This week marks the nine month anniversary of Nikolas' homecoming. The last month has been a busy one for us. We received our report from the therapists who evaluated Nikolas through the First Steps program. The results were as we expected. He scored below average in almost every area of development. Since he was over 2.5 at the time of his evaluation, he does not qualify for services through the First Steps program, but he should qualify for services through the school system. We had a meeting with a representative from the school system to talk about the developmental preschool program. Although we won't know for sure if he qualifies until after their evaluation, the representative thinks he should based on his First Steps evaluation and the fact that he's still not talking. He babbles non-stop and is capable of saying words, but he refuses to say anything other than hi and bye. (He was speaking a little before his surgery last fall, but he stopped at that point and never started again.) If all goes as planned, he will start in their developmental preschool program this fall. He will go five days a week for a few hours each morning. During school he'll also work one-on-one with a speech therapist. They offer a bus service that will pick him up and drop him off in our driveway. It sounds like it will be a great program for him.
His Developmental Pediatrician at Riley recommended some private speech therapy over the summer, so we're working on getting that set up. We also scheduled a hearing test at her request to rule out any hearing problems. We'll be heading back to Riley in a couple of weeks for that.
We saw his Orthopedic Specialist at Riley a couple of weeks ago. She was very pleased with the way his feet have responded to the surgery, and he no longer has to wear his AFO's during the day. He does still wear his brace at night when he sleeps and will continue to do that for at least another year. He walks so much better now that he wears shoes that actually fit his feet instead of the larger shoes to accommodate his AFO's. He doesn't fall down as much and he's getting even faster!! We will see her again in six months for a follow-up appointment.
Nikolas celebrated his first Easter this month. We visited my family on Easter weekend, and we went to Cincinnati the following weekend (Orthodox Easter) to celebrate with the Bulgarian community. I love being able to expose Nikolas to Bulgarian people, music, language and culture. They are such a friendly group of people. Nikolas enjoyed being able to spend time with his friend Emilia. They came from the same orphanage in Dobrich and most likely knew each other long before they came to the United States. It didn't take him long to figure out how to hunt for eggs. He still plays with his Elmo basket and plastic eggs every single day.
He is doing so much better with playing with toys. He prefers trucks, balls and his little laptop computer. He's also getting better at puzzles. Yesterday I asked him to pick up his toys and came back to find both of the puzzles completed with the pieces all in the right spots. He's struggled with puzzles, so it's great to see him finally figure them out. His new favorite television programs are Go, Diego, Go! and Blue's Clues. He also likes Elmo. Nikolas turns three on May 7th, and he'll be celebrating with his family with an Elmo-themed party next weekend. He continues to be an active, happy little boy who is thriving in his new environment.
We saw his Orthopedic Specialist at Riley a couple of weeks ago. She was very pleased with the way his feet have responded to the surgery, and he no longer has to wear his AFO's during the day. He does still wear his brace at night when he sleeps and will continue to do that for at least another year. He walks so much better now that he wears shoes that actually fit his feet instead of the larger shoes to accommodate his AFO's. He doesn't fall down as much and he's getting even faster!! We will see her again in six months for a follow-up appointment.
Nikolas celebrated his first Easter this month. We visited my family on Easter weekend, and we went to Cincinnati the following weekend (Orthodox Easter) to celebrate with the Bulgarian community. I love being able to expose Nikolas to Bulgarian people, music, language and culture. They are such a friendly group of people. Nikolas enjoyed being able to spend time with his friend Emilia. They came from the same orphanage in Dobrich and most likely knew each other long before they came to the United States. It didn't take him long to figure out how to hunt for eggs. He still plays with his Elmo basket and plastic eggs every single day.
