first parent teacher interview

as most of you may know, xander started going to pre-school the beginning of march. he has "severe" speech delay (according to the speech pathologist's assessment) and qualified for funding from the alberta government to start going to school. he has his own aide (Mrs. N) who guides him in the activities to center more around his speech. he goes twice a week for about 6 hours total time, and he LOVES it!

well, he's been going for 3 weeks now and the speech pathologist has had a couple opportunities to observe him in the classroom to gain a better assessment. so yesterday we met with the speech pathologist and his teachers. everything was really encouraging!

• xander knows all his shapes, colors, numbers and letters, which academically speaking puts him right where he needs to be (even ahead of some of his classmates)
• his fine and gross motor skills are extremely well developed
• xander has excellent recall and memory skills
• he loves music and responds to that best
• words said alone are regularly said correctly, it is only when put into sentences that things get muddled
• when he does use complete sentences the proper syntax is typically being used, but it is just very difficult to understand
• in just 3 weeks xander has made leaps and bounds, and to say the teachers and speech pathologist were very pleased would be an understatement

we have been so happy to have xander in pre-school and have even noticed a difference at home. he is happier and trying harder to say what's on his mind. and we're even able to understand him a bit better (there is still a long way to go).

now while this is all great news, there were still some concerns with the speech pathologist. as she does her speech assessments she is always looking out for other markers or red flags that may be showing. after the few weeks he's been doing school the pathologist expressed her pleasure and confidence that his speech would soon catch up. she did express a concern about his social development and interactions though. some of his compulsions with putting this back exactly where they came from, lining up toys and organizing them in a not typical "playing" way, his extreme singular focus on an object he is playing with, never giving eye contact when expressing if he wants something. she suggested that perhaps his behavior problems (which he has) isn't stemming from his speech but that it was possible it was coming from a social deficiency. all these examples she observed while in the pre-school environment rang true to us. he has some compulsive behaviors at home and the never giving eye contact has been something he's ALWAYS done. since he was a toddler he would almost never look at you in the eye. i could go into great detail about all the indicators, but its not super important.

all in all, it is possible that the behaviors observed in xander and the red flags may fall into the autism spectrum. we can't know for sure unless he gets further testing (which will be done at the alberta children's hospital if needed). the speech pathologist was being very frank about her observations (which was appreciated). she can't say for sure if it is autism, but from 20 years experience i believe she would know the indicators. she is very good about not putting labels on kids and expressed her belief that it may be very likely that xander is just who he is and doesn't have any social deficiencies. time will tell. if he continues to grow the way he has in the last 3 weeks, by june it is likely that there will no longer be a worry for any of this.

so to conclude, are we worried? hell no. until we get him tested xander is just like any other kid with a bratty streak. i am not qualified to say that he has autism, and neither are you. so until a dude in a white coat with 15 phd's on his wall says my son falls somewhere on the autism spectrum there is no use even entertaining it (even though in my mind it is a part of the puzzle that seems to fit). xander is a good kid, smart and loving. he'll survive anything thrown at him.

on another note, for judy's first parent teacher interview she showed the teachers a neat trick: hiding thumb tacks in her mouth! way to go jude!

Better than a dog whistle

perspective

it seems as though the weather has been a pretty hot topic this winter. and rightly so! this winter has been the worst! but as i went out for the 60th hour this season to plow the road i went with a different perspective: THINGS CAN ALWAYS BE WORSE! (no joke, when the winter began we were at 90 hours on the bobcat and now we're pushing 150).

i'm lucky to live where i do, and when i'm not swearing at mother nature i am in total awe of her complete grandeur. i won't be living here forever, and so when i have a 500sq ft driveway to dig out in the future i will be SO grateful it's not a quarter mile of 4 foot drifts.

it was an amazing night tonight. no wind. light snow. fresh adele tunes in my ears. i could've stayed out all night. i live for a night like tonight. i got out of the bobcat a couple times to snap a few photos. it was so quiet out. i could've walked in the night for hours. there is something relaxing for me about walking on a still, quiet, dark night.

as a side note, robbie is the opposite. he hates walking around at night, especially during the camping season. so if you ever camp here on a friday night, don't pretend to be the wolfman at 11pm because you'll probably end up getting stabbed. i bought him a hunting knife so he can "protect" himself. it's hilarious.

so here are some pictures to give some perspective. things could always be worse! but spring is almost here, and all this snow will not only flood our basements but make everything UBER-green!

just getting started

nice and warm in here

the first of 3 "problem" areas. it is closest to the house and at the top of a hill. this one can get up to 8 or 9 feet. one scoop at a time!

the top drift coming down off the hiway

this one, the middle drift (lately) has been the worst!! 20-30 yards of 3 foot drifts. now its just a big trench. perfect for catching more snow!

that is some good looking driveway, right there

did you know...

did you know you can blog remotely? for instance, I am currently blogging from my couch using my iPhone and emailing the post to blogger. I will probably use this to post some things while I'm in Nepal. hooray for technology!

this is a New World Order

back in september of this year i made it my goal to be in better shape by the time i turn 30 than i have been in all my 20's. my 20's haven't exactly been UN-healthy, just not very active. so i made it a goal to be in superior shape by the big 3-0. this was even before i had signed up for the Himalayan Adventure.

but now that i am going to be trekking to Everest Base Camp in the early spring, everything has come very quickly into focus. my deadline is now April 21, and my personal fitness is a necessity.

i am not disciplined for long term goals.

i hate working out.

i am inconsistent.

i am the master of procrastination.

that being said, i thought i started a pretty good workout "regime" in January 2011. i use the word regime very loosely. it was a pretty willy-nilly work out schedule. actually, there was no schedule. it was a "do it if you feel like it" kind of thing. i would just get on the elliptically and go for about 30-40 min. then do some light weight lifting for 10 min, then some light stretching. i know, i know.... slow down Annie, don't kill yourself!

but by the end of january i wasn't feeling the way i thought i would, so i sent an email to my brother-in-law. for those of you who don't know Tim, he's kind of a big deal and knows what he's talking about. plus, i know you all remember the fact that he went to the VANOC 2010 as a doping control officer. he's the real deal, so his opinion is king.

i told him my "work-out" and what i was doing, but that i wasn't a woman of faith and needed the gospel of fitness preached to me. well, i got a sermon and exactly what i needed. the short answer to my question was "no, you are not doing enough".

so i researched, re-tooled, and re-motivated.

i talked to a friend about kettlebelling.

i got some new (heavier) weights.

i put my goals to paper and actually created a workout.

it's been two weeks since the new world order rolled out. i'm feeling great, and noticing a huge difference. seeing the difference is driving me to do more and be consistent. everything is tracked on paper, so i am accountable for everything, which is exactly what i needed. a visual aid/tracker does wonders!

now my workouts push my VO2max, make me sweat, and challenge my strength. i am on my way to my fitness goals! and it feels great!

is this the future?

do you have a picky eater in your house? we do. and it is a struggle every meal to get him to eat anything. at dinner the other night as i was doing a "choo-choo" for Judy to get her to eat her food, i glanced over at rob, who had xander in a vise grip trying to get him to take ONE bite of roast beef. we virtually have to feed xander the same way we feed judy at this point. realising this, i had a sudden vision of his future... i will now share that vision with you via comic strip...

Judy loves her brother

Judy pretty much adores Xander. always trying to see what he is doing. climbing all over him, following him around... and Xander tolerates it for now. they actually have a new game that the like to play. Judy loves bouncing around, and she is TOUGH! Xander is a wilting flower next to her. every time she falls over (or off something) i find myself running over to see if she's okay, like i did with Xander at that age. but almost always, i get over to her and she just pops back up and gets back to whatever it was she was doing. totally un-phased. i hope she stays that way...

so this is the latest. xander actually tries to pick her up now, and usually she thinks that's pretty funny too.

toopy and binoo

toopy and binoo are like lincoln and xander... one doesn't talk and the other wears dresses on occasion and thinks everything is "fabulous".

NO!!

toopy and binoo are like lincoln and xander... best buds!

for Christmas, xander got lincoln a ticket to the hottest show in town. the live toopy and binoo show at the yates theater in lethbridge. if you weren't there, i don't know what you were thinking. but for 30 bucks a seat (no child admission!) and an extra $10 for a flimsy wand souvenir (that every kid had!) i don't blame you for ditching out. but it was a lot of fun, if you were younger than 10. xander was getting pretty into it near the end.

he keeps asking now if we can go to toopy and binoo. but lets be real, if i'm going to shell out that kind of money it better be the wiggles or something next time.

here are some pictures from the show...

xander is doesn't do well with waiting

$10 wands. xander's still works... for now

WOW!

this was after the show... they sometimes play pushing games. i straight up caught them slapping each other in the face once. it's a game until one (lincoln!) decides its not a game anymore. i don't blame lincoln though, i wouldn't want to play with a kid that yells at me either. this was a good game though. no tears!

i got the fever... disco fever!

a couple weekends ago my parents, dan, lynnae, and xander and i headed out to cranbrook to see a wicked band called Billy Jive and the Funktastics. my big brother (Ian, or should i say Sasso) happens to be the bass player in said band. and might i say, he is the best bass player i know. i could probably keep up with most of the disco beats he was turning out, but when ol' Sasso starts in to his funky slap-poppin' there isn't anyone i know (aside from mr. wooten himself) who can keep up.

it was a fun road trip. probably spent more time in the car driving than we did in cranbrook, but it was well worth it! it was some good family fun. my mom wore an afro wig, xander got his arm stuck in some one ELSES afro, then xander passed out near then end from stimulation overload. the funktastics delivered a knock out punch!

here are some pictures i snapped during the show:

at ian's house while we were waiting for the show to start, erin asked mom if she would wear this wig for a bit during part of the show (which was quite hilarious). we put it on xander, but he didn't like it...

passed out!

the one and only Sasso! aka- Ian, my brother

Skating at the Cabin

we love the cabin. most of all we love to do FUN stuff at the cabin. so last time we were there rob took xander skating for the first time (just on bob-skates). it was a big hit.

then xander got new shoes. so, naturally, he had to dance...