Preschool Evaluation

Nikko is doing something maddening lately. He is taking the fabric drawers in the cube shelving in the living room, dumping the contents (doesn't matter what's in them: toy figures, cars, blocks), taking the fabric board that gives the bottoms some shape and holding onto them for who knows what reasons, and taking the empty drawer and standing in them in front of the mirror wall. Great, not my intended use for that mirror wall, but glad he's enjoying looking at himself, flapping his arms, smiling, whatever. I'm angry about it because those fabric drawers, which are a little over $6 a drawer, are getting beat up and bent out of shape, but also the drawer contents are littering the floor, making the living room look like a pit as well as a hazard to walk through. Earlier I took the contents of one of the drawers and put them in a rubbermaid, so I don't have to keep picking the up off the floor. Nikko chose a different drawer later on, so I'll be throwing all those things in the rubbermaid later as well. I look forward to the day when he gets bored of this nuance and moves on to some other messy hobby.

After lunch was Nikko's evaluation at the Westbrook school. We arrived and Kathy Winters met us in the front office. She took us to the classroom where more teachers were waiting to play with Nikko. A social worker was asking me questions and Nikko wasn't being very compliant at all. Strange place, strangers yapping and trying to get him to do things, so no wonder he kept retreating to my lap. The saving grace were fruit snacks, which demonstrated how food motivated Nikko is. It's both good and bad to have the fruit snacks; they save me in a pinch, when a tantrum is tantamount. However, do I really want Nikko to be wanting fruit snacks all the time, or complying to directions only to be rewarded by fruit snacks? Of course not. The obvious tactic is to use them in moderation. Nikko is eager to get them, however, and when he sees the food bag he is always signing More. I tell him there are No More in the bag and wave him off. Similar to the Vitamin problem. Nikko did manage to get some things accomplished. He also had his vision tested and I watched proudly as he completed a matching puzzle smoothly. His stimming was very obvious as he looked up at the ceiling lights to avoid looking at everyone's eyes. But once I moved to the middle of the room where he could habitually check in with me the transitions were smoother and became less frequent. I am nervous that I won't be allowed to see him in school on his first day. I know the teachers will be handling multiple meltdowns, but wow, for him not to see me for a few hours and not know what's going on those first days will be scary. After the evaluation we went home because Luisa and Allie were hanging out with Ronin and Audrey. I pulled into the driveway and they were all hanging in the backyard, enjoying the beautiful weather. I let them all hang out for a little bit, but herded us inside to wash up so that Ronin could take his late nap. Nikko ended up napping between 5-6:30p. For dinner I gave him a little organic mac cheese but also heated up some seafood ravioli that he has tasted before. To my delight he ate everything I gave him. He got big hugs for that!

Tomorrow morning I am going to cash in on the massage/manicure/pedicure that Denis got me last year for Mother's Day. It's an early morning appointment, but I don't care, I'd be awake at 7:30 anyway. I am looking forward to a pleasant morning experience!!