn in front of the mirror the welcome song is about them and at the end the child says his name out loud. On Ammon’s second day of school his big brother was with him. Coleson was sitting next to Ammon in the circle and singing along to the welcome song. The mirror eventually came to Ammon, the song ended, and it was Ammon’s big moment to say his name, but nothing came out. Coleson leaned over and says, “Ammon, say your name,” and then waited. After a few seconds of no response Coleson repeated the phrase. There was no response again, and the teacher almost indicated that she would move on, but Coleson wouldn’t have that. Coleson leaned in a little closer and with patience for a third time said into Ammon’s ear, “Ammon, what’s your name?” At this point Ammon looked up and quietly said “Ammon.” Everyone cheered and yelled, with Coleson simply talking into Ammon’s ear, “Good job, good job.” Good job to you Coleson.
Coleson had a great time with Ammon, and also started to make some other new friends. One little boy apparently is unable to speak yet, but can make humming type sounds to communicate. So when the boy “hummed” at Coleson, Coleson turned and hummed back to him. They both got huge smiles, and the boy hummed again a little more earnestly, with Coleson humming right back at him. The hum fest went on for a minute and in the process another friendship was started."
Ammon rode the bus to preschool for the first time today (Tuesday). Following is another blurb from our family record that we wrote the day before Ammon turned three (sorry , this one is a bit longer). After the quote we'll fill you in on how riding the bus ended up going.
"Tomorrow Ammon turns three years old, and he will start his first day of preschool. A little while ago we sat down with Ammon’s physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and a half a dozen other specialists to have his first IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Some of these people have been diligently serving and working with Ammon since he was six months old and earlier. In some regards they know Ammon’s abilities as well as we do. Based on the result of this meeting, Ammon was approved and requested to attend a special needs preschool in Kaysville. Each day Ammon will travel to preschool for two and a half hours, and he will be given the opportunity enhance his “limited tools” in such a way that they will eventually become limitless. Summer will drive him there for his first class tomorrow to meet his teacher, aides, and classmates. We have incredible mixed emotions about this key event in his life, it feels so different from sending Coleson off to kindergarten or even preschool for the first time. In a short time a school bus will come right to our driveway to pick Ammon up. Apparently, our sweet trusting little boy will hop on his wheelchair, hop on the bus, wave bye to his Mom and little sister through the window, and then drive off to school. That’s sounds like such a grown up thing to me, I don’t feel quite right about it yet and have been feeling some measure of anxiety about it. “They know he’s only just three, right,” I have asked Summer about a dozen times, or she has asked me the same question the same number of times. But we have prayed with great faith and given him a father’s blessing that he will be blessed from this experience and those that come to call him a friend will likewise be blessed. Ammon is a special boy, and we have learned over the past three years that he still has many special missions and purposes to accomplish while he is here. Some of those missions and purposes will require him to have more physical tools at his disposal, and we hope that his experiences in preschool will simply be another wonderful step forward in his journey. We’ll let you know how it goes."
Ammon's experiences in preschool have been wonderful, and we are so glad that he has been able to attend and that Summer and Coleson have been able to be part of the process. Ammon did ride the bus for the first time this morning. It was windy, rainy, and cold when the bus pulled up for what would be an almost hour long ride. Summer and Coleson had Ammon all ready to go, but he is still getting used to his wheelchair so it was probably a little more exciting for him today. The bus driver and his assistant seem like very nice people, and Summer and Coleson did a great job getting Ammon on the bus (Coleson insisted on pushing Ammon's wheelchair). Granted it was very hard for Summer to hold everything in and put so much trust in others concerning Ammon. Our neighbor Sherry came over while the bus was still there to see how Summer and Ammon were doing. All it took was one concerned question from this good friend and Summer couldn't hold in the tears and emotion anymore. Granted to say, the first bus trip went fairly well for Ammon and he did cry a little bit. He had another great day at preschool and fell asleep on the bus ride home. This will probably take some time for Summer, Ammon, and the rest of us to get used to.
