The next great adventure

As 2015 comes to an end, so too does our Early Intervention services for Emelyn. And with the end of Early Intervention comes Emelyn’s next great adventure. On January 5, 2016, we send our 26 lb. two-year old off to East Salem Elementary School. Two days a week, she’ll be picked up by a bus in front of our house and taken off to Salem’s preschool special education program. While I wasn’t terribly sentimental about the change, another member of our family couldn’t seem to contain her emotions. Yes, Aubrey! When we casually mentioned Emelyn’s new adventure to Aubrey and she instantly became very sappy. At one point, in a high-pitched, shaky voice she declared, “I may actually cry tears of joy.” (She’s also quite concerned that Emelyn doesn’t have a book bag and school supplies. Emotional and practical, that girl.)

Emelyn and Aubrey visiting Santa in New Castle to
kick-off the Christmas season.

To Aubrey, going to school means Emelyn will learn to talk and walk. And to some extent, she’s right. While I don’t think Emelyn will be delivering messages to Aubrey’s East Salem friends, like Aubrey would like her to, I do have great hopes Emelyn will find her voice in preschool in 2016. It may not be spoken language, but maybe she’ll be able to find ways to “speak” to us using an alternative communications method. And between Emelyn’s curiosity about walking and the goals we put in her IEP (Individualized Education Program), walking independently in a gait trainer is a reasonable expectation this coming year for Emelyn.

For me, I’m also excited to have Emelyn around other children. Being at home this past year has given her the much needed one-on-one attention necessary to gain many new gross motor skills, not to mention some much needed weight. But now it’s time to work on her socialization skills too. While she always scores fairly high on the social/emotional developmental scales, she could definitely benefit from being around other children her age. 

2015 brought many exciting achievements for Emelyn. In the motor skill area, sitting independently without the fear she may topple over, manipulating objects with her hands in a much more meaningful way, transitioning from her belly to a sitting position, crawling on hands and knees/shins, pulling to stand, and even a little cruising on furniture were new for 2015. She’s also increased her receptive language skills, as well as, added a couple of inches of height and about six extra pounds of weight.  What will 2016 bring? While it’s hard to say exactly, we are very optimistic Emelyn’s next great adventure will bring more achievements for our curious little peanut in 2016. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!