Preschool, Haircuts, and First Steps

The last few weeks of August and beginning of September have brought a lot of changes and we have been busy! Olivia and Isla have started preschool. Olivia goes four mornings a week and Isla goes two. That means that for two mornings a week it is just Hadley and I. I forgot how easy it is to only have one two-year-old in tow while running errands. I got more accomplished in the first two days that the girls were in school than I did the entire summer with all three home.

Unfortunately, two days before school started four-year-old Olivia decided to give herself a haircut. I always knew one of the kids would do this at some point but I thought that Olivia was in the clear and could be trusted with scissors. Clearly I was wrong! She was quietly watching TV in the living room, drawing and cutting paper. I was just around the corner in the kitchen and when I went in to check on her I noticed a huge pile of hair on the floor. I was scared to look up and when I finally got the courage to survey the damage I was shocked. She did the typical cut her bangs REALLY short as every child who cuts their hair does, although she didn't stop there. She cut the end of her ponytail off and then hacked a huge section from the top, left side of her head. It was almost down to the scalp, about the same length as her new bangs. I almost cried and tried to explain that this wouldn't grow back for a very long time but she seemed unfazed. We rushed to the kid's haircut place the following day where they proceeded to cut several inches and gave her a bad bowl cut. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't that bad but Aaron also cut into it a little more that night. He gave it a few layers and it looks slightly less ridiculous although she still looks like she is suffering from hair loss while also carrying a birds nest of hair on her head. It can't grow out soon enough!

Some of the damage. There was way more still on the rug!

Nice bangs Liv

Notice the short, thinning spot at the top of her head

After...this is the good side. It doesn't actually look this cute.

Again, this is a deceptive angle. 

You can't see the side of her head where the worst of the damage is.

Isla Kate- 2 day 2's Butterfly class

Livi Grace- 4 day 4's Turtle class

Our best attempt at a first day of school picture. I have been failing miserably at pictures lately.

The first week of preschool for the big girls also brought Hadley's First Steps evaluation. First Steps is Kentucky's Early Intervention program that provides therapy to babies (birth-three) who qualify based on disability or delay. Hadley has been home 8 months and has made awesome progress but I continue to worry that she is slightly behind in all areas compared to other kids her age. When we first came home our pediatrician did not think she would qualify for services and I was comfortable giving her some time at home to get settled in and see how much she would catch up. Now that she is two, I decided it was time to reevaluate the situation and see if she would even qualify for any services. After filling out some initial questionnaires about her development, we found that she qualified to have an evaluator come out and do a formal assessment. After the assessment we found out that Hadley did in fact qualify and was eligible to receive therapy services in our home. We are waiting to meet with our service coordinator this week to find out how often and who exactly will be coming. I think we will have a developmental interventionist come for an hour or two a week and then she will decide if a specific area needs more attention (speech, physical, occupational therapy, etc). I am anxious to get started and look forward to the progress that Hadley will make in these next few months.