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My boo is growing up so fast. I took this picture of him on the way to an assembly we went to over the weekend. I swear, sometimes I could mistake him for 15, not six. Love him so much!

He is excelling at school and after the first report cards came out we found out that he is meeting requirement at almost every subject in class. A cause to celebrate for sure!

Things have been such a challenge lately with him asking so many questions about God and people's attitude towards him and our beliefs as Jehovah Witnesses. Not to mention his mom getting remarried and now he tells just about everyone that he has two moms and two dads... The constant shuffling of his emotions and how he adjusts to all the changes going on in his life. It amazes me. He will be a much more flexible, well-adjusted person than I am.

Every day I get more excited to see his lil personality develop... See how much like Jon he really is. Before Noah, I never knew another child of divorce (besides, my brother, who I saw quite rarely) and thought that their spirit would be slightly more 'broken'... more reserved.  As my hubby would say though, ASSUME makes an ass out of you and me... And, yet again, he would be right. 

I know everyone rants and raves about their children; how great they are and how smart. But, there are some days when I really just want to broadcast everything Noah says from a loud-speaker and share with everybody what a remarkable kid he is truly turning out to be. 

I really think he has more love in his little toe than I do in my whole body and more understanding in his crazy lookin' smile than I do in my best written sympathy card. More than anything, I hope he stays that way. Innocent and genius all wrapped up into one. 
 
"I always liked the story of Noah's Ark and the idea of starting anew by rescuing the things you like and leaving the rest behind."- Zach Braff

This morning we went to Noah's 5th "family session" with the school counselor. These awkward, yet needed, exchanges always make me leave feeling like the counselor is judging me and my family... Just the way she says "...OK" after you make a comment irks my nerves to core. 

After she initially gave us information on Noah's probable ADHD diagnosis she decided to see all of us once a month. Meanwhile, seeing Noah once a week; mostly to deal with school issues such as interrupting, talking like a baby, or focusing on work, and occasionally the topic of divorce.
Regardless of my personal feelings though, Noah grew to look forward to visiting with her and it seemed like her therapeutic manner had a very calming affect on him. Lately, he has considered visiting her as one of the best parts of his week.

In the course, of the last five months we have been able to get him evaluated and diagnosed as mild ADHD-inattentive. The behavioral specialist at his pediatrician noticed right away that Noah is a very special and smart kid! Everyone takes notice of how sweet and observant he is... However, he definitely has some impulsive behaviors such as blurting out in class without raising his hand and talking to his friends instead of pay attention. Because of this Dr. Williams recommended that we consider mild medication to help Noah concentrate while at school. Not one of the people involved in his life is a fan of a child taking pills. Needless to say, a stressful decision to make. Especially, when you have a very slim, 48 pound kid and one of the main side effects is picky eating! haha.

I am SO happy we didn't make that decision until last week. We had our first meeting with Noah's kindergarten teacher this year (a different one than his kindergarten last year) who definitely commended us for keeping him back this year. She said that Noah is right on target as far as academic achievement this year &, more than anything, she believes he will have a successful year. That took an enormous amount of tension off of our shoulders. She has 3 children with ADHD/ADD and knows exactly what we are going through but, even better, she knows how to treat and deal with Noah in school. Amazing energy, lots of one-on-one work, and rewards/praise for doing well. She also doesn't expect more of any of her students than they can produce. 

In comparison with last year, this year has been AWESOME for our little monkey. He even gets done with his work in time to draw on it! That was a shocker! Poor little things just makes friends too easily and talks too much in class. (But, then again, who didn't? I know I did.)

Today, the counselor confirmed that Noah is doing a GREAT job keeping up with the other students and has matured personality wise in an extreme way-- just from June. She now only wants to see him every other week and have family meetings every two months instead of each month. She did NOT suggest that we put Noah on medicine and neither did his daily teacher.

I am indescribably glad that Noah has retained what he needed from last year and started fresh this year with a good prognosis. School is just harder for some than others and he hasn't necessarily had all of the opportunities other kids have... He's such a wonderful kid and I can't wait to see what he surprises us with!