May 2008
Alex finally got to move into his new bedroom last
month. He is very happy to have a room to himself. While
the room is rather small, Alex has managed to get a
double bed, dresser, desk and a flat screen television
in the room. Alex really needed his own space so we
designed a bedroom out of our former arcade room. Alex
even has a carpeted loft with cable and internet. Since
moving into his new bedroom, Alex seems to get along
with everyone a little better and is smiling more. The
completion of this bedroom makes ten bedrooms in the
South house and six bedrooms in the North house. We are
definitely maximizing every last bit of space that we
have in both houses!
Update:
February 2008
Alex continues to make good progress socially. He seems far less angry than before. He has settled into high school quite well although ANY opportunity to miss school he will gladly take! Alex spends most of his time outside of school playing adventure games on his computer ( Yes we have a household network which allows us full access to any computer in our house at any time!!) or hanging out with a few of his brothers. He is definitely not interested in any group extracurricular activities except to go out to dinner with his grandparents every Monday evening and to an occasional movie with his brothers.
Alex did finally agree to get orthodontia. He has noticed that the boys who have orthodontia miss a little school about once a month when they get their braces tightened or adjusted. According to Alex the pain is worth it just to miss a little school. He gets his braces on later this month. I hope he will let us take a few pictures.
November 2007
Alex is doing great in high school. He is getting wonderful grades and has yet to complain about the 6:45 am bus time. Generally Alex is doing well at home too. He is arguing and fighting less often with his brothers. We have actually observed some cooperative interactions with his brothers on the computer. Alex continues to be helpful around the house. In fact he is the most reliable, of all the boys, with his chores. The best part is we are actually seeing Alex smile more often. We are excited about this maturation and hope to continued growth in this area.
September 2007
Alex returned to high school after summer break without too much complaining! He still would like to attend a different high school but he understands that his wish is entirely behavior dependent. Alex understands that he is in almost complete control over the high school program he attends based on his behavior and appropriate classroom participation. So far Alex has been working very hard toward achieving his goal. Besides positive participation at school Alex has also started helping more around the house. Alex has been earning some spending money by keeping the kitchen clean at night and helping with the evening laundry---both very BIG tasks in a large family! Alex has shown excellent responsibility getting these jobs done without prompting and reminders. It is nice to see Alex maturing and showing us how he is capable of such positive behavior.
June 2007
Alex started high school this month. He was pretty reluctant to go.
Even though he was ready for a change and was thrilled to be graduating from middle school,
Alex definitely was comfortable with his routine. Besides the bigger campus and making new friends, the most difficult part of this transition is Alex's morning routine. Previously he was able to wake-up at 8:20 am and make it to school by 8:35 am. Being so close to the middle school campus made it convenient to sleep-in and wait until the last minute to go to school. Alex's high school is much further away and he now rides the school bus. The bus arrives at our house at 6:40 in the morning! As predicted this schedule does not make Alex very happy! We hope that eventually Alex can get used to this schedule and save his sleeping-in for the weekends.
April 2007
Alex is looking forward to graduating from middle school. Because he is an older eighth grade student, Alex will actually be able to start learning how to drive next school year. We've told Alex that in order to drive he will need car insurance, and in order to get affordable car insurance he will need to have good grades. This speech seems to motivate him for about a week! We will see how the transition goes to high school, perhaps being with more age-appropriate peers will be a motivation for Alex to work toward his potential.
February 2007
Alex continues to struggle with the idea that he not only needs to attend school Monday through Friday, but he also needs to be on time to school! He doesn't always want to follow teacher directions and almost never is willing to dress-out for PE class. Apparently in Russia the educational program he attended allowed him a little more flexibility. We have receive some very positive feedback recently however. According to the instructional aide in the classroom, Alex has improved his reading skills tremendously since he started middle school. He not only reads independently but he also is willing to read out-loud in his reading group! This is a huge step for Alex who tends to be guarded around his peers and the teaching staff at school. School staff report that despite the fact that he has only been in the USA since May 2005, Alex is able to pronounce most of the vocabulary words correctly, read in English with expression, and handle the pauses and variety of inflections related to the punctuation. We are certainly grateful to any good news and frequently have to remind ourselves to watch for and get excited about the small, but positive, progress.
December 2006
Alex received student of the month for November 2006! The school staff have noticed an overall improvement in Alex's attitude and performance. We are excited to see Alex complete his work and handle various frustrations much more appropriately. Alex continues to love the Internet game "Puzzle Pirates." Given the opportunity he would play almost 24-hours a day! The game requires not only complex strategy to play well, but also requires reading and writing in English. As a result Alex's skills in English have improved tremendously. In fact Alex has become so comfortable speaking English, it is very rare to hear Alex speak Russian anymore.
October 2006
Alex had a rough start during the beginning of the school year. It was difficult for Alex with all of the class and teacher changes that always happen in September. Alex is a very bright teenager but it is often challenging to figure out what motivates him. Getting Alex to go to class and to complete his homework can be extremely difficult at times. This Friday, however, we received two notes from two different teachers letting us know how well Alex did the past week. We were extremely delighted that Alex put his best effort into his school work for a whole week! We all celebrated at home with a late night pizza party on Friday and then on Saturday night four of boys (Alex's choice) had a poker party with Russian food with grandma Sue and Grandpa Jim at their house. We are hopefully that we might see more positive feedback from Alex's teachers in the future.
July 2006
Alex is hanging out at
home this summer. He is enjoying sleeping in and using
the computer. Alex enjoys being by himself and
appreciates that the house is relatively quiet during the
summer days while most of the other kids are participating
in camps and other community activities. Alex continues
to struggle with trust issues with adults and bonding with
the family. Alex continues to be awesome at caring for our
pets. He is especially attached to Lucy who follows him
everywhere. Alex enjoys talking to his biological brother
who still lives in Russia.
Click here to view Alex's
grades
