So much news - one long post

Eoin is very proud of his Zoob bike

  The last two weeks have been so very busy and for a change I am going to blog a little about what I have been upto (before I change the subject back to Eoin.) I recently applied to fill a place on the Patient Adviser Board at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and I am so exited to say that it was accepted. I join a Board with amazing people who are united by one thing, using their expertise and experiences to shape how the Foundation interacts with patients. In true Saran style I jumped right in at the first meeting and can't wait to get going on a few projects. I am enthusiastic about using my experience as an Administrator and my personal journey as a cancer survivor to help others; both doctors and patients alike. I am very lucky to have a supportive husband who takes care of Eoin when I need to attend meetings or have to do some work at home - thank you Andy.

Ok normal transmission starts again. Let's get back to Eoin. Well I have just blogged about Eoin's crazy height so what else is new. Last Friday Andy and I had a meeting with the IEP school team. It was far less stressful then we had imagined (in fact the whole process was!). There was lots of laughter as we talked about Eoin and what a great kid he is. The consensus was that Eoin is not just clever but very clever. He tested over his age by at least a year in everything except reading which is is testing at his age. His vocabulary and reasoning were the highest scores the team had ever seen for a five year old (testing at age 8 I think). Logic and spatial awareness were the other extremely high points.

As a group we all agreed that Eoin needed support in social skills and behaviour. We settled on a plan that will be implemented in August when Eoin starts school. He will get some one on one time twice a week and social skills lessons in addition to this. A number of goals were set for him but I was so glad to see that the team had made some recommendations for how we can better support Eoin at home- mainly for Andy and I to be on exactly the same page which we normally are but Andy is softer than I am and Eoin has been manipulating this.

On Saturday we sat down as a family and talked through what we all needed to do. We set a bigger consequence for physical behavior but other than that we focused on positive things. What can we improve as a family. What were our family values, what could we work on together and almost forgot Eoin got to set consequences for Mommy and Daddy too if we are naughty. We all agreed that bedtime was something we needed to work on and we also needed to listen to each other more. Eoin got some new responsibilites which he seemed excited about.With all this in mind Eoin finished the meeting with a very earnest "I will try better. I know I can do it if I believe in myself."

That night saw a new bedtime routine, one which took place in Eoin's room and not ours. Eoin protested a little but after stories and some music Eoin was asleep. So far he has gone to sleep in his room every night and stayed there till 8am, 7am and 5am (hoping this isn't going to become a pattern of earlier each morning). He has taken on his new responsibilities with pride and we are ever so proud of our ever growing and maturing little boy.