update on Dakota

So, I had the hardest time in the world sleeping last night. I didn't even take a nap yesterday and was tired. But, it took forever to get to sleep and then I woke up every hour (atleast). One of the times I woke up - I could hear that Mikayla was awake in her crib. I was just laying there and started feeling my face to make sure I wasn't starting to look like a freak of nature yet - and I was sure that my chin was starting to swell up. I was convinced of it. I couldn't get up to go look in the mirror though because then Mikayla would hear me and I know that she wouldn't have gone back to sleep if she knew I was up. So, I just laid there freaking out until I eventually fell back asleep (and apparently Mikayla went back to sleep as well). I got up this morning and my face looked fine. It is funny what a little bit of power of suggestion will do...

We finally got a call from Children's Mercy today for Dakota to see a specialist. There was a cancellation, so Dakota is able to be seen next Monday. I think that THIS is the doctor that he will be seeing. He looks pretty nice! John is going to try to take Sunday night off work so he can take us to the appointment. Driving in Kansas City is not my idea of fun!

Also, we had a parent/teacher conference with Dakota's teacher last Friday. Actually, it was with his teacher, the speech teacher, and the head of the special ed department. Dakota has some major speech problems, and was qualified for speech therapy through the school. Another major issue was his fine motor skills. Basically, some of his fine motor skills are that of a 2 year old. Dakota will be 6 this summer. I knew his little sister was starting to catch up to him - and that is sad. Unfortunately, the state will not fund further testing or therapy for this through the school - because he is older than most of the preschoolers. That did not make much sense to me. Everyone agreed that we should talk to Dakota's doctor and try to get him screened further through the hospital. But other things he was really good at - like recognizing colors, shapes, letters, etc... Oh, and they said that up until just recently - Dakota didn't interact much with the other students. And they said that at recess - Dakota wouldn't play on the equipment. He would just stand there and watch. That suprised me because when we go to the park he has no problems playing on the equipment when there are kids there that he doesn't even know. But, they said he is starting to get a little better. I can't even remember what all was said - my mind was spinning. The total time of the conference was an hour and 15 minutes. And John thought it would last 10 minutes or so. ha!