A few short updates - October 11, 2013

• The grocery experiment is one week old and going well so far. I did a single big trip last Friday to YDFM and didn't spend a lot and got mostly fresh food and ingredients. (No coupons!) Today, a full week later, we still don't need to do another big trip. On Sunday I went to Publix to pick up some freebies, my husband went to a store for eggs, and yesterday I ran out to get milk (cow and almond). I baked - banana muffins, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, apple cider donuts - and then froze things and we have been enjoying them all week. I also premade steel cut oatmeal (I make four servings at a time). It's working so far, and it's really important. I also set up some other strict budgets and made some plans and I am hopeful that this will help us out over the next few months.
• I had another IEP update meeting with the special education teacher, the general education teacher, and the speech therapist. I walked in worried about what I'd hear and walked out very comfortable and reassured. Again the speech therapist added more time - I actually argued against it for various reasons but in the end we're working it out. The kid is getting more pull-out time, but she still will be in her inclusive classroom a great deal. I don't love this, I have to admit - I want her to be in an inclusive classroom 100% of the time. But there are 25 kids, neurotypical and not, and there has been some staff changeover (we're on the fifth parapro thanks to people giving notice, taking other jobs, and so on, and there's a new person starting Monday). I know that pulling her out will give her more consistency and focus and allow her to learn her academic stuff. ACADEMIC STUFF in kindergarten - this still bugs me greatly as well but it's how things are. And she IS doing well with it (reading! math! Spanish! science!), so giving her a chance to keep up with her peers is important. The IEP is going to be tweaked and updated and I suggested that we revisit it after Thanksgiving.
• AAC-wise, the kid has started pushing her talker away or turning it off. And she's also speaking in complete sentences that are mostly intelligible, so I get it. We're working on finding a balance - sometimes she does need the talker to express complicated thoughts or to be more readily understood. But our goal and the prognosis for her has always been that she'll be completely verbal, so I get it. (Also she can read and she has been reading for some time and I credit the talker with helping her literacy.)
• Four weeks until I turn 40!