Back blogging!

Wow it has been awhile since I got posting here.
To bring things up to date or there abouts!
Life is still happening, all around us, with us and to us.
Life has not stopped, paused or give us time to catch up!
The last few moths have passed in a flurry of school prep, coming to terms and grasping the youngest diagnosis, and getting more things underway for him, Christmas, work, uni applications, transitions, surgery and more!

My big guy Caiden wow he is a star, last year for term four of his school term he was transitioned to another school as he had a fantastic year, a settled year of growth, development and maturity. It was something as a parent watching we always wished for but to watch it happen was something amazing, something as I type gives me goose bumps thinking about. This guy has has a year of solid progress, a year we could see other years of dedication love and our struggles shine on through.
He is now in a mainstream school, still in our safety net of an autism unit, with 6 kids 1 teacher 1 aide. But he has left a very protective, sheltered environment into a very big mainstream school, it is exciting and nerve wracking at the same time, but this guy is just doing great things. He pretty much did a years schooling academic work in about a term! And happily!

Small things have been exciting, access to a school library, school canteen, also having him at a school closer to home.
Caiden also started attending a before and after school program occasionally, and the kid floored me by being the most settled, and kept trying to socialize with his peers, social seeking appropriate!
He is just is a good place right now, our speech, OT, early intervention, social skilling it's starting to pay off in a big way!

Lilliana, well this little one is now off to school very soon days in fact now. What a ride getting a placement has been, one we had anticipated, but difficult all the same. We had our hearts set on one school which we were knocked back from, another setting that we were knocked back from and then out of the blue we got an offer from dept of Ed, a new class is opening at a local public school turns out two new autism units, and jnr units k-2. Several meetings phone calls and a transition period we have a school a class, and wait for it there is another girl in the class!
As time pushed towards Christmas, we have seen some big milestones past, better social engagements, better emotional recognition, better emotional regulation, don't think for a minute the whirlwind is all roses and smiles, but this little whirlwind is finding life some days a little simpler, which in turn is letting us step back and be guided by her.

Elijah, well as a parent of him I have had to come to terms with his diagnosis more recently, learning more about this giant spectrum, learning more about how we can assist him and what things will help him long term and us short term.
Elijah last year finally started with his own psychologist ( getting one for him was a bigger deal than we had ever thought possible!) this has been an ....interesting time.....really watch this space!
We had to call it a day with one of his mainstream preschool settings and for this year are just focusing on the better environment for him, unfortunately for us while it is a better fit, the hours don't help a parent be able to work very simply, especially having two other kids in two different schools.
It's things like right settings that are important the centre he has been attending since he was old enough to attend preschool have not only the staff but the patience and the ability to one on one him, to implement behavioral plans and educational plans hand in hand, this is a rare thing in preschool settings.
Home life has been busy!